Foxhound
Beginner
Hey Folks,
So I have on and off habit of creating period correct retro builds like win98 builds s478 complete with AGP gpu . So somehow in the last year or more , I got myself thinking how about 775 build as a homage to awesome platform more like a potent build for last days of xp.
Sourcing 15-18 year old hardware is tough enough but then I had a pretty high demand - it was not going to be some random g31 based e7300 . Tougher still is sourcing decent gpus from that age and cpu cooler. But then slowly deals were struck and opportunities opened up .
And this is how it’s shaped up :
CPU- At first thought of a quad core and got the iconic q6600 but then I chanced upon a very rare cpu - the x6800 - core 2 extreme. Boasting unlocked multiplier it was their fastest dual core crazy cpu at its launch in 2006 surpassed only by the later wolfdales e8xxx. Guess this alone was like 50k compared to the ordinary E4xxx/e6xxx. So this would be our hero product !
Motherboard - again no common motherboards . Had to be iconic . Had to scream 2000s . I got a bit lucky with asus 680 SLi board but traces were bad so no go. Over months I was not making any progress and finally got had a friend scour chennai to get me a New in box intel G43 mobo . I kind of coaxed myself but wasn’t happy . ddr3 was blasphemy . But I guess the gods above took a pity - and connected me with an IP35 pro . Great success !! This was the board for the crazy ocs back in the day for ln2 fueled competitions.
Ram: Ocz are next to impossible to find so I was searching for either dominators or xms line up . And that’s how I finally ended with Corsair xms2s which can overclock like anything beyond their usual 400mhz
GPU: the most tragic part . with only gt 710 and gt730 flooded I was giving up hope . Though finally again after months I got myself a dodgy evga 9800gt . No doubt it was abused the fan was dying and as a previous owner of 8800gt I knew it was probably cooking off itself to death . And that’s what it did during a test run
straight up died . Then started my hunt again . Not wanting to get stalled , I finally looked Radeon way and got myself a msi 6790 - yeah it was released years later but beggars ain’t choosers 
Also the ip35pro can run cross fire with 4x mode , so who know if I get another 6790 for the heck of it.
Cabinet - Had to be a cooler master , this was their peak with haf and storm scouts , though I had my eyes on thermaltake v51 - it had that look with ODD support . And what better than the iconic cm690 in an official avatar . And with my luck , got it with busted fans and overall horrible condition that needed hours to spruce up , but small victory nonetheless .
CPU cooler - possible again one of the more challenging parts . 775 long dead no one makes any decent cooler to handle 75w tdp and above ( x6800 is 75w and q6600 is 105). I was sure I want going to find any megahelms but was looking if any 4 heatpipe from antec was still around . Few available ones are like twin heatpipe which is good for max 65w and in a case like cm690 with limited front intake I wasn’t sure . In fact I tried sourcing old hyper 212s with no luck . Then suddenly this relic from 478 days popped up- this is a thermalright xp90c all copper - yes all copper cooler which was technically good till 100w tdp kind of worked in my plans . It is heavy boy and the deep cool 4 piper on my other system feels like a joke . The mounting is scary but doable . And it keeps the x6800 decently cool at idle and load. This was designed to run fabless but I have added a local 92mm pwm fan. I did briefly try with an older artic f8 80mm but it could do better.
Other misc - psu is now my older mwe450v2, plonked in an older Samsung sata ssd and a lappy hdd and cobbled up some fans lying around with a cheapo zebby green led fan for the look. Also added a slim 80mm to back of mobo (cm690 has a mounting place) . There’s space for a bottom 120mm intake and top 120mm exhaust that I may populate later . And an lg odd prev used as paperweight put back in service.
So overall , has been quite a fun but taxing build. These parts are long gone and perhaps only a few specimens remain . It’s not perfect - and has flaws - one memory lane messed up, missing mobo io shield, Radeon in a nvidia case but it’s definitely a rare build and does bring a smile to my face.
Hope you enjoy my novice pics
So I have on and off habit of creating period correct retro builds like win98 builds s478 complete with AGP gpu . So somehow in the last year or more , I got myself thinking how about 775 build as a homage to awesome platform more like a potent build for last days of xp.
Sourcing 15-18 year old hardware is tough enough but then I had a pretty high demand - it was not going to be some random g31 based e7300 . Tougher still is sourcing decent gpus from that age and cpu cooler. But then slowly deals were struck and opportunities opened up .
And this is how it’s shaped up :
CPU- At first thought of a quad core and got the iconic q6600 but then I chanced upon a very rare cpu - the x6800 - core 2 extreme. Boasting unlocked multiplier it was their fastest dual core crazy cpu at its launch in 2006 surpassed only by the later wolfdales e8xxx. Guess this alone was like 50k compared to the ordinary E4xxx/e6xxx. So this would be our hero product !
Motherboard - again no common motherboards . Had to be iconic . Had to scream 2000s . I got a bit lucky with asus 680 SLi board but traces were bad so no go. Over months I was not making any progress and finally got had a friend scour chennai to get me a New in box intel G43 mobo . I kind of coaxed myself but wasn’t happy . ddr3 was blasphemy . But I guess the gods above took a pity - and connected me with an IP35 pro . Great success !! This was the board for the crazy ocs back in the day for ln2 fueled competitions.
Ram: Ocz are next to impossible to find so I was searching for either dominators or xms line up . And that’s how I finally ended with Corsair xms2s which can overclock like anything beyond their usual 400mhz
GPU: the most tragic part . with only gt 710 and gt730 flooded I was giving up hope . Though finally again after months I got myself a dodgy evga 9800gt . No doubt it was abused the fan was dying and as a previous owner of 8800gt I knew it was probably cooking off itself to death . And that’s what it did during a test run
straight up died . Then started my hunt again . Not wanting to get stalled , I finally looked Radeon way and got myself a msi 6790 - yeah it was released years later but beggars ain’t choosers Also the ip35pro can run cross fire with 4x mode , so who know if I get another 6790 for the heck of it. Cabinet - Had to be a cooler master , this was their peak with haf and storm scouts , though I had my eyes on thermaltake v51 - it had that look with ODD support . And what better than the iconic cm690 in an official avatar . And with my luck , got it with busted fans and overall horrible condition that needed hours to spruce up , but small victory nonetheless .
CPU cooler - possible again one of the more challenging parts . 775 long dead no one makes any decent cooler to handle 75w tdp and above ( x6800 is 75w and q6600 is 105). I was sure I want going to find any megahelms but was looking if any 4 heatpipe from antec was still around . Few available ones are like twin heatpipe which is good for max 65w and in a case like cm690 with limited front intake I wasn’t sure . In fact I tried sourcing old hyper 212s with no luck . Then suddenly this relic from 478 days popped up- this is a thermalright xp90c all copper - yes all copper cooler which was technically good till 100w tdp kind of worked in my plans . It is heavy boy and the deep cool 4 piper on my other system feels like a joke . The mounting is scary but doable . And it keeps the x6800 decently cool at idle and load. This was designed to run fabless but I have added a local 92mm pwm fan. I did briefly try with an older artic f8 80mm but it could do better.
Other misc - psu is now my older mwe450v2, plonked in an older Samsung sata ssd and a lappy hdd and cobbled up some fans lying around with a cheapo zebby green led fan for the look. Also added a slim 80mm to back of mobo (cm690 has a mounting place) . There’s space for a bottom 120mm intake and top 120mm exhaust that I may populate later . And an lg odd prev used as paperweight put back in service.
So overall , has been quite a fun but taxing build. These parts are long gone and perhaps only a few specimens remain . It’s not perfect - and has flaws - one memory lane messed up, missing mobo io shield, Radeon in a nvidia case
but it’s definitely a rare build and does bring a smile to my face. Hope you enjoy my novice pics
