Can't keep a good nerd down

masteen · Post by **masteen** » January 23, 2006, 6:17 pm

I've been saving my pennies since Wilma, and here's my new rig. Bought from NewEgg, so it should be here before the weekend.

MSI K8N Diamond Plus Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor

Patriot 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model PDC2G3200LLK

XFX PVT70FUDE7 Geforce 7800GTX 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

2 Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive

COOLER MASTER Real Power RS-450-ACLX ATX12V 450W Power Supply

COOLER MASTER Praetorian PAC-T01-EK Black All Aluminium Alloy ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Logitech Cordless Desktop MX3100 967513-0403 2-Tone PS/2 RF Wireless Standard Keyboard Mouse Included

Logitech Z-2300 200 watts RMS 2.1 Speaker

SONY Black IDE DVD Burner Model DW-Q30A BK

SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive

miir · Post by **miir** » January 23, 2006, 6:25 pm

Water cooled?

Just kiddin, that's a nice rig.

Marbus · Post by **Marbus** » January 23, 2006, 6:49 pm

Very nice

Big Gratz!

Marb

masteen · Post by **masteen** » January 23, 2006, 6:54 pm

miir wrote:Water cooled?

Just kiddin, that's a nice rig.

I'm thinking about mounting it on my ceiling

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 23, 2006, 6:56 pm

That should work for everything except Vanguard.

Looks good!

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » January 23, 2006, 6:56 pm

Add some cooling to that and you have a damn nice rig. It makes me giddy to see somebody movin' on up in the computer world. Nerds unite!

Aabidano · Post by **Aabidano** » January 23, 2006, 7:19 pm

masteen wrote:I'm thinking about mounting it on my ceiling

That was going to be my suggestion

masteen · Post by **masteen** » January 23, 2006, 7:27 pm

Winnow wrote:That should work for everything except Vanguard.

Looks good!

It's an SLI mobo with true dual PCIx16 capability, so I will slap another 7800 GTX in it when necessary.

Marbus · Post by **Marbus** » January 23, 2006, 7:27 pm

I think Masteen knows what will handle Vanguard and what won't

Ebumar · Post by **Ebumar** » January 23, 2006, 7:28 pm

Winnow wrote:That should work for everything except Vanguard.

Looks good!

Naw, should be fine. Would probably get about 20 - 25fps in cities with that rig (current graphics).

When he throws the second video card in there, he will be golden.

Mr Bacon · Post by **Mr Bacon** » January 23, 2006, 7:45 pm

let me know how it runs masteen (in vg too!) as I was considering a very similar machine in many aspects for this summer. 4400+, SLI 7800 GT's, etc.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 23, 2006, 8:23 pm

Sheesh, peeps didn't get the joke!

I'm sure that will be fine for Vanguard. Glad you got an SLI board. It's going to be awhile before I add a second 7800 to my system though as one seems fine with a 3800+ OC'd to higher than 4800+ levels.

Those Raptors will make a nice performance difference. (if you didn't have them before)

Side note:

That Antec P180 case I used to build my new computer has been outstanding. Cool and quiet.

masteen · Post by **masteen** » January 23, 2006, 8:24 pm

This isn't that huge of a bump from my previous system, other than being built 9 months later. I had dual raptors in that one too

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » January 23, 2006, 10:43 pm

So I'm probably right in assuming you sell your old stuff on Ebay? With a turnover rate of 9 months, you probably don't even spend 1k a year on computers.

Truant · Post by **Truant** » January 23, 2006, 10:52 pm

Can you file a flood insurance claim if the water cooling system fails?

Nilaman · Post by **Nilaman** » January 23, 2006, 11:49 pm

Suspend it in vegetable oil!

masteen · Post by **masteen** » January 24, 2006, 2:51 am

Leonaerd wrote:So I'm probably right in assuming you sell your old stuff on Ebay? With a turnover rate of 9 months, you probably don't even spend 1k a year on computers.

Umm, no. Freak tidal surge after a hurricane ruined my shit. I still had one computer with parts in it from my first real PC bought in 1997.

Psyloche · Post by **Psyloche** » January 24, 2006, 11:01 am

You might want to check with a different video card vendor. I have an XFX 7800 GTX and while it rocks most games, I think my brother gets better performance off his BFG GTX. Our systems are almost exactly the same and his framerates in the games we play are usually better. Not to mention XFX forums and support are total ass. Although in fairness, I haven't gotten a chance to go check out BFG's though I haven't heard anything bad about them.

*~*stragi*~* · Post by ***~*stragi*~*** » January 24, 2006, 1:01 pm

I would upgrade that Powersupply and I'd jump on those new 150 gig raptor drives which basically own everything, you won't regret spending the extra cash.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 24, 2006, 1:32 pm

Stragi wrote:I would upgrade that Powersupply and I'd jump on those new 150 gig raptor drives which basically own everything, you won't regret spending the extra cash.

The 150 Raptors are spendy but I'll be getting one soon as I've noticed the performance hit since removing my original 36GB Raptor. There's nothing wrong with the 74GB Raptors as they are quieter than the 36's so no worries if you stick with them. I assume you'll have a larger non speed critical HD for pr0n storage and such.

masteen · Post by **masteen** » January 24, 2006, 2:30 pm

Winnow wrote:
Stragi wrote:I would upgrade that Powersupply and I'd jump on those new 150 gig raptor drives which basically own everything, you won't regret spending the extra cash.
The 150 Raptors are spendy but I'll be getting one soon as I've noticed the performance hit since removing my original 36GB Raptor. There's nothing wrong with the 74GB Raptors as they are quieter than the 36's so no worries if you stick with them. I assume you'll have a larger non speed critical HD for pr0n storage and such.

I honestly didn't think about that when building this machine. I used to have a PC that existed purely to store pr0n and pirated MP3s.

Newegg had a few XFX cards listed with different core and memory speeds. I bought the one with the fastest, and it was still like 80 bucks cheaper than the BFG with slower numbers. I guess we'll see.

masteen · Post by **masteen** » January 30, 2006, 5:50 pm

IT'S ALIVE!!! IT'S ALIIIIVVVEEEEE!!!!!!!

I was up till 5 AM playing Eve and CoV. It's sooo tasty! I really need to get one of the widescreens from Dell soon, because the 19" just doesn't cut it for the sick resolutions this rig can churn out.

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » January 30, 2006, 6:04 pm

Pfft. You need to play games that actually take advantage of your graphical giggity. Download Half Life 2: Lost Coast (it's free), and then you'll really need a new monitor because the old one would explode in a fury of joy.