# Building a smoking PC with my son



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Inner10 said:


> My most enjoyable builds were compact, more like building a ship in a bottle.
> 
> I think from a fun father-son prospective it would be vastly better to go into a computer store and let your son pick out the components with your guidance, load up all the goodies in the car and head home for the build.
> 
> Way more fun than getting boxes from Amazon.


I did some mini-ITX ones. MOBO and cases were limited, but you could pack a decent system into a toaster sized box.

Some of the wildest things were the case mods (I didn't do these) - a PC that looks like it's an aquarium, etc.


----------



## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

hdavis said:


> I did some mini-ITX ones. MOBO and cases were limited, but you could pack a decent system into a toaster sized box.
> 
> Some of the wildest things were the case mods (I didn't do these) - a PC that looks like it's an aquarium, etc.


Yeah like putting everything thing in a mineral oil bath.


----------



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Inner10 said:


> Yeah like putting everything thing in a mineral oil bath.


AFAIK, the original aquarium case was air cooled about 20 years ago. Built for some competition. The same guy also did a picnic basket build, IIRC.


----------



## wallmaxx (Jun 18, 2007)

I think we will water cool the GPUs in addition to the CPU. All in red (son's pick). 

I'm in the make-a-plan mode.


----------



## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

Inner10 said:


> Yeah like putting everything thing in a mineral oil bath.


Is that still a thing?


----------



## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

SmallTownGuy said:


> Is that still a thing?


It exists in this world but it was never terribly popular.


----------



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

SmallTownGuy said:


> Is that still a thing?


IMO, it was always problematic. Stray capacitances just get bigger on all parts of it. Parts that may test good at the manufacturer now could fail right out of the box.


----------



## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

hdavis said:


> IMO, it was always problematic. Stray capacitances just get bigger on all parts of it. Parts that may test good at the manufacturer now could fail right out of the box.


They don't handle heat all that well either.


----------



## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

I just read this whole thread and didn't understand one friggin thing. The important question is how will this thing handle p&$n.


----------



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Morning Wood said:


> The important question is how will this thing handle p&$n.


Depends if you're right or left handed.


----------



## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

hdavis said:


> Depends if you're right or left handed.




Hopefully ambidextrous


----------



## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

Morning Wood said:


> Hopefully ambidextrous


You have to switch it up unless you want a hook shaped weiner.


----------



## wallmaxx (Jun 18, 2007)

Wow. 

Guess I'll not share this thread with son, about his upcoming PC build.


----------



## PNW Painter (Sep 2, 2016)

One thing that I think is important is to make sure it's your son's build and not yours. 

My dad always wants to help me work on projects around my house. Although I enjoy spending time with him, I'm usually board because I'm standing around watching him do all the work. Although I understand that he wants to share his knowledge and wisdom, it's a much more valuable learning experience if you let your son do as much of the hands on work as possible.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

Ive built a few systems for myself, in my early 30's mostly, but for a grand they were fine on most games. Two SSd's, 2 video cards, I dunno, I wouldnt do it, unless he plays cutting edge games and must have them on the settings that dont really make a difference. 

Dont forget this, http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm,


----------



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

JBM said:


> Ive built a few systems for myself, in my early 30's mostly, but for a grand they were fine on most games. Two SSd's, 2 video cards, I dunno, I wouldnt do it, unless he plays cutting edge games and must have them on the settings that dont really make a difference.
> 
> Dont forget this, http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm,


Check the CPU / cooler manufacturer's notes on this, it may not be the right thing to use.


----------



## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

hdavis said:


> Check the CPU / cooler manufacturer's notes on this, it may not be the right thing to use.


Unless you plan on over clocking just use the stock cpu fan.


----------



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Inner10 said:


> Unless you plan on over clocking just use the stock cpu fan.


Stock fan or not, there can be an issue with some chips causing "thermal pumping" of thermal grease like arctic silver. Eventually you wind up with no grease under the cooler in some spots, and then the MPU is a gonner. AS5 was formulated specifically in response to this problem, but that doesn't mean it will work in every situation.


On occaision I'd buy a retail MPU / cooler package (literally packaged together). It came with it's own thermal compound, more like bubble gum, and you could do a decent OC with that set up.

AS is still a gold standard, but you do have to double check the specific MPU application.


----------



## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

hdavis said:


> Stock fan or not, there can be an issue with some chips causing "thermal pumping" of thermal grease like arctic silver. Eventually you wind up with no grease under the cooler in some spots, and then the MPU is a gonner. AS5 was formulated specifically in response to this problem, but that doesn't mean it will work in every situation.
> 
> 
> On occaision I'd buy a retail MPU / cooler package (literally packaged together). It came with it's own thermal compound, more like bubble gum, and you could do a decent OC with that set up.
> ...


If you buy a CPU you can rest assured the fan that is included with it and the thermal paste that's included with it by the manufacturer will be just fine.


----------



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Inner10 said:


> If you buy a CPU you can rest assured the fan that is included with it and the thermal paste that's included with it by the manufacturer will be just fine.


For overclocking, I'd usually just buy the CPU, no cooler with it, and buy a separate cooler and thermal goo. My point was some manufacturer retail box combinations of CPU and cooler can handle the heat of moderate OCing (but not if you're going for some kind of record).

If you're buying just the CPU and going with a better cooler solution for OCing, you really should check and make sure AS5 is going to work for that specific one. Just how I used to do it.


----------



## wallmaxx (Jun 18, 2007)

Inner10 said:


> Unless you plan on over clocking just use the stock cpu fan.


No overclocking.

I want it to run well within its design parameters.


----------



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Latest thermal past roundup:

http://overclocking.guide/thermal-paste-roundup-2015-47-products-tested-with-air-cooling-and-liquid-nitrogen-ln2/6/


----------



## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

wallmaxx said:


> No overclocking.
> 
> I want it to run well within its design parameters.


Then don't waste your time with a liquid cooled setup.


----------



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

wallmaxx said:


> No overclocking.
> 
> I want it to run well within its design parameters.


That makes everything easier.:thumbsup:


----------



## wallmaxx (Jun 18, 2007)

I always like to examine as many different options as possible. So even though I want to build this beast, I found a machine I could buy complete with the following specs, for less than I was going to spend.

Decisions. Decisions.

i7 6850K 6 Core 
X99 Chipset Gaming Desktop. 
GTX 1080Ti w/11GB, 
64GB DDR4 RAM, 
1TB SSD, 
2TB HDD, 
Windows 10 Pro (CEPG-5178)
Power supply Upgrade: 1500w Modular Corsair AX1500i Digital Titanium Certified 94% Efficiency
24 Month Parts & Labor Depot Limited Warranty


----------



## jlhaslip (Dec 31, 2009)

Buy this one and then use the savings to buy some pieces and parts for the kidlet to build a basic machine for the experience.
Would make a cool school project to write a report about the trials and tribulations.


----------



## wallmaxx (Jun 18, 2007)

Project delayed. 

My son impressed me yesterday. We had something come up and I told him about it. He said let's wait (exact words were, "l can wait as long as I have to")

What an inspiration he is. 

It shouldn't be long. Until then, game off.


----------

