Fuzzy Logic Fuzzy Logic

Another "Rate my Rig..."

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Another "Rate my Rig..."

from WinCustomize Forums

As everyone seems to be flexing their 3p33n, I thought I'd give you a sneak preview of a build which will start next week sometime.

 

Case: Antec 900 with all the fans

PSU: Coolermaster 1000W (modular)

Mobo: Asus P6T Deluxe X58

CPU: i7 920 @ 2.66, but eventually getting OC'd to 3.4

Fan: Coolermaster V8

Memory: 6Gb DDR3 1333

HD (System + games): Crucial 128Gb SSD

HD (Data): 500Gb

HD (Backups): 2 x 1.5Tb

Video: 2 x ATI Radeon 1Gb DDR5 in Crossfire

OS: Vista Ultimate, but will be upgrading to W7 (when I feel like it)

+ other usual bits

 

Of course it's OTT, it's designed to last many years with only basic upgrades.

Basic design concepts:

The i7 920 OC'd is as quick as a i975 at a saving of £480. Though it will run a little hot.

The two 4890s on test smoke a GTX295 at a saving of £70 (the 295 is just 2x 275s anyway).

The SSD is only 128Gb, so my older games will go on the data disk E.G. UT2004 will see no benefit from the SSD, but has 10Gb of maps to eat up valuable space.

The Antec 900 is just big enough to fit everything in, but small enough to fit under the desk (my PC is in a cupboard). It has 5 120mm fans and one 200mm fan on top to keep everything cool. My current Coolermaster case is on a shelf right in front of me - a bit too noisy for my liking... Under the desk is much quieter, but limited in depth (22") - the 900 will have to go in at an angle to avoid squashing the cables. Plus the case is wide enough for the V8 (check this if you are buying a V8!)

For those who like to specify underpowered PSUs, the 1000W is barely adequate for the two 4890s and the OC...

I'l let you know what it feels like when it's done ;)

204,569 views 91 replies
Reply #26 from WinCustomize Forums Top

The money is spent. Garrrgh, in a few years it will be worth nothing...

It will be about two weeks before I can start installing software. The overclock takes days of testing at each setting to make sure its running safe and stable.

I'm looking forward to running 3dmark ;)

Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Cool! Good luck.

 

I am interested in how it goes. Maybe post some pictures of the machine while building it? That would be great. ;)

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Reply #28 from Stardock Forums Top

I've ordered some games too, you know, stuff I'd like to play but would drag my current rig into destruction.

Reply #29 from Stardock Forums Top

Earlier you mentioned Fall Out 3. Is this any good, or is it just a Quake clone where you frag everyone then wander round aimlessly looking for stuff?

It's on sale at the local Game store complete with two expansion packs. Looks good value if its ok.

Reply #30 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Fall Out 3 is an RPG with shooter elements. It's not a real first person shooter like Quake. Imagine the 50s after a nuclear war. It has a "sci fi" feel to it, not a true "Science Fiction" feeling. That's the setting. It's fun to play and you can play it for ages. There are lots of "quests" (each has its own little story) to do and discover.  I recommend the version you saw on sale. One of those expansions allows you to continue to play after the main mission ends. It converts it to a true sand box game. FO3 also has some great mods (from eye candy to gameplay mods) and of course a patch created by the community which fixes a lot of bugs Bethesda left in. The latter is highly recommended. Make sure to get the latest official patch (1.7) too.

Reply #31 from Stardock Forums Top

It does look good, think I will pop into the shop today :)

Reply #32 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Ah. Cool. I think you will love FO3. But remember, FO3 is also CPU intensive. No matter what great graphics card you have, the CPU needs to crunch this game. Considering your plans for this build, your machine will handle FO3 very well. :)

Reply #33 from Elemental Forums Top

There's NOTHING like playing older games that you couldn't on your old PC when you build a fresh one...mmmm yeah.

Reply #34 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Fuzzy why are you overclocking? Shortens the life of your componets you know...

Reply #35 from Elemental Forums Top

The lifetime of components with factory settings is way longer than you ever intend to use them anyway. (in other words, on factory settings they will be outdated before they break down from wear and tear)

Granted if overclocked improperly (eg. to high), lifetime could be reduced to a few seconds. But reducing lifetime from 50 years to 10 won't really matter that much.

Reply #36 from WinCustomize Forums Top

im totally lost when it comes to all this just happy for you and your new purchase fuzzy enjoy :thumbsup:

Reply #37 from Sins Forums Top

Fuzzy, you may want to wait until October for Fallout 3. They're coming out with a GotY edition, which will include all 5 DLC.  Of course, if the sale you saw is a really sweet deal, then go for that.

Reply #38 from Demigod Forums Top

Hey Fuzzy, overclocking with that board should be easy.  While i'm not 100% certain it is the same as the Rampage II you should be able to install the asus ai suite and you will have it to 3.4 with a couple of clicks.  Then you can fine tune when you see fit.

Kona, I think Weike said it best.  As long as the thermals are kept in check the lengevitity doesn't seem to be an issue.

I've got computers that are on 24/7 that are 5+ years old and are oc'd a bit and don't have any problems.

However i tend to be lazy and cautious with OC'ing.

j

 

 

Reply #39 from WinCustomize Forums Top

You can easily get 4.0 out of the i7 920, but I'm stopping at 3.4 for a reason. It's fast, very fast, but also completely safe.

My current pc is just over 3 years old, so the new one won't have to last longer than that. Of course OC'ing over stresses components, but providing you have the right cooling and are sensible about the limits it's not a problem.

Didn't know about the F3 GOTY - bought it already, I didn't want to wait in case the price went up.

Installing will have to wait until I get out of hospital https://forums.wincustomize.com/363227 I'll have about a week off work recovering, so plenty of time to play :thumbsup:

Reply #40 from Sins Forums Top

Ah, I wish you a speedy recovery, Fuzzy (even though that will shorten your gaming time!)

Reply #41 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Mines done.......getting 8gb of ram stable was a major PITA but I've got a 24 hour test w/0 errors so I figure I'm good to go

Cooler Master HAF 932
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P Rev. 1.6
Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83Ghz
w/ Cooler Master V-8
XFX Radeon HD 4870 1GB DDR5
4x2GB G. Skill DDR2 1066
Corsair 750W PSU Single Rail
(2) WD 640GB Caviar Black HDD (gonna go RAID when I get my Windows 7)
Samsung 22X DVD Burner SATA
Vista SP1 64-bit

Reply #42 from WinCustomize Forums Top

@Lantec:

Cool machine! Nice build. :)

Reply #43 from Elemental Forums Top

Nice Lantec, looks clean.  Why was the RAM so bad, are you overclocking it?  (Never had problems with RAM except bad ones)

Reply #44 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Lantec, you and I have the same Mother board, ram and processor. I went with the Nvidia GTX 260OC for video, 300GB VelociRaptor drive for the OS, and a 1TB Caviar black for main storage.

Took me a day to decide on the ram after extensive reading at Newegg and Gigabyte to figure what ram would run 8 GB at 1066.

Great system that runs quite stable. I decided against the V8 cooler after reading that it is a bit heavy for the board's suggested CPU fan weight. 

Still trying to decide what fan to use but the stock cooler is doing ok for now since it's not over clocked. Suprised it's only at 42 degrees

Reply #45 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Fuzzy, Fallout 3 is an awesome game but when it's patched up to the latest patch, it's unstable as hell.

Keep this in mind when installing. I'd run it without patching if your not going to use the add ons.

Reply #46 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Why was the RAM so bad, are you overclocking it?
End of quote

Was fine at 800mhz but had to tweak the timings and up the voltages to get them stable at 1066 mhz. I was getting intemittent BSODs while trying to run Vista's setup. All pointed to the RAM. I tested each one individually and they all passed so I started playing with the timings.....

 

Still trying to decide what fan to use but the stock cooler is doing ok for now since it's not over clocked. Suprised it's only at 42 degrees
End of quote

I read somewhere (maybe Tweaktown) where the stock cooler is better than many of the add-ons available (the V-8 being one of the exceptions). I'm going to do my overclocking before Windows 7 arrives so I don't run into setup issues.

At that point I'm planning to add RAID or "maybe" go with a reasonable sized SSD....depends on finances.

Reply #47 from Elemental Forums Top

I don't think much of stock coolers, but if you get a custom one, get a damn good big one.  I saw about 20c drop when I changed my CPU cooler out.

Reply #48 from WinCustomize Forums Top

the V8 kicks butt! i got one when they were first released and love it. i switched from a thermalright ultra-120, which was darned good, too. the V8 cools just as well but looks better :)

Reply #49 from WinCustomize Forums Top

V8 is better than a lot of water cooling systems

Reply #50 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Update:

Mobo faulty, new one arriving tomorrow, should all be working Saturday.

Manufacturing quality isn't what it used to be :annoyed: