600T Gaming Machine Build Log

Since I am normally overclocking my hardware, it has been a few years since I built a new desktop gaming machine. Although I had done a few key upgrades to my old machine, like a Force Series™ SSD, an Obsidian Series™ 800D full-tower case, and a new graphics card, the machine was starting to show its age. After attending the several LAN parties this year such as the Intel® InfernaLAN and the GXL LAN, the bug to start gaming has bit me. And, of course, the first thing to do was build an awesome gaming rig! So here we go...

Gaming PC Build Log - Corsair Link, Hydro Series H100

It’s not every day you get to build a super high end gaming machine, let alone building it gets to be part of your job description! For this build I got to use the brand new Corsair Link™ hardware, along with the new Corsair Hydro Series™ H100 CPU cooler. The Corsair Link technology allows you to control your fans and lighting right from your Windows® desktop. The H100 cooler offers great cooling ability with its dual 120mm fan radiator and it also connects to Corsair Link.

Let’s take a look at the hardware to build this system. For the motherboard I went with the MSI Big Bang X58 motherboard, the CPU used is Intel® Core™ i7-990X Processor Extreme Edition. Filling the memory slots is Dominator® GT DDR3 memory, with an Airflow fan and Corsair AirFlow Pro™ on top. For the power supply I used the top of the line Professional Series™ Gold AX1200 and for the SSD I used a 120GB Force Series™ 3 6Gb/s SSD. To output display to the monitor I chose two NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560s in SLI. For the sound card I went with the ASUS Xonar sound card. I have found it makes a great combination with our SP2500 speakers or the HS1A headset. Finally to house all of these components the Corsair Obsidian Series™ 800D full-tower case was chosen.

Getting the Most Out of Your Intel CPU: New XMP Memory Certifications

Several years ago, Corsair worked with Intel® on the development of the Extreme Memory Profile (Intel XMP). These profiles are used to store overclocking information on the memory module, so your system can be overclocked to a known-stable value by adjusting a single setting in the BIOS.

We are big fans of Intel XMP, and we'd like to announce a bunch of new Intel XMP certifications for the latest 2nd Generation Intel Core™ processor family!

How To Install the Corsair Airflow Pro Dynamic Memory Display

An illustrated guide to installing the Corsair Airflow Pro Dynamic Memory Display unit using compatible Corsair DHX Pro equipped modules.

The AirFlow Pro in action

Back in 2003, we launched the original XMS Pro Series modules. They gave you information about memory utilization using an LED display on the modules themselves. At the time, this was pretty awesome technology.

Today, we've announced the Corsair AirFlow Pro which is an evolution of this technology. Not only will the AirFlow Pro show you memory activity, but it also shows the temperature of the modules. It's not just a meaningless light show. It's information you can use.

I hadn't seen the AirFlow Pro until just yesterday while I was gathering the photo and video content for this post, and I was impressed. Not only with the lights themselves, but how easy it was to install.  Up to six modules can have their temperature and activity individually displayed on the AirFlow Pro. The AirFlow Pro easily mounts onto our existing AirFlow kit and requires no tools. There's just a couple screws to tighten and a single cable that plugs into each memory module.

For a complete listing of Corsair part numbers that are supported, reference this table. As a rule of thumb, if the part number on your modules starts with "CMT" or "CMP," you're good to go.

That's enough talk. To see the AirFlow Pro in action, check out the video below! Let us know what you think. We're pretty excited about this one!

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