PC Upgrade: Chapter 1 - Rallying the Parts

With the project's heatsink/fan in 'mailing limbo' it appears that the upgrade schedule has been pushed back a bit from the original plan. But in any case, the upgrade must go on!

There are lots more things that can be started and prepped for the upgrade, so let's get started.

All the rest of the upgrade parts arrived:
- Asus M4A77D (AM2/AM2+/AM3) mobo
- G.Skill 4GB PC1066 DDR2 RAM
- 1GB DDR3 PCI-e 2.0 HD video card
- LiteOn 24x DVD burner


Nagi will 'assist' in this endeavor :)
Started off by dismantling everything in the current case, an Antec full-tower case. All of the old parts removed, down to the skeletal frame and power supply.


The current PC case, sans the externals. It's always fun trying to figure out all the wires.
I wanted to get a new Power Supply, but the current 550 watt unit is more than enough for the upgrade. I just got 4-pin molex to SATA power adapters for the new hard drive and optical drive (and future HDD/optical drives).


Nagi: "550-watt power supply FTW!!"
Also repainted the top cover, changing it from black to gunmetal grey.


Nagi: "This is actual wheel spray paint - three coats plus 1 clear coat finish. Nice and shiny!"

I'm trying to figure out how the cabling layout will be. I plan on keeping my DigiDoc 5 thermal monitor and fan controller. It's the 1st gen DD5, but with 8 fan headers and 12 thermal sensors, with a thermostat option so that the fans can come on/off at particular temperature settings.

Not sure about the floppy drive though - that I might not install anymore.

More to come, so stay tuned! ;)