This is the most 2007 time machine build I have ever seen. I was just getting into computers back then and really active on forums like OCN and anandtech. Shiny aluminum, custom water cooling, and blue fans were all the rage. It's perfect. I love it. Put a mean OC on that core2quad for me.

mothergoose729 wrote on 2024-04-19, 19:30:

This is the most 2007 time machine build I have ever seen. I was just getting into computers back then and really active on forums like OCN and anandtech. Shiny aluminum, custom water cooling, and blue fans were all the rage. It's perfect. I love it. Put a mean OC on that core2quad for me.

core 2 extreme 😉

If the front panel stays on, how big is the impact on thermals?

Nice build!

A buddy of mine had a very similar build like this in terms of hardware... but back in 2007! It was bleeding edge back then. Not only that, but it was an Alienware system. It cost him... let's say A LOT. 😁 Even though this was the "late" XP era, he chose to have Windows Vista Ultimate to go with the rest of the bleeding edge theme. The only thing that really let that system down was the amount of RAM - he chose to go with 1 GB. Why? -IDK! He spend a few grand, but decided to save a few hundred $$ by getting less RAM, thinking he would just upgrade later.

Well, you can imagine how the "1 GB with Windows Vista" went. 😁 😁 But apart from that, his rig did run absolutely everything we could think of to throw at it... that is, once we waited long enough for things to write to the pagefile on the HDD. I think what helped a little is that he had 2x 320 GB HDDs in RAID 0 (IIRC), so the performance was still decent.

Oh, and he had an Aegea Phys-X card in there too... which was completely pointless, since the 8800 cards have a Phys-X chip built in, IIRC.

I suppose you rig is the "more clever" version of that system, since you have more RAM and no unnecessary Phys-X card or Windows Vista. As for the SSD... I don't recall seeing any rigs with those back in 2007. If anyone had one, it was rare. Certainly a niche market back then.

winuser3162 wrote on 2024-04-19, 19:18:

In the future when i have some extra money to burn and the price is right i might consider upgrading from my qx6700 to a qx9650 or even a qx9770 if prices haven't surpassed that of a brand new car.

The images that i am including are from different stages of this PC's life, the ones with the front panel still intact with the case were taken a few days after i finished the PC before i decided to remove the front panel a year later to make room for the installation of 2 more fans to improve airflow to the bottom 8800 card and the sound blaster.

Well, if you really want to go overkill, do a custom loop water cooling and get not only the video cards, but also the northbrdige and southbridge water cooled.
I have the same motherboard, but from EVGA. The OEM behind these boards is Intel. They are made pretty well. However, their biggest downside is the nVidia chipset because it's from the bumpgate era (as are the 8800 GTX's). Thus, to keep that mobo from dying in the long run, you should definitely do everything you can to keep things as cool as possible. Ideally, those bumpgated G80's should be kept under 60C at all times... which probably will be impossible without water cooling. Likewise, the chipset also needs to stay equally cool. I know that on my EVGA 780i-SLI, the chipset would very easily reach and go past 60C with the stock fan... and I had pretty good case cooling with 2x 120 mm fans + the PSU's fan. For the EVGA boards, an easy but not-super-efficient solution to the northbridge cooling is to replace the stock 50 mm fan with a 70 mm fan and bump up the fan speed to "high" in BIOS. It makes for a louder system, but it does stay in the mid 50's C. Only after hours of gaming to I see it start to get close to or jump over 60C.

mothergoose729 wrote on 2024-04-19, 19:30:

This is the most 2007 time machine build I have ever seen. I was just getting into computers back then and really active on forums like OCN and anandtech. Shiny aluminum, custom water cooling, and blue fans were all the rage. It's perfect. I love it. Put a mean OC on that core2quad for me.

Actually, silver cases and blue lights were more of a 2003-2006 thing.
But the hardware is indeed all era-appropriate (and very high end) for 2007.

Bruno128 wrote on 2024-04-20, 12:42:

If the front panel stays on, how big is the impact on thermals?

I would guess quite a lot.
What I think makes much more of a difference, though, is the side panel. Considering the system only appears to have only an 80 mm fan (or two?) and the PSU as an exhaust, I imagine the thermals aren't great under full system load, especially after a few hours... or worse, in a hot room in the summer (the case of my old place.)
2x 8800 GTX = 280 Watts TDP. Add ~100-120 Watts for the CPU under full load, and basically you have a small space heater inside the case.

momaka wrote on 2024-04-20, 17:30:

Actually, silver cases and blue lights were more of a 2003-2006 thing.

My Thermaltake Lanmoto exactly. I even replaced the regular fans with blue LED versions (only one fan was LED originally). 😁

Bruno128 wrote on 2024-04-20, 12:42:

If the front panel stays on, how big is the impact on thermals?

its forsure helps having it off rather than not as to how much im not sure but the only downside ive noticed is more dust. whenever i use the pc i take off the side panel off and put it back on when its not in use.