New Computer Build

It doesn't suck...uber thanks to Jeb for doing all the homework (and guru3d.com), everything works perfectly. The mobo, proc and ram are all sync'd from the initial setup for the same frequencies and yada yada...point being, you want this setup for something you don't have to fuck with for the next couple years. The *only* thing I didn't update was my video card (nvidia GTX260), figured I'll wait till Diablo III before I go ape-shit on that

Processor Cooler (it's fucking HUGE, can barely fit the door on my new case)

Motherboard, 10 2.0 USB, 2 3.0 USB, on board HD audio w/ optical out, dual gigabit, etc, etc

Processor, 6-core, 2.81 GHZ

DDR3 Ram, 1333, 10666

CD ROM (replacing old IDE CDROM)

Power Supply (thinking what killed my last setup (950 watt))

Case - 3 120mm fans, 1 140mm fan, one optional side fan

Posted first time, so far so good. Running 6 hard drives (doubles as my media center), case is small (mid-tower) but has great cable management. I'll post pictures once everything's installed, but I must say I'm pleased. The only thing I don't like is the massive amounts of blue LEDs on the fans (three per fan, 4 exterior case fans). I'll drill them out eventually, but I want to get this machine stable and running right now.

Shringles sent me a link for a really nice video card which I may invest in, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. As of now, I can run just about anything I want on any setting I want (native 19x12) and have no issues. My second monitor is my TV (52" LCD) which we use as a media TV. Optical audio out to my surround sound, which is straight up ballin.

Again, props to Jeb for doing the homework

 

I assume that is a AMD CPU based on the fact it is 6 cores and 2.81 GHZ. What brand of parts did you get?

 

I didn't realize that they were links.

 

I woke up my wife because I was LOL'ing so loud after reading that. With mobo technology these days, there is no real tweaking to get the parts working correctly as long as you got all the right parts. It will either work or it wont work. Unless of course you are trying to overclock the system.

Glad to see you got it up and running. Looks like a nice system!

 

Essentially, the system is set to run at the correct frequencies based on OEM specs w/out overclocking, which is really easy on this mobo. Essentially, for this price break, this is one of the fastest setups you can get that is proven to be reliable. If I want to overclock for any reason, the mobo has built in overclocks that auto ramp up voltages and speeds to stable points without me having to do a thing (look at the mobo, it's nicely built in). This isn't to say I couldn't optimize it even more by tweaking everything individually, but really - why? This setup, for this amount of money, will do anything I ask it to for the next couple years.

 

Holy shit. You went top end on the mobo... Rofl
And I've worked with that case... I hate it. There's NO place to put any of your extra cables, leaving it a fucking MESS in the case.
I personally like my CM690.

*Just realized what you said about the case.*

Great cable management? Did they add holes/space behind the mobo tray to route cables through?

 

^^^

Umm, lol, you've never seen this case i take it??? The back panel comes off and there's a 1" gap or so to store all cables. I'll snap a picture once I get all of my HDD's installed (just have my main drive, still updating firmware and what not). I promise you, in the 10 years or so I've been building computers, I've never seen one this clean

*Edit* here's a shitty cell phone pick. Granted, I have a couple (5-ish) HDDs to install, but the wires are pretty freaking tucked. the majority come out of the HUGE power supply and come out of the top of the 5" bays. Looks pretty good, I would say

**Edit** That giant silver thing...yeah, that's a heat sink for the proc, the fan on the front side (it's the two black things with the silver middle, not sure why it didn't turn out) is a 120mm...biggest heatsink I've seen, door barely fits on

***Edit*** lol, just saw your edit. not behind the mobo, but behind all the drive bays. It's not full tower (which I shoulda got), but it will more than do

****Edit**** not the top end mobo, that's about $100 more, but I did go with one that had on board HD optical audio, USB 3.0 and 6 6.0 SATA slots, all of which are required for my setup.

 

Well, for the amount of HDDs you have, a full tower case wouldn't be such a bad idea. Lol.

I'll show a picture of my desktop.
Don't mind the dust... My system's not brand new. Lol. It's been a few months since I've cleaned it.
I put this together a few years ago. It first had a Cooler Master Centurion 5 as the case, with a side panel window, then I upgraded to the CM690.
Then Cooler Master announced a 2nd version of this case...

Goodness it's a lot of dust... I'll be cleaning this next week.





Dust revealed (+ the mediocre managing of cables that I did. Stupid Rosewill PSU)


As for the Antec 300, Antec should've put cable management holes. It's 10 dollars (Or exactly) the price of my case.
The 900 had the same problem. No cable management holes, for a case that was 100$?
Cooler Master always gets it right. 70$ and above anyway. Lol.

(Yes, yes, I know. Shitty stock cooler... I didn't even really think much about OCing, and the HSF wasn't in the budget. BUT, it just may be time for a Noctua, and upgrading this good ol' E6600.)

 

I understand what you were saying. I was just laughing because all current mobo's automatically detect and adjust the frequencies based on what CPU you have in it. This includes the little cheap mATX board I have in my HTPC. It even has overclocking abilities for the cpu and ram. Sorry, the geek in me was the one that was really laughing.

Nice setup regardless. Look into some of the newer ATI video cards. The new eyefinity setup if pretty badass. I have it running on my main computer at home driving two monitors and HDMI out w/7.1 audio to my HT setup in my bedroom.

 

Nice Card

Make sure you buy ACTIVE Display port adaptors and not passive ones if you plan on using more than two monitors.

 

I've had a mobo clock down the ram / FSB before. He basically meant that it was all spec'd to run at the correct frequencies. I'll post some non GPU intensive benchmarks when I get a chance to play with it. I have the same case for my personal computer minus the two front fans and LEDs and love it.

 

Who pays for software?

 

Wow, I haven't had that happen since my first Pentium processor in college.

 

One of my friends is a pro poker player(probably makes more than anyone on here) and runs 5 moniters on his main comp.

 

Damn, was looking for Matt's card and came across this...I'm not looking for a new vid card as of yet, but 2gb ddr5 ram? nasty...

Video Card

 

You got a great card. Don't tie yourself to specs though, find reviews if you're in the market

 

Damn you guys with your career jobs being able to afford really good GPUs!!!!!
eVGA 9800GT 512MB. Fucking classic. LOL

 

Eh, I only have a GTX460 1GB. It is only 6 months old and so ancient.

I am also a bit of an Intel snob. I have a Core i5-760.

 

lol, I bought my GTX260 when it was near the top of the line, it's the only outdated thing in my computer now...I'm just waiting till Diablo III before I upgrade that.

I like Intel, my last was a Conroe E6750, but the price / performance ratio is skewed HEAVILY in favor of AMD. They're hexacore processor is sub $200, and overclocked is on par with Intel's I7 Bloomfield chips (~$900)

 

Good choice. I want the Core i7-2600K. The hyper-threading will help in the video encoding I do now.

 

Yes, I bought my current setup there. I am quite happy that Microcenter has prices competitive or better than online sources.

 

fixed

 

I'm currently running a Conroe E6600. The beast of the 1st gen.
But with a stock cooler so .

 

After reading all of this, maybe I went a little overboard on my HTPC

 

Here's my proc. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
It's 10$ more than when I bought it in oct 08

 

Sweet. I should've gone with a quad... Lol.
It eventually became somewhere near the same price as mine.

Wow... 7k series Geforce?! Lol. I used to run an MX400 before I got a new system.
It ROCKED.

For N64 emulating. Rofl

 

I still run an ati 9800 XT.

 

on this subject, is there somewhere (website) i can go and custom build a computer??

my mom's store computer is BSOD'ing on a daily basis. it doesn't have to be a super fly gaming computer, but she is on the internet a lot during slow times surfing and she has some big programs (Point of Sale, wants to run autoCAD, office, etc). also, she doesn't see the need to upgrade or change the monitor, keyboard or mouse. but she also has a credit card reader, UPC scanner, printer/fax, and receipt printer. so multiple USBs is a must.

any help is appreciated

 

cool i was just on compusa's website. my parents won't buy a dell. they went thru 3 paperweights already

 

Don't forget Fry's too. Between Microcenter and Fry's, you can usually find cheaper prices on parts locally than online.

 

if you want to look at some custom builds, check out www.guru3d.com. They review all pieces and components and you can select computers on a budget that they've already tested so you konw the ins and outs