Pretend you have $$$...

[Hoax]

Trippy I was thinking of putting two 500GB drives into the new rig, now RAID01 is a requirement, but there doesn't need to be a hell of a lot of space devoted to it.

Would there be a problem, with a setup like this:
80GB partition of each drive running in RAID01
Two 420GB drives for media storage

I have been google-wandering but I'm not sure what question to ask exactly so I was having a hard time.

Oh I settled on a Connect 3d X1800GTO, which is a little weaker according to reviews then the Geforce counterpart but is on ATI's list of approved crossfire boards.  Sure perhaps waiting for a D3D-10 compliant board would be prudent but I dont figure that will matter (in terms of software he might use caring about such things) for some time.  Also at $125 the card isn't too nice to just be passed down to one of the older machines with a shrug.

Per Abit's site:

- Supports Dual PCI-Express X16 slots (dual ATI® CrossFire™ Graphics)

for that mobo so it really shouldn't be a problem.

HSF has been changed as well.

[Trippy]

Trippy I was thinking of putting two 500GB drives into the new rig, now RAID01 is a requirement, but there doesn't need to be a hell of a lot of space devoted to it.

Would there be a problem, with a setup like this:
80GB partition of each drive running in RAID01
Two 420GB drives for media storage

I have been google-wandering but I'm not sure what question to ask exactly so I was having a hard time.

RAID 01 (0+1) or 10 (1+0) require a minimum of 4 drives to implement. Also having one partition of a physical hard drive be RAID and another not be RAID generally doesn't work with your typical PC MB RAID implementation unless you are going with a pure software solution but I don't know if that's possible with Windows (you can with, say, Linux).

Per Abit's site:

- Supports Dual PCI-Express X16 slots (dual ATI® CrossFire™ Graphics)

for that mobo so it really shouldn't be a problem.

It may have two x16 slots but that doesn't mean it supports 32 lanes. The Abit spec page is crap and the manual is wrong as well but if you look on the Intel page for the 975X you'll see this:

PCI Express* configuration flexibility   2 PCI Express controllers in the MCH enable either 1 x 16 or 2 x 8 operation for the 16 PCI Express lanes.

Doing research for Cheddar and schild's motherboards there doesn't appear to be any chipset out there that supports Crossfire and 32 lanes with dual x16 slots. You would have to go with an NVIDIA 680i chipset MB if you wanted that.

[Hoax]

A fucking pox on whoever made things so much more complicated in the last three years.  Back to google tomorrow then...

[Sky]

The 680i's are still a bit finicky from what I've been reading. That's the chipset I was originally considering, then I backed it off to something more 'conservative'.

You crazy kids and your RAID. I'm just going to use a raptor ;)

[Trippy]

The 680i's are still a bit finicky from what I've been reading. That's the chipset I was originally considering, then I backed it off to something more 'conservative'.

You crazy kids and your RAID. I'm just going to use a raptor ;)

Yes the NVIDIA Core 2 chipsets still have some teething problems. E.g. they keep patching problems with the SATA controller which doesn't lend a lot of confidence to the boards that use it. Personally if I absolutely had to go with a Crossfire setup *right now* I would go with the Intel 975X chipset even though it only supports 16 channels in a dual x16 video card setup.

[Furiously]

I went with an EVGA 680i about a month ago. It's been totally stable. I'm guessing the issues come up when you OC.

[Trippy]

I went with an EVGA 680i about a month ago. It's been totally stable. I'm guessing the issues come up when you OC.

It's not just OC'ing apparently. RAID setups have issues as well. You might have the latest BIOS as well.

[Furiously]

Yes I do. First thing I did was flash it.  The ASUS version is a bit flashier, but I couldn't justify the extra $100 for some flashing lights.

[Sky]

Revised list...

Intel Core 2 Duo e6600
2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 1000
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe 975X
Antec P180
eVGA 8800GTX 768MB
WD Raptor 150GB SATA
Lite-On CD/DVD burner w/lightscribe
Creative X-Fi Elite (need optical breakout box)
PPC&C Silencer 610
Scythe SCNJ-1100P (looks nice, thanks for the heads-up, hope it fits )
Logitech RF Wireless MX3200 bundle

Comes in at $2500 on the nose. I know getting the bleeding edge video is not wise...I've never done so before. But I figure if I'm going to spend that much dough on an entirely new system (no parts from the current system), I'm not going to skimp the last couple hundred bucks...

Survey says?

Bumping because I'll probably pull the trigger tomorrow. Already missed one of the rebates for $20 because the fine print says the deadline isn't for purchase, but rather for postmarking (most deadlines are for purchase with a postmark a month or two later). Overall in price reductions and rebates it should be about $2400.

My pc has been buggy and I've decided it's time. Since I probably won't be able to afford one for a while once I take on a mortgage...booya.

First round of games: Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Gothic 3. Possibles include 1701AD, Medieval 2, BF2142 (ugh).

So any last thoughts, my wizardly friends? On the hardware, not the games :P

[Morfiend]

Sky, get the SATA DVD Burner. It has lightscribe, and its like $45 OEM on the egg. You are going to love your machine, the only thing you might look at is that some of those ASUS motherboards have HORRIBLE onboard sound. I dont remember which model it is, but one of them has really subpar sound, that could make you end up needing a soundcard. That was the deciding factor for me between the Asus and the Intel Badaxe2. Now, let me stat, thats its not ALL the ASUS boards, its just one of them I cant remeber which one, P5W or P5B or some thing like that, but you might want to double check that its not your model.
I *Think* it was the board that had the built in Wireless network adaptor, but I cant remember.

You will NOT regret getting that graphics card, I fucking love mine. I can run FEAR at 2500x1600 res, and get around 60+ FPS. It is simply amazing.

Woops, just noticed that you are getting a sound card, so I guess the above point is mute, but Ill leave the post there as a warning to others. Also, I think you will be much happier with 1 raptor than trying to hassle with a raid 0. My last system was Raid 0, and the set up hassle wasnt worth the few seconds it shaved off the start up for stuff.

[Furiously]

Given you plan to use this as a htpc, I think you will want something that can handle HD-DVD's and be compatible with DX10 and all the DRM with Vista. I'm not too sure on your MB choice. I'd go with a i680 solution instead for the dual 16 bit pci express lanes. That way you can buy another videocard in a year and still be doing "ok".

[Morfiend]

In a year he would probably get more performance for just buying one new top of the line card than dropping another 8800 in the system.

[Sky]

SATA burner: check, added to list. Out of Stock But under $40.

HD-DVD: Probably grab a 360 drive at some point. Not really worried about it right now. The gpu will be fine for HD content and it's HDCP-friendly, as is my 'monitor'. If not, I don't really care, either :)

GPU: I do not intend to SLI at any point. I'm breaking tradition buying a new-gen tech. I normally wait for a tech to mature and buy the best edition, the Voodoo 3, the TNT2 Ultra, the Geforce 2 Ultra, the 9800pro still in my system and jamming. But I'm sold on unified shaders and it kicks ass eight-ways to sunday especially when you consider I'll mostly be using 1280x720 resolution...

[Morfiend]

First round of games: Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Gothic 3. Possibles include 1701AD, Medieval 2, BF2142 (ugh).

You might want to consider picking up FEAR and the expansion. The game will look really good on your system.

[Trippy]

Make sure you get a fan for the bottom section of your case to keep your hard drive cool.

[Sky]

Ok, I found the burner you linked in the other thread. Not sure what the heck I was looking at. Added to the cart. I'll add another 12cm fan, I think I've got one lying around from an old server but I'm not sure what kind of connector it's got.

I two parted the order, so I could make sure to get a few rebates and discounts, already saved a little over $200! Of course, the RAM, HDD, PSU and hs/fan & paste set me back $775 already, heh.

I was thinking of adding FEAR to the list. Just bought some skis last night and was in the consumer area, so I dropped by BB & CC. CC has an abysmal stock and almost no deals, their prices are about a month behind everyone else. BB had a great selection and prices inline with current online prices. I can't believe WoW:BC is going for forty bucks. But I admit it's wily capitalism, chaching. I'll probably get Medieval 2 because the girlfriend seems real interested in it, she loves historical fiction. I know she'll get bored pretty quick because it's strategy, but what the heck. I should make her get it for me for my birthday!

[Sky]

First round delivered! First impressions.

Antec P180 - nice looking case. Clean, big, no windows or pimping. Rubber grommets for hd are a nice addition, as is the aluminum/plastic/aluminum sandwiching of the case itself: plastic to aluminum joints should reduce sound even further. Pull-ring removable drive cages are nice. Only thing that stands out on first inspection is lack of a removable mobo tray, I got spoiled with that on my Wavemaster. But really, that should only be an issue during this install and maybe if I upgrade to quad core in 2009 :)

Scythe Ninja - dude...it's a ninja. How cool is that? Looks huge, but should fit. Hope I can fit the 120mm fan on the interior side blowing back, with the 120mm case fan exhaust right behind it...should be chilly on that e6600 I hope to pump to 3.6GHz or so...

PPC&C 610W Silencer - zomg 49A on a single 12V rail. Braided cables, looks nice. Not much more to say until install day.
WD Raptor - 150GB 10k rpm SATA drive? Woohoo! Zooom! Can't wait to start filling it up.
2GB Crucial Ballistix PC8000 - Heatsinks! Ok, not much to say about these last couple items yet, heh.

Rest should be in tomorrow, barring the nor'easter that will decimate all society. Work's closed tomorrow, and parts are to be delivered there...UPS guy was cool and hopefully will be true to his word to bring them over to my house despite being out of his service area. If so, the man gets a hella nice tip imo. Out of the way during a blizzard? We'll see, color me skeptical, though.

[Engels]

Let me know how the ninja fits in that case. I have the black one p180b I think its called.

[Trippy]

Let me know how the ninja fits in that case. I have the black one p180b I think its called.

The P180 is extra deep compared to your typical ATX case (by about 1.5") and there's no power supply at the top to worry about bumping into so there should be plenty of room even with the fan mounted on the side closest to the DVD drive. In fact as you can see on this page, if your MB CPU socket is centered near the "top" edge the Ninja will be at the prime position of the intersection of the rear and top fan/vent holes. Yes they are indeed cooling the CPU in that pic without needing a fan attached to the Ninja (scroll down to Configuration 4 to read the details). I wouldn't recommend people normally do that but those guys are quiet freaks.

[Sky]

Praying to the winter gods, Ymir guide yon UPS truck to my domicile! Four damned packages on the truck today. Successfully called the center at 6:30 am, told them my driver's name and said he wanted my stuff put on the ghetto truck. Hopefully that works, and if not for all packages, hopefully he delivers them like he said he might.

Of all the days to get a snow day and sit around the house with nothing to do!

[Sky]

Let me know how the ninja fits in that case.

Ancient japanese secret.

[Morfiend]

Im seriously excited for you Sky. Your machine is going to be a monster, and its a joy to work on a machine like that. Also, its fun as hell putting it together.

[Sky]

By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth! Yon truck didst strive mightily through the drifting mass of icy death to mine demense!

Have to wait for parts to come to room temp before digging in. I hope these cables will reach, I got teh linked extension cable earlier in the thread (which will be perfect, thanks), but there is one other extender cable I might need. Hope not! Ok..more first impressions:

Creative  X-Fi Extreme - I feel like it needs more Xs in its name. I was surprised how big and heavy the box was, the breakout box was larger and more substantial than I expected. Nice piece of gear, actually. Comes with a stand, remote, bunch of cable odds and ends (oh, and the PCI card).

Asus mobo - Another darn remote! Has wifi onboard, plus all kinds of crap I probably will ignore. Came with a lot of cables and stuff.

evga 8800 - Holy mother of...this card is Fuccillo. That means HUGE in car dealership speak. I've never seen such a substantial heatsink cover plate.

The new logitech cordless stuff will take some getting used to. The laser mouse is a nice feel, but the keyboard is a bit softer and smaller than I like, the function keys are tiny and they re-did the location of the arrow keys and 6-button pad above that. Eh, we'll see. I mostly wanted the mouse anyway. The recommended SATA DVD burner looks nice, I like samsung stuff, thanks for the heads-up. The C2D retail comes with a nice standard hs/f, I'm impressed compared to older retail hs/fans I've seen.

Medieval 2 came in as well, and I got a couple freebies: GRAW was a bonus with something from the egg (cpu, maybe?) and Dark Messiah was bundled with the 8800. Meh, ok. Cool for free, but doesn't GRAW have tardforce?

[Signe]

This thread has inspired me to pretend I have $$$, too.  Please don't tell my husband.

[Sky]

Ah, the joys of being snowed in with a new pc to construct. I was in geek heaven yesterday.

Build went pretty good once I found my stupid tube of arctic silver (I lost it twice!). The Scythe Ninja fit /perfectly/ over the ram by several mm and about a cm shy of the case. There's plenty of wiggle room with the fan, the heatsink clears everything easily. I've never been a fan (sorry) of case top fans, they just don't fit my idea of airflow, and I removed the top fan (need to find a nice-looking way to block that, just a book on it now). I left the back exhaust fan with the ninja blowing over the heatsink. That should keep things chill. I removed the upper hd cage and put the top fan as a front intake fan. My psu is long, so I had to fit the bracket for the lower chamber fan on the backside if where it was supposed to go, flipping the fan to keep front-to-back airflow. That made it tight (but do-able) for the lower hd cage, the SATA cables are nice for streamlining. I could've just bolted it onto the frame because there are screwholes, if I had thought ahead and done it before I installed the psu.

The only tough one was the cable I was worried about, but it fit ok, if not ideally. The 4-pin power cable to the mobo takes a route under the gpu, but it's acceptable. Because the larger mobo power cable plug was located near the traditional IDE spot, I ended up not needing the extender (but it was cheap, so no big deal). The gpu itself is monsterous, amazingly so. But it actually fit in well because I had already decided to remove the upper hd cage. The gpu takes two pci-e power plugs! Luckily, I did my homework and got a psu designed for SLI that had two such cables.

Still need to install the sound card + breakout. One nice thing about this mobo is that it comes with block plugs for the case front panel connections. So all those little hd power lights, power switch, etc that I've always struggled to get in the right spot while balancing the manual in one hand...just plug them all into the clearly labelled block and then plug the block into the mobo. Little thing, but very nice!

The RAM is purty, but I have a closed case :P Here's a pic of the assembly just prior to first boot, sans sound card, sans cable management (in case I need to remove stuff). Note the power cable running under the gpu. I already have most of the fan cabling tucked behind the left panel. Also, the purty RAM.

[Morfiend]

Sweet. Im not sure about the rainbow party lights, but you have a closed case so it doesnt matter. My case had a window, so I went with all blue lighting. I really need to post some pics now.

[Sky]

Not sure about the christmas lights, but I admit the 'undercarriage' blue and white lights are nifty. The green and blue blink with activity, it's crazy. I guess I'm 'oldschool'.

[SnakeCharmer]

A question I've been meaning to ask about lighted cases:  Wouldn't the heat from the lights be bad for internal heat, shortening component lifespan?

Not that I'll ever build a comp with lights, as I don't see the point, just curious.

[Sky]

I don't think the LEDs leak much wattage as heat at all, I'd have to check to be sure.

I've never used cold cathode ray tubes that most builders pimp with, but I assume they are cool as well.

[Signe]

Geez.  The lights are my favourite bit.   

[Yegolev]

I think your RAM has a case of the gay.

[Sky]

No way. It's just a cylon. Or KITT.

[Sky]

Update...Going to have to RMA the Creative part back. I thought perhaps this part might do digital 5.1, but to date, NO creative part does. I might try a plain x-fi with the DTS-610, which takes analog 5.1 -> optical 5.1 to the receiver...but the thought of DA/AD conversion bugs me. Not sure it's all worth the hassle to get EAX.

I put the Auzentech X-Plosion in the new box and it's happily converting to optical DD5.1. Once I resolve my Oblivion crash issue, I hope it doesn't develop the waveform noise problem that made me quit playing last year

And yes, I have crash issues. I still need to tweak Oblivion's settings, I may have been overly aggressive. EQ2 was doing a strange crash, but seemed fine for a while once I logged in, even with shadows. Oddness afoot.

Might have to revisit my cooling solutions, the 8800 runs pretty hot.

[Furiously]

Glen A. Larson borrowed the idea of K.I.T.T.'s hood mounted scanner from one of his earlier projects, 'Battlestar Galactica'. The Cylon Centurions in that series had an almost identical scanner that functioned as eyes, and Larson adapted the idea for K.I.T.T. Also, originally K.I.T.T. had a square red light on the dashboard that lit up as he spoke. His more familiar 'voice modulator', with three red lines broken into cells which went up and down as he spoke, was introduced half-way through the first season.

KITT is a Cylon!!!

[Yegolev]

I guess "more familiar" is subjective.

HAY ANYONE REMEMBER K.A.R.R.?!