My new computer [message #213826] |
Fri, 18 August 2006 03:25 |
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Blazer
Messages: 3322 Registered: February 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ
Karma: 0
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General (3 Stars) Administrator/General |
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My current computer has a bad motherboard...when it heats up, my computer simply powers off (yes I made sure it wasn't the thermal protect in the BIOS or the CPU overheating).
Anyhow I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade. I'm taking a week of forced vacation time next week (reached max limit of PTO hour), and I want to play some damn games
Heres the stats of my current system:
AMD Athlon64 3000+/2.01Ghz
3GB RAM
BFG Tech GeForce 6600GT OC 256MB AGP 8X
MSI K8N Motherboard
Soundblaser Live! X-Gamer 5.1
NEC 3500AG external DVR+-RW burner, USB 2.0
Adaptec 29320 Ultra320 SCSI adapter
Seagate Ultra320 15k rpm 73GB SCSI hard disk x 3
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And here is what I have on the way:
* Intel® Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe Processor 2.13GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775
This puppy is faster out of the box than anything AMD has to offer currently (even the FX-62), and it easily overclocks to 3Ghz+ even with the factory cooling fan, which will do me quite well.
* Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB Kit DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 Xtreme Performance Memory
* BFG GeForce 7900 GTX PCI Express 512MB GDDR3 Video Card w/2 Dual-Link DVI-I & HDTV
I like BFG products because they have a lifetime warranty and excellent tech support.
* Asus P5W DH Deluxe 975X 1066FSB LGA775 DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, Dual Gigabit LAN, RAID/Serial ATA
This board was so expensive it was annoying. But from my research it is one of the best overclock-friendly boards, and I definitely plan to overclock, so it costing a bit more is worth it, if I can OC my CPU to a faster speed than one that would have cost me $600 more.
* Coolermaster STC-T01-UBK CM Stacker Aluminum Full Tower Case (Blue)
I got one of these cases for Crimson and I really liked it. Very good airflow and has leet blue LEDs
* OCZ OCZ700GXSSLI GameXStream 700W Power Supply
My SCSI drives eat a lot of power, as will the graphics card.
* Memorex / 16x4x16x DVD+-RW / 48x24x48x CD-RW / 4x DVD+R DL / Black Internal DVD Burner
The main reason I choose this was because its the only black internal DVD-RW I could find that had blue LEDs.
I will be re-using my SCSI drives-there's nothing faster except solid state disk. I do also have a 250GB SATA drive that I use for random storage. I have a huge external RAID NAS so having lots of disk space inside my PC is not a concern, I mainly want the OS and primary data drives to be as fast as possible. I will most probably re-use my SB Live! instead of using the onboard audio, since onboard audio drivers sap a wee bit of CPU...then again, I will have dual core so will it really matter?
I built this system with "bang for the buck" in mind. The only item I really splurged on was the motherboard, since I can always plop faster and faster core2-duo CPU's into it, and its SLI/crossfire ready, but I doubt I will ever justify spending over $1000 on video cards, unless the game actually induces orgasms everytime you breach 200fps
This will be sort of a sad event for me, as it is the FIRST time I have ever built a personal system that does not have an AMD processor, and I have had many many systems over the years, with my first "IBM Compatible" PC being an AMD 386-40Mhz, which even then owned Intel (who only had 386-33Mhz). I have been a solid AMD fan all these years, but this time Intel has the best CPU, as far as performance and power usage goes. I won't be surprised at all if AMD pulls something out in the not too distant future that puts them on top again, but for now Conroe and Woodcrest are king.
Hopefully I will get to build this during my "vacation" time, I will try and post some pics.
[Updated on: Fri, 18 August 2006 03:38] Report message to a moderator
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Re: My new computer [message #213827 is a reply to message #213826] |
Fri, 18 August 2006 03:33 |
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Scythar
Messages: 580 Registered: February 2003 Location: Finland
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Colonel |
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Very impressive. That's close to the rig I need to upgrade to (excluding PSU & case) when the next generation games start flowing in, my current setup is getting a bit old (XP 3000+, 6800 GT, 1.5Gb DDR400. Sure, the only real issue is the CPU, but upgrading it means upgrading everything else :/ )
Looks like Core 2 Duo is getting a very strong foothold on the future CPU markets, despite AMD's price drops.
There's a hole in the sky through which things can fly.
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Re: My new computer [message #213837 is a reply to message #213830] |
Fri, 18 August 2006 04:01 |
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Blazer
Messages: 3322 Registered: February 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ
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General (3 Stars) Administrator/General |
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1. Nobody actually runs liquid nitrogen cooled gaming machines, and there are already benchmarks of conroes at over 5Ghz
2. A dual processor machine will improve MY gaming performance for several reasons:
* I can run FRAPS to record my gaming and not lose any FPS
* I use the firefox "showcase" plugin to display 4+ tiles browsers simultaneously on my second monitor (mostly work stuff). When they all refresh at once, I take a CPU hit and my games lag. With 2 procs I can assign showcase to the second proc and it won't affect my game.
3. I DO intend to run my processor as fast as possible, which is, as I explained, why I paid extra money for an overclock-friendly motherboard.
[Updated on: Fri, 18 August 2006 04:04] Report message to a moderator
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Re: My new computer [message #213884 is a reply to message #213826] |
Fri, 18 August 2006 11:04 |
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That makes my computer look like a peice of shit,
HORQWER wrote on Tue, 18 September 2007 20:47 | this is not a real renegade forums ,some one made it up
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Renegade Forums - Official Drama Perpetuator.
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Re: My new computer [message #213921 is a reply to message #213826] |
Fri, 18 August 2006 15:44 |
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Renx
Messages: 2321 Registered: April 2003 Location: Canada
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General (2 Stars) Category Moderator |
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People have been hitting over 3.5GHz on some E6400s, you'll just need really good air cooling and decent airflow. Looks like your case already will have the latter though. Now just get a massive copper heatsink
That's old, someone else hit over 6.5GHz on a 3500+
~Canucck
[Updated on: Fri, 18 August 2006 15:51] Report message to a moderator
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Re: My new computer [message #213922 is a reply to message #213826] |
Fri, 18 August 2006 15:55 |
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Oh, i so want to overclock, anyone tell me how?
BTW: I have a 3500+
HORQWER wrote on Tue, 18 September 2007 20:47 | this is not a real renegade forums ,some one made it up
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Renegade Forums - Official Drama Perpetuator.
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Re: My new computer [message #213968 is a reply to message #213826] |
Fri, 18 August 2006 21:57 |
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Renx
Messages: 2321 Registered: April 2003 Location: Canada
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General (2 Stars) Category Moderator |
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Tons of guides on the internet. Check an overclocking forum like extremeoverclocking or xtremesystems. My 3500 got to 2.7Ghz and performed great.
I think they even have a half-assed guide/description on gamespot.
~Canucck
[Updated on: Fri, 18 August 2006 21:58] Report message to a moderator
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Re: My new computer [message #214128 is a reply to message #213826] |
Sun, 20 August 2006 00:17 |
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Blazer
Messages: 3322 Registered: February 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ
Karma: 0
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General (3 Stars) Administrator/General |
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Honestly there is no real benefit from having quad core on a typical desktop or gaming system. Sure, if you are encoding video while burning dvds while rendering some 3d model and playing a game all at once then perhaps...but that's hardly typical.
Quad cores primary market is for servers or high-end graphics workstations. I'm sure that won't stop some gamer with rich parents from buying one just for bragging rights though.
[Updated on: Sun, 20 August 2006 00:18] Report message to a moderator
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