Building a Box - Upgrading

In the short time since I finished building my custom PC, I have done a couple of upgrades to the components and played around with overclocking in order to improve overall system performance. In this post, I will cover the new components I have added, and I will have a separate post on overclocking in the near future.

New Components

Since the build, I have added an aftermarket cooling system to improve cooling when overclocking (see Overclocking Without Permission for details on why it was necessary), added a blu-ray RW drive, and increased cooling capacity even more by putting another fan in the case. The end result is that I can now play and backup blu-ray movies, and I can burn my HD home movies in actual High Definition without worrying that my computer will overheat when encoding the videos (that wasn't an issue when the system was running at stock speeds).

Blu-Ray Drive  

The Blu-Ray drive I added is an LG WH14NS40, a SATA 14x Blu-Ray burner that supports BDXL, M-Disc, and 3D playback. The model I purchased is  an OEM version that comes without software, but I had already purchased Nero 12, which has an upgrade available for playing and writing Blu-Ray. Installation was straightforward - I simply removed the Sony DVD-RW drive and plugged this in. 

Drive performance is good - in addition to the 14x BD, it writes DVDs at 16x, and CDs at 48x. I haven't had any issues reading discs, and burning all types of discs has been successful. I've finally been able to watch my wedding on my entertainment center TV in full HD, rather than DVD quality. Amazon usually has this drive on sale, so if you are in the market for a BD-RW, I would recommend you check it out.

Aftermarket Cooler

The Antec Khuler H2O 620 installed
Due to the inadvertent overclocking issue I had, I realized that if I wanted to overclock the computer, I would definitely need to upgrade from the stock fan provided by Intel. I did some research, and eventually ended up getting the Antec Khuler H2O 620, a liquid cooling solution. I bought it because the cooling performance looked decent from the various reviews I read, the price was good, and it doesn't take up a lot of space in my case. Because it comes with a fan on the radiator, I added the case fan that was already there to the radiator in a push-pull configuration (only because I had an extra fan - I'm pretty sure there isn't much of a cooling performance gain or anything. 

It is performing very well for me - I actually liked it enough to write a review on Amazon.co, which I'll put here to save some writing...
I purchased this cooler for my Intel i7 3770k processor on an ASUS P8Z77 M-Pro Motherboard. The processor was running a bit hot under load with the stock cooler at stock speeds - sustained full load usage pushed the temps to 80+ degrees Celsius. After installation, sustained full load temps (3 hours of Prime95) mildly overclocked (4.2 GHz) are stable at between 50 and 60C. Idle temps are in the low to mid 20s (C).
The unit is verWhen I purchased the components, I had always planned on doing some kind of overclocking, which is why I bought the i7 3770k as opposed to the regular 3770. The unlocked multiplier makes it easy to overclock, and y quiet in my setup - under load the system is a bit quieter than with the stock heat sink and fan. I have not experienced any of the clicking that has been reported, however my unit only has a 3-pin connector, so I assume the pump is constantly running at full speed. It also fits well in my case - a CoolerMaster Storm Enforcer Mid-Tower. The stock install doesn't block anything important on the Motherboard, but if you decide to run a push/pull fan configuration, you may cover something. 
As many others have reported, the instructions leave a lot to be desired - I would have given this 5 stars if the instructions were better. I was able to get through them without an issue, but it took several looks and a couple of re-dos for the screw adapters. I definitely recommend looking for some YouTube videos or other (non-Antec) online guides before you install the unit. One thing to note - for my Socket 1155 MB, I used the holes for 1156, and everything lined up fine. I would recommend using a magnifying glass during the install - the mounting bracket for the back of the MB has markings indicating where the barrel nuts go for each MB type.
I had also looked at some air cooling, but my main concern was the amount of space it would use in the case. As you can see from the picture above, I have plenty of space available with the Khuler 620 in place.

Future Plans

The PC is working well now, but there are still a couple of things I would like to eventually do before I officially call it "finished." As I have mentioned before, I want to get a discrete video card, rather than using the on-chip Intel graphics. Since I am probably going to go for something in the high-end bracket (and since the system performs adequately enough for my current use with the Intel graphics) I am taking my time in selecting a card. I am also considering getting a sound card, however this may be dependent on the video card I get because the ASUS P8Z77 M-Pro motherboard is microATX and has a limited number of expansion slots, so I may not have room for it.

If anyone has thoughts on video cards, feel free to leave me a comment.

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