Computer Disassembly

Both the Home Theater PC made from recycled parts and Holly's desktop have suffered power supply failures. Both computers comprised of at least some parts dating back a decade. We have therefore decided to scrap them.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 22 mm and f/4.5 and ISO 100 with 1/3 second exposure.

First, we attempted to find people who could use them, especially since January was peak component shortage. Then we found a place we plan to recycle them. We found Recycle Computers 4 Cancer and plan to donate the components there.

Desktop PC, New Build

Holly's desktop, which has been around since circa 2012, finally had the nearly 10 year old PSU die on it. Rather than attempting a repair we decided it was time for something completely new. She got my old Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C and I got a new Corsair 7000D Airflow and did a transplant.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 13 mm and f/4 and ISO 100 with 1/6 second exposure. 

Desktop PC, Case Transfer

About a year ago I replaced my main desktop and posted the build. I am a big fan of building in the Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C Tempered Glass and if Microcenter had one of the mesh front panel variants in stock when we went to buy parts for Holly's new desktop, I would have gotten one in a heartbeat. 

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/6 second exposure.

The problem is, with the solid front, the Define R6 just does not pull enough air through the front to feed the radiator and cool my AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 16 Cores 3500 MHz AM4 105W. 16 cores is just a lot of CPU. This is especially true in the summer in our current apartment. While we have central air the room we use as an office apparently has the worst air circulation of them all. Oops.

New Computer Tools

Holly needed to remove a the band on her Garmin Forerunner 945, the old band was really beat up and she wanted to replace it with a swap-able one. After years of seeing YouTubers we watch use iFixit branded kits we finally decided it may be worth getting a set both for the watch and some of the electronics and computer work we do from time to time.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 15 mm and f/4 and ISO 100 with 1/4 second exposure.

We bought the following items from iFixit: the Pro Tech Toolkit, a second Precision 4 mm Screwdriver Bit Torx Security TR6, and a second Precision Bit Driver, Aluminum. The watch band needs two of the torx bits and since there are two of us we wanted to drivers.

QNAP TS-h886 Memory Upgrade

In January of 2021 Holly and I finally setup a combined storage system. The system started with 16 GB of ECC UDIMM RAM (2x 8 GB sticks).

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/2 second exposure.

Getting the RAM was a bit interesting.

Network and Storage Upgrades

Holly and I have been married since August 2014. But we have not yet had a chance to set up a central storage location. We finally did so! Or as Holly has been putting it: "We're finally married!"

Desktop PC, New Build

Having not built a new desktop since January 2012 it was time to build a new system. The old rig was last updated in September 2016 when its decade old power supply died.
This is my most complicated build to date, in some ways. It has seven RGB fans. It is also simpler in others, as current cases are much easier to manage wiring than prior cases.

Shot of all the boxed parts prior to assembly, as this is the current way.

Desktop PC Power Supply Replacement and Dust Mitigation

My 10 year old PC Power & Cooling power supply unit died. So, I bought another one by the same company. Here is to another 10+ years!

In around fall 2006 having suffered a power supply failure I did a lot of research on desktop power supplies before purchasing a replacement. A company I came across was PC Power & Cooling. They had papers on their site discussing the importance of large capacitors, heat sinks, and a strong high amperage single 12V rail (at a time when power supply wattage was rapidly climbing but on dedicated rails). The said their power supplies were such high quality that they only needed a single 80mm fan to cool their power supply and were offering a 3 or 5 year warranty when 1 year was industry standard.

Desktop PC Overhaul

I was having some temperature and blue screen issues on my desktop recently. For one the original fan on my Cooler Master V8 CPU cooler died on me. I performed a little surgery and replaced its fan with a non-PWM case fan I had as a temporary solution (without removing the CPU cooler). I was regularly sitting at ~40 C idle which was rather warm.
So, I decided it was time for a CPU cooler change and figured I would try one of those close loop liquid systems. After reading lots of reviews, forum posts, comparisons, and so on I elected to go with the Corsair Hydro Series H110i because it used the CoolIt water pump and had good performance reviews, even if deemed a bit noisy.
One problem though is I use a Cooler Master HAF X full tower case. This case has been fun so far, but one issue for this particular cooler (which I knew when I ordered the cooler) is that this case only has holes for mounting 120 mm radiators at the top, not 140 mm radiators. So, some light modding would be involved.
I apologize for the image quality, lighting in the room was not great and I was doing this late at night and also had to use flash on a lot of shots. Thinking about it I should have taken of the circular polarizing filter as it would have let more light in.
Corsair Hydro Series H110i  box:

Home Theater PC (with more fans)

Changed the Home Theater PC so that it had better cooling and wire management, also should be, on the whole, even quieter now.


Home Theater PC: Custom
Case: Cooler Master HAF XB EVO (Fans: 2x 140 mm front, 1x 200 mm top, 1x 120 mm exhaust)
MB: MSI 890FXA-GD70
CPU: AMD FX-8120 @ 3.1 GHz Socket AM3+ 125W
HSF: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (setup with 2x 120 mm fans in push-pull)
RAM: 2x 2 GB DDR3 1600 G.Skill Ripjaws PC3 12800 [4 GB total]
GPU: 1x Asus HD6450 Silent (1 GB DDR3)
Sound: On Board
PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silnence Mk II 950
HDD: 1x Mushkin Chronos 120GB SSD
Networking: Dual Gigabit, Asus Wireless-N PCE-N15 PCIe Adapter, 2x TP-Link Antenna TL-ANT2408CL (because this will be placed in the living room far away from the router)
Optical: LG Blu-Ray Combo Drive UH12NS30
Primary Monitor: Toshiba 37AV50U 37" LCD HDTV
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Home Theater Software: XMBC

Twin 120 mm fans that came with case:

Home Theater PC

Built a home theater PC out of spare parts I had plus a few new parts.


Home Theater PC: Custom
Case: Cooler Master HAF XB (Fans: 2x 120 mm front)
MB: MSI 890FXA-GD70
CPU: AMD FX-8120 @ 3.1 GHz Socket AM3+ 125W
HSF: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
RAM: 2x 2 GB DDR3 1600 G.Skill Ripjaws PC3 12800 [4 GB total]
GPU: 1x Asus HD6450 Silent (1 GB DDR3)
Sound: On Board
PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silnence Mk II 950
HDD: 1x Mushkin Chronos 120GB SSD
Networking: Dual Gigabit, Asus Wireless-N PCE-N15 PCIe Adapter, 2x TP-Link Antenna TL-ANT2408CL (because this will be placed in the living room far away from the router)
Optical: LG Blu-Ray Combo Drive UH12NS30
Primary Monitor: Toshiba 37AV50U 37" LCD HDTV
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64


Power supply, hard drive, and Blu Ray drive installed.