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first ever killer gaming rig

K

kidicarus74

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 23, 2004
Messages
397
hi all... just fell into some money so i splurged and bought my first top of the line (or pretty damn close to it) gaming rig... here's what i bought (all from newegg of course):

Athlon Socket 939 3500+ Retail
Abit AV8 k8t800 pro mobo
1 gig corsair xms xtra low latency pc3200 ram (2-2-2-5)
Evga GeForce 6800 gt
2x 36.7 WD Raptor 10,000 RPM SATA harddrives
some round ide cables

And this is what i already had that i'm using still:
Chenming Entry level server case w/ window
Enermax 450watt PSU
TDK 4x dvd burner
US Robitics 40x cd burner
Maxtor 250 gig ide HDD
Samsung 17" 12ms response LCD

so.. what does everyone think? i decided to not do what i usually do and post before i buy because then i spend forever waiting and listening to people going back and forth about what they think is the best... went out, researched parts at reliable sites ( [H] of course ), and bought it today....

should be here tuesday, don't know if i can contain myself for that long :D
 
Looks like you got one kick ass rig there.

The only thing I would say is 2gb of ram.

Have fun and happy fragging
 
should have gotten a 74gb raptor.. they are faster than the 36 gig ones (so i've heard)

looks nice though :D
 
Falls Included said:
should have gotten a 74gb raptor.. they are faster than the 36 gig ones (so i've heard)

looks nice though :D
Click to expand...
Yep, faster read/write transfers, lower noise, similar access times, and it's also nice that the 74 GB version is second-generation hardware.
 
yeah... i'm pretty pleased with it all...

to address a few things:

i thought about the 74gig raptors. I'm having a RAID 0 array for my OS and applications drive, and then i'm going to use the 250 gig maxtor for bulk storage. The performance increase and extra space didn't really warrant the extra cost so I just went with the 36 gigs.

i'm selling my old computer (athlon 2400+ system) and with the money from that i'm going to buy another set of the matched 512 corsairs bringing the system to 2 gig and then a second samsung 17" lcd monitor... should be pretty bitchin'

i'll post some pics as soon as it comes in :D
 
kidicarus74 said:
i thought about the 74gig raptors. I'm having a RAID 0 array for my OS and applications drive, and then i'm going to use the 250 gig maxtor for bulk storage. The performance increase and extra space didn't really warrant the extra cost so I just went with the 36 gigs.
Click to expand...

a single 74GB Raptor will be faster then two 36GB Raptors in RAID0

not to mention it's quieter, cooler, cheaper, and you have a 50% less chance of losing your data due to drive failure


also, why are you asking for opinions AFTER you bought it? :rolleyes:
 
EnderW said:
a single 74GB Raptor will be faster then two 36GB Raptors in RAID0

not to mention it's quieter
Click to expand...
A 74gb is far quieter than 2x36gb. I couldent stand the whine and loud clicking from mine, I sold them 2 weeks ago. I know how it is building a "killer rig". I built myself one a year ago, dual 3.06ghz Xeons, 15k SCSI raid, 2gbECC, Supermicro X5DA8, etc. Cost me over 6grand, I had to part it out 3 months later for financial reasons. Made me cry. :(
 
quick question.... what power supply should i use? i'm gettin an Antec Quiet Black mid tower case at a store in town (didn't want to pay shipping on that much weight) and it comes with a 350watt PSU, that sounds a little low for all i've got but what do you think? i've got a generic 450 watt in my old case but i know you can't ever trust generic.
 
kidicarus74 said:
quick question.... what power supply should i use? i'm gettin an Antec Quiet Black mid tower case at a store in town (didn't want to pay shipping on that much weight) and it comes with a 350watt PSU, that sounds a little low for all i've got but what do you think? i've got a generic 450 watt in my old case but i know you can't ever trust generic.
Click to expand...

look at the Antec NeoPower
 
Hey, i'm not into computers or anything just gamming, i was thinking of making a computer with the help of my friend, because this gay dell sucks. So can you guys tell me what parts i should get for a gamming computer that's under the price of $1200. The only thing i have for it is Moniter, keyboard, and a mouse.. Thanks.
 
haze said:
Hey, i'm not into computers or anything just gamming, i was thinking of making a computer with the help of my friend, because this gay dell sucks. So can you guys tell me what parts i should get for a gamming computer that's under the price of $1200. The only thing i have for it is Moniter, keyboard, and a mouse.. Thanks.
Click to expand...
make your own thread
 
haze said:
Hey, i'm not into computers or anything just gamming, i was thinking of making a computer with the help of my friend, because this gay dell sucks. So can you guys tell me what parts i should get for a gamming computer that's under the price of $1200. The only thing i have for it is Moniter, keyboard, and a mouse.. Thanks.
Click to expand...

also try removing the extra "m" from "gaming". gamming would be something totally different, that couldn't be done with a computer.

also kidicarus, nice specs! Is that monitor the 710t? I might have saved with a 930 sb, and devoted the 200 dollars to more processor or video card power. otherwise, nice!
 
it's actually the 712N, i got it at circuity city a few months back for $350 after rebates before i even knew about getting this computer. To tell you the truth tho, it's the best monitor i've ever used, crystal clear and the response time means no ghosting whatsoever. The one thing I don't like about it is that it only goes up to 1280x1024 but that's not too big of a deal. After i put the new computer together it'll probably just mean I'll use AA and AF more often.

Pics will start rolling in later today BTW
 
kidicarus74, opt for a 500w+ psu...a good one. I just built the almost same exact PC as you and an Antec TruePower 430w psu was barely cutting it at all stock speeds. Just my opinion, but a 500w+ psu helped out a lot.


phas3d
 
EnderW said:
also, why are you asking for opinions AFTER you bought it? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

because he wants to know if he did a good job picking out the parts... . .
 
so far with the proc, mobo, ram, gfx card, drives, and case it's right around 1600. an antec 450 watt came w/ the case so i'm going to use that until i think it can't handle the wattage load. parts started rollin' in today, so here's the one pic i have. I know the case isn't fancy or anything, but i'd much rather have a plain case w/ a killer system inside than an amazing case with just a decent system.

case.jpg


hopefully the bulk of the parts (mobo, drives, proc, gfx card) will get here tomorrow and the optical drives wednesday. Have to use my ghetto P3 500 dell laptop in the meantime... boo... no doom3 for me
 
Update: Just ordered an NEC 8x DVD+/-RW and a Sony 52x cd burner (i like to have 2 optical drives, dvd burners take too long on regular cds). Both black of course. It will be the first time in my life i actually won't own a beige drive and boy does that excite me.

Also, just sold my old computer (Athlon 2400+, DFI Infinity, 9800pro) for $500 so i'm adding a second 17" lcd and another gig of ram so here's what's gettin put together tomorrow (or wednesday, but i hope tomorrow):

Athlon 64 3500+
Abit AV8
eVGA 6800 gt
2 gig Corsair 2-2-2-5 pc3200
8x dual layer dvd-rw
52x cd-rw
(2) 36 gig WD sata Raptors (10k rpm)
250 gig maxtor
blue UV reactive cables, cable sleeving
Dual UV Cold cathodes
Antec Performance II SOHO fileserer case
450watt Antec SmartPower PSu
(2) Samsung 17" 12ms response time 17" lcd monitors
 
EnderW said:
a single 74GB Raptor will be faster then two 36GB Raptors in RAID0
Click to expand...

I'm interested in how you come up with that conclusion, other than pulling it from your rear.

Besides which, you have no idea how he's planning on using his system. RAID-0 isn't always faster, but it's very rarely slower. In the applications that do take advantage of it it's markably faster.

It seems to me the people who bash RAID-0 are the people who set it up and didn't know wtf to do with it. It didn't make their systems uber-leet-fast and they are disillusioned by the whole process. :rolleyes:

RAID-0 wasn't invented so rookies with 2 Raptors can use it to get bigger e-penises. It has obvious benefits.

-MrD
 
Uh oh, you should have done your homework--2 Raptor WD360GDs in RAID 0 are most definitely not more than 5% faster than a single WD740GD in any real-life desktop benchmark. Look here,

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2101

even a two-drive configuration of WD740GDs can barely top a single instance of the drive. In one benchmark, it actually is slower than the single drive.

With even the best desktop RAID 0 setup available, such a configuration can barely muster a slight victory over a non-RAID 0 config. Wow, that's such an obvious benefit...
 
xonik said:
Uh oh, you should have done your homework--2 Raptor WD360GDs in RAID 0 are most definitely not more than 5% faster than a single WD740GD in any real-life desktop benchmark. Look here,

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2101

even a two-drive configuration of WD740GDs can barely top a single instance of the drive. In one benchmark, it actually is slower than the single drive.

With even the best desktop RAID 0 setup available, such a configuration can barely muster a slight victory over a non-RAID 0 config. Wow, that's such an obvious benefit...
Click to expand...

The statement wasn't that RAID-0 is far faster than a single drive, now was it? I was rebutting his statement of "a single 74GB Raptor will be faster then two 36GB Raptors in RAID0."

Obviously you just back up my point when you say "In one benchmark, it actually is slower than the single drive." It's only faster in ONE benchmark and slower in the rest. Certainly doesn't hold much light to original statment of one being faster than two.

Those benchmarks are extremely limiting anyhow, focusing purely on the home user. There's a reason why IO intensive tasks such as database servers use RAID10/0+1. Which is why I said "In the applications that do take advantage of it it's markably faster." I never said it was faster in everything.

-MrD
 
MrDigital said:
Those benchmarks are extremely limiting anyhow, focusing purely on the home user. There's a reason why IO intensive tasks such as database servers use RAID10/0+1. Which is why I said "In the applications that do take advantage of it it's markably faster." I never said it was faster in everything.
Click to expand...
You were doing good until you got here. You know, I couldn't help but agree with those first two paragraphs.

This thread isn't about RAID in servers or I/O intensive tasks. We're discussing the merits of various storage schemes in a "killer gaming rig." Ironically, the game benchmark was the one where the single drive did better than the RAID 0 configuration, and anyways, the RAID 0 config never came out on top in that benchmark.
 
xonik said:
You were doing good until you got here. You know, I couldn't help but agree with those first two paragraphs.

This thread isn't about RAID in servers or I/O intensive tasks. We're discussing the merits of various storage schemes in a "killer gaming rig." Ironically, the game benchmark was the one where the single drive did better than the RAID 0 configuration, and anyways, the RAID 0 config never came out on top in that benchmark.
Click to expand...

Here's another URL which basically explains the Anandtech & StorageReview reviews and is a good read overall, and tends to expand on what I was saying about "specific applications."

http://www.tweakers.net/reviews/515/1

One can build a killer gaming rig and use it for more than one purpose. One could find my PC to be a "killer" gaming rig a few months ago when I bought it, but it's certainly not used for that purpose.

-MrD
 
Well, I guess in this case it could be a killer server/workstation/whatever, "but it's certainly not used for that purpose"...
 
make sure when you build the rig that you put on compound and the heatsink that came with you cpu
 
hello all... sad news... fedex comes tomorrow not today :(

i appreciate the comments (but i'm not too much a fan of the arguing). i did a good deal of research when i ordered everything, and for what i wanted it for, the two drives in RAID 0 vs. one drive ended up scoring about the same in my book... what put it over the edge was that for a little bit more money, i could have a RAID setup to play with (i think the difference was like $20) and i REALLY didn't need the extra space of two 74 gig drives since i already had the 250 as storage.

couple things i took into consideration when purchasing all this (kind of gives you my frame of mind, which is more than just playing games even though its a gaming rig):

1) fast 64 bit processor. winner: Socket 939 3500+, fast and more future proof than S 754
2) solid k8t800 pro mobo. winner: Abit AV8, really the only choice ;)
3) high quality, low latency ram. winner: 2 gig Corsair LL, thanks to [H]
4) gfx card needed to be professional quality w/o professional price. winner: eVGA 6800 gt, as far as i could tell, all the GTs were the same except the BFG OC'ed one and i didn't really want to wait OR pay $40 more for a pre overclocked board
5) fast storage with good I/O rates: see above

that's about it. just looked at that anandtech article and it seems to me that the RAID 0 config ALWAYS won... it was only in the UT2004 load test that it tied for first... which is still 1st... so i don't really plan on sending my drives back


You should see my new super gaming rig
Click to expand...

difference is... mine will be comming in the mail tomorrow... muahahahaha :D
 
kidicarus74 said:
...an antec 450 watt came w/ the case so i'm going to use that until i think it can't handle the wattage load. parts started rollin' in today, so here's the one pic i have. I know the case isn't fancy or anything....
Click to expand...
Exactly the same case I just bought for my new P4 system. I like mine a lot -

Only issue is that HD's mounted in the drive skid with the fan in front of them stick so far back that they got in the way of the secondary power plug on my eVGA 6800GT. So, one HD got moved to the skid with the floppy in it and no worries now.

Might take a look a Crucial's new Ballistix PC4000 memory. It's what I ended up with and it sure runs smoove..... I've always been a big Crucial / Micron fan, but they haven't had performance RAM....until now. Good stuff, to be sure.

Looks great - let's see some benchmarks once you get 'er running.......:cool:

Regards - B.B.S.
 
IT'S HERE!! IT'S HERE!!

so everything came fedex today, it was like christmas. Set everything up right away (of course) and only ran into a few obstacles... well, one major one... apparently the Abit board doesn't auto detect the corsair ram's voltage, so it's set too low from the start.. which causes major BSOD problems when installing windows. just reset the voltage properly and everything ran smooth as silk...

i'm quite pleased with the drives in RAID... everything's REAL quiet (my last system was a vacuum in another life i think). anyway, the benchmarks thus far:

3dMark01: 22,453
3dMark03: 12,521

i'm extremely pleased... played doom3 at 1280x1024 on ultra quality without so much as a stutter :D

pictures tomorrow, couldn't find the driver cd for my ghetto digital camera...
 
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