Simple but BEAST Status - New Gaming PC Build 2016 - Core i7 6850k - GTX 1080ti (x2) SLI - 7680x1440 - M.2 SSD - 8TB (UPDATE: Upgraded cards to Ti's) Page 5

[meade916]

Time to build a new, more capable computer for the gaming i do...here is the list:

Case: Corsair 760T (i like the swinging suicide doors a LOT!)
PS: Corsair AX1200i
Mainboard: Gigabyte G1 X99 Phoenix SLI (LGA 2011)
CPU: Intel Core I7 6850k
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i v2
GPU: Asus 1080GTX (x2) SLI (EDIT: NOW (2) GTX 1080ti in SLI!  (page 5)
Ram: 64G Patriot DDR4 3200MHZ Quad Channel (4 16 gig sticks)
Main HD: 1TB Toshiba OCZ RD400 m.2 (NVM Express)
Storage HD: 1TB Samsung 840 Evo SS Drive, 1 TB Samsung 850 Evo SS Drive, 1 Seagate 3TB HDD, 1 Seagate 2TB HDD

Optical: ASUS DVD Drive
Monitors (3) Asus 2560x1440 ROG Swift 28" Monitors (Surround Mode 7680x1440)

I chose MINIMAL Liquid cooling for this build for a reason. I will upgrade the cooling system on the NEXT GPU swap. Please read below!







Ok let me start out by saying this. I did NOT want to build a new pc this weekend. But Friday, i got a wild hair up my butt and decided to go and get some new cards for my current gaming PC. My "Current" (as of that day) PC has all top of the line parts in it (as of 3 years ago) and is still a beast. It is running 3 GTX 780's in SLI, everything on water. Dual 480 Rads, Pumps, all that good stuff. But the 780's, as nice as they were (and still are), they are 3 years old and not really capable of playing current games in the high resolution i play in. I play with 7680x1440 resolution (3 2560x1440 in surround mode). Once you go this route, it is very hard to game on a single monitor. The 780's simply cannot handle a game like BF1. They could if they scaled properly, but they don't. I really wanted to get a pair of 1080 GTX cards since one of those is more powerful than all 3 of my 780's put together.

This is where it got complicated for me though. Changing out video cards is usually easy business. Not when you are on a liquid cooled system like mine. There is water to deal with, plumbing to deal with and of course all 3 cards are physically joined together via a triple parallel block. Basically, changing out cards is a BITCH.

So i finally decided to do it. I got some tools for the surgery. I ran out and picked up 2 ASUS 1080GTX cards. Came home and got to work.


****NOTE**** Before you give me shit for NOT going full custom loop on the liquid cooling the new PC, just look at my OLD PC. I know how to do it LOL - i would rather do that on the next GPU swap. I just want to game! I don't want to order tons of shit and mess with all that....not to mention, the PC below (that the new one replaces) has $1500 in cooling alone (yes JUST cooling). I did not want to do that YET. What i really wanted to do was swap out the cards and game. That turned into a new build (as you will see).
 

the OLD PC.


 

Seriously, why fix what ain't broke? This thing ran faithfully for 3 years straight, i hardly ever shut it off at night. It just ran and ran and ran. For the most part, it's been a great PC. But really though, who wants to pull this apart, water and all? uhhhhhgggg. But i decided to do it anyway.


 

I got this coupler because my plan WAS to take the hoses off, bypass the triple-head water block and just run the new 1080's off air for now. Water blocks would come later and i can just attach right to the new blocks.


 

Got what i THOUGHT was a High Bandwith SLI bridge - but sadly i got the wrong one. Pretty though. lol

Time for some surgery. Needle nose vice grips to pinch off the hoses. This is just like heart surgery lol.

[meade916]

EVERYTHING WENT VERY GOOD! EXCEPT IT WOULDN'T BOOT TO WINDOWS...UHHHGGGG... I got pissed and decided to just build a new one.

So i was having the WORST day ever after basically breaking my baby and rendering it useless...but i get to the store and the first thing i see is PASMAG Trucks on the shelf...i open it up damn near right to the page. This is what i saw! CHEAAA mood changer! Lets shop!

[meade916]

[meade916]

[meade916]

This drive might look small, but it is 1 TB....and almost 5x faster than most SSD's out there. It's an amazing little drive! So fast it makes your head spin!

[meade916]

[meade916]

[meade916]

[meade916]

Are you still with me? Wondering how it started out as a UPGRADE and ended up as a REBUILD? The surgery to install the new cards went VERY well. Better than i ever expected.

I didn't drip a single drop onto anything except a little on the towel. Only one problem...the PC would not boot. It got stuck on the window-logo screen. I spent HOURS trying to get it to boot.

Nothing i did would work. It would not repair. It would not even reinstall windows. It's bad. The next day i tried again and spent hours trying to reinstall windows again. Finally i gave up and

what you see is the result of it. A NEW PC.

I wanted a new one ANYWAY. I just didn't want to do it now. I will put a new SSD hard drive into the OLD pc, get it up and running, and use it for something, probably hook my son up with it

Anyway, the new one SCREAMS!

[meade916]

NOTE #2 - if you see the 2 mismatched SLI cables, that is because i don't have my HB (high bandwith) bridge yet. I ordered it last night. Using 2 standard "ribbon" style bridge cables works just as good. But i do have a fancy one on the way.