Supercomputer

Hey, I'm trying to build an awesome PC for gaming and graphics work. It's based on an older system that I'm in love with but I want to bring it up to speed to kill the next gen consoles and hopefully everything else on the market. I was wondering if there were any experts here that are willing to take a look at my project and give adivce if possible.

http://shojin.com/firebird/7-2/

Because of the limited space in my tiny case I'm wondering if I can use a GPU Xpander from Cubix to house the graphics cards, which would help with cooling as well.

Thanks for taking a look!

let it go dude, you're better off just buying a new case.

and your budget is $5000 USD???

5-7k.

I understand that using this old case isn't the most straightforward or best way to go, but I am super passionate about building a PC that I can be proud of and care about.

Anyone think it's possible?

i dunno the dimensions of the case but if it were to work with readily available parts the only option i can see off the top of my head...

i saw something on rog's site about a mini gtx670 but it's not out yet.

maybe with that and an itx board with a ribbon for sideways mounting and vents cut in for cooling it could work, but your biggest issue is the psu, there is no way you will get an internal psu in that thing with parts. also cpu cooling. only way i see that happening is if you get something like an h60 and mount the radiator on the outside.

i dunno the dimensions of the case but if it were to work with readily available parts the only option i can see off the top of my head...

i saw something on rog's site about a mini gtx670 but it's not out yet.

maybe with that and an itx board with a ribbon for sideways mounting and vents cut in for cooling it could work, but your biggest issue is the psu, there is no way you will get an internal psu in that thing with parts. also cpu cooling. only way i see that happening is if you get something like an h60 and mount the radiator on the outside.

MuD3

MuD3, Cool man, those are awesome leads.

This is my current motherboard, which I believe is a fairly decent size, 11.5" (29.2 cm) x 11" (27.9 cm) http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=uk&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c01690297

I am wondering if I can house all of my GPU's externally in one of these: http://www.cubix.com/gpu-xpander-rackmount

Or is there any reason I need one internally? My wishlist consists of dual Nvidia Titan cards.

Perhaps I could run a secondary powersupply externally as well?

There is no way that you are fitting dual Titans in it, so that external solution you linked, or something similar, is gonna be the way to go.

You need at least an 800W PSU to power a 2x Titan system, so you'll need to get an external solution for that as well.

With so much of the actual computer being external, you need to think about visual appearance as well.  You don't want a bunch of wires and junk running outside the case, you want it to take center stage.  So at the very least I'd say look into a PSU solution with long wires, and get sleeves for them.

I actually think it could be pretty badass, good luck!  :)

This is my current motherboard, which I believe is a fairly decent size, 11.5" (29.2 cm) x 11" (27.9 cm) http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=uk&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c01690297thermalmotion

That isn't gonna work, a socket 775 motherboard.  

With SLI Titan any CPU you can put in that would be causing a severe CPU bottleneck.

FaustArp, cool thanks. I just posted the motherboard to illustrate the dimensions. I'll need a new one for sure. Have any suggestions?

FaustArp, cool thanks. I just posted the motherboard to illustrate the dimensions. I'll need a new one for sure. Have any suggestions?

thermalmotion

It won't work, and the problem I'm having is that I can't see what kind of motherboard it is, size, etc...

How many standoffs is it using?

Do you mean the size available to the new/replacement motherboard is insufficient?

I'm not sure about the standoffs, I haven't gotten that deep yet...

Do you mean the size available to the new/replacement motherboard is insufficient?

I'm not sure about the standoffs, I haven't gotten that deep yet...

thermalmotion

No, I mean that the only CPUs that mobo can use are extremely inadequate, and will definitely bottleneck a Titan SLI setup.

But I'm planning to replace all parts, which means getting a new motherboard that can support a better CPU. The current motherboard has got to go.

Do you have any mobo/cpu suggestions for the size of my case?

But I'm planning to replace all parts, which means getting a new motherboard that can support a better CPU. The current motherboard has got to go.

thermalmotion

I would start looking at socket 2011 motherboards, to see if you could get something like an i7 3930k in it.

EDIT - Maybe something like this could fit in it, I dunno just throwing ideas out there:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157283

Tentatively I would say this mobo will fit.

http://ca.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4049#sp

EDIT cool, I think your recomendation would fit as well.

Of course, one assumption I'm making is that you're pretty mechanically inclined, this isn't exactly a normal PC build.  :P  Lol.

I don't know much about that external GPU housing solution you posted, or how it works, but one potential advantage to it could be better temperature control since it's external.  And if you're housing them away from the PC itself, noise shouldn't be much of a concern either.  :)

Haha, I'm comfortable doing the build once I have the parts but I'm by no means an expert. This build is kinda complicated and I'm honestly not up on the latest tech. I'm not sure what parts'll fit for the most extreme performance.

The last system I built was in 2004 and sounded like a jumbo jet! 

If you do go with external PSU/GPU housing...which is pretty much certain here, one thing that might be cool:

Build a custom shelf for the whole thing, two shelves maybe to the left for the PSU and GPUs, and a seperate shelf to the right for the PC itself.  Or something like that, it could turn out pretty nice.

I'd post this on your website, but I don't have Facebook, Hotmail, or any of that other stuff it wanted to leave a comment haha.

And I'm off to play Tomb Raider...

That Cubix Xpander is for multi-GPU rendering and such. It won't work for gaming. Turn that old case into a flower planter or a birdhouse, and start from scratch. You will come to love your new case, too, as time goes by.

Yes. Although the original was liquid-cooled, if you even can put two titans in there, you will need more cooling than there's room for, probably. A bigger radiator won't go in there, so it would have to be external, and you end up with a big mess of tubes and wires, looking like the thing is in the ICU dying. If your main criteria aside from performance are beauty and compactness, you should be able to find a larger case that will suit. The whole idea of a case is to contain the rig.

If I were you with a 5K budget I would frame that case if it was so important and got an epic looking standard-size one.

Have a look on these cases and see if anything catches your fancy; they are one of the best cases money can buy now- 

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6792

http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/obsidian-series-pc-case/obsidian-series-800d.html

http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/obsidian-series-pc-case/obsidian-series-650d.html

And my personal favourite because of the simple, yet sleek desgin and exellent airflow if you are going without watercooling, but can fit a watercool block.

http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/products/index.php?model=RV01&area=usa  

The reason why is that small form cases DO NOT ALLOW major upgrading. As a fellow Gamespotter, I highly advise you to buy a normal case because:

1. Working with 1 is much simpler if you don't have a lot of knowledge about PC building
2. It has better airflow, meaning that every part of your PC is working on lower temeratures
3.They are made to last for 4-5 years, following your upgrades of GPU, CPU, etc.
4. Small Tower cases are not made for any significant upgrades....at all.

I just feel like that with a 5K budget you can have a 2-way SLI with Titans, water-cooled, with a I7-3930K on water, and 3x 1440P monitors (maybe even the Korean ones...they are nice for the budget...you can get 3 of them for 1000$).
And, maybe another Titan in a year or 2?

Just think about it...http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2013/2/21/geforce-gtx-titan-sli-review-crysis-3-and-battlefield-3-vs-hd-7970-ghz-edition.aspx

You're crazy.

I like it.

Thanks Krakan!

So after more research it looks like I can only fit one Titan card in there using a 90 degree PCI adaptor. The downside is that the other PCI slots will be blocked :/

It should still be a pretty sweet system, 3.8GHz, 32GB RAM & 6GB GPU, for less than $3k.

Either that or get a new case. As unreasonable as it sounds, aesthetics are as important to me in this build as the guts themselves.

Thanks Krakan!

So after more research it looks like I can only fit one Titan card in there using a 90 degree PCI adaptor. The downside is that the other PCI slots will be blocked :/

It should still be a pretty sweet system, 3.8GHz, 32GB RAM & 6GB GPU, for less than $3k.

Either that or get a new case. As unreasonable as it sounds, aesthetics are as important to me in this build as the guts themselves.

thermalmotion

There are some very nice cases on the market. That little thing, while neat looking, doesn't look any better than some of the cases from Corsair, Silverstone or Lian Li. If you wanted to stick a high-end GPU & CPU in there, you'll have to mod the existing liquid cooling system to work with a different socket and graphics card. I'm not saying it can't be done, just not sure if you realise it won't be a matter of spending a heap of money and just throwing it all together. Have you looked around the web for other people who have upgraded this system?C_Rule

Just what I was saying...there are always better looking cases out there. And more user-friendly too.

Dude, don't be stubborn and ask for help when you don't even consider valid arguments. The best option for you now is getting a new case to accommodate all that power.

Also, POST 1000!!!!!!! BABY! YEAH!!!!!

I don't think you understand what a supercomputer is.

You're crazy.

I like it.

kraken2109

Agreed ;)

Good luck guy, but seriously, a small case will be hell later on.