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NOW THAT THE FANS are configured and the CPU, RAM, and cooler are mounted to the motherboard, it’s time to place the motherboard into the case. Make sure all nine ATX motherboard standoffs are installed, and then place the I/O shield into its opening. Mount the motherboard into the case, making sure all nine mounting holes are used. Connect the HD_Audio, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and front-panel connectors to the motherboard.
CABLE ROUTING IS my least favorite part of the Enermax Fulmo case, so it’s best to be scientific about it. Install the PSU into the bottom of the case (with the fan pointing down), then connect only the cables you’ll need: two 6-pin PCIe cables, one 4-pin Molex strand, and one strand of SATA power connectors. Route all but the 24-pin motherboard power cable through the grommeted hole right next to the PSU, and run the 24-pin through the non-grommeted hole on the far side of the fan controller. Bring the 8-pin ATX power cable through the hole at the top left of the mobo tray and connect it to the mobo; then bring the 24-pin cable through the mobo tray next to its connector and plug that in, too.
ANOTHER JOY of the Fulmo: It uses plastic PCIe slot retention brackets that are absolutely useless if you have a dual-slot card like the GTX 680—or indeed most modern videocards. Install the GPU into the top 16x PCIe slot and secure it using two screws, then shake your fists at the gods of plastic PCIe retention clips. Bring the two 6-pin PCIe power cables through a hole in the mobo tray and connect them to the GPU.
THE FULMO has two standard 3.5-inch hard drive mounts and several odd ones. I mounted the VelociRaptor into one of the standards using the screws provided for that purpose, but if you have more than two drives (or you want to use a 2.5-inch drive), you get to mount them vertically on flip-down mounting panels. You can see one flipped down in the foreground, and one in the upright position in the background. Connect SATA power and data to the drive, then install the optical drive in the topmost 5.25-inch slot and connect power and data to that drive, as well (not pictured).
BEFORE YOU TURN on the machine, don’t forget to connect a 4-pin Molex power connector to the fan‑speed controller and to the 4-pin connector coming from the case’s front panel. If you’ve been careful, you’ll now have a fine, somewhat cleanly wired gaming machine, but don’t be surprised if the area behind the motherboard tray looks a little chaotic. The Fulmo isn’t the best case for cable management, but it’s workable. Now replace the left side panel.
Plug the right-side panel fan into the LED and fan‑speed control panels, then put the right-side panel on, connect the PSU’s power cable, and turn on your new Ivy Bridge machine!
Comments are closed on this article
NavarWynn
July 12, 2012 at 12:17pm
Overall, the article, and the tech, and the end product is pretty typical. A wicked fast gaming PC built w/ off the shelf parts (that would stress even most 1%ers budgets ;-)) But guys, I feel like you are missing a lot of the creativity. Here are just a *few* things *creative* you could try out...
A workstation based gaming rig? don't tell me the thought of 3 GPUs, 2 CPUS, 20 cores / 40 threads, and 512gb of RAM @ 1800mhz doesn't give you a bit of a stiffy. Sure it may not run all your benchmarks, but some of us have the $25k necessary to run a single machine like that... Maybe you could show us if it would really be worth it?
A *real* budget price/performance machine - say $400?
An upgradable custom case rig?
How about upgrading an existing case to improve thermals, access, capability, etc.? Even something as simple as lighting? (just an idea ;-) ) With benchmarks, and load tests to show how much you improved it?
Setup a proper test bench to load test individual components & individual component upgrades?
Pop the top off an Ivy bridge to upgrade it's thermal dispersion?
Maybe do some proper white pages (like in the past) on the proper procedures for your articles/ conclusions/predictions?
Frankly guys, while the 'everyday' MPC articles are usually decent, frankly, they are getting kind of boring. I know most of you (like us) are just geeks - not mechanical and electrical engineers, but maybe you could at least *stretch* the box a little (even if you don't actually go outside it)...
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compguytracy
July 08, 2012 at 7:28am
it looks like you went out of your way to get a crappy case, bad design, plastic clips, cable routing problems. why not get a better case?
waynesalt
July 08, 2012 at 4:50am
Curious, I know this is MPC, but is the kickass pc supposed to be budget friendly? I mean I Know that $1888 isn't Really pricey, but can't some of the things have been changed to fit a lower budget, for mainstream people? Like maybe a 2TB HDD and lose the SSD and V-raptor, a 7870 instead of 670, 8GB ram, a 3570k instead of a 3770k, should save at Least a couple hundred dollars...
Penterax
July 07, 2012 at 4:01am
Thanks for using the 1 TB VelociRaptor. It's nice to see someone build without following conventional "wisdom".
I keep wondering why no one tests 2 V-Raptors (or more) in RAID 0 against their SSDs; don't want to show up their favorites? Sure, they point to the single-drive numbers and say something like "See, even twice as fast, the hard drive just can't catch up to a modern SSD in any test." Okay then, bench it!
Okay okay I'm admitting it, I'm a V-Raptor fanboy looking to hold on to his favorite drives a bit longer. It'll be a bit sad for me, in a way, when I build again, and relegate my current ones to data drives behind that bad-boy SSD.
;)
Danthrax66
July 08, 2012 at 11:09am
velociraptors will always loose to SSDs. It isn't even a competition really since SSDs get 2-3x the read/write speeds and also have .1ms or less latency while the velociraptor has 7ms or more. Velociraptors are good for storage is you need speed, but even then you can get 15k rpm SAS drives that will perform better and more reliably.
Gezzer
July 07, 2012 at 3:46am
Okay this isn't a troll.
More of a gripe.I remember when Max PC didn't pad it's page count with a "build a PC" how-to in every issue. When I saw the last build 3 different PCs article with no how-to I breathed a sigh of relief. Only to find another build how-to further on in the mag.
Yes there are Max PC readers who have never built a PC before, all 5 of them. But give me a break. How about a link to an in depth how-to instead. Then just add the link after each story, and update the on-line content as/if needed.
I'm just saying.
Hilarity
July 07, 2012 at 12:29am
FX 4170 + 7950 + 8GB DDR3 1600MHz, pocket the cash saved. No, you don't need Intel for a 1080p gaming build, and no Bulldozer isn't THAT bad. I'd also drop the SSD and get a single 2TB drive, loading times are irrelevant for a gaming system. You need bulk storage for today's ~15GB console ports.
cldmstrsn
July 06, 2012 at 10:12pm
I have a 670 and in my experience runs better than a 7970. so if you are looking for a great card pick the 670.
waynesalt
July 06, 2012 at 8:50pm
Is the 670 worth getting over say a 7870? If you look at performance vs price, isnt the 7870 just slightly behind but a fair bit cheaper?
Hooded
July 06, 2012 at 7:28pm
I can't say that I would be using any spinning disc for a gaming rig these days.
I have at least two 120gb ssd's in each of my gaming rig's.
Whats with the 8gb of RAM? Boost it up to 16 so you can run without a swap file.
ohsnaps1104
July 07, 2012 at 12:31am
Who uses 16 gigs of RAM? I have 8 with page file disabled, works just fine.
aferrara50
July 09, 2012 at 8:01am
I have 64 gb and nearly all of it gets utilized. You set up a ram disk and load all of the applications that you commonly use off of the ram, especially games. Read/write speeds ~7,000mbs destroys even today's fastest ssds in raid 0.
BryceBooth
July 06, 2012 at 10:18pm
Optical drives have their uses, such as transcoding your own movies, ripping cd's. As for RAM, I certainly agree with the minor cost of upping it to 16 GB, however, it's usually best to leave the page file as is. Yes, it's a gaming rig, but what happens when you start multi-tasking, or dive into Photoshop?
Sometimes it's best to err on the side of caution.
Hooded
July 07, 2012 at 7:00am
Running an x58 system with 24gb ram no swap file.
Run Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash all at the same time while in and out of either Access or an MS SQL DB. Also playing music with iTunes have never had a problem. No Swap file.
SSD's especially the sata3 ones are fast enough not to require a swap file. On a spinning disc a swap file is accessed faster because of it's size and location on the disc. Preventing alot of disc seeking. SSD'd don't have this limitation.
BryceBooth
July 07, 2012 at 9:40am
I believe you, but I was simply stating that not everyone uses their rig the same as everyone else. Some may delve into Photoshop's settings, and allocate all their RAM to the program. Sure, one can disable the swap file, but it's not hurting you if it goes unused either.
xenetic
July 06, 2012 at 5:34pm
If you want to spend more money on less gaming performance, follow this guide. If you want more performance for around a grand, go with a 3570K (hyper-threading is rarely used in gaming, not worth the extra $100), and an OC'd GTX 670 (matches the performance of a stock 680). Also, ditch the velociraptor. Grab a 120 gig SSD for less than $100 and a 2TB HDD.
I made an account just to respond to this "Kick-Ass" gaming PC guide. You guys should probably remove this post. Surely Gordon knows better than this.
TheMissingPiece
July 06, 2012 at 7:11pm
This article was written before the GTX 670 was even available, and Maximium PC hadn't reviewed the 3570K to recommend it yet, thus justifying the selection of those two parts. The use of the Velociraptor was more of a personal choice, although it is a good hard drive for those who do not want to deal with the troubles of micromanaging an SSD.
metalsphere
July 06, 2012 at 2:56pm
This is a nice PC build with quality parts for gaming purposes, and the price isn't huge either.
RaptorJohnson
July 06, 2012 at 7:56pm
That was a nice comment with simple words for easy readability, and the length wasn't too bad either.
