Kudos Mark. I'm sure your sister will be very pleased.

Good onya mate! 

Nice one starkers!

Can't beat that "Put together all by myself" feeling and the recipient will be more than pleased!

Like jafo said-pics please!  

Good job, mate!  And happy sister, too! 

Hey guys, thanks for the replies and I'm sorry about the pics.  When I tried yesterday with my phone there was no life and it needed charging.... hence no photos 'til it's charged, which now it is.... so here goes:

I'm still waiting on a couple of parts arriving from Sydney to complete the build, but other than that it's done, though the cabling isn't quite how I'd like it  The black SATA cable going across the build from the PCI slots to the %.25 bays in pic 4 is actually 4 SATA cables bundled together with ziplock ties.  I would have liked to have rerouted them to be less conspicuous, but they're just not long enough to do that. However, I do see there are some cables that I can tidy up and will. 

Yeah, I'm fussy about such things, and even if other people don't see the need when nobody's really going to see it, it assists airflow and I do take pride in my work, whether it's my own PC or somebody else's.  Anyway, I'll do that when I install the other parts when they arrive on Monday, according to the parcel tracking advice.

Yeah, thanks, mate.  I picked the best parts I could on the budget I was given, and I believe it is a very nice machine for the money.  However, I probably could have gotten better better parts had the AU$ had not recently taken a nosedive against the greenback.  Whenever the exchange rate dips against the US$, we always pay more for PC parts and etc. 

It shouldn't be that way on old stock prior to the exchange rate adjustment, but sadly it is, and if you want/need the part you have to pay the going rate, like it or not. If my sister could have afforded it 2 -3 months ago I could have greatly improved on the mobo and several other parts to get a better rated PC, but it is what it is and she no doubt will be thrilled with the result.  Given the comparison between this and her old machine, it's like the difference between heaven and hell... between a 50cc moped and a 1200cc racing machine

Anyhow, my stomach's growling like my throat's been cut and I need to get something to eat.

That's why I take pride in my work, but whether the case has a side window or not, I still like to route the cables in a tidy and orderly fashion... for better airflow, etc.  Could be, though, I have a touch of OCD because I'm the same with many other tasks I have to do. 

For example, when I'm out in the yard mowing and whipper snippering, everything has to be a tad shorter than an acceptable length, and if a blade of grass or two do not conform to that exacting standard I will go back over them until they do do conform... which reminds me.  I need to pull my finger out and get the yard cleaned up before it gets any worse.

I'm the same with a lot of things, though I've slipped a bit in recent times due to health and other reasons, but I like to fold and put away my laundry in a certain way, and my spare PC parts have to be in certain compartments or drawers. While that makes sense for easier location later, I do obsess over the tidiness and appearance of things, even if nobody else is ever going to see it... which reminds me that my now computer room needs a darned good sorting out to fit the criteria/standard I set myself.

As for cable routing, I am still learning and picking things up along the way.  I still make mistakes and sometimes end up having to cut ziplock ties to rectify them, but that's okay, having learnt something for next time.

Now ya tell me!  Didn't believe it the 1st time, but now you mention it, it does explain why that patch of dirt was able to move from room to room.

Yeah, and thanks.  It's quite a good little unit with a good amount of kick. I would have preferred to have gotten her the Thermaltake Chaser MKII full tower to have better used the larger interior, but it would not have fitted into the tower space in her desk... and given her [solid timber] desk isn't a cheap DIY throw-together, I didn't see her parting with it to accommodate a larger case.  Still, it was an alright case to work with and she will be happy with the end-product.

I have put together rigs for her that were mainly spare parts after my own upgrades, or leftovers from other retired PCs, but this is the first time she has ever had the money to afford such a thing, having often helped nephews and nieces, son and daughter with money to rarely ever get it back.  However, she was repaid a lump sum and I was asked to select the parts and build her a new machine as the one she was using had died completely... the mobo began displaying errors and eventually just gave up the ghost.

Thing is, I enjoy getting into the guts of a PC, whether it be building from scratch, upgrading components or fixing things other can't.  Hence I am the goto man in the family for PC related things, though I always stress that I am no expert but will do my best.  Although I have learnt alot about software related matters since joining WC, thanks to yrag and others with knowledge to impart, I am better with hardware related things and love nothing better than tinkering inside cases, particularly new ones with all new components to assemble.

It's a bit late in life now, but were I to have my time over, I'd further my education to become a PC tech instead of busting my balls shifting other peoples furniture and other heavy duty jobs I'd held in the past.

Oh well!

Could?! He's so old that it WAS him wot invented it.

Awesome, starkers, just awesome.  By the way, the sata cables ad an artistic flair to the entire composition!  Don't cut yourself short.  Great job, great look, great performance, great bro.  What else could a sister want? 

Stand in line.....please.

Hehe, my sister really wanted a blow-up man, but rubber aggravates my dermatitis so she had to settle for a a PC instead.  However, I did tell her that as my tech skills increase, I could possibly build her a well endowed cyborg if she bought the parts.

Seriously, though, it was fun putting it all together.  However, we have run up against a snag and I have no idea how to resolve it as I can not get power to the front panel and now seemingly the mobo.... thus it will not post, or boot.  Everything was fine until I installed the 3 bay IcyDock portable rack [which finally arrived on Wednesday]... the machine booted once after that, then nothing. 

I have practically stripped the machine down to the case and started from scratch, but alas, no solution to the problem.... it's like it's dead.  I have tried an alternate power supply but still no go.  I also reseated the CPU; RAM: GPU and anything else that's not nailed down, still no go. Yup, I am totally baffled and have no idea where to start next to resolve the issue.

Hopefully somebody here may be able to offer some answers... and soon. Right now she is using a 6 y/o laptop that's as slow as a wet week, and I keep apologising because I haven't been able to hand it over to her in full working order.  So yeah, people, speshully them wot knows a fing or 2 'bout puters, please see if yer can maske an old fart and his sister happy.

Strange thing about it, though, I purchased the exact same mobile rack, and my PC wouldn't start afted I had installed it... like it was as dead as a dodo as well.  Again, I backtracked to before the rack was installed and nothing.  I even re-routed the power cables so that the front panel and rack were on connected separately - thinking too much draw on the one may have shorted something - but that wasn't it, either.  In fact, I'm not entirely sure what I did to get my rig booting again but it is.... touch wood.

I think the key diffrence between our machines is that I have a motherboard with more restart/reset options and was able to kickstart it using one of those options.  Sadly, my sister's mobo is quite basic and I'm not sure how to kickstart it.... like I don't know how I can clear the CMOS or reset the BIOS if no power is reaching the front panel to turn the machine on.