You'd have to anchor it down... but still notify the nearest air traffic control... just in case the chains give way.

Well I didn't get around to setting up my beast today - well actually, yesterday now - cos I was required to run a few errands and help grab a few last minute supplies for Xmas.  By the time all that was done and the evening meal was finished - AND my daily pains had subsided - I'd had a couple of beers [Kilkenney, a nice Irish drop] and just didn't feel too enegetic.  I figured there's another day tomorrow... or the day after, and simply pulled the plug on the idea.

It'll be a day of eat, drink and be merry in another 4 - 6 hours... and another 6 pack or 3 of Kilkenney's and/or Tetleys bitter [no lemonade] to whet my whistle, so I'm thinking maybe Friday, which is also a cricket day and when I can take the stitches out of my elbow.  Now I could do that in front of the mirror so I'm able to see, or I could get Shaunna to do it... which might be the best bet if I've indulged in a few 'lubricants'

Anyway, both you and Terry have a very happy Xmas, orright! 

Ditto to you all there...

Re overclocking .... I 'should' at least get the ram at 2666 ... it's still the default 2333 ....

Thank you... from all of us.

I'm not too familiar with overclock.  I did it a couple of times using BIOS tools that made the relevant adjustments, so I'm not sure by how much RAM clock speed needs to be adjusted in comparison.  There may be some members here familiar with the process, but there are several sites dedicated to overclocking that'd have all the latest news and data you'd need to get the job done.

New system's still humming along....

Since then I've stripped, cleaned and rebuilt my old one ...to be rebirthed for Terry...once I've migrated her settings across.

This means that the hand-me-down process sees me getting the $6 Core 2 Duo back to mess with ....

Meanwhile....our Fridge died [again/properly]...so we're getting a new one, and Terry's getting her idea of a little Tab ... a 12.2" Note Pro [she's blind-ish].

Egad...Boxing Day sales, etc.... the horror....the horror....

I'll be doing the same with an old rig of mine for Bianca... when I can get at it again.... it just needs a clean and tune up and it'll be ready to go.  That has a fairly newish Thermaltake Elements case {as in hardly used]; a 4 core AMD processor @ 2.8ghz on a Gigabyte board; 8 gigs of RAM; a Nvidia 8800GTX and x2 500gig HDDs. It's no slouch and should serve her well for a while yet.

Oh how I hate that... something breaks down just on or after Xmas.  I hasn't happened to me this year - touch wood - but I've had stuff die/give up the ghost on me in past years around Boxing Day or shortly thereafter... like the year my washing machine died on Dec 27 and I had a daughter still in nappies, and not those horrible disposable things, either.  The next year it was the freezer [on Boxing Day] and there I was, running around like a blue arsed fly trying to find alternative homes for much frozen food. Luckily I had a great neighbour who let me put the majority of it in hers.

Good on her... 12.2" is quite a nice size for a tablet, not to big to lug around, and not too small, either.  I was going to get a Microsoft Surface Pro at 12.2", until I spied this HP Envy at 13.6" and couldn't go past it.  It's only an inch and a bit difference, but it is noticable when reading text, and given my eyesight ain't as good as it once was, it seemed the better choice.  There was a 15.6" model of the same unit for not alot more... fine as a laptop but too cumbersome as a tablet, I thought.

I was looking on the Thermaltake Global site today and the black version of the Level 10 is still listed as available, though it would appear the same is not true at Thermaltake Australia, which is possibly why local suppliers no longer stock it.  I could order it through Thermaltake USA or Global direct, and it was my 1st choice case, but that could work out more expensive in the long run, and it is a bit of messing around with exchange rates, etc, so I'm thinking that I will stick with one of the Corsair or Coolermaster cases I linked to above.

The other thing I decided is to start purchasing components throughout 2015, preferably when on special, thus saving myself the larger lump sum in August.... and if I'm tight-arsed about other spending, which I usually am, the final, more expensive parts, CPU and RAM, should be affordable when needed.  To start off I'm thinking about getting that 480gb PCIe SSD from Kogan for $275... less $45 with a coupon I have in my possession.  My thought is to install it in my Level 10 rig and migrating the OS to it in preparation for shifting it over to the new build in August.

As for Boxing Day sales,  it'll be a cold day in Hell.... this year and others.  I have absolutely NO patience for argy-bargy/push shove or rudeness/bad manners... people trying to grab shit out of my hands cos I got there first.  Nah, fech that!!  Besides, I have alternative plans... they cannot be derailed because of some sale or frivolous spending on something I neither need or really want.

Hey Paul, just found this article on PCIe and M2 SSD drives and thought you might like to check it out.  I found it most interesting to read indeed, especially the parts regarding speed and best performance.  My current mobo has an MS slot, but I would not see the best performance from an M2 drive as it runs off the chipset, not the CPU and uses slower lanes.  Still, I would see twice the speed/performance and will still install one for the OS in my current rig in readiness for the new build.

Yep, mine's the XP941 so it's the 'best' without costing too many arms and legs .... but so far I'm still on an SSD for the OS.... but the M.2 is partitioned to have half OS and half FSX.  FSX is already showing benefits...but of course the CPU and GPU and ram are all new/different as  well....

I thought my current mobo had M2 support - well that's what I read in a compatabilty guide - but alas, that's for Rev 1, and mine's the previous model.  What I'm doing now is researching to see if I can use the one I'm interested in with a PCIe slot.  Thus far it seems I can, using a M2 to PCIE adapter, which may or may not affect performance. 

Still, the ultimate goal is the install it in the new build, so it's not of huge importance if performance is slightly affected.  I also read that standard SATA SSDs can be adapted to PCIE with the right adapter, though I'm not sure of the cost factor... whether it is or isn't worth is cost-wise.  Looking at one, there's quite a bit more goes into them and are likely more expensive than the M2 adapter, which I can pick up for around 20 bucks AU.  I will check out SATA to PCIe adapters, however, as the option may well be advantageous in my current rigs somewhere down the track.

Well I decided against this SSD as I just checked the specs they sent me and it is indeed a SATA M2, which is NOT what I want at all. The SATA versions draw their power from the PCIE slot but still require a SATA cable to the mobo for data transfer, and that, to me, sort of defeats the purpose of higher speed M2 devices.

What I have done instead is check out the offerings at RAM City.  I can get a Samsung XP941 256 PCIE M2 for $324.99 AUD and a PCIE to M2 adapter for $27.99 [a grand total of #362.88 with postage].  Okay, it's a bit more than I originally planned to spend prior to purchases specifically for the new build, but I believe the decision will pay off over time.  Besides, it's by far the cheaper option than going with a compatible M2 mobo AND a PCIE M2 SSD... and alot less work into the bargain.

There are brands sporting cheaper 256gb's [and some more expensive], but the XP941 has the best reviews regarding speed and performance, so I likely will go with that combination, for now, that is.   In the future, however, I may just go with a 512gb for the new build and leave the 256er in the current rig.  I believe a 256gb SSD is more than a sufficient size for an OS and installed programs on this rig, plus a couple of games if I so choose, and when the new machine is complete with its 512gb [or bigger if it's afforable at the time] I can pretty much load the OS, proggies and all the games I want... have.

Edit:

For anyone in Oz wanting to upgrade a SATA SSD to PCIe, there is this adapter for S185.99 at RAM City. This adapter holds 2 standard 2.5" SSDs, and when used in Raid0 formation data transfer speeds of up to 800mbps are possible... 500mbps with one SSD connected.  No doubt there are cheaper, single drive versions out there, not that I've found any as yet, but the ability to upgrade 2 drives for $186, and achieve 800mbps, isn't too bad at all... and why would you go with a single drive version capable of SATA only speeds?  

In fact, I may even get one to go in my Thermaltake Chaser [full tower] rig, which has x2 120gb SATA SSDs in RAID0  it.  As it is it is lightening fast with an AMD octocore CPU @ 4.6ghz, 32gb of RAM and a GTX770TI in it.  In fact, it boots Windows 8.1 significantly faster than my Intel rig.

The article you linked to in #206 indicates that dev is on-going so it's likely that later in 2015 there'll be much faster options.

Currently 'the go' is what I fluked....x99 with 40 channels and on-cpu access to the M.2 x4 giving the fastest speeds readily available - without wild expense.

Once I'm entirely happy with the OS on the SSD I'll image it across to the M.2 and see how things go.

Currently there are 'quirks'...ie. Safe boot doesn't ... sfc /scannow won't ... so it's likely some sys files didn't survive the dissimilar image transfer from the old machine.

Once I get it ALL to behave as expected then I'll do the image.

Ignoring those issues the system is fine...

It's fast....and it's cool....AND quiet.

I'm still waiting to hear the PSU and GPU fans actually come on.... and the case is 3mm thick 'solid' aluminium [yes, 'ium'] so doesn't need sound proofing... and the isolated components don't have a chance to transfer heat to the others.

CPU is 39c - fan at 1140 , MoBo at 27c and GPU at 32c - Ambient about 18.

The Noctua cooler came with 2 fans....a 140 in the middle and an extra 120 on one 'end'...but that one conflicted with the ram so was left off.

The old machine was noisier than this one and the numbers were all in the mid/high 40s...

BTW....'real-world' results.... in FSX at YMML {Melbourne Airport - high detail addon] on the old machine I'd get a framerate around 9 to 12fps.

On this one its lowest is around 20 and typically 30+..... thanks mostly to the 5960 ...

Yes, so by the time I'm ready to build there may be better options available.  However, the XP941 is quite respectable and I would be happy using a 512gb in the new rig if the cost of the newer tech is substantially more as is often the case 'til demand lowers pricing.

Well I did order the 256 gig XP941 and the adapter... though when I'd gotten through the purchase process the total due was 40 bucks less than advertised.  Goody!  I'm not complaining.  Point is, I'm not likely to see the transfer speeds you're getting as yet, not with my i7 4770K and X87Z chip mobo.  Though there will be a marked improvement over the SATA connected SSD in this rig, the ultimate goal is to build a 99x based machine with a XP941 installed directly on the mobo for that optimum performance.

I didn't have those issues when I imaged over using 'Dissimilar Hardware'... and I also went from a Legacy BIOS over to a UEFI, so I'm unsure if that may be an issue or not.  I recall reading somewhere [perhaps in the Acronis forums] that non-functioning system files were a problem for some and not others when cloning over to dissimilar hardware, that some users put it down to changing from a Legacy to a UEFI BIOS.   I dunno, 'tis as clear as mud to me.

My current machine is also very quiet.. even with 6 case fans running [mind you, they are damned good fans... most quiet even at the hottest of times].  Yeah, I believe liquid cooling plays a large part in the cool and quiet running of this beasty, with the CPU usually running around 35c - 36c and the radiator fan hardly making a murmur.  Even my AMD based rig is quiet compared to past machines, but much of that could be down to the better manufacturing of case fans these days and the use of rubber mounting grommets to absorb vibrational noise. 

The other factor... the solid, sturdy build of Thermaltake cases... both of mine are Thermaltakes.  I know that MadDeez [John] isn't too impressed with Thermaltake products, but all 3 of my Thermaltake cases thus far have been solid, yet quiet performers.  It's going to seem strange going to a CoolerMaster case after so long... unless I can get that black Level 10 I desire so much, without too much hassle, and at a desirable price.

Yes, I went from legacy to UEFI ... can't say if that was the issue.... but there must be some sys files that are wrong/missing/corrupted.

Everything I can poke at it seems OK...but WEI, sfc and safeboot all don't work/finish.... and in the case of those 'errors' the Internet is full of utter morons without a clue.   If their brains were dynamite they couldn't blow their hats off.

I'll do an image sometime....then see what a 'repair' via OS CD can do ....

Yes, having read the new specs [knowing the old] I knew that.  Some people say they don't like UEFI, but I actually prefer it to Legacy, in that it opens up a raft of new Settings and performance options that simply were never available before... and when you run a UEFI version of Win 8.1. it's positively exhilerating... not that we'll get into that debate again here.

in a cyclone.... re: the hats.

Anyway, while some morons may not have a clue, there were a couple of 'Super [I guess more experienced] Users' who stated/inferred that some system files, like safe boot, were BIOS dependent and may not work when switched from one BIOS type to another in some instances.  The technical jargon was above me so I didn't really get a handle on it, and being my clone to dissimilar hardware went without a hitch I didn't research it any further... though I'm sure the answer is out there if one looked in the right places. 

Your quickest and easiest recourse, however, may be to simply insert your Windows disc and do a repair install, as suggested.  I had issues with various system files a while back, and when sfc/ scannow failed to restore them, yrag PMed the instructions to restore them via the Windows disc AND an elevated CMD  if a simple repair from disc didn't work.  Some of your file repairs may be the same as my past ones, some may not, so here's a list of CMD commands to assist in your endeavours. There's also this tutorial I've had bookmarked for yonks, which may also help.

So Paul, you may have been very, very fortunate to get you Thermaltake Level 10 Titanium Edition... very, very fortunate indeed.

This from PC Case Gear......

"The distinctive and expertly engineered Level 10 returns for an encore. With its timeless and iconic design – the Limited Edition Thermaltake Level 10 Titanium is crafted for collectors. Thermaltake have manufactured an exclusive limited run of the Titanium version of the Level 10 chassis with only five-hundred being made available worldwide, of which only forty are available here Australia and New Zealand."

Yeah, they're a scarcity alright!  And even if online sellers or retailers say they have them in stock, the chances are that they haven't... not any more.

So out of sheer boredom cos there's not alot to do around here after 1.30am, I decided to run another [unsuccessful] check for a black Level 10,  and came across PC Case Gear with the above article regarding quantity of the Titanium Edition...  AND that they have 'some' in stock.  So, out of curiosity AND boredom [at this time of night] I decided to attempt to purchase one.  As expected, it was a no go, "This Item No Longer Available". 

The same was/is true at Scorptec, ComputerAlliance and about another half dozen sellers I tried.  Same with the black version... nobody's got 'em.  Hmmm, I have to wonder if sellers keep these unavailable items listed - as opposed to taking them down - simply to garner the attention otherwise uninterested parties, with the intent to primarily sell them something else they may otherwise have not considered?  I pose this question because many is the time I've gotten: "No, we don't have any of 'those' anymore [and it was too instant that they'd only just run out] but we do have 'so-and-so' in stock that may interest you."

Given your Titanium Edition is but one of only 500 worldwide, me thinks it will be worth a few quid more than you outlaid in the not too distant future.

Anyway, I've decided on what I shall purchase for my new build... come upgrade, being I have some components already:

* Case: Coolermaster Cosmos II

* Mobo: ASUS Rampage Extreme x99 Socket 2011-V3

* CPU: Intel i7 5960X @ 3.5hz

* RAM: Crucial 4x8gb DDR4-2133

* SSD: Samsung XP941 M2 512gb SSD

* GPU: Asus [STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5] / OC version, PCI-E3.0, 4GB 256

* PSU: Silverstone 1200W 80PLUS Gold [ST1200-G-EVO], 100% Modular [already have]

* ROM: LG BH16NS40 BLK BluRay Burner,16xBD-R Read/Write [already have]

* CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H110 Liquid CPU Cooler

* HDDS: [already have]

* Case Fans: 22cm down to 12cm [already have]

Anyway, that's pretty much it, anything else I either already have or can get inexpensively... which it will need to be if current prices dont fall prior to my readiness to purchase.  At current prices the above purchases are in the vicinity of $3500.00 AUD, though many commenters believe prices will fall considerably by then because consumer demand will push down pricing on much of this newer tech.

Ah...your specs look mighty close to mine.....must mean we're both doing something wrong...

Remember...when you use the M.2 you won't be able to populate all the PCIe slots as the case pics show.  Shares bandwidth with slot 5....

Yes, when I started looking into the Level 10 I'd seen reference to it being strictly limited...and CPL and PCCG both listed it as 'in stock' but when my first-choice locale [CPL - it's closer] said it was out of stock I didn't ask for it to be ordered in...instead chased up PCCG who did have it.  Then when it seemed to be taking 'too long' to turn up I was paranoid someone else had it 'double booked'....

Not something wrong, just trying to get the best tech for the money... and after reading the specs on the 5960X I thought: "I just gotta get me one of these."

Of course, I will be going with your 1st choice of mobo... it has the slightly better specs and has the ROG colour scheme, black and red, which appeals to my inner demon... not to mention it will look ultra-sexy in the Cosmos II.

I am coming down a notch with the graphics card, though.  Apart from trying to remain within a predetermined budget, I wouldn't be running FSX or ultra-high-end games, so a GTX 970 will be quite sufficient.  However, if the new-tech prices come down as expected, and there's a 980 - 990 going for a song, well maybe I could end up with something a little higher.

There aren't too many choices going for DDR4 RAM at the moment, but I do expect that companies other than Crucial will have various offerings, with kits of 4 or maybe even 8 sticks available for the x99 boards, so my choice of RAM isn't set in concrete just yet.

I was aware of that and counted it into my configuration ideas. Fortunately it will not have an effect.  I will not be running two graphics cards in SLI for a start, meaning I will have three slots remaining, of which, only one needs to be kept free for my sound card.  I do have a TV tuner and other expansion cards for additional SATA and USB 3 ports, etc, but I shall decide on the most important on build day.

Fortunately it wasn't 'double booked'... but I know what you mean about getting paranoid when things seem to be taking too long to arrive... especially when it's a new supplier you've not done business with before... and even worse when paranoia turns into frustrated, panicky paranoia because every delivery van in your street is stopping at everybody elses place but yours... and when a delivery driver eventually knocks on your door just prior to knocking-off time, all he wants to know: "Is that your cat I've just run over?"

By then you're just about ready to strangle him... and it wasn't even your cat.  You're also ready to strangle the neighbours who got their parcels on time, but instead you go into the bathroom, look into the mirror and start counting to see how many hairs you pulled out during the course of one of the longest days in your life.  To be honest, I have considered a toupee to limit the physical damage, and cos it don't hurt as much, but at the end of the day, the toupee is put on hold as my insatiable lust for PC parts wins out yet again.

Hehe!

Seriousy, waiting is usually the hardest part... the next is turning it on, placing a finger in each ear and waiting for a bang... and then it's looking at your bank balance and crying over the large chunk that's missing.  But then you look at your handiwork, the fact it is running as expected [hoped for] and think the who shebang was worth it.... and you, you lucky bugger. has a collectors item case that'll be worth a mint in years to come.  Yup, 'worth it' is an understatement in your case [pun intended]

Had a hard look at my OS/system ...and decided to do a virgin install of 7 Ult straight into the M2.

Only real issue now is it never likes to 'reboot'... but 'have you tried turning it off and turning it on again' [good old IT Crowd] works....

Plan is to dual-boot between the 2 'versions' until the new matches the old in functionality...but without the dross of half a decade of junk....

Forgot to add ...I'm typing here on the new OS ... and [horror] so far the only 'skinnable' installed is Sysmetrix.

All things being equal everything to be installed can activate on both drives...as they are ultimately 'identical'...

Sometimes that is the better option, especially if you have "the dross of a half decade of junk".  And on a brand spanking new machine with all the bells, whistles and power to burn, why bottleneck it with an encumbered and cluttered old install of Windows!  Nah, fresh is best in a case like that.  

Thing is, I've thus far been able to clone my OS over to a new machine without too much clutter going with because I perform weekly maintenance on my machine to remove junk files and redundant registry entries, etc... and once a month I do a thorough clean-up, getting rid of multiple 'temp' files, redundant 'Program Data files and 'App Data files, etc.  Even though I use IOBit Uninstaller to remove unwanted proggies, and it does a deep clean to remove most leftovers, I have occasionally found 'past' program folders and registry entries that need removing manually.  Yup, Ccleaner and IOBit's Advanced System Care Pro are a blessing when one needs to clean their machine.  I've also used WiseCare 360 and System Mechanic with good results.

Anway, I will likely just clone this install of Win 8.1 over to the new M2 drive when it arrives, but I'm undecided as to what I'll do 'OS-wise' when I've completed the new build.  I do have an unused copy of Win 8.1, and a copy of Win 7 Pro, for that matter, but it could well be that Win 10 has been released by then and is the better option.

I did read in a couple of reviews that some M2 drives in some systems have minor boot issues.  At the time of reading there was no apparent cure, just that firmware updates to relevant motherboards should address the issue.  Hopefully that is sooner rather than later.... I'd rather not experience boot issues, although I recall mobo direct M2s more often presented issues than PCIe mounted ones.

It's a horror orright!  In fact, there should be a statute somewhere declaring it [no Stardock products] a crime.  It's the first TLC thing I do for an OS after posting the bodyguards [AV, Antispyware, etc]... that's to give it new boots and panties [hehe, an Ian Dury reference there].  MS may have got one or two things right over the decades, but an aesthetically pleasing GUI was never one of them.  Ooooh, whenever I think of the visual abomination that was XP, I pretty near have to take a spew in [Fisher Price] technicolour.  Just as well I don't think of it too often.  I mean, there's no point to breakfast if'n it's not down there long enough to digest.