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  #1  
Old 07-31-2010, 01:16 AM
Lookin4SVX Lookin4SVX is offline
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My New Gaming PC

I decided to take a break from spending money on the SVX for this week and spent some money on upgrading the computers here instead.
Since I have nothing svx related to post about, I thought I would post this off topic thread for those others that like computers.
Plus, we could always use more off topic threads, right?

To be honest, this all started because I have become tired of my girlfriends constant nagging about how slow facebooks games run on her computer.
So I decided it was time to upgrade my gaming computer.
I got an old HP case laying around to put my old computers parts into to make her a newer faster computer.
The computer she has now is a gateway from 2005 with a pentium4, 3ghz with 1Gb pc-2700 ram, and I agree with her it feels dated.

Before continuing on to building her a new computer, I decided to take a look inside her computer and see if there was anything worth salvaging for the new build.
Here is a pic of what I saw when I opened her old computer:


I have seen some dusty computers in my day, but this was kinda crazy.



and she wondered why her computer was always so loud....
No wonder it was running so slow and choppy, it was probably overheating!

Well, a 10oz can of dust destroyer later:


What do you know, its all quiet again, and it no longer has that laggy I'm going to overheat and melt soon feeling...
Well I guess this can be an email station, or something else very basic now..

So Anyways, onto her new setup:
My old parts her computer is inheriting:
AMD Athon 64 X2 5600+
2GB Corsair DDR2 800
Asus M3A78-CM motherboard
24x Sony DVD-RW
320GB WD SATA HDD
Asus Triton CPU Cooler

Only new part I bought for it was a new power supply. The power supply in the old HP case is a 20pin, 200watt. I wasn't feeling that.
I grabbed an Antec basiq 350watt for $20 shipped. It was worth the piece of mind to me.

This is how her new computer came out:



I had a spare 80mm fan laying around so I used it as an intake fan along with the HP exhaust fan.
Temps are 29ēC idle, 47ēC max. So all the cooling is doings its job.

Overclocked to 3.1Ghz (13.5x230fsb), ram running 887Mhz 5-5-5-18 timing.


Ok, now she is happy. Compared to her old pent 4, this system is super quick.
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  #2  
Old 07-31-2010, 01:19 AM
Lookin4SVX Lookin4SVX is offline
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Re: My New Gaming PC

So now it was time to begin building my new box.

PARTS:

I used my old case, I own 2 of these and I like them. They are cheap and big. I highly recommend them.
HEC 6C28BB8S Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Before a complete overhaul, the entire case is disassembled and cleaned.



Now it needs some guts:

Motherboard:
ASUS M4A88TD-M AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s AMD Motherboard = $90
I chose this motherboard because it has all of the features I wanted on a MicroATX board.
The only thing it doesn't have is usb 3.0, which I chose to not to waste the $20 price difference on this time.
Asus layout is very well thought through, unlike a lot of other micro boards.
Other manufactures seem to love to put sata ports directly inline with pci-e slots, or have large southbridge heatsinks inline with the pcie slots. None of which get along with my 4870.
I also like the Asus bios controls, I find them very easy to use.
Core unlocker switch is a nice feature seeing my CPU choice.


Video Card:
SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 = $120

Overclocked to 800Mhz core 1000mhz ram.
I get 60fps solid in need for speed shift with everything on max 1360x768 vsync on. 74fps average with Vsync off.
Crysis on 1360x768, Ultra high settings (XP directX 10 hacked config files), Min fps =26, max fps = 49, avg 40fps (with fraps running).

CPU:
AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Callisto 3.2GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - C3 Revision HDZ555WFGMBOX = $99

Well I heard a lot of good things about this chip. Unlockable, overclockable, it is apparently the AMD dual core to have.
And I would have to agree seeing this kicked the crap out of my overclocked x2 5200+ by 2518 CPU marks in 3Dmark06!

Old System:


New System:



Not to shabby for $100 chip.


RAM:

Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996782 = $109

I read so many good reviews from all over the web on this brand and line.
It seemed to be very good specs, and at a reasonable price.
I have had no issue running these sticks at 1736mhz 7-9-7-24.

Last edited by Lookin4SVX; 07-31-2010 at 01:38 AM.
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  #3  
Old 07-31-2010, 01:21 AM
Lookin4SVX Lookin4SVX is offline
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Re: My New Gaming PC

HDD:
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive = $54each x2 = $108

They are 640GB AALS Drives, 2x 320 platers. This is one of the fastest reasonably priced drives.
When I say faster, I mean smack around a 150GB raptor on everything but access time fast:

BTW, I bought 2 because I am running 2 of these in RAID-0
Check out these transfer rates:

Load times? whats a load time?

PSU:
CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC = $65
And my power supply from my old system. Great, clean, stable power. Why buy a new one?
Cables are long and wrapped. Makes cable management easy.


DVD-RW:
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM = $18.99
I bought this because it was on sale. I didn't really need another one. My 2 Sony 24x work fine.
Basically bought it so the front of my tower can says Asus, like the inside.
Running 1 of these and 1 Sony 24x.

Case Fans:
Rosewill RFA-120-K 120mm Case Fan
Rated at 78CFM, in reality, it is like 40CFM. Was running 2 of these, 1 intake one exhaust.
Was not moving the air out of case well enough, motherboard temps in the 50's.
These are now both intake fans.


Scythe DFS123812-3000 "ULTRA KAZE" 120 x 38 mm Case Fan
So I wanted an exhaust fan with some good static pressure and a crazy CFM.
Noise is not a concern to me, but heat is, the tower lives inside a compartment in my desk.
Motherboard temps dropped to 33ēC with this fan as exhaust and the 2 rosewills doing intake duty.


CPU HSF:
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
Well, I am oveclocking. Overclocking on a Stock HSF is not going to get me very far.
I Love this thing. 39ēC idle (900rpm), 52ēC 100% load (1500rpm) (hours of prime95).
I am pretty sure that with all the fans I am running, this doesnt need to work very hard.


Keyboard:
Saitek Eclipse II Illuminated Keyboard54560463
I got one of these for my girlfriend a year ago, I been jealous ever since. Now I have one.
No programmable keys, not a gaming keyboard. Does have basic media controls, which I like.
Keys resistance feels good. It feels good to type on. Not to hard, not to soft, just right, for me.


Mouse:
Logitech MX 518 Wired Optical 1800 dpi Gaming Mouse
I have been using a MX510 for YEARS. To the point the paint is warn off the plastic on mouse 1.
The MX518 is like its direct replacement but with one new trick, on the fly dpi switching.
I had no idea how much I was missing not having dpi control until I had it.
Being able to switch dpi on the fly when inside photoshop, or vegas is very helpful when working with very small selections.

Last edited by Lookin4SVX; 07-31-2010 at 01:42 AM.
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  #4  
Old 07-31-2010, 01:22 AM
Lookin4SVX Lookin4SVX is offline
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Re: My New Gaming PC

Well now Lets see how it all came together:







Well that is my new rig.
It runs every game and app I have thrown at it.
The 6500 point jump in 3dmark06 was a major improvement.
Sony Vegas showed a nice decrease in encoding times also.
So I am very happy with my new setup.
Total price of upgrades:$560
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  #5  
Old 07-31-2010, 01:33 AM
Lookin4SVX Lookin4SVX is offline
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Re: My New Gaming PC

And while I had all the computers open, I decided install a couple more hdd, and a winTv card into my other PC to make one crazy Media Center PC:

Foxconn A74MX-K mobo
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ 2.7GHz AM2 dual core CPU
2GB Gskill DDR2 800
WinTV (hooked to digital cable box)
4 - Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB SATA 3.0Gb
2 - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKB 500GB 7200 RPM IDE
1 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
1 - Sony 24x DVDRW






This box is now capable of recording 1100hrs of TV without needing to trash a single episode. WinTV records to a 4TB RAID-0 Array of WD Black editions. :-)

Looks like I wont need any more computer upgrades for awhile.
Guess I can get back to saving money for SVX parts again.
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  #6  
Old 07-31-2010, 06:39 AM
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svxthc svxthc is offline
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Re: My New Gaming PC

I have the same graphics card. It is a little lame as it won't even run starcraft 2 on high, but it seems to work well for everything else. I paid ~75$ for it 3 years ago. lol That's my only negative review on your setup.
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  #7  
Old 07-31-2010, 09:01 AM
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icingdeath88 icingdeath88 is offline
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Re: My New Gaming PC

Nice build, especially nice use of zip ties. Heatpipe towers are awesome, and they love to have an intake and exhaust fan lined up with them. Should be quite the beast for a long time.

You'd like my build:







There are more pics in the link in my sig.

It's more than a little outdated, but I take a lot of pride in the cooling system. There are 2 other 120mm fans in line with the CPU heatpipe tower.
AMD Athlon 64 FX-55, overclocked to 2.8ghz @ 1.55V, 45°C load (The FXs had unlocked multipliers like the black editions.)
8800GTS 320MB
And that little heatpipe tower below the graphics card means that the northbridge idles at basically room temperature.
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'97 Ebony LSi ~137k #036.......Power mode mod, JDM clear corners, BBS wheels. AUX/pocket mod

Now a mod "over there" ............Photo album

Last edited by icingdeath88; 07-31-2010 at 09:03 AM.
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  #8  
Old 07-31-2010, 12:24 PM
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Wikedjuggalo Wikedjuggalo is offline
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Re: My New Gaming PC

I want to say something mean because I just got done building my budget gaming PC with a AMD Phenom II x4 2.8ghz, PNY GTX465 (unlocks to GTX470). Maybe I will post full specs and pictures later I spent under 900 delivered including actually paying for an operating system

Alright prepare for huge picture upload.

AMD Phenom II X4 925 Deneb 2.8GHz
MSI NF750-G55 AM3 NVIDIA nForce 750a
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
PNY GeForce GTX 465 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
COOLER MASTER GX Series RS750-ACAAE3-US 750W
Scythe SCKTN-3000 92mm Sleeve "KATANA3" 3Heat Pipes CPU Cooler
AZZA Solano 1000 Black/Black Japanese SECC Steel/Metal mesh

Teh Rig


The PNY GTX465 unclocks to a GTX 470 an upgrade from:
Core Clock 607MHz
Shader Clock 1215MHz
Stream Processors 352 Processor Cores

to

Core Clock 656MHz
Shader Clock 1312MHz
Stream Processors 448 Processor Cores

I did the FFXIV benchmark with it still locked in GTX 465 and scored almost 5000 with only 2 gigs of memory in. The harddrive is a Raptor drive that is 10,000rpm and 150gigs. I will be getting another drive later as I will need mroe space I have not had the CPU get over 31*C which makes me happy. The temp in the case stays around 20-27*C depending on load.
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Last edited by Wikedjuggalo; 07-31-2010 at 01:03 PM.
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  #9  
Old 07-31-2010, 05:07 PM
Lookin4SVX Lookin4SVX is offline
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Re: My New Gaming PC

Quote:
Originally Posted by svxthc View Post
I have the same graphics card. It is a little lame as it won't even run starcraft 2 on high, but it seems to work well for everything else. I paid ~75$ for it 3 years ago. lol That's my only negative review on your setup.
You must be mistaken.
This card was released only 2 years ago.This card cost $300 2 year ago.
Its a HD4870 1GB GDDR5, Look it up.

Check it out:





Like I said, I game at 1360x768.
I have 32" 720p lcd tv I use as my monitor, I game in its native res, so my framerates are higher than those benchmarks.

It will definitely play starcraft 2. It plays everything.
You sure you don't have a 3870?

Blizzard says:
Recommended:
512 MB NVIDIAŽ GeForceŽ 8800 GTX or ATI RadeonŽ HD 3870 or better

The 4870 beats a 3870x2 or 3870 in crossfire...
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  #10  
Old 07-31-2010, 08:32 PM
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icingdeath88 icingdeath88 is offline
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Re: My New Gaming PC

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lookin4SVX View Post
Like I said, I game at 1360x768.
I have 32" 720p lcd tv I use as my monitor, I game in its native res, so my framerates are higher than those benchmarks.
For the last couple years, I've been using a TV (also 32", 1366x768) for gaming/movies and a monitor for everything else, both hooked up all the time, with a long cable connecting the TV in the living room with the comp set up in a nearby bedroom. It was great until the TV decided to die.
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'94 Laguna Blue LSi ~159k.......JDM ultra short-geared 3.900 STi Version 7 6-speed w/ Cobb shortshifter, ECUtune 244,8.1mm/256,9.1mm i/e cams, group N motor mounts, '97 grille, JDM clear corners, Momo JDM Legacy GT steering wheel, apkarian's LED tails, silver STi BBS wheels, PWR radiator, redstuff pads f/r, drilled/slotted rotors, bontragerworks rsb #18, Koni/GC 450f/375r coilovers, Megan Racing adjustable lateral links, KMac c/c plates, Stebro exhaust, ECUtune 1v5, Optima battery in the trunk where it belongs. Turbo project

'97 Ebony LSi ~137k #036.......Power mode mod, JDM clear corners, BBS wheels. AUX/pocket mod

Now a mod "over there" ............Photo album
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  #11  
Old 08-01-2010, 12:35 PM
Lookin4SVX Lookin4SVX is offline
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Re: My New Gaming PC

My friend came over last night with starcraft 2.
It plays fine. 45ish fps on Ultra settings, 1360x768.
On High it plays at 80-90fps.

Here is a video of it on ultra.
Put it on 720p setting.


I uploaded this as a 187mb 720p 12MB/sec video.
Youtube turned it into garbage quality, even on 720p setting.
Still worth checking out, you can see its not choppy at all.
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