Pretend you have $$$...

[Engels]

Let us know how that board works out, Morphiend. I read some reviews that mentioned some buggy issues with raid, but then again, it may just be people who are apalled you still need a floppy drive to load raid drivers during Windows install.

[Trippy]

I just ordered that Intel board, the Bad Axe2. It is getting very good user reviews at all the major tech forums. Its being called one of the most stable boards out, and it OCs pretty damn good from what I hear.

Let us know if you can run the memory bus at 1067 MHz.

[Yegolev]

One thing to watch out for are overly-picky motherboards, especially if higher-end RAM is desired.  Lots of the higher-end RAM seems to run at 2.2v, while a fair number of motherboards will only support 1.8-1.9v, or worse yet, will only be stable with 1.8-1.9v RAM.

I'll second this and add that some boards that support the higher-voltage RAM will default to 1.8v.  The last thing I'd want to do is find out that I have to buy and install lower-voltage RAM so I can access the BIOS and adjust it to boot with the fancy 2.2v RAM.  Personally, I'lll be sticking with the 1.8v RAM on my upgrade since I believe it will reduce hassle.

[Morfiend]

Here are the stats for my new machine. Its a beast. I have been saving for the right time to buy, and here it is.

Intel BOXD975XBX2KR LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard
eVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600
SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP
CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W Power Supply
SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe Technology Black SATA Model SH-S183L
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Model TWIN2X2048-6400
ASUS Silent Square 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler


Total build is costing me around $1700. A bit more than I wanted to spend, but I figure once in my life I wanted to get a very top of the line type machine.

[Sky]

I can't come in under $2400, so I think I'm holding off until Mayish to build (I'm looking to buy a house, which really messes with any big purchases). Sucks to hear about the 680i's being buggy, hopefully it'll be ironed out soon. I had intended to use one, guess I better look around a bit more.

Core 2 Duo e6600
eVGA 8800 GTX
(680i or whatever)
2GB DDR2 1066 (corsair 8500C5D)
PC Power & Cooling 750W
WD Raptor 150GB
Antec p180
Zalman cooling
X-Fi Elite (need the digital outs capable of surround)

At some point adding a laser wireless mouse, maybe a new keyboard and a DVD burner. I'd love to use a quad-core, but hopefully they'll be cheap by the time they're useful :) Figure on getting the e6600 to mid-3GHz range.

[Morfiend]

You should be able to hit about 2k for that system using some OEM parts from the egg. Also, there is no reason what so ever to get 680i in less you plan on going SLi, and also you shouldnt need more than ddr2 800, in less you plan to do some serious serious overclocking. you could get a ASUS board for around 180-200, and cutting the ram down from 1066 to 800 should save you $200+.
There is expensive system, and there is over the top system.

[Sky]

Over the top is fun :) I probably won't SLI, it was more for the faster memory. Be nice if the board was quad-core friendly. Serious overclocking...not too serious, hoping for 3.6GHz on the 6600, which I think is actually 800fsb (that o/c speed, I mean)?  This is using the egg, of course. Should knock off at least $100 in hardware with  rebates, but that'll go towards a new OS (MCE, I guess).

I've been spending more time looking at mortgages than pc parts, honestly.

[Viin]

I've lost track of the video cards and what's what now.

Can anyone tell me where an ATI X800 Pro stands when compared to, say, a ATI X1900 GT? Is the 1900 twice as good?

(I like my X800, but looking to upgrade my mobo to a dual core with PCI-e and so would need a new video card - but I don't want to spend $400+ on one).

Too bad there's only a couple of mobo's that have both AGP and PCI-e .. and they are older.

[Yegolev]

I can only go read AnandTech or Tom's to answer your question about the ATi cards; not my brand.  I do remember that one of those two put out a "best bang for $X bucks" set of articles, probably Anand, and that was what I glanced at when deciding on which 7-series Nvidia part to get.

As for the AGP situation, I decided the thing to do is go ahead and move to PCI-E, but I find that a lot of those cards don't have a D-SUB, as they seem to be called now.  I suppose getting a DVI->D-SUB adapter would work, but I'm a tad suspicious of such things.  For no good reason other than being an unfrozen caveman.

[Sky]

They work fine. I've got a couple Dells I have to adapt both ways. Some are analog with digital adapters, some vice versa.

[Yegolev]

That's great since a new monitor would likely double my upgrade costs.

[Trippy]

As for the AGP situation, I decided the thing to do is go ahead and move to PCI-E, but I find that a lot of those cards don't have a D-SUB, as they seem to be called now.  I suppose getting a DVI->D-SUB adapter would work, but I'm a tad suspicious of such things.  For no good reason other than being an unfrozen caveman.

The DVI to VGA adapters work fine. There are a bazillion different DVI connector types but the type used on a video card has dedicated analog output pins so the adapter is just mapping pins, it's not doing any digital to analog conversion -- that's being done on the video card like it always has.

[Yegolev]

There are a bazillion different DVI connector types but the type used on a video card has dedicated analog output pins so the adapter is just mapping pins, it's not doing any digital to analog conversion -- that's being done on the video card like it always has.

Ah-ha.  Thanks for the explanation.  Fears banished.

[Samwise]

I'm planning on building this for my next system, with maybe a couple of minor tweaks.  Picking out my own components and trying to figure out whether they'll all work together is just too much of a headache.   

[Morfiend]

I'm planning on building this for my next system, with maybe a couple of minor tweaks.  Picking out my own components and trying to figure out whether they'll all work together is just too much of a headache.   

Its really not hard. Pick out a system, and then post the specs on one of the various hardware forums, asking nicely if anyone can see any problem with your system.
I personally like [Hard]forum, as the people there are pretty nice. Anandtech works also.

On another note, I got all my components yesterday, and installed them last night. I only had time to get windows xp pro installed before bed, but so far so good.

Here is a pic taken with my phone this morning. I havent done my cable managment yet.

[Viin]

I'm planning on building this for my next system, with maybe a couple of minor tweaks.  Picking out my own components and trying to figure out whether they'll all work together is just too much of a headache.   

That's a couple months old, you sure you want to use that?

[Furiously]

I picked up a logitech G15 keyboard. I've typed on better, but I really like the backlighting. It's great for late night typing.

[Engels]

Dang, Morphiend, what CPU fan is that? Looks like the terminator of cooling. Also, did you do raid on that box? How did that work out with the XP install? Finally, let us know about performance and stability. I always take word of mouth over some review, no matter how reputable the source.

[Trippy]

Dang, Morphiend, what CPU fan is that? Looks like the terminator of cooling.

It's one of these things:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835101002

[Strazos]

That's obscene. How much does it weigh? It looks to be at least a pound of metal you have strapped to that poor CPU.

[Trippy]

That's obscene. How much does it weigh? It looks to be at least a pound of metal you have strapped to that poor CPU.

They weigh a lot less than you think. There's not a lot of metal in the base since it uses a heat pipe design to draw the heat away and the fins are very thin. For example the ASUS weighs 656g.

In comparison one of these, which is a more traditional non-heatpipe design:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118115

weighs in at 918g

though the Zalman includes a fan in the weight while the ASUS does not.

Also because the fins are so thin the heat sink is not "top heavy" like the above Zalman is so even though it's really tall it's not putting a lot of torque on the motherboard.

[Strazos]

Is clearance almost a problem with something that tall?

[Trippy]

Is clearance almost a problem with something that tall?

Clearance to the side cover? Not in a standard ATX case. The fan, if you use one, mounts on the "side" not on the top so you don't have to worry about clearing that extra space. Depending on where the CPU socket is, it can interfere with other things like the power supply and drives that are sticking into the motherboard space so you do have to check the dimensions carefully. You don't usually have to worry about the stuff right around the socket or the memory slots (though they may be hard to get to once the heat sink is installed) cause with the tall heat pipe design the base isn't very big and then the heat pipes angle out from there.

[Sky]

I have to admit I kinda got giddy when they started making that form factor hs/fan. It's like people don't look at how air flows through a standard atx case when designing things. BTX has some great ideas in it, like blowing gpu heat up & out, instead of down & around. Being able to vent with a 92mm (that's what I have now, but venting sideways, not back) directly out the back is wicked.

[Yegolev]

My heatsink probably weighs a pound.  It's old-school.

[Surlyboi]

I love that fan, if I was still kit building my boxes, I'd get one. Hell, I may get one and mount it on the outside of my current beast just 'cause it looks so badass.

And the G15 is teh shiz as far as backlit keyboards go, IMO. Yeah the tactile does leave a bit to be desired, but the backlight and the programability of the LCD more than makes up for that.

[Sky]

I wish I could get a wireless version of the old mechanical keyboards. My logitech cordless keyboard is ok, but flimsy, and newer versions are something from pimp my fuckin' keyboard or something. Backlight would be cool, but kill batteries.

[Morfiend]

The heatsink actually has a fan in the middle of it, blowing straight at the rear case fan. It IS pretty large, but it fits fine, and it looks really really nice.

I got my new hard drive yesterday, and got windows installed and all patched, and got all my drivers and tweaking programs and monitoring programs last night. I left it on all night running nTune System Stress program. The system didnt even flinch. So far it has been rock solid, and I got 10,000 on 3dMark06. I did not go for a raid this time. My previous computer had a raid0 in it, and it just wasnt worth the slight performance for the hassle. So far I am very impressed with the whole system.

I spent several hours last night with some zipties fixing all the cables, and let me say it looks very sexy now. Ill post some more pics later tonight.

 

[Sky]

Cool beans. I'm interested in how you like it, given how similar our builds will be. I'm also pretty excited about graphics because I'm resolution limited to 1280x720, which is a good thing in a way, since review sites are looking at 1600x1200 and whatnot. The 8800 should chew through anything pretty well on my monitor. One reason I waffle on the cpu choice, because I'm nearing the point of being cpu limited (!).

[Engels]

I just purchased a CPU upgrade for my AMD 939 socket board. I'm currently running a Gforce 7950gx2 video card, and that card is swell, but I think the the CPU is making the system lag behind. I'm laboring under a AMD 64 3500+, which for nearly all things does fine, but its starting to show some wrinkles.

I bought a 939 socket, dual core AMD 64 FX-60 2.6G San Diego chip. I'm not expecting miracles, but I decided I am not ready for the hassle and expense of new motherboard, chip and ram. The CPU was expensive, at $450, but the other option would have been around $1000.

I get it today, and I'll post impressions.

[Strazos]

Just wondering, but I heard at one point that you need to have your OS discs handy when changing out a CPU. Is the process actually pretty painless?

[Engels]

I'm banking on one of either two results from changing the CPU. Either I have no problems, and the OS adopts the new CPU without any additional fiddling, or, if it fails to boot, do what I call a 'repair' install of windows. This essentially is the second repair option when you boot from the WinXP cd. After you hit f8, accepting the license agreement, the disk searches for pre-existing OS, and asks if you wish to repair that OS. This process strips all drivers from the existing install and then reassembles the OS for the new hardware. Its SOP here at work, when putting a pre-existing image from one machine onto another machine with different hardware, and I've had no problems with it thusfar.

There may be another method, but I do not know of it.

[Strazos]

Well hey, at least you have upgrade options. I don't even see any options for my current AMD Athlon XP 2700+.

[Engels]

Yep, in your case, I would pretty much simply start saving to buy a new motherboard, cpu and DDR2 ram. You can shave off dollars by going with a lower end cpu and not buying the bestest ram ever and also going for a reputable but not too fancy motherboard. Stay away from DFI and other manufacturers who clearly have poor documentation. A quick visit to their web pages lets you know how 'serious' a company they are. Gigabyte, for example, although seemingly a two-bit Taiwanese company with poor english, actually has a decent website and their boards have treated me well in the past, when I've not wanted to spring for Asus or Intel.

At this stage, I would urge you in the direction of an Intel CPU, rather than AMD, simply because their AM2 chips are lack luster, and the benchmarks for their new 60nm dual cores (not yet on the shelves) are benchmarking below Core2Duos. I love AMD, and wish they'd catch the hell up.

[Strazos]

Oh yeah, I know my only option is a total overhaul. But I'm probably almost a year away from that.

But when I do upgrade, I just have to make sure it counts. I'll probably spring for a sweet mobo with one of the latest slot-types, to maximize my ability to upgrade further down the line.