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Behold Lochaber!

By Gedvondur (Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 05:12:35 PM EST) PC, CPU, Computers, Build-your-Own (all tags)

I'm building a new PC. The current game box is ~~three years old~~ Update [2008-9-2 22:16:49 by Gedvondur]:four years old and showing its age. Specs below!

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model $149.00

MSI K9A2 Platinum AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail   $149.99

Thermaltake W0116RU 750W Complies with ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V version SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail   $159.99

ASUS EAH4870X2/HTDI/2G Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail   $559.99

ASUS Gift - ASUS graphic card bundle - Retail

ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler - Retail   $79.99

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-05 - OEM   $29.99

AMD Phenom 9950 BLACK EDITION 2.6GHz Socket AM2+ 140W Quad-Core Processor Model HD995ZFAGHBOX - Retail $176.99

2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM   $109.98   ($54.99 ea)

Patriot Xporter XT 8GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) Model PEF8GUSB - Retail   $25.99

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit English 1pk DSP OEI DVD for System Builders - OEM   $179.99

Its all going into my sweet Wave aluminum case. I didn't want to buy it, as we are trying to drive down the bills, but she's gotten two computers for my last one, and her last one was a freaking expensive iMac.

It's gonna be sweet, I tell ya, sweet.

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Behold Lochaber! | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 hidden)

but by dev trash (4.00 / 2) #1 Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 06:02:32 PM EST

will it run crysis?

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But what if it could? by atreides

(4.00 / 3) #2 Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 07:00:56 PM EST

Imagine a Beowulf cluster of those...

_{He sails from world to world in a flying tomb, serving gods who eat hope.}

[ Parent ]

F-to the-ucking-a by Gedvondur (2.00 / 0) #3 Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 07:11:49 PM EST

It should run Crysis in full balls out mode. That's an x2 ATI video card with two gigs of RAM.

Gedvondur

"I love my brain. It's the only organ I can afford to lose." --frijolito

[ Parent ]

: I dunno by dev trash (4.00 / 1) #11 Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 01:19:49 PM EST

I like games and all but they ned to keep their balls inside.

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[ Parent ]

Will it have a turbo button by marvin (2.00 / 0) #4 Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 07:28:15 PM EST

Every modern computer these days still has one of those, right?

Sweet ? by Phage (4.00 / 2) #5 Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 10:29:32 PM EST

That thing will be plotting to blow you out of the airlock by Friday...

Was an AMD fanboi by anonimouse (4.00 / 1) #6 Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 03:25:17 AM EST

..but recently it looks as though Intel is addressing the mid-range price/performance ratio better nowadays

Girls come and go but a mortgage is for 25 years -- JtL

Well by Gedvondur (2.00 / 0) #7 Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 04:06:29 AM EST

I can't really disagree with that.

What I can say, is that equivalent Intel motherboards (I won't use nVidia based boards, they are getting out of that business) cost considerably more, in the range of $100.00. On top of that the Intel processor is slightly more expensive. Normally for me this wouldn't be that big a deal, but this time around I wanted the big video card.

It really came down to the fact that even though the AMD processor is slightly slower and hotter than the equivalent Intel, it was only a five percent difference unless you get into the Intel Extreme processors. And those are damn expensive.

Gedvondur

"I love my brain. It's the only organ I can afford to lose." --frijolito

[ Parent ]

: It's a toss up by Phage (4.00 / 1) #8 Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 05:30:30 AM EST

Depends on the best deal you can find for a given level of performance.

[ Parent ]

On picks... by belldandi (4.00 / 1) #9 Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 06:39:49 AM EST

I did up my own system in May, and it's very close to this, except I went with an nVidia-based board by ASUS and an Intel Processor. One big thing that I am regretting though (that I may soon rectify) is only getting 2 of those hard drives. I have them in a mirrored raid right now, but boy would it be nice to get a third and put them into a raid 5.

If you are heavy into overclocking the Intel Q6600 has some of the best overclocking numbers I was finding; but AMD vs. Intel at this price point is pretty evenly matched :). For attaching the Zalman, you might want to go with a different thermal compound that what they ship; the Arctic Silver Ceramique is fairly well recommended as well as not being hard on the pocketbook.

-bell

: Drives and Thermal Compound by Gedvondur (2.00 / 0) #10 Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 09:00:30 AM EST

Ya, I have a tube of Arctic Silver I will be using. Standard shark shit doesn't cut it on the modern processors.

I had four of those drives in the first build sheet, but I am going to run in RAID 0 for performance, with a nightly mirror to my NAS array, which is RAID 5. This box is just for gaming for me, so I don't need RAID 5 or mirroring.

As to overclocking, I don't do much of that anymore, not really since the first Intel Celerons. As far as I can tell, the performance gains are less than 5% on most chips. To me at least, it isn't worth the extra wear and tear on the system and the screwing around you have to do to get the system stable.

Gedvondur

"I love my brain. It's the only organ I can afford to lose." --frijolito
[ Parent ]

Behold Lochaber! | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 hidden)