First would just like to say I am back baby, and if you need any PC help please ask me. I am a computer builder and deal with PC's every week. I can help you pick parts or solve issues as-well. I'm the computer man...



Welcome to my new project, I've decided to grab my old ASUS prebuilt and make it something powerful and special. I've done things before to this PC like adding a new PSU (EVGA 600b 80+, good but not modular which I will get to), added a GTX 760, and everything else is A-OK. Its got a pretty decent A8-5000 which turbos to 3.8ghz on load and for what it is, performs good. It has 12gigs of DDR3 RAM that is surprisingly running at 1600mhz (3 sticks). I don't think its running dual channel but I could be wrong.

Background information:
- Case is MicroATX, with metal screw (Raised) standoffs
- No balls or good looks
- No cable management options in the back of the case (I tried, just couldnt even fit extra sata's back there)
- Hasn't juiced yet
- Both side panels come off, and the front of the case comes off which reveals an extra fan exhaust and allowed for the disk drive to come out.
- No 2.5 SSD slots
- No USB 3.0 headers boys

***NOTE****: Please make sure to right click and open each image in new tab for zoom pictures. These were taken in 4k so you can zoom in massively to see whats going on. Also can't resize now, so please use new link to see appropriate picture size.

Before: 2014 modernization

7470 and shitty 350watt PSU are exiled and new champs take over
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As you can see, pretty shitty cable management as I had some rando from bestbuy do it because I needed to make some use of my geek squad membership. Got too lazy to redo it so I left it as it was.

After: 2015 Modernization

Overall look
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PSU
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Posting
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Cable Management Section

Cable Management #1: Front fan cable ties
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Cable Management #2: HDD and Mobo Power
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Cable Management #3: The Left-Over shit
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The Case
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Notes on Case:
- The side panel with the window was done a few months ago. The window is plexi and was cut to be 1/2 inch bigger than case cutout. Holes were done using a sheet to x the holes off and I plan on adding something to prevent dust but allow air to go through holes. And of course the case was cut and sanded to prevent any cuts and to make the rounded shape more "rounded".

- I have finally fixed the issue the window caused, but if you can see in previous pictures the Optical Drive "bracket" was bent with a pair of pliers. Now the panel comes off and goes on without hassle.



Mini Rant:

So, to you peeps that say cable management with Mid-ATX cases is impossible even with a Module PSU, here is a Pre-built MicroATX case with absolutely 0 intended cable management.... All it takes is some sweat, education, and confidence. I destroyed not one component in the system and dug right into it with no plan on how it would work. Of course I took precautions like taking out the GPU and powering off the system as-well as having a extra PSU plugged in with the switch turned off for grounding and touched it every 2 minutes but thats not the point. Grow some balls and make your system yours and feel proud. If you are building a new PC though, make sure to "Post" your system outside of the case to make sure everything works and is detected before going ham, you dont want to find a DOA after hours of perfecting and building.

Plan going forward:

I am saving the RAM, GPU, PSU, HDD for Archives, and case cables. Everything else is leaving the system and will be decommissioned.

Saving:
GTX 760 2gb Reference [Has small OC on it]
1600mhz RAM [3 Sticks, RAM is RAM]
Toshiba 5400RPM 1tb HDD [Archive for safe]
EVGA 600b 80 Plus Bronze PSU [Non-modular but its already cable managed and setup for easily changing the motherboard and storage]


This is the upgrade plan for this little guy
Part List: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pznxpg

Justifications and Hyperlinks for lazy people:

CPU: I've already got a gaming PC, but this little man will be for rendering and heavy CPU work. Whatever I want it to be, it can be it. Which justifies the Xeon E3-1241 V3. Also the thing is super sexy with its incredible watt to performance and thermal ratios compared to i7's. Stock cooler will be just fine since cpu speed's are locked after the 3.9ghz boost. (Xeon's have much better coolers than the stocks sent with i7's or i5's)

Motherboard: Mobo is nice, cheap, and is MicroATX. Good reviews and is H97 so I can get an i5 whenever, not like I will though.

SSD: I've got some BLACKS sitting around for storage drives but I did need a new SSD so I went with SamySon as it has good read and write. Its a boot drive and will also store my main applications.

Case Fan: Noctua baby, love the fans they produce.

Will keep y'all updated when parts come along and I get to building it.