Build-A-Rig Parts list thread

[Wedge]

Goooooddammmmiiiiit I wanna build a new computer ;_;

[IdiotWithGuns]

Hey guys let me ask you this.
Is it worth it to go with x fire set up (with cheap cards) or just stick with single sli video cards?
When i was building my last rig, i thought of that and .... i just went with one sli video card.  I mean.. i cant dish out 800$ on a set of video cards.  Would be nice tho.  But is it worth it? lol

By the way yeah the raptors SCREAM!!!   With a fast boot motherboards, they deff worth it.  Not to mention the 5 year waranty.

[copulatingduck]

Hey guys let me ask you this.
Is it worth it to go with x fire set up (with cheap cards) or just stick with single sli video cards?
When i was building my last rig, i thought of that and .... i just went with one sli video card.  I mean.. i cant dish out 800$ on a set of video cards.  Would be nice tho.  But is it worth it? lol

By the way yeah the raptors SCREAM!!!   With a fast boot motherboards, they deff worth it.  Not to mention the 5 year waranty.

Not really. SLI and XFire are possibly (but not likely) worth it in two situations: one, when you already have a card, found some extra money and can buy a used dupe for super cheap, or two, when you have more money than God. Because of drivers and the like, the performance boost is somewhere in the neighborhood of ~1.3-1.5 times what you have with a single card. In nearly all cases, the cost of getting two cards is much higher than buying a single card for the same performance. The only time SLI and XFire really shine is at extremely high resolutions like 1600x1200.

[ZoSo]

Well here is my rig guys:

Monitor: BenQ FP241W 24" LCD @ 1920x1200
Review: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/11...q_FP241W/1



CPU: AMD X2 4200+ @2.7ghz 1.55V (stock is 2.2ghz)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright SI-97 + Thermaltake 120mm Silent Cat Fan
Video Card: eVGA G92 8800 GTS 512mb @ 864/2106/2000 1.38V (stock is 670/1674/1944)
Video Card Cooling: Thermalright HR-03 Rev A + Antec 120mm TriCool Fan
RAM: OCZ Platinum DDR400 2-3-2-5 4x1Gb
Mobo: ASRock Dual SATA-II Volt-Modded
Sound Card: Auzentech X-Fi Prelude
Speakers: Logitech Z-5300e + Panasonic 400W Receiver + 200W 12" Sony Sub + Olympus Lineaum Tweeter Bookshelf Speakers
PSU: Cooler Master Real Power 550W
Storage: Seagate 180Gb SATAII + 360Gb External USB 2.0
Case: Antec 900

I am planning to upgrade to a 9800GX2 after my buddy buys my 8800 GTS for $260.  Some people find it funny that I game on Socket 939 and DDR with top of the line video cards, however if they played on my 1920x1200 resolution they would understand why I am always in search of more GPU power.  I built my PC around an awesome motherboard, the ASRock Dual SATAII was one of the top rated 939 boards in terms of performance and it also offered an AGP slot along with a full speed 16x PCI-E slot.  (Review: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASRoc...al-SATA2) 

I upgraded to Vista Business x64 and over the past 4 months have I reinstalled Vista 3 times.  I bought my new sound card to be x64 compatible since Creative refuses to support the Audigy2 on Vista.  The Auzentech Prelude truly is impressive on Vista and I only have mic issues now. (Review: http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=5899)

I have vast experience in modding all aspects of the PC, so if you need help let me know.

Here are some pictures:

Since the pictures I have added my new sound card, volt-modded the video card and added new cooling.




(Don't let the picture fool you, my GPU isn't bent or bending)

[Surf314]

Hey so my mom has got a dell that chugs.  Thing is she's trying to spend the absolute minimum to make it better.  No gaming needed.  Now I think I've isolated the issues.  It's only got 512 of ram and an aweful 40 gig HD.  It's got a 2.8 ghz P4, kinda old but with XP I think its pretty decent.

Now I need to get IDE right?  Also for the ram do I need to make sure it's a certain kind to be compatible?  I don't mean to bug anyone but like I've mentioned before I haven't really been up on computer stuff since HS unfortunately.  I'm just getting back into it so bear with me.

And if anyone can tell me an easy way to identify the motherboard to see how much and what kind of RAM to buy it would be extremely helpful  ;D

*edit shes got a dimension 4700 from what I'm seeing she can go SATA or IDE, but her MB can only go up to 400 mhz for RAM I think.  Any recommendations for HD and am I reading it right on RAM?  RAM's so cheap might as well get 800 mhz, unless there is a problem with that?

[ZoSo]

Sounds like she needs DDR2 memory, either PC2-3200 or PC2-4300.  If you have SATA and IDE you can use either type of HD.  SATA is obviously faster and a smaller cable. 

RAM is the cheapest way to speed up a sluggish computer.  However I recommend reinstalling the OS, this can have dramatic effects.  Format the drive and reinstall by booting from the Windows Install CD on the boot selection menu as the computer starts up.

She can run up to 4 sticks of 1xGb, however XP will only see 3.5Gb.  You need Vista x64 to see more than 3.5Gb.  1-2Gb should be plenty for XP.

[copulatingduck]

Hey so my mom has got a dell that chugs.  Thing is she's trying to spend the absolute minimum to make it better.  No gaming needed.  Now I think I've isolated the issues.  It's only got 512 of ram and an aweful 40 gig HD.  It's got a 2.8 ghz P4, kinda old but with XP I think its pretty decent.

Now I need to get IDE right?  Because it's 3 years old and I think SATA is new...also for the ram do I need to make sure it's a certain kind to be compatible?  I don't mean to bug anyone but like I've mentioned before I haven't really been up on computer stuff since HS unfortunately.  I'm just getting back into it so bear with me.

And if anyone can tell me an easy way to identify the motherboard to see how much and what kind of RAM to buy it would be extremely helpful  ;D

*edit shes got a dimension 4700 from what I'm seeing she can go SATA or IDE, but her MB can only go up to 400 mhz for RAM I think.  Any recommendations for HD and am I reading it right on RAM?  RAM's so cheap might as well get 800 mhz, unless there is a problem with that?

Hmm, do you know what kind of Dell it is? It would be really easy to look up parts for it if you know what model it is. It will likely be DDR1 ram she needs (that's 184 pins instead of DDR2's 240 pins). The hard drive doesn't help at all. Go with anything that's 7200RPM for affordably faster seek times.

Yea, go with a 7200RPM SATA HDD, and some DDR2 RAM. If the RAM can run at higher frequencies, that's fine, your mobo will just throttle it down.

Buy any of these for RAM: DDR2 PC2 3200. It's all Kingston, they've got great warranty coverage for their parts, it's the proper spec for her hardware, and it's cheap.

Try just upgrading the RAM first, see if that fixes things for her. Her HDD is small and slow, but if she's just using it for general stuff, the hard drive should suffice (unless it's dying like mine all do  )

[IdiotWithGuns]

Zoso,
what made you go with asrock?  no offence but asrock doesnt have a good reputation. :-X

[ZoSo]

Zoso,
what made you go with asrock?  no offence but asrock doesnt have a good reputation. :-X

I'm guessing you didn't read the review I linked?  The ASRock brand is a value brand based off of Asus.  The ASRock Dual SATAII was on of the most popular 939 boards in history and it performed equally to the top dogs.  I bought it for the expandability and speed.  Even though I've volt-modded the actual board, I have had zero issues with the board, it has been a beast since the day I bought it for under $50.

You don't have to spend loads of cash on every piece of the computer to get a fast and reliable computer.

[ainmosni]

Here are some words I live by:

ATI is fail. (The hardware can be quite good but they're going for the infinite monkeys on infinite typewriter theory for driver development)
Intel makes better chips than AMD these days. (AMD is getting clobbered by Intel at the moment on all fronts)
Overclocking isn't worth it. (For the money you spend on extra cooling equipment you're usually better off buying something better which will be more stable.)
A computer case is a case, not an aquarium, keep it closed. (Seriously it looks lame)
Vista: Just say no. (My RAM has better stuff to fill itself than Vista's useless stuff)

[IdiotWithGuns]

Zoso,

key words are  "The ASRock brand is a value brand based off of Asus. "

My mother always said: If you do it, do it right!  So me spending 50 or 150$ on a motherboard is important, not the fact that more expencive the better.  The fact is that you "Get what you pay for"  Even though i feel like i have been slapped across my face *sharpens his knife*.  I am gonna let this one go  8)

[ZoSo]

Here are some words I live by:

ATI is fail. (The hardware can be quite good but they're going for the infinite monkeys on infinite typewriter theory for driver development)
Intel makes better chips than AMD these days. (AMD is getting clobbered by Intel at the moment on all fronts)
Overclocking isn't worth it. (For the money you spend on extra cooling equipment you're usually better off buying something better which will be more stable.)
A computer case is a case, not an aquarium, keep it closed. (Seriously it looks lame)
Vista: Just say no. (My RAM has better stuff to fill itself than Vista's useless stuff)

Pretty pathetic that you live by those few lines of nonsense.

First of all ATI used to be top dog, anyone that follows computer hardware knows the crown is passed around ever few years (normally).  NVIDIA is king for now and I buy whatever hardware at the time is the best for the money.

Intel has only been better than AMD since the introduction of C2D.  Are you forgetting the 6-7 year run when AMD owned PC gaming?  Just like video cards this crown is passed around.

Overclocking is for fun and for people who enjoy pushing hardware to its limit.  It isn't about saving money and buying the cheaper CPU and then try to get the speed of the higher end processor.  It is about enjoying hardware and tinkering with your rig, especially considering I am an Electrical Engineering student and I enjoy volt-modding and high end cooling.

If you don't like how the inside of a computer looks then you must not like computers, plain and simple.  Hell I have even had multiple girls in my room talk about how cool my setup looks, even to someone who has no idea what the hell it is.

Sorry to burst your bubble but Vista w/ SP1 and XP w/ SP3 perform almost identical.
Read it and weep: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,15...95,00.asp 

Keep dreaming about using over 3.5Gb and let me tell you DX10 is niiiiiiiiiiice

If you were expecting a huge drop in performance as your eyes scanned from the XP to the Vista results, well, surprise! As many a tech analyst predicted, Windows Vista's gaming performance conundrum has largely been solved, and it was mainly due to early graphics drivers.

[Surf314]

this thread needs less pissing match more awesome parts lists.

[ZoSo]

For my next build I'm considering:

eVGA 9800GX2
eVGA SLI 750i FTW (http://www.guru3d.com/article/evga-nforc...in-review/)
DDR2/DRR3??  Havent decided
SATAII Storage
8 Core CPU (AMD probably for the price)
800W+ SLI PSU


I really haven't decided if I think DDR3 is worth the money.  Considering the almost comedic prices of DDR2, I don't see how anyone can justify DDR3.  I plan to build this rig by the end of the Summer if I work as much as I plan to for my computer tech job.  Plus I just got a raise!

[ScottyGrayskull]

this thread needs less pissing match more awesome parts lists.

Doesn't the latter invariably lead to the former?

I'll have to take some pictures of my sweet case mod, which was brought on by a hammer equipped drunken fit of rage and the attempts afterwards to "smooth it out". It's always a popular conversation piece at the apartment. ^_^

[Vandamguy]

this thread needs less pissing match more awesome parts lists.

[ainmosni]

[quote author=ainmosni link=topic=277.msg7678#msg7678 date=1211378594]
Here are some words I live by:

ATI is fail. (The hardware can be quite good but they're going for the infinite monkeys on infinite typewriter theory for driver development)
Intel makes better chips than AMD these days. (AMD is getting clobbered by Intel at the moment on all fronts)
Overclocking isn't worth it. (For the money you spend on extra cooling equipment you're usually better off buying something better which will be more stable.)
A computer case is a case, not an aquarium, keep it closed. (Seriously it looks lame)
Vista: Just say no. (My RAM has better stuff to fill itself than Vista's useless stuff)

Pretty pathetic that you live by those few lines of nonsense.

First of all ATI used to be top dog, anyone that follows computer hardware knows the crown is passed around ever few years (normally).  NVIDIA is king for now and I buy whatever hardware at the time is the best for the money.

Intel has only been better than AMD since the introduction of C2D.  Are you forgetting the 6-7 year run when AMD owned PC gaming?  Just like video cards this crown is passed around.

Overclocking is for fun and for people who enjoy pushing hardware to its limit.  It isn't about saving money and buying the cheaper CPU and then try to get the speed of the higher end processor.  It is about enjoying hardware and tinkering with your rig, especially considering I am an Electrical Engineering student and I enjoy volt-modding and high end cooling.

If you don't like how the inside of a computer looks then you must not like computers, plain and simple.  Hell I have even had multiple girls in my room talk about how cool my setup looks, even to someone who has no idea what the hell it is.

Sorry to burst your bubble but Vista w/ SP1 and XP w/ SP3 perform almost identical.
Read it and weep: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,15...95,00.asp 

Keep dreaming about using over 3.5Gb and let me tell you DX10 is niiiiiiiiiiice

If you were expecting a huge drop in performance as your eyes scanned from the XP to the Vista results, well, surprise! As many a tech analyst predicted, Windows Vista's gaming performance conundrum has largely been solved, and it was mainly due to early graphics drivers.

[/quote]

Well, to interject but I've been customizing PC's for the last 20 years, not just for gaming but also for server and professional workstations so my priorities might be a bit different than yours.

ATI makes nice hardware but their drivers are the worst in the industry, you'll notice that if you use another operating system than windows, even on windows they've had the weirdest bugs... hell on my boss' ati based laptop even fucking _putty_ had graphical artifacts.

AMD has had a good run starting with the Athlon yes, but unless Intel makes a mistake on the pentium 4/Itanium schale like they did last time AMD won't come on top again. (As much as I'd like AMD to get back to their current status...)

My stance on vista comes from using other operating systems which become more efficient with every release, not double their requirements... trust me some programmers have some pride about releasing software that actually is more efficient than what they put out before...
And I dislike DirectX, OpenGL with SDL ftw...
And 3.5Gb... I've installed servers with over 32GB of RAM...

As for overclocking, the most important factor of a PC for me is stability, overclocking is just not done for professional equipment and imho overclocking stuff usually turns out just as expensive as when you're buying better parts. Besides, even though I like to build a nice rig, I'm a software guy by heart.

And the aquarium part, hey I don't think chips with whirly fluoresent lights look good, if it was up to me I'd hide the entire computer somewhere out of the way, if there was an iMac type PC with good specs and easily interchangable parts I'd be on that like a fly on honey. (And the women that enter my boat usually are more interested in other parts of it...)

Those lines I live by are just because those have been my experiences, I might be a bit biased, not being just a gamer but also using my PC as a tool that should just work, not just on windows but also on better operating systems...

Also a tip about cores, unless you're planning on running a lot of programs in the background you won't notice anything about more cores in your gaming set-up as games are rarely made for multithreading and when they are they usually don't schale past 2 cpu's/cores. Hell, even when apache is loaded with mod_php it doesn't do SMP well because PHP can't handle threads...

I'm thinking of upgrading my current machine with an Asus P5E Motherboard, an Intel E8400 CPU and 2 to 4 GB's of DDR2 RAM. This choice is mostly made from a cost/performance benefit. The Asus P5E seems like everything I want from a mobo, allthough I've read one spec sheet which said it supported DD2 AND 3 RAM and another which said only 2... The E8400 seems like the sweet spot for gaming as the CPU hasn't been the bottleneck for gaming for a long time and I really don't need a quad core because I don't run many background apps in windows anyway. As for the DDR2 RAM, that's mostly because DDR2 is so much cheaper than DDR3 and DDR3 isn't so fast enough to justify the price gap...

Drunk rant over, lol

[Geoff]

I think I'm actually going to build that rig Duck put together, alls I need is a case.

[ScottyGrayskull]

I think I'm actually going to build that rig Duck put together, alls I need is a case.

Aye, it looks like a good deal. Although I'll probably replace the AMD stuff with Intel.

[copulatingduck]

For folks considering building a rig:

Newegg's Dail Deals (most are fantastic)  - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLis...DailyDeals

Fry's also has some great weekly deals - http://shop3.frys.com/template/onad/product_navigation/