Topic: New Theatre Room Ideas (Read 56337 times)

Hilton · « **on:** January 08, 2016, 09:11:30 pm »

Hi All,

Im about to move into my new house next weekend and I've been busy planning my new theatre room which has to share duties as a music room and office.
The room needs to be tidy, sound/look good, be functional, east to use and quiet.

This presents some unique challenges so I'd like to share some ideas I have to make the best use of the multi purpose room and get your ideas and feedback.

The room in question is 4.7M wide and 5.5M long. It has a small walk in robe which will serve as "the equipment room".

theatre-room by Hilton, on Flickr

It will have a row of 3 seats about 3M back from the screen and another row of 5 seats on the back wall. (where the ensuite is that will be removed - 2 other bedrooms also have ensuites so it's a bit overkill.)

As my PC equipment is all water cooled and can get noisy the equipment room door will be shut with all the noisy PC gear behind it.
I'll be exhausting all heat out of the equipment room by using an external aquarium chiller to cool the water cooled PC down to room temp, and I'll have a low speed exhaust fan in the ceiling.

I'm planning to have a 55" 4K OLED screen for the PC mounted in the center of the 4.7M wide wall and a new custom built 120" spandex screen that will lower and raise in front of it.
Spandex is acoustically transparent so the speakers will sit behind the screen. The center speaker will be just below the 55" OLED.
I'll be using motorised curtain track with the spandex pulled tight between the curtain tracks on each side for the 120" screen. Motorised curtain track will be used for a masking system as well as curtains to hide everything.

A glass desk on wheels with just a wireless keyboard and mouse will be stored on the side of the room to wheel infront of the 55" OLED when im using it as "office" space (cough cough.. gaming) so I can sit about 1.5M from the 55" OLED screen.

Im also creating a remote tablet based monitoring system using Logitech Arx and AIDA64 to keep a watchful eye on stuff in the equipment room.

Below is my draft progress on a 8" tablet.

aida64-arx-screenshot by Hilton, on Flickr

jmone · « **Reply #1 on:** January 08, 2016, 09:34:49 pm »

Looks good - what PJ are you thinking?

Hilton · « **Reply #2 on:** January 08, 2016, 09:45:36 pm »

Quote from: jmone on January 08, 2016, 09:34:49 pm

Looks good - what PJ are you thinking?

Already have a Benq W1080ST DLP projector I've been using which will remain for the short term. It has a very short throw with no vertical lens shift so I'll need to replace it with something that can go further back in the room and closer to the ceiling so it can be hidden away. Ideally I'd like to stay with DLP and want Lens memory so I can use a constant height 2.35 screen.
When I get the front of the room sorted I'll workout what projectors are available at the time.
At the moment the leading contender is actually the 4K Sony VW500ES but it's hugely expensive and it's due for replacement, and its SXRD, Epson LS10000 looks good too.

Arindelle · « **Reply #3 on:** January 09, 2016, 06:24:14 am »

don't forget, the mini-fridge, wet bar and comfortable couch!!!

Hilton · « **Reply #4 on:** January 09, 2016, 10:36:37 pm »

Quote from: Arindelle on January 09, 2016, 06:24:14 am

don't forget, the mini-fridge, wet bar and comfortable couch!!!

Mini-fridge - check, comfy reclining chairs - check, wet bar.... hmm not sure there'll be space unless I can do a James Bond style secret revolving bar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1V1UqU7ItY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mLjQmrhDi0

fooze · « **Reply #5 on:** January 09, 2016, 10:45:20 pm »

I could make you a drink, but then I'd have to kill you.

Hilton · « **Reply #6 on:** January 18, 2016, 05:43:57 am »

Back on-line in the new house!

The view from my office is wonderful.

The rainforest penthouse office/cinema. (with air/con!)

Lovin life! (I'll post a pic tomorrow and you'll understand.)

I'm off to crash, the move was brutal but nothing was broken.

Hilton · « **Reply #7 on:** January 18, 2016, 04:27:59 pm »

The new morning routine. Feed the wild birds (Cockatoos, Rainbow Lorikeets' and King Parrots) while enjoying breakfast.

Rainforest view by Hilton, on Flickr

Rainforest view by Hilton, on Flickr

The view from the Office/Cinema Room.

Rainforest view by Hilton, on Flickr

JimH · « **Reply #8 on:** January 19, 2016, 01:12:41 am »

Wow! Nice view!

imugli · « **Reply #9 on:** January 19, 2016, 02:23:02 am »

With a view like that, a TV / Screen is the last thing I'd want to be putting in there :-D

You're in NSW, aren't you Hilton?

Hilton · « **Reply #10 on:** January 19, 2016, 03:16:08 am »

Quote from: imugli on January 19, 2016, 02:23:02 am

With a view like that, a TV / Screen is the last thing I'd want to be putting in there :-D

You're in NSW, aren't you Hilton?

The pc screen will be moved behind the cinema screen on a wall shortly, so the view will be Un interrupted. I have that view over 3 floors from 5 rooms anyway.

Yep in Warrawee NSW.

imugli · « **Reply #11 on:** January 19, 2016, 06:22:03 am »

Quote from: Hilton on January 19, 2016, 03:16:08 am

The pc screen will be moved behind the cinema screen on a wall shortly, so the view will be Un interrupted. I have that view over 3 floors from 5 rooms anyway.
Yep in Warrawee NSW.

Nice part of the world :-)

Hilton · « **Reply #12 on:** January 23, 2016, 06:30:17 am »

Started building the theatre room today.

Using the old spandex acoustically transparent screen for now to check all measurements before I try to make the new motorised retracting one. The room and screen are perfect for THX specs.

40 Degree viewing angle
3.3M seating distance
120" diagonal 16:9 screen

Started construction theatre room by Hilton, on Flickr

Screen-setup1 by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #13 on:** February 06, 2016, 09:30:57 am »

Got my new room almost sorted.

I'm loving it! Hunting around for a nice big rug and 3 seat theatre lounge.

Wows by Hilton, on Flickr

Quick video

Media room / office by Hilton, on Flickr

mojave · « **Reply #14 on:** February 11, 2016, 03:25:27 pm »

Quote from: Hilton on January 08, 2016, 09:45:36 pm

At the moment the leading contender is actually the 4K Sony VW500ES but it's hugely expensive and it's due for replacement, and its SXRD, Epson LS10000 looks good too.

Check out the new JVC DLA- X750R/X7000/RS500. I have the RS500 and it is incredible. Several people have actually "upgraded" from a Sony VW600ES to a new JVC projector. They compared side by side and found higher contrast and sharper image with the JVC including with 4K content. The JVC isn't a very good gaming projector since the input lag is around 140 ms.

Hilton · « **Reply #15 on:** April 11, 2016, 08:37:55 am »

Got my blinds and curtains in a while ago and the lounge is arriving in the next few days, just in time for Star Wars Force Awakens.

Nathan you're welcome to come over for a theatre warming party!

The room's nowhere near finished but it's pretty functional as it is.

Im going to enclose the balcony to put in a bar and more storage space and relocate the stairs to an outside wall to open up the room and allow another row or 2 of seating... The bar and stairs are on the 5 year plan but I'll have a bar fridge and temporary bar setup at the back of the room soon.

Hilton · « **Reply #16 on:** April 18, 2016, 02:05:01 am »

It's Rack Time!

I have to try fit all this into a new 12RU rack. (maybe a second rack above this one later if needed)

I'll be consolidating my gaming rig and HTPC into a couple new Silverstone GD-07 rack mount cases and working out a new cooling solution using a mixture of external air / internal air and a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger with external cooling solution so I can remove as many fans as possible and keep it quiet and cool. I'll be blending the external natural air and internal air with the heat exchanger to manage temperature, humidity and condensation, especially during winter. The heat exchanger will either be using water cooling to a fan and radiator solution under the house or an aquarium chiller if I think it's warranted.

Rack time by Hilton, on Flickr

The rack bits with a few shelves, fan mount, wheels and PDU.
I got a swing mount for a bit of extra rear clearance and to give me the option of wall mounting later.
I'll be using wheels for now as I'll probably do some work to vent the hot air from the rack through the wall using a clothes drier vent.

Rack time by Hilton, on Flickr

12RU Rack by Hilton, on Flickr

12RU Rack2 by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #17 on:** April 18, 2016, 10:11:10 am »

I'm Racked! (well mostly - Waiting on my new Silverstone GD-07 case)

I'ts a nice sturdy little rack with just enough space! I'll be able to get rid of the big beast computer in the corner once the new HTPC case arrives.

I'll be transplanting the motherboard and CPU from the gaming machine into the GD-07 HTPC case and using the ASUS Essence STX II 7.1 sound card and GTX760 from the old HTPC until the next gen GPU cards come out in the next few months. I'll be getting an Intel 400GB PCIE SSD card for boot drive shortly to make it a little beast. The old HTPC will become a dedicated backup server in another GD-07 case.

Looks like another 12RU rack may come in handy to mount the backup server and hard drives along with an Xbox One and PS3.

For now I'll be mounting the 2 rack mount fans one on each side of the rack to suck the hot air out until I get more elaborate with the hot air venting outside the house through the back of the swing mount through the wall.

Racked by Hilton, on Flickr

4 RU left for the Silverstone HTPC case and sliding tray to get quick access.

Racked by Hilton, on Flickr

Racked by Hilton, on Flickr

Haven't tidied cables yet!

Racked by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #18 on:** April 28, 2016, 06:31:13 am »

Second Rack is in, still waiting on New HTPC case to arrive.

Racked and stacked by Hilton, on Flickr

jmone · « **Reply #19 on:** April 28, 2016, 06:35:13 am »

Nice Rack!

imugli · « **Reply #20 on:** April 28, 2016, 06:48:56 pm »

Nice!

Was there a particular reason you went with 2 12ru (they look like 12) racks as opposed to one 16 or 24ru? I'm just asking out of interest.

Arindelle · « **Reply #21 on:** April 29, 2016, 01:52:36 am »

Quote from: jmone on April 28, 2016, 06:35:13 am

Nice Rack!

you guys are weird

Back in the day, that was reserved for something else.

Hilton · « **Reply #22 on:** April 29, 2016, 05:40:49 am »

Quote from: imugli on April 28, 2016, 06:48:56 pm

Nice!

Was there a particular reason you went with 2 12ru (they look like 12) racks as opposed to one 16 or 24ru? I'm just asking out of interest.

They are eventually going to be mounted to the wall, they're both swing racks. I think it's about the biggest the swing racks get.
The bottom one will stay on wheels to take the load off the hinge when it's open and the top rack will rest on the bottom rack to also transfer some weight off its hinge.

I'll also be putting a 100mm vent out the back of each of the swing mount door that mounts to the wall with a 140mm fan to vent the hot air to the outside using dryer vents.
So I'll have easy access to the rear without worrying about them falling off the wall and I'll be venting the hot air to keep the cabinets cool!
It's a small walk in wardrobe converted into my equipment room so there's also not much space.

dryer vent by Hilton, on Flickr

Quote from: Arindelle on April 29, 2016, 01:52:36 am

you guys are weird Back in the day, that was reserved for something else.

Ummm I think that's what he actually meant!

Hilton · « **Reply #23 on:** April 29, 2016, 07:20:19 am »

Walk around the room. Nearly finished!

Video tour by Hilton, on Flickr

jmone · « **Reply #24 on:** May 01, 2016, 02:02:53 am »

Love it! Esp the Trap Door

Hilton · « **Reply #25 on:** May 06, 2016, 05:23:28 am »

The new Silverstone cases arrived. I've rebuilt the HTPC first. Just a straight transplant from the really old case.

The case is really well built and I was able to install the Corsair H75 with 2 fans for water cooling the CPU without any mods! (more on that later!)
It's completely silent even with the 4 intake fans running at 900RPM. (2 bottom, 2 on the side) The seasonic PSU fan is also silent.

I didnt have any problems with blu-ray drive eject button and door. Works perfect!

The rebuilt HTPC is coming with me to the audio meet in a couple weeks as one of the test systems for the DIY running MC21 of course, along with my pair of Subs with the external bridged AMPS and the Pi for some audio listening comparisons.

First the finished vid and pic!

Click the pic to get to the video.

HTPC case by Hilton, on Flickr

HTPC case by Hilton, on Flickr

This is how I got the radiator in without mods. You can see two round black vibration dampers on the edge of the radiator. There's two on the bottom too.
The pressure fit between the top of drive rack and the vibration dampers on the radiator and the cable tray are enough to hold it firmly in place.

HTPC case by Hilton, on Flickr

HTPC case by Hilton, on Flickr

From left to right here you can see the bluray drive top left, then the radiator.
Video card in front, next to ASUS Essence STX II 7.1 and the daughter card for the extra 5.1 channels next to it.

HTPC case by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #26 on:** May 08, 2016, 12:36:17 am »

Started the rebuild of the beast into the new Silverstone GD08.

It requires a bit of modding the rear pci brackets for the quad SLI cards but it fits!
I can fit the ASUS Essense STX II in two of the spare PCI-e x1 slots now too!

It certainly is going to be compact, heavy, fast and quiet!

In chasing the ultimate powerful and quiet machine, the old beast case is going to be stripped and cleaned up, new fans put it in and it will retain all the cooling equipment, pumps, rads, fans and controllers.

The controller can work standalone without a computer but I'll be putting an old core 2 machine into the old case as a controller so I can remotely monitor the cooling equipment when it's outside.

The new Silverstone GD08 case will just house the PC electronics and external quick disconnects will be mounted in a PCI slot for connecting the cooling equipment.

Out with the old...

Rebuild time! by Hilton, on Flickr

Rebuild time! by Hilton, on Flickr

Modifying the PCI brackets so they are single slot.

Rebuild time! by Hilton, on Flickr

Rebuild time! by Hilton, on Flickr

Looking a bit naked....

Rebuild time! by Hilton, on Flickr

Ahh it fits! Thats better.

Rebuild time! by Hilton, on Flickr

Off to do some more.....

Hilton · « **Reply #27 on:** May 08, 2016, 07:02:16 am »

The hardest bit of running the loop in such a cramped space is done.

Not the prettiest but it's the best I can do with such cramped space! :eek:

Before you haters gotta hate, It'll have 4 x D5's in series and 4 x 360 Rads in series to keep the flow up through the bends and the CPU/GPUs.

I'm also removing a whole bunch of quick disconnects and bends at the other end of the loop in the Mountain Mods cooling case to offset the restriction of the 90 degree bends in the HTPC/Gaming system.

Now its dry fitted, time to take the CPU block and GPUs out and leak test and fit the ASUS Essence STX II 7.1 before I reinstall!

Hard bit done! by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #28 on:** May 10, 2016, 07:25:40 am »

I hit a few snags tonight with fitting the Asus STX II 7.1 in, but I I found a way!

I had to swap the one piece water cooling bridge for individual card connections with SLI links instead.
The bolts and plates on the back of the one piece bridge were snagging on the top of the sound cards. Not any more!

It all fits though I still have a few more SSD's to install.

Now I have to rebuild the external cooling system.

Plan B.... individual card connections with SLI Links

Packed to the hilt! by Hilton, on Flickr

Sound Cards in (master and daughter card)

Packed to the hilt! by Hilton, on Flickr

Video Cards in

Packed to the hilt! by Hilton, on Flickr

Packed to the hilt! by Hilton, on Flickr

SLI links in and cables all in

Packed to the hilt! by Hilton, on Flickr

Getting tight in there but it fits! Bluray Drive and a SSD in.

Packed to the hilt! by Hilton, on Flickr

Looking packed but tidy!

Packed to the hilt! by Hilton, on Flickr

Front view, lid FITS!

Packed to the hilt! by Hilton, on Flickr

Lotsa connections and the Overclocking controller and video card voltage controller.

Packed to the hilt! by Hilton, on Flickr

Still have a fair bit more work to do to finish before the weekend but the most fiddly stuff is done!!

Hilton · « **Reply #29 on:** May 11, 2016, 07:52:45 am »

Stripped the cooling system down today.... 5 years of dust! Yuk!

Stripped down by Hilton, on Flickr

Stripped down by Hilton, on Flickr

Before!

Stripped down by Hilton, on Flickr

After!

Stripped down by Hilton, on Flickr

How does this go together again???

Stripped down by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #30 on:** May 13, 2016, 04:27:04 am »

It's all clean now though and ready for a fan test and pump priming and a pressure test with the full loop with GPUs and CPU block out of the case.

Ready for testing by Hilton, on Flickr

Ready for testing by Hilton, on Flickr

The new tubing design is pretty clean and direct.

I may have to run with 1 x D5 pump from each res (total 2 running) for the moment as there maybe too much system pressure with all 4 pumps running which could cause leaks.

I think I'll need all 4 pumps to get the required head (lift) to go between floors when the cooling system goes under the house.

Coolant Loop flow is:
In at the Aquaero 5 XT fan controller at top left, down to the in of the first pair of D5s on the left, across to the in of the other pair of D5s on the right with a bit of tubing in the center, down into the far right radiator with hard links, then back across from right to left in series through the rads with SLI links, out to flow meter and quick disconnect on far left rad which then goes through the last rear rad with temp sensor before going back out to the main system through quick connects.

I'll report back soon.

Ready for testing by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #31 on:** May 13, 2016, 07:39:27 am »

Leak and Pressure tested all good to go back together now!

Video

leak test by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #32 on:** May 14, 2016, 07:28:14 am »

I tried fitting the SSD caddies in between the GPU's but it was a bit tight for comfort and I risked causing a short circuit.....

Tada! It lives!! by Hilton, on Flickr

So I modified the drive cage, drilled the rivets out, cut a piece off and bolted the piece back on that supports the other side of the Bluray drive.

Here you can see the SSD caddies crammed in between GPU's. Just wasnt going to happen!

Tada! It lives!! by Hilton, on Flickr

One modified drive cage!
Now fits 1 x Bluray Drive, 2 x boot SSD in RAID 0 on top of Bluray and 4 x data SSD in the Caddies in RAID 0.

Tada! It lives!! by Hilton, on Flickr

Tada! It lives!! by Hilton, on Flickr

Can still get to the drive caddie SSD doors pretty quickly.

Tada! It lives!! by Hilton, on Flickr

Tada! It lives!! by Hilton, on Flickr

A much better fit and also much easier to get the drive cage in and out!

Tada! It lives!! by Hilton, on Flickr

All wired up and the loop primed ready for first power test!

Tada! It lives!! by Hilton, on Flickr

Well I'll be....! It all worked first go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No leaks, all GPU's posted, all drives appeared and the Asus STX II 7.1 sound card appeared (without drivers - after a driver install it was all systems go!) That was tense I can tell you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tada! It lives!! by Hilton, on Flickr

Tada! It lives!! by Hilton, on Flickr

One mega powerful HTPC!;)

Tada! It lives!! by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #33 on:** May 14, 2016, 09:17:03 am »

Cutting it fine but I got it all working for the DIY session tomorrow!

Tower of power.

Cooling system on the bottom, Media Server in the middle and the HTPC/Worksation on top.

For tomorrow by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #34 on:** May 20, 2016, 07:19:36 am »

I'm now all back together and the beast watercooling system has finally been banished outside and my equipment room is oh so lovely quiet and much cooler!
Doesnt half look tidier too!

Here you can see the watercooler outside on the right through the glass door.

Done! by Hilton, on Flickr

Back in the Rack! (I just need to knock a couple holes in the wall and mount a couple connections to get rid of the tubing across the floor!)

Done! by Hilton, on Flickr

Done! by Hilton, on Flickr

I changed the fans in the Sub Amps today and the fan noise level dropped by just over 3db per AMP. (measured) Nice!
Picked up these Duratech fans from Jaycar. 12vdc 2000RPM IP54 rated and 21dbA noise level.

Amp fans by Hilton, on Flickr

Amp fans by Hilton, on Flickr

Noise comparison video, a bit hard to hear without headphones but they measured just over 3db quieter.

Amp fans by Hilton, on Flickr

JimH · « **Reply #35 on:** May 20, 2016, 07:25:36 am »

This is like watching the astronauts build the Space Station!

Congratulations. Time for a brew.

Hilton · « **Reply #36 on:** May 24, 2016, 07:57:18 am »

I did some plumbing today to get the cooling rig outside permanently!

The wall plates with quick disconnects mounted.

Plumbing! by Hilton, on Flickr

Plumbing! by Hilton, on Flickr

Hole in the wall.... exciting stuff.

Plumbing! by Hilton, on Flickr

Outside wall plate mounted.

Plumbing! by Hilton, on Flickr

This bit was real hard, but I managed to get a spanner up behind the wall plate to tighten the quickconnect onto the tubing and the mount.

Plumbing! by Hilton, on Flickr

Inside done!

Plumbing! by Hilton, on Flickr

A remote controlled power switch with a temporary extension down to an external powerpoint and the tubing all hooked up!

Plumbing! by Hilton, on Flickr

Plumbing! by Hilton, on Flickr

Power on Video! (click pic)

Plumbing! by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #37 on:** May 25, 2016, 12:48:04 am »

I've always wanted to put the noisy stuff in another room or outside and this has worked out perfectly on both fronts for me.

I must say I really love the silence combined with a powerful machine! I wish I'd done something like this years ago.

But why stop there? There's more tinkering to be done!

I've ordered some Noctua fans for my RAID boxes as they're a few years old now and the fans are a bit rattly. (Noctua NF-R8 Redux 80mm 1800RPM Fan)

It's funny how once you start removing sources of noise what else you can hear! (the RAID box fans even on low)

I have a fish pond outside my balcony and now I'll have to put a remote switch in to turn the pump off when I'm listening late at night at low volumes because I can hear the water trickling down the rock face into the pond.

Hilton · « **Reply #38 on:** May 28, 2016, 09:01:22 am »

Replaced the RAID box fans. Really quiet now!! (as in cant hear them at all)

The Noctua fans come in a fancy expensive bit of packaging for a fan!

Raid fan replacement by Hilton, on Flickr

Out with the old and in with the new... Yep this one has had it's day.

Raid fan replacement by Hilton, on Flickr

Raid fan replacement by Hilton, on Flickr

Also on another note....

Last night the overnight temps dropped down so the CPU/GPU were running at 17c-18c so I guess water temp must have been around 10-12c and I didnt get condensation.

Maybe I was lucky!!

I'll have to keep an eye on it especially tonight, the whether forecast is for down to around 8c tonight.

Hilton · « **Reply #39 on:** July 14, 2016, 09:21:36 am »

Have started the next round of upgrades.....

I'm going to be broke for a while, but it will be worth it! (tax return paying for most of it!)
Decided I haven't upgraded for quite a few years now and since HDMI 2 is now mainstream and Atmos and Auro 3D are starting to make an appearance.. its time.

Have ordered the first 1st of 2 new MSI GeForce GTX1080 Sea Hawk EK X 8GB - should arrive tomorrow!

Good bye 4-way SLI GTX 580 3GB

I've also decided to get a;
JVC DLA-X7000 4k pixel shift projector
Denon AVR-X7200WA Receiver

I nearly went down the Emotiva route with XMC-1 processor and XPA-7 for surrounds with XPA-2 for mains but decided to stay integrated.

I hope I don't regret it!

Also picked up a Surface Book .. great machine! and a Creative E5 DAC to take on holidays. Another really cool versatile gadget that sounds amazing - much better than my FiiO e17!

Hilton · « **Reply #40 on:** July 15, 2016, 03:11:45 am »

The first video card arrived today and I ordered a 2nd last night which shipped today and will arrive Monday.

Looking forward to seeing what they can do - been a while since I've had a high end system to bench with and play with.

I'll have to find a slightly higher case too as the cards are not reference design and are a fair bit taller than reference design.

I can probably "Hot-Rod" them into the case, sticking out the top like a blower with no top cover on the case

but if not I'll work out another case to order over the weekend that fits into the 19" rack.

It's really a beautifully finished product that has a fair bit of weight - feels like you've paid for something really special.

MSI-GTX1080-SEA-HAWK-EK-X-l by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #41 on:** July 15, 2016, 08:40:13 am »

First card is in "hotrod" style...

First the packaging - Nothing real special here. It's nicely protected which is the most important thing about a box!

GTX 1080 upgrade by Hilton, on Flickr

GTX 1080 upgrade by Hilton, on Flickr

Really nice looking card and block.

GTX 1080 upgrade by Hilton, on Flickr

GTX 1080 upgrade by Hilton, on Flickr

One last before shot!

GTX 1080 upgrade by Hilton, on Flickr

The HotRod! - Will have to do something creative and more attractive with this when I get the other card.

GTX 1080 upgrade by Hilton, on Flickr

GTX 1080 upgrade by Hilton, on Flickr

Back in the rack "topless"

Now off to do some benching.

GTX 1080 upgrade by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #42 on:** July 15, 2016, 09:36:44 am »

The GPU load, Voltage and Temp - a nice 2025Mhz @ almost full load.

GTX 1080 -2 by Hilton, on Flickr

GTX1080-1 by Hilton, on Flickr

GTX1080-2 by Hilton, on Flickr

Shadow of Mordor @ 1080p - Avg 153 FPS w/ Ultra settings all maxed - Killing it

ShadowOfMordor 2016-07-16 01-06-42-32 by Hilton, on Flickr

Utilisation

Shadow of mordor 1080p utilisation by Hilton, on Flickr

Shadow of Mordor with 4K DSR @ 1080p - Avg 53 FPS w/ Ultra settings all maxed - Not bad for 4K

4K DSR 1080p ShadowOfMordor 2016-07-16 01-08-40-25 by Hilton, on Flickr

Utilisation

Shadow of mordor 4k dsr @ 1080p utilisation by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #43 on:** July 16, 2016, 03:59:06 am »

GTX 1080 can run amazing settings

64/32 NNEDI3 on 1080p and 128/32 NNEDI3 on DVD
75% GPU utilisation

GTX1080-MadVR by Hilton, on Flickr

Top of the TimeSpy DX12 benchmarks for a 4960X in single card.

TimeSpy-DX12-2 by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #44 on:** August 03, 2016, 06:05:08 am »

Got an Intel 750 NVME PCIE 1.2TB SSD card going in tomorrow to replace the ancient 120GB SSDs and my first 4 x 8TB WD Reds to replace the old WD 3TB Greens before they start failing. (was outa space on PC and media storage)

I love having spare slots on the motherboard to do this kinda stuff.

Happy me.

Be interesting to see what JRmarks I get with the NVME drive.

Hilton · « **Reply #45 on:** August 05, 2016, 07:55:09 am »

I had a couple of initial issues getting the Intel 750 NVME 1.2TB SSD going but I got there in the end with a bit of PCIE slot juggling.

Here's a bit more background first - just in case it's relevant for others.

Windows 10 Pro 1607 64bit (anniversary edition - was a clean build from USB image about 4 weeks ago (mid july 2016)

Rampage IV Black running bios 0801

Intel 4960X @ 4.8Ghz

16GB Corsair Dominator 2000Mhz Ram (4 sticks)

2 x Sandisk Extreme 120GB SSD running RAID 0 on Intel ports 1+2 - GPT formatted NTFS boot / OS disk (with 450MB recovery partition / 100MB EFI partition / ~ 200GB OS/data partition)

4 x Sandisk Extreme 120GB SSD running RAID 0 on Intel ports 3-6 - GPT formatted NTFS data disk

1 x Bluray Drive on a third party SATA port.

Asus Essence STX II 7.1 sound card

2 x SLI GTX 1080 (MSI Seahawk EK X watercooled)

When I recently upgraded from 4way SLI GTX 580s (PCIE 2.0 cards) to 2way SLI GTX1080 (PCIE 3.0 cards) I had a small issue too.

With my configuration as per below with the new GTX 1080s I couldn't get my add-in Asus STX II sound card to work without disabling onboard realtek sound card. (more on that in a minute)

Original GTX 580 4 x SLI Configuration

CPU 4960X

slot1 x16 > GTX580 @PCIE2

slot2 x8 > GTX580 @PCIE2

slot3 x1 -

slot4 x8 > GTX580 @PCIE2

slot5 x1 > Asus Xonar Essence STX II @PCIE2

slot6 x8 > GTX 580 @PCIE2

GTX1080 2 x SLI Configuration (pre Intel 750 install)

CPU 4960X

slot1 x16 > GTX1080 @PCIE3

slot2 x8 > GTX1080 @PCIE3

slot3 x1 -

slot4 x8 -

slot5 x1 > Asus Xonar Essence STX II @PCIE2

slot6 x8 -

So without moving anything and with the realtek onboard soundcard disable the above was working fine.

------------

Then I tried installing the Intel 750 in slot 6 as per below... hmmm no green power led on SSD..

CPU 4960X

slot1 x16 > GTX1080 @PCIE3

slot2 x8 > GTX1080 @PCIE3

slot3 x1 -

slot4 x8 -

slot5 x1 > Asus Xonar Essence STX II @PCIE2

slot6 x8 > Intel 750 1.2TB NVME SSD @PCIE3

Then I moved the Intel 750 SSD to slot 4 and the green led powered on!....

But... Now my front USB ports stopped working... (It's not the Intel SSD that stopped the ports working - it's a limitation of the motherboard PCIE lane assignments- so I moved the keyboard/mouse wireless receivers to other USB ports)

So the final working layout is below

CPU 4960X

slot1 x16 > GTX1080 @PCIE3

slot2 x8 > GTX1080 @PCIE3

slot3 x1 -

slot4 x8 > Intel 750 1.2TB NVME SSD @PCIE3

slot5 x1 > Asus Xonar Essence STX II @PCIE2

slot6 x8 -

So after all that slot fiddling I then:

Set the bios to CSM disabled - rebooted

If you scroll right over to the right in the bios menu and keep going you'll see two Intel NVME bios entries, one shows the nvme and drive settings showing it running @ x4 PCIe3 speed and the other shows more detailed drive information. (nothing to change here - but at least the bios sees it!)

I then booted into windows installed the Intel NVME drivers 1.7.0.1002 x32-x64

I then installed the Intel 3.3.6 SSD toolbox and flashed the firmware on the drive to 8EV10174.

Rebooted

Intel SSD appeared in windows and I initialized and formatted ran AIDA64 disk benches and got 2800MB/s reads and 1000MB/s writes - All good!

Then all I did was clone my 2x Sandisk 120GB SSDs running in RAID 0 formatted with GPT NTFS on the motherboard Intel ports 1+2 to the new Intel 750 1.2TB NVME SSD with the trial version of Macrium reflect. (cloned the whole disk including EFI and rescue partitions - it was really fast!)

Then resized the Intel SSD with windows disk manager to take up the rest of the spare space on the drive (from 240GB > ~1TB formatted)

Shutdown

unplugged power to the old Sandisk SATA SSDs

Rebooted straight into windows on the new Intel 750 1.2TB NVME SSD - no other changes required.

Performance with AS SSD is 2080MB/s read 1064MB/s write

Happy camper!

Hilton · « **Reply #46 on:** October 24, 2016, 05:41:54 am »

Hi guys haven't been in the forums much lately, Ive been indulging in movies, music and games in the man cave.

A decent reasonably priced 4K projector is finally coming out so I'm saving up for a $8k benq w11000 4k DLP projector which becomes available December.
Better contrast and black levels than the entry level Sony 4K projectors and sharper picture too. Also better than the fake pixel shift LCD projectors. Cant wait!
I also installed some RGB remote control LED lighting throughout the room too.

Click pic to go to the Flickr video

Led by Hilton, on Flickr

Hilton · « **Reply #47 on:** October 24, 2016, 05:50:52 am »

And I've been busy tinkering with my virtual simpit. I added some tablet mounts to the X56 to hold two tablets and Logitech wireless media keyboard.

Easy to adjust and move out of the way for easy access and comfortable arrangement.

X56 with tablet mounts by Hilton, on Flickr

In position

X56 with tablet mounts by Hilton, on Flickr

What I see when seated.

X56 with tablet mounts by Hilton, on Flickr

Some more shots

X56 with tablet mounts by Hilton, on Flickr

JimH · « **Reply #48 on:** October 24, 2016, 06:14:16 am »

Love it! Thanks for posting.

Hilton · « **Reply #49 on:** December 20, 2016, 02:58:14 am »

So I finally got around to getting a new HB SLI Bridge.

Unfortunately MSI don't make a zero slot HB SLI bridge so I had to go for an EVGA HB SLI bridge.

So here it is next to the cheap and nasty looking ribbon I've been using.

HB SLI bridge by Hilton, on Flickr

Here it is installed

HB SLI bridge by Hilton, on Flickr

SLI bridge by Hilton, on Flickr

Look it glows..

SLI bridge by Hilton, on Flickr

And does it make a difference I hear you ask?
Well yes it does - the NAG message on the SLI configuration telling me to use a high bandwidth SLI bridge has now gone! oh and I might be getting a smoother frame rate at 4K in Doom and a couple other games but it's hard to tell.

INTERACT FORUM

Author Topic: New Theatre Room Ideas (Read 56337 times)