The Official Unofficial Frau Kaleun Destroys The World* Thread

[frau kaleun]

--UPDATED 8/10/2011--

*Actually, I'm just building my own computer (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=184004). But then I ask myself: what's the worst that could happen?

So here's where I will be listing what I have and what I'm looking at getting, and taking suggestions and advice and - once all the parts are in my possession and Pinky and I begin putting the plan into action - begging for qualified, semi-qualified and/or any available assistance. :O:


Acquired/On Order

Motherboard: Asus M4A79XTD Evo
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A79XTD_EVO/

CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 965 Black
http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=617&f1=AMD+Phenom%e2%84%a2+II+X4&f2=&f3=&f4=512&f5=&f6=&f7=&f8=&f9=&f10=&f11=&f12=True

Case: Rosewill Challenger ATX Mid-Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

PSU: Corsair CMPSU-850HX 850-Watt HX Professional Series 80 Plus Certified Power Supply
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-CMPSU-850HX-850-Watt-Professional-Certified/dp/B0029F21LA/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1313027696&sr=1-1

2 x Kingston Technology HyperX 8 GB Kit (2x4 GB Modules) 8 Dual Channel Kit 1600 (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX
http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Technology-Modules-KHX1600C9D3K2-8GX/dp/B0037TO5C0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312754140&sr=8-1
Wow, looks like I ordered this at the right time. They were $65-70 a kit when I initially picked them out, then dropped to $54.99 each so I went ahead and ordered. Today they're back up to over $65 again. :o

2 x Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 7,200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0347356
Wanted one for music, one for games. Size is not overkill for music given the collection I've already got. Could be for games, but the sale price was too good to pass up even if it did take 2 months and an irritated email from me to get them shipped. Plus my multi-installs of heavily modded SH3 are eating up the games drive I've already got, and I haven't even put my other games on it yet.

GPU: Sapphire Tech ATI Radeon HD5770 Vapor-X
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?psn=0001&pid=305&lid=1
Already have one, decided to see what Crossfire is like.

SONY Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 8X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner BD-5300S-0B - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118050 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118050)

Surge Protector: Tripplite TMC-6
http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-TMC-6-6-Outlet-Protector/dp/B0000AKA90

Allsop Metal Art Monitor Stand (Black)
http://www.amazon.com/Allsop-Metal-Monitor-Stand-Black/dp/B003M2YDE2/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1312753786&sr=1-2


Migrating from the current rig:

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive, will probably remain the boot drive
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0347355

AcomData PureDrive 1 TB USB 2.0/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive, for some storage and all backups
http://www.amazon.com/AcomData-PureDrive-Desktop-External-PHD10000USE-72/dp/B000YUFUCO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1312755264&sr=1-1

Sound card: ASUS Xonar DX
http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Xonar_DX/

Speakers: Logitech X-540 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System with Subwoofer
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Surround-Speaker-System-Subwoofer/dp/B000JJM8XE

Plus a basic 56K Voice/Fax Modem PCI card (LSI SV92PP Soft Modem) as a back-up in case my DSL service goes down and I need to use the dial-up connection to get on line.


Still need to order:

Keyboard and Mouse
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Natural-Ergonomic-Desktop-7000/dp/B000Q6UZBM/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1312755755&sr=1-1
Had the MS Natural Ergonomics wireless stuff before and loved it, except for some drop-out problems which I know I solved as far as a mouse is concerned. Still wondering about whether or not to risk getting the combo or getting the wireless mouse and wired version of the kb separately.

UPS
Don't know if I'm going to get one of these or not. Probably a good idea, but not critical ATM. The local computer shop has some decent used/refurbished ones for sale so I may look there first when the time comes. Recommendations on wattage I should look for would be helpful. :DL


Cost of new stuff to date:
Mobo - $89.99 (after $10 Asus rebate), TigerDirect
CPU - $119.99 (after $20 promo code discount), Newegg, free shipping
Case - $49.99, Newegg, free shipping
Surge Protecter - $29.99, Amazon, free shipping w/ Amazon Prime (and I had a $25 gift certificate :yeah:
HDDs - $239.98, Microcenter online store
GPU - $147.99, Amazon
RAM - $90.17, Amazon (after rewards points discount)
Blu-ray burner - $99.99, Newegg
Monitor stand - $22.97, Amazon
PSU - $164.99, Amazon

[the_tyrant]

wow, you have such huge storage...

for the 2 new drives i would recommend sata 6gb, its so much better

link them up using RAID 0, your games would literally start in 1 second

[frau kaleun]

wow, you have such huge storage...

for the 2 new drives i would recommend sata 6gb, its so much better

link them up using RAID 0, your games would literally start in 1 second

I'm pretty sure I checked and the mobo only supports Sata 3Gb. I'm okay with it. *shrugs*

1 second wouldn't give me time to go powder my nose and refill my glass, lol.

I got all the storage because I wanted to move all my music onto an internal drive, now that I'll have room for more internal disks. It's currently on the external drive, but taking up more than half of it and the collection is only get to get bigger... not to mention the fact that all my pics and most of my documents are on there as well. I started out just intending to stick with 1TB drives, but the bigger ones were on sale over the holiday.

[Arclight]

Going from 'SATA2' to 'SATA3' makes nearly 0 difference for a mechanical drive. They can't even saturate bandwith on SATA2, so doubling it won't do any good. It's for SSD.


Right, I have to ask: at this point in time, and while considering technology will move forward quite a bit in the time it takes to build this system, is it really wise to buy into such an old CPU?

AMD's Bulldozer architecture will be available Q3 this year, a few months from now. You're buying into tech that's about to be phased out. Phenom was the Core2-killer: Core2 has come and gone, replaced by i5 and i7, which in turn are on the brink of a new generation.

I have Core2 myself, but I bought it 3 years ago. Not a chance I would pick up a Core2 CPU nowadays.

[Gerald]

Nice,stuff :yeah:

[Sailor Steve]

Let me know what it ends up costing, minus the speakers as I only use headphones. I'm still considering having iBuyPower build me one through Amazon, but your experiment looks tempting.

[Jan Kyster]

...is it really wise to buy into such an old CPU?It's cheap, fast and with good overclocking potential. And it's cheap! :yeah:
Have by now used it in quite a few gamers rigs for young lads on limited budgets - runs everything especially when paired with a decent graphics board.

Die Frau won't be disappointed.

Let me know what it ends up costing, minus the speakers as I only use headphones.You might also save the soundboard.
As an old hi-fi freak with some amazing gear behind me, I'm still surprised just how good onboard soundchips are these days.

Should you somehow not be happy with it, a soundboard may always be purchased at a later state.


Didn't catch this one first time:
GPU (x2?): Sapphire Tech ATI Radeon HD5770 Vapor-XIf you're thinking of buying two at this stage, I must recommend getting a 5870 instead! Again... :ping:

[frau kaleun]

It's cheap, fast and with good overclocking potential. And it's cheap! :yeah:
Have by now used it in quite a few gamers rigs for young lads on limited budgets - runs everything especially when paired with a decent graphics board.

Die Frau won't be disappointed.

Exactly, the price was right. Especially for something I'm going to be building myself and might very well screw up. :O:

You really wouldn't want me to start up on that one? :nope:
In that case the list is very long and seems to be ever growing...

Perhaps you have a whole new combo incoming?! http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z15/subject_rod/smilies/dopey.gif


But just keep on at a slow pace. Everything is really straight forward, logically and very simple.

Make sure connections to and from mb and peripherials are tight. Same with cards. And that you remember all needed connections!

I have a running list of what I intend to put in there, always checking to make sure the mobo has the connections for it. Since I'll probably get another PSU (I intend to leave the one in the current rig where it is) I'll just have to make sure it has everything I need as well with regard to power connectors... but so far with everything I've looked at, this doesn't seem like it will be much of an issue. What I'm wondering about with that right now is, modular or non-modular? the modular models sure look nice but IIRC generally cost more.


Didn't catch this one first time:
If you're thinking of buying two at this stage, I must recommend getting a 5870 instead! Again... :ping:

Can I Crossfire that with the 5770? For some reason I had it in my head that the two cards had to match. It's entirely possible I misunderstood something I read somewhere.

But again the price may be the clincher, the 5870 was quite a bit higher when I looked before. It's a decision that may still be down the road a-ways, but I'm keeping a regular lookout for sales and specials. And also having the case on hand will help, since I'll know exactly how much space I'll have to work with. One reason I went ahead and got it now.

Let me know what it ends up costing

Updating the first post with prices. What I paid, not current listings, so YMMV.

[Jan Kyster]

...What I'm wondering about with that right now is, modular or non-modular?

Can I Crossfire that with the 5770?First the compatibility chart: http://sites.amd.com/PublishingImages/Public/Graphic_Illustrations/WebBannerJPEG/AMD_CrossfireX_Chart_1618W.jpg

And sadly no, you can't CrossFire a 57-serie with a 58-serie.
If a 5870 is still too expensive, even as second-hand card, have a look at the 5850 then...
Should be cheaper and only marginally more expensive than the 5750, and it has the potential of OC'ing to near 5870 performance.
And can of course be CrossFire'd with a 5850/5870 later on.

I would still argue though, that the "minor" price difference up to a 5870 is well spent...

Especially when you mention wanting a modular PSU - way better to use the extra dollars on performance.


Of course personally I shall never own a non-modular again :D love the way you can manage the cables.
But it comes with an extra pricetag and have no other meaning than pure aesthetics...

I would get the 5870 now, wait with a new PSU until the money is in and then of course get a *cough* Fractal *cough* modular one.


Looking forward to follow "The End of The World" - series! http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z15/subject_rod/smilies/munching_out.gif

If you could set up a webcam, you could charge people for following you live as you build! http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z15/subject_rod/smilies/dopey.gif

[frau kaleun]

And can of course be CrossFire'd with a 5850/5870 later on.

I would still argue though, that the "minor" price difference up to a 5870 is well spent...

Well, it's hardly a minor price difference... all the normal places I go to compare prices, it's either out of stock (if the price listed is under $300) or it's at least $200-300 more than the 5770. Googling turns up the same results. So for now I will stick with the 57 series even if I get a second card.

Of course personally I shall never own a non-modular again :D love the way you can manage the cables.

The one constant complaint I've seen so far with the modular cables is a problem with length in the mobo power connectors, especially with a bottom-mounted PSU. It seems to come up even with the highly rated brands. But I do like the idea of not having a bunch of cables floating around in there serving no purpose. I suppose if length is an issue, extender cables are available. Another thing to check on before making any decisions, I guess.


I would get the 5870 now, wait with a new PSU until the money is in and then of course get a *cough* Fractal *cough* modular one.


I have searched and searched and come to the conclusion that they are not available in the US. The Fractal Design website lists only two North American distributors for Fractal Design products, and they only carry cases. Google Product Search for "Fractal Design" turns up nothing but cases as well. So I'm pretty sure I will have to go with a different brand.

[CaptainHaplo]

Did I miss it, or are you not going to purchase memory?

[frau kaleun]

Did I miss it, or are you not going to purchase memory?

You didn't miss it, I just haven't gotten to it yet. :O:

The new board takes DDR3 of which I have precisely none, so I will be buying some. But it's not a purchase that's gonna keep me up nights trying to make a decision.

[Gerald]

Good luck,Frau with all!

[frau kaleun]

Good luck,Frau with all!

Tack så mycket! :DL

[Gerald]

Tack så mycket! :DL Fine Swedish as (google) has delivered to me from you,tack så mycket, det var snällt :)

[Arclight]

It's cheap, fast and with good overclocking potential. And it's cheap! :yeah:
Right... so wouldn't it make sense to wait then? New tech brings price drops.

Have by now used it in quite a few gamers rigs for young lads on limited budgets - runs everything especially when paired with a decent graphics board.

With it being on par with an i7 in gaming terms I don't doubt that.

Die Frau won't be disappointed.
Not today, no. But I wonder what pops up in a few months. I bought a GTX460, and then the 560 popped up not long after. Bit faster, about the same price. I don't regret buying a 460, but if I had to pick today I'd buy a 560.

Considering your splurging on parts, I think you understand that point of view. :hmmm:


At any rate, good luck with the build, Frau. I'm sure there'll be no shortage of help here when you need it. :salute:

[LtzS_Petersen]

Why no new AM3+ Socket and a new Chipset? Asrock for instance make fine Boards with great Features, and you were compatible with next Generation Processors.
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.de.asp?Model=890GX%20Pro3
And they are not so expensive like similar Boards from other Manufacturers. I build a Computer with one of these Boards and was amazed about the equipment of this Board. The Performance of the Chipsets in Crossfire was the same, the 890GX have the same amount of Lanes for the Grafikcards like the 790x Chipset.
And you get a Grafik Chip for free. :D
The Maimboard is the Basement of your Rig, all other is replacable without a lot of Work.

[Arclight]

Why no new AM3+ Socket and a new Chipset?
Point. It would run that Phenom II while allowing future upgrades.

Wouldn't pick a board with integrated graphics though. :O:

[NeonSamurai]

Right... so wouldn't it make sense to wait then? New tech brings price drops.

Problem always is though is when do you stop waiting, as new tech is always just around the corner. Though it is worth waiting if something major is about to come down the pipes.

[Arclight]

I'm talking about the new architectures, which come every 2 years. Die shrinks are fairly major too (those come every other year as well. One year new architecture, next year die shrink), but generally don't bring more than optimisations.

Even if Bulldozer turns out to be nothing noteworthy, the new chips will likely either force the older ones down in price, or offer more bang for the buck. Even if they don't, there's nothing lost in waiting a bit.

The right time depends on personal preference, but I would argue that buying just before an introduction like this is the wrong time.

[Sailor Steve]

Problem always is though is when do you stop waiting, as new tech is always just around the corner. Though it is worth waiting if something major is about to come down the pipes.
I agree. No matter what you buy and when, there is always the chance that before you're ready something better will come along, and the price for the one you bought will drop.

[kiwi_2005]

Looking forward to seeing the finishing of Frau's mega kick ass gaming rig. :rock:

[frau kaleun]

Looking forward to seeing the finishing of Frau's mega kick ass gaming rig. :rock:

I'll be happy if I don't break any of the parts and it runs. :O:

This is more an exercise in, "can I actually build a working PC?"... which is why I'm satisfied to make a step up from what I have now if I can get a decent price on something, but don't feel the need to go all out for the latest and greatest on everything. I'm always well behind the curve when it comes to tech stuff anyway.

Besides which, in the time it takes you to assemble all the parts for one rig, somebody's already come up with something better, smaller, faster, and quieter. C'est la vie! :DL

[Flaxpants]

Hi Frau, I just put in a 5770 and I have to say I'm very pleased with it. I did have an 8800GTX, which in its day was a pretty good card. In general the 5770 is giving me from 10-30fps more than the 8800GTX card did, plus now I can run DX11 of course. I was in two minds also over the 5770 and the 5870 but I'm glad I got the 5770, maybe I'll crossfire it later on, but to be honest after using it now for a month or two I no longer feel the need to go down that road.

In terms of Bang 4 Buck, the 5770 has to be one of the best deals out there right now.

[frau kaleun]

Yeah, I've got one in the current rig which will migrate to the new one, and the 4650 can go back in the current rig which I will find another home for... probably at the office.

Also - got the case today! Took it out of the box to make sure it looked okay and would fit in the space, I think it will do just fine. I guess at some point soon I will have to get a PSU in there at least long enough to make sure all the fans work. I can do that, right? Just plug in a PSU and hook up the fans to make sure? They came pre-installed with the case so if there's a problem with them I want to know now. I don't know how long it will be before I'm ready to start any serious system building.

I can probably bring one home from work just for that, we've got enough dead computers around and I don't think it was the PSU that died on all of them. They won't be high end but certainly enough to check out the fans. :hmmm:

Oh wait can you turn on the PSU without having the motherboard all hooked up? Now that I think about it, maybe not. You see what a n00b I am.

[Sailor Steve]

Hmm...I wonder what this one does???

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/imagesCA9IQFYD.jpg


Nope. Maybe this one...

[Jan Kyster]

...can you turn on the PSU without having the motherboard all hooked up?Absolutely!
Just shorten the green wire (PS On) with a black one (ground) with a paper clips! http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z15/subject_rod/smilies/knit.gif

[frau kaleun]

Absolutely!
Just shorten the green wire (PS On) with a black one (ground) with a paper clips! http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z15/subject_rod/smilies/knit.gif

Oh yeah that's the test thingy I saw on Corsair's web site I think.

So basically I will either find out if my fans work, or burn the building down. :O:

Hmm...I wonder what this one does???

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/imagesCA9IQFYD.jpg


Nope. Maybe this one...

:rotfl2:

[Herr-Berbunch]

Dare you to lick the paper clip! :D

Usually if a manufacturer includes three fans built-in, they have the one at the front pushing air in, and the top/rear ones pushing out. Which is great, but 2x fans pushing more out than the one can push in leads to air (dust) being sucked in through all the other little cracks and crevices and making it dirty inside leading to potential overheating issues. It's not great sticking a vacuum cleaner nozzle to a mobo, nor spraying an airduster at the components. I'd move, if possible, the top fan and stick it on the side, as an intake fan. Or get a larger capacity fan on the side - cheap enough. Don't forget your filters for them.

And finally, was one thread for your PC build not enough? :03:

[frau kaleun]

Dare you to lick the paper clip! :D

Usually if a manufacturer includes three fans built-in, they have the one at the front pushing air in, and the top/rear ones pushing out. Which is great, but 2x fans pushing more out than the one can push in leads to air (dust) being sucked in through all the other little cracks and crevices and making it dirty inside leading to potential overheating issues. It's not great sticking a vacuum cleaner nozzle to a mobo, nor spraying an airduster at the components. I'd move, if possible, the top fan and stick it on the side, as an intake fan. Or get a larger capacity fan on the side - cheap enough. Don't forget your filters for them.

There are three fans built in, front/top/rear. Plus I can put one or two more on the side for extra intake which I probably will do if only to add some more BIG BLUE LED LIGHTS WHOOOOOOO!!!! :rock:

Er, sorry, that last bit was just to make Jan's head explode. :O:

There's also a filtered vent on the bottom, for the PSU intake I presume. Haven't checked to see about filters for the onboard fans but I think there is a removable filter for the front one. Any intake fan I add I'll put a filter with for sure (I assume I don't need them for exhaust vents, I mean, we're happy if dust gets blown out of the case, right?)

And finally, was one thread for your PC build not enough? :03:

Are you mad, sir? An undertaking this massive and earthshaking can hardly be contained in one measly thread. :O:

Besides which, I wasn't building anything in that thread, I was only contemplating buying some parts. It wasn't until I actually ordered them that I realized, oh crap, now I have to build a computer. :o

[Herr-Berbunch]

Are you mad, sir? An undertaking this massive and earthshaking can hardly be contained in one measly thread. :O:


Totally fuming, how dare you start yet another thread for something which you've remotely aspired to in a previous thread, just where do you think you are?

Oh, hang about, it's SUBSIM. Phew, for a moment there I thought I was in any other forum on the web run by snotty nosed geeky kids who think just because they know something off the top of their heads that nobody dare to ask a question!

As for annoying Jan, I'd recommend this one perhaps...

http://netdna.psdeluxe.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/creative_pc/pc_designs_spicy_lights.jpg

Taken from this site, http://www.psdeluxe.com/articles/inspiration/50-creative-custom-pc-case-designs/ with some amazing looking cases - not all as good as that one though. :rotfl2:

[Sailor Steve]

Phew, for a moment there I thought I was in any other forum on the web run by snotty nosed geeky kids who think just because they know something off the top of their heads that nobody dare to ask a question!
Talking about me behind my back again, eh? Well, I'll figure out something nasty for you! Just you wait and see if I don't!

[frau kaleun]

Talking about me behind my back again, eh? Well, I'll figure out something nasty for you! Just you wait and see if I don't!

http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/wicked%20witch.jpg

...and your little dog, too! *cackle*

[Sailor Steve]

Oh, so now I'm not only a snot-nosed geeky kid who thinks that just because I know something off the top of my head that nobody dares to ask a question, I'm also green with envy? Well, I AM. SO THERE! I HATE YOU ALL! I'll take my ball and go home! I will! That'll teach you!

[frau kaleun]

http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2010/6/4/129201665988287244.jpg

[frau kaleun]

Finally starting to get back in the mood for this build...

plus my $10 prepaid AmEx card rebate thingy that I got from one of the purchases upthread just showed up...

plus I was just doing my bills and balancing my checking account in Quicken and found $125 that I'd entered in the register as "set aside" for some expense, which I then proceeded to pay later without deleting the "set aside" entries. Why, hello there, money I didn't know I had! :D

So I'm wondering what nice addition I can make to the stockpile without going over (at least by too much) the cashola I just came into. A Blu-ray drive? Some RAM?

Or should I just go stark raving bonkers and get a Radeon HD5870 so Arclight never ever has to mention it again? :O:

In sadder news, the two big fat hard drives I ordered over TWO MONTHS ago have never arrived, nor has any information about why they never arrived. At least they never charged my credit card... but I still want to make sure the order is officially cancelled just in case.

[Herr-Berbunch]

:yeah: Get the graphics card. You know you want it otherwise you wouldn't have mentioned it...

[frau kaleun]

:yeah: Get the graphics card. You know you want it otherwise you wouldn't have mentioned it...

I will have to look at prices again. I haven't checked in a while. Plus I still have the initial expenses on the new (to me) Sonata, it's going in to have one last little problem taken care of next week and I don't know how much that will cost. :hmmm:

OTOH, I also expect to have some extra bits of cash coming in from here and there over the rest of the month - a tiny bit of mom's estate is ready to be doled out, I'll be selling my old car to whoever can give me the most $ the quickest, plus it's one of my biannual three-paycheck months and I budget all my monthly expenses for just two paychecks. That's one full paycheck that no rent or other bill is gonna take a bite out of. Depending on how expenses pan out on the car I could either have lots of extra cash or just break even. :O:


Edit: been looking around for the 5870 and, wow, they do not seem to be readily available at all at any of the places I remember looking last time (i.e. merchants I already know and trust). At any rate I will probably wait on a gfx card decision until last, because I already have one on hand and there are too many other things I must buy like memory and a PSU otherwise the rig doesn't get built at all.

[frau kaleun]

Just checked my email and got a response back on my missing hard drives - they shipped them right after I sent my inquiry, so I'm not sure what happened with the original order.

I'm really glad it worked out, I was in the process of looking around online for something else in case the order got cancelled and was not happy with the selection and prices I was seeing.

FedEx shows an expected delivery date of Monday and my card's been charged so I guess that can count as this pay period's purchase until I see how other expenses work out next week. Just saw that the RAM I had picked out dropped in price overnight so that may be next on the list if the new price holds for a bit. :rock:

Also found a little local computer shop that buys and sells components. They're right next door to a Chinese takeout place I stopped at. Already closed when I was over there but I might have to pop in some time and see if I can get a deal on something I need. Might also be an opportunity to make some cash on whatever halfway decent stuff I have left over after the new build.

[Castout]

Talking about me behind my back again, eh? Well, I'll figure out something nasty for you! Just you wait and see if I don't!


Did your ear feel hot?

[frau kaleun]

Okeydoke, techie gurus - I need some recommendations for a Blu-ray burner.

Been looking around and don't really know what to choose. Most of the ones with decent reviews (at least on Amazon, Newegg, and TD) don't seem to come with the software necessary to play/burn BR discs, so I guess I will need to look for that as well. So I need good recommendations for a combo of drive and software. And I will also want the software to work with my current LG DVD/CD RW drive.

Realized just today that I will be off work the week of Sept 5th so that is my target date for the build. Well, it was always the target date, but I kinda forgot that with so much other stuff going on the past few weeks. So I need to figure out what I absolutely need to pick out and order so it arrives on time. Some little stuff I can pick up locally at a reasonable price, but all the major purchases I know I'll probably get cheaper online, plus Subsim will get a cut of any Amazon orders.

So far, the following things should be covered (I have them, or should have them next week):

Motherboard
CPU
Case
Hard drive(s)
RAM
Gfx card
Sound card
DVD/CD drive

The one major thing I still gotta get is the PSU. Leaning towards a Corsair for that purchase.

Also the Blu-ray drive as noted above. I know I could always get it later and add it then, but for things I know I want I'd rather have them and get them in there at the start.

I will probably also get a new keyboard and mouse and take the current combo to work, where my old hand-me-down from home is getting really worn out. Plus I miss my Microsoft Ergonomic mouse! :wah: I've had great luck with Logitech but nothing was ever as comfortable as that MS "natural" mouse I had. My biggest question is whether to buy the wireless mouse & kb combo or just get the wireless mouse and buy the wired version of the kb separately. I had the wireless combo before but had issues with both the kb and mouse "dropping out" in terms of response. So when I was ready for new ones, I got a wired kb instead. Still got a wireless mouse, because I just can't go back to having that thing wired, what a pain.

But I discovered the new mouse would still drop out, so I ended up buying a little extension thing for the USB connection, so now the receiver thingy for the mouse is out closer to the mouse instead of sticking out of the back panel of the computer, and since then the mouse works fine. So I'm wondering if the same trick will work just as well for a wireless keyboard, which I'd really like to have again. :hmmm:

Still undecided about the gfx card issue - whether to stick with one 5770, add a second one to the mix, or upgrade. Since the 5870 seems difficult to find at anything like a reasonable price, I doubt I'll go that route. Another 5770 is still readily available at a great price, but apparently there's also a 6770 that is basically the same card but with Blu-ray support? I dunno if that's gonna make any difference in playing Blu-rays on the rig.

One thing I found out today, I stopped in the little computer shop I found and they buy abd sell a wide variety of used tech stuff, including some stuff that I didn't think there was even a market for any more. Judging by what they had on the shelves I may be able to make a quick bit of cash with anything I have left over that I don't need. In fact I've got stuff around here now that I know I'll never use that I could probably unload there. I should probably start gathering that up and see if I can use it to defray the cost of new purchases. :yeah:

Oh and I definitely need some new headphones, I don't use them often but the cheap little ones I've had for years are falling apart.

[Arclight]

Can't recommend specific model, but the Sony Optiarc drives have never let me down. Solid units.

As for the graphics card, since it's a gaming rig (it is, right? Mainly?) the best thing you can do is plug in the most powerfull card you can afford. At this point I'd just make sure it has DX11, then get whatever is the best bang-for-buck.

SLI/Crossfire, that's up to you entirely. Just be aware that it doesn't work as well or at all depending on the game (should work fine in most cases), so it wouldn't hurt to do a little research on the games you play. It used to be that a multi-gpu setup scaled much better at very high resolutions, but I'm not sure that still holds true.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/245454-15-crossfire-faqs

I can heartily recommend Sennheiser for headphones. :yep:

[frau kaleun]

Well, I don't do a ton of gaming but when I do it I want it to be as awesome and frustration-free as possible. But TBH the games I play tend to be older and require less in the way of hardware.

OTOH I tend to buy older games because I never have the hardware to run the newer ones. :haha:

I am looking right now at the Radeon HD 6850, which is still reasonably priced for me. A lot will depend on how other expenses work out over the next couple of weeks. But I will also have to decide something soon, because choice of PSU will depend a lot on what (if anything) I decide to do about gfx cards. I've run three different online PSU calculators, and I get recommendations from 750W to 1000W depending on which card (and how many of them) I specify. :hmmm:

It's funny because the one at Corsair returns the lowest wattage requirements, and they'd be the only place of the three that would be trying to sell me a PSU. :haha:

[Arclight]

To the best of my knowledge no gaming PC with anything short of a top-end or multi-gpu setup will ever even use 500W. But you want more than that to keep the PSU from running full tilt under load. Not only does it diminish it's lifetime, efficiency drops as well along with higher running temps.

I ran a 520W (Corsair built by Seasonic, HX520W) with an Q9550 @ 3.4GHz, 4GB DDR2, 8800GTS 512, 3-4 HDs, 5 fans, an add-in soundcard and over half a dozen USB devices. Used it like that 2-3 years without issue.

I have swapped it out for an Antec 650W now, but only so I could cobble together all the older components I had around into what now functions as a server 24/7. That old PSU is still going strong.


I've always used the Antec calculator: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine
(please ignore the advertising, it wasn't there in the past :-? )

Just ran my setup through and it recommends 468W, 418W minimum (and that's assuming 90% of maximum theoretical use, which is not that likely to occur). Realistically, that would be enough, but it would still have the PSU at almost 90% capacity during peak load, so not ideal. That recommendation is really only the bare minimum you should look at.

The old 520W did warm up a little under load, but this 650W... it just doesn't bloody care. Could toss another GTX460 in there and maybe then it would start to heat up a little (ok, definetly would heat up a little, but still :O: ).


Think a 6850 would serve you well, about the same as my 460 (little faster actually), no complaints in terms of performance. It's no monster, but if I have to hold back it's never by much (1680x1050).

[frau kaleun]

The old 520W did warm up a little under load, but this 650W... it just doesn't bloody care. Could toss another GTX460 in there and maybe then it would start to heat up a little (ok, definetly would heat up a little, but still :O: ).


Think a 6850 would serve you well, about the same as my 460 (little faster actually), no complaints in terms of performance. It's no monster, but if I have to hold back it's never by much (1680x1050).

I run the same resolution. My only concern with the 6850 is the size, the Sapphire is 10" long which would only leave about 1" of clearance between the end of the card and the hard drive cage. The shortest 6850 I've found so far is the PowerCooler version which looks to be about 1" shorter and the MSI is about the same. Not really familiar with those two brands and the PowerCooler seems to get a lot of low marks for noise and poor customer service.

The HDD cage is sideways though so it's not like all the drive cables would be poking out towards the card, so I might be okay with a 10" card unless having less clearance there might affect airflow and cooling? The Sapphire seems to have some detractors for flimsy design but I certainly don't feel that way about the 5770.

My Asus mobo manual recommends a minimum of 1000W for dual GPUs, it doesn't even distinguish between low and high-end cards. For two 6850s the calc at their website recommends 950W. :haha:

That calc you linked to is one I found before, I'll check it again...

ah, I see I missed something the first time, I counted all USB devices, even the ones that don't draw power from the system. And I think I counted my external storage drive as a hard drive and it doesn't draw power from the PSU either. :doh:

Well even with two 6850s, and all case fans including the max # of optional ones (WITH LEDS!!!! :D), and opting for 30% capacitor aging plus 100% CPU Utilization and System Load, it never tops out at anything over 750W. Which is in line with what Corsair recommended. I was looking at the 850W units because I'm not sure anything lower is available in the line I wanted anyway but I'll keep shopping around. At least I won't worry about shelling out big bucks for a 1000+W monster. :yeah:

[antikristuseke]

those psu recommendations are ridiculous to say the least. You don't need a 1000w unit to power two 6850's unless you overclock and overvolt everything to ridiculous levels.

[frau kaleun]

those psu recommendations are ridiculous to say the least. You don't need a 1000w unit to power two 6850's unless you overclock and overvolt everything to ridiculous levels.

Well it was the mobo manufacturer's documentation and calculator that gave me the 950-1000W range. Nothing I found at a PSU manufacturer returned anything that high, most of the products Corsair recommended were in the 750-850W range and that was with me "rounding" up a little bit on components just in case. You'd think they'd be the people trying to upsell you on the part.

Weird, unless it's a "cover our butts" thing on behalf of Asus.

[Arclight]

Weird, unless it's a "cover our butts" thing on behalf of Asus.
It is. Recommend someone something insufficient and they'll complain. Overstate it and have them end up with power to spare and customer is a happy camper.

A happy camper who's a few bucks lighter, but happy nonetheless.


Size of the Radeons is an issue, heard that before. Definitely a point to stay aware of. MSI does good mboards and I've seen them present several highly-praised cards (at least in reviews) as well, usually because of a high factory overclock or some custom cooler design (iirc).

If heat and noise are a concern, get one with a custom cooler. Forgive me for plugging my 460, but just look at it:

http://www.gigabyte.com/fileupload/product/3/3530/3282.jpg (http://www.gigabyte.com/fileupload/product/3/3530/3282.jpg)

Never hear the thing and it tops out at 65C unless I'm running some ridiculous stress-test.

(point being that those designs are really effective)

[frau kaleun]

Well, after looking around I think I am going to stick with the 5770 for now. I'm very happy with the one I've already got and can pick up another at a great price if I want to Crossfire it. Plus I know it will fit in the case with plenty of clearance. :yeah:

Looks like I can also pick up either a Sony or Pioneer BR drive for around $100 OEM most places as well. PSU concerns are pretty well solved at this point, those items and the kb/mouse may be all I have to worry about getting ordered and shipped over the next couple of weeks.

If I can get going on the major internal stuff to see how space works out, I'll know more about extras like optional fans and whatnot - I may still have time to order them online but they can be picked up locally fairly cheap so that's not a big deal.

So... maybe I need to start putting things together, or at least getting them in the case now as I start to aquire them.

I suppose the first job will be sticking the CPU on the mobo and getting both of them in there, in whatever order that has to be done. And that's the only stuff I've never tinkered with before so it should be interesting.

I will say one thing, it will be nice to stick RAM sticks on a mobo without 300 other things in the way for once. At least the cost in # of Band-aids used should be somewhat less than I'm used to. :haha:

[danasan]

RAM can be installed without hurting the fingers:

http://www.kauflux.de/server/fs2/slot/733/artimg/large/tooltraders-eck-rohrzange-eckrohrzange-33-cm-1-zoll-25.4mm-13175897_1138.jpg

CPU does not want to slip into his socket?

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/public/RcJWaJn1x7LfvAPJRXSUTBfp2TZzprzISaTESuaiZp71XODXe0 nOqBmSYF7XUGBTyDhST4ZCJDFLSw2xKa4yrQwjG9r5hQwPSDO1 AjvSyBTLlkguWWqXbnzs6qZLcan-9sdkORPXkJrn1nwSiCRdaj4UMYPwTcVw791RBQrWhFcrMv-E138IJ4kW1bR6TC9eFzm_9PRAvtY2R2w2bGX3yCKsuq5c5Vfas 82G7_vgrCksFKXicLp9B2LdR1BWqS3EAgUjQw

WARNING: Make sure to switch off the main power first:O:

On Topic: Good luck with the new rig. Make sure we get a lot of pictures!

[frau kaleun]

:rotfl2:


On Topic: Good luck with the new rig. Make sure we get a lot of pictures!

I don't have anything but my crappy cell phone camera. :wah:


EDIT: Updated first post with current status of project.

[frau kaleun]

Hmm, looks like the Sony drive I was looking at as a retail model is available OEM, except it has a completely different model # so none of my searches ever picked it up. Aaaaand it's about $30 cheaper.

Edit, make that $40 cheaper at Newegg, which didn't even show up on my first search. :yeah:

[Castout]

Stay away from Sony or am I too late?

[Arclight]

Don't know about Sony, but Sony Optiarc is just fine.

[Castout]

Don't know about Sony, but Sony Optiarc is just fine.

Sony had its day but its days are now over. Just avoid anything Sony in general. Their products imo may have serious quality control issue.

Likewise avoid Nokia as well. It had its days and it has grown too big and too complacent and too reckless to assure consistent quality and consistent quality customer service for their products.

Of course this is personal opinion from personal observation.

[danasan]

You did not choose a PSU so far. May I suggest reading here?

http://www.be-quiet.net/be-quiet.net/index.php?StoryID=1&websiteLang=en

I am using be quiet! for a couple of years now and they do exactly what they advert by their name: running quietly.

A lot of them offer a case fan speed reduction depending on the temperate, which is a great feature.

Be quiet! offers case fans and CPU cooler as well. Needless to say what they do...

Regarding optical drives: I am using LG all the time without any trouble. For example, I am still using a 10 years old CD burner which supports 1x speed to burn music CD with the best results. I digitised about 2000 records with it so far!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_n_3?rh=n%3A172282%2Ck%3Alg+blu-ray+player%2Cn%3A!493964%2Cn%3A541966&bbn=493964&keywords=lg+blu-ray+player&ie=UTF8&qid=1312795475&rnid=493964 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_n_3?rh=n%3A172282%2Ck%3Alg+blu-ray+player%2Cn%3A%21493964%2Cn%3A541966&bbn=493964&keywords=lg+blu-ray+player&ie=UTF8&qid=1312795475&rnid=493964)

[Herr-Berbunch]

One thing, that I think is quite important to building your own rig, that I've not seen listed yet - OS? :hmmm:

[frau kaleun]

One thing, that I think is quite important to building your own rig, that I've not seen listed yet - OS? :hmmm:

Win7 64-bit. Bought the full OS outright when I switched from XP.

I've already ordered the Sony Optiarc OEM drive. It got 5 out of 5 stars in reviews at Amazon and either Tiger Direct or Newegg. At one of the latter it was only getting four out of five. I read through all the reviews there and it seemed clear that the bad reviews responsible for bringing down the average were written by people who don't know what "OEM" means. :O:

[Herr-Berbunch]

I'll shut up then and just crawl back into my corner :D

[frau kaleun]

You did not choose a PSU so far. May I suggest reading here?

http://www.be-quiet.net/be-quiet.net/index.php?StoryID=1&websiteLang=en

Looks nice, but not currently available in the US according to the site.

[frau kaleun]

I'll shut up then and just crawl back into my corner :D

Don't do that, I'm sure I'll be on here in a couple weeks begging for help. From anybody. Even you. :O:

[danasan]

Looks nice, but not currently available in the US according to the site.

Upps :oops:

[frau kaleun]

Upps :oops:

No probs. :sunny:

[frau kaleun]

:wah::wah::wah::wah:

So I just started to unpack everything again to make sure I have everything I think I have, and I decide to pull the mobo out of its fancy antistatic bag or whatever the hell it's wrapped in. And one corner of it is just slightly bent and I think cracked right over the screw hole. It must've been boxed that way because IIRC the retail box was sealed and all the packaging was in great condition when I got it, including the bigger box that the retail box shipped in, which is why it didn't occur to me to go over every inch of the contents when I first received it. Stupid stupid stupid. :damn:

Of course it's now too late to return it to the retailer, so I'll have to deal with Asus. Started the procedure online but I've heard horror stories about stuff like this, not about Asus in particular but just in general.

[danasan]

Let's hope you get a new one, maybe as a gesture of goodwill.

If not, take a look at the backside. Have a look at the lanes there:

http://www.adpic.de/data/picture/detail/Leiterbahnen_Platine_5005.jpg

If they are intact and if it is an edge only and a screw hole, it might still work properly.

It's a shame. A really nice board you got there; we are paying around 100 EURO for them.

[frau kaleun]

Let's hope you get a new one, maybe as a gesture of goodwill.

If not, take a look at the backside. Have a look at the lanes there:

If they are intact and if it is an edge only and a screw hole, it might still work properly.

It's a shame. A really nice board you got there; we are paying around 100 EURO for them.

The other question is whether or not it will still affix properly to the chassis with the corner bent back, I don't know if the spacers will raise it up off the panel enough to that all four corners can still be screwed down all the way.

Anyway I'm sure Asus isn't just going to replace it, they will want it sent back for "repair" and that would end up costing more than just buying another board if this one won't work. Plus take longer.


EDIT: so, assuming, the backside of the thing looks okay, what's the bare minimum of stuff I need to get hooked up to make sure it works? PSU, obviously, which I still have to order, and I guess the cables from the front panel power button and stuff... but other than that?

[CaptainHaplo]

To make it power up you will need a CPU in the socket. Don't even have to have the fan, but I wouldn't advise that. Seat the fan anyway, just dont use any thermal paste since its a quick test.

Nothing else should be needed. Mem, graphics, etc will all check during post - but if you get that far then you already know the board is likely ok so they don't need to be in.

Power on, watch for the cpu fan to stay spinning and powered. If it does, don't worry about POST beeps, just run it for a good 60 seconds and keep your eyes and ears open for smoke or odor. If you get that far, you probably are good.

If you are good - don't forget to go back and apply the thermal paste!

[frau kaleun]

Thanks. That reminds me I need to look at the CPU and fan to see if thermal paste is included, well it's not loose in the package or I would've seen it but it may be applied but covered with something that has to be removed? I dunno.

Heard from Asus and as I suspected physical damage isn't covered by the warranty, since they assume the user caused it otherwise it would've been returned to the retailer. And they want $120 to ship it to them for repair and return. Uh, no. I think I'll pass. The same board is for sale new on Amazon for half that, or at least was when I checked last night. I could get a different, newer board for less than that if it had everything I wanted.

Anyway I just got home and will probably be too tired to fool with it tonight. I'll just order the PSU now and then if the "working" parts of the board look okay on closer inspection I'll test it out and then I'll know what to do next.

[kiwi_2005]

:wah::wah::wah::wah:

So I just started to unpack everything again to make sure I have everything I think I have, and I decide to pull the mobo out of its fancy antistatic bag or whatever the hell it's wrapped in. And one corner of it is just slightly bent and I think cracked right over the screw hole. It must've been boxed that way because IIRC the retail box was sealed and all the packaging was in great condition when I got it, including the bigger box that the retail box shipped in, which is why it didn't occur to me to go over every inch of the contents when I first received it. Stupid stupid stupid. :damn:

Of course it's now too late to return it to the retailer, so I'll have to deal with Asus. Started the procedure online but I've heard horror stories about stuff like this, not about Asus in particular but just in general.

Try to stay calm next time opening up your mobo package, all that excitement can get the better of you.:DL

Have to ask, are you wearing an antistatic wrist strap when handling your hddware - just to be safe.

[FIREWALL]

Get all your parts together and quit asking all these what if questions. Your going to be so confused you'll be spinning in circles by the time your ready to put this thing toghter.

Btw Not putting the paste on is FOOLISH. Use a quality paste such as" http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3522883&CatId=503" and install fan.If the mobo works your not muscling off the fan to put the paste on and risking doing more damage to the mobo.

If the mobo is dead a little rubbing alcohol will cleanup CPU and Fan surfaces. Don't risk burning up your CPU. Don't you have enough problems with the mobo ? You may just get lucky with the mobo.:yep:

[Jan Kyster]

So... how's the destruction of the World going? :D

Of course it's now too late to return it to the retailer...But why? Don't you have two years of warrenty? Or is it because you didn't report the problem immidiatly?
Why not try to tell the true story to retailer about your delay then? Could never hurt, and some of them are actually kind folks...

...is thermal paste included, well it's not loose in the package....Normally it comes pre-applied to fan bottom.

Have to ask, are you wearing an antistatic wrist strap when handling your hddware - just to be safe.Don't listen to this sissy! :O:

Common sense is all we need.

[danasan]

So... how's the destruction of the World going? :D

snip



FK reworking edge and screw hole of the motherboard:

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/ww2_8/s_w31_1a34951u.jpg

Image stolen here (http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/world-war-ii-the-american-home-front-in-color/100122/) (nice read)

As long as you don't rub a cat for hours, there is no need for all that antistatic stuff. Edit: You know what happens if you rub your pet for too long? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO-phqmyqdY&feature=socblog_th)

[frau kaleun]

@danasan: :haha:

It looks like the bend/crack doesn't extend across any of the lanes on the back of the board, so I'll give it a shot. The first question will be if it can be screwed onto the chassis properly without it cracking more or the bend making it impossible to get it firmly seated.

I ordered the PSU and I should have it tomorrow. I can take a spare monitor/kb/mouse home from work to get started and see what happens with the mobo. The only thing I still want to order new is a kb & mouse, but that can wait. I may need cables to hook up drives if what I've got aren't as long as I'd like, but I won't know that til I get some components in place.

When I'm handling the sensitive hardware I always make sure to touch something else metallic first, I've never had any problems. :DL

@Jan: I waited too long to look hard enough at the board to see the defect, so I'm long past Tiger Direct's return window. That was my mistake so I'm not gonna go back to them and cry about it.

And I do think the paste is already pre-applied to the fan. :yep:

[danasan]

Honestly, I would not use the screw hole in question at all. There should be around eight (?) holes more and that should be good enough to mount the motherboard. I would put a piece of rubber underneath that part of the motherboard so it cant bent.

[frau kaleun]

Honestly, I would not use the screw hole in question at all. There should be around eight (?) holes more and that should be good enough to mount the motherboard. I would put a piece of rubber underneath that part of the motherboard so it cant bent.

That's a good idea, thanks. I think it does have nine total. The case came with spacers to use between the board and the panel, I'm sure I can find a little piece of something to stick between the spacer and board that would let the hole just rest over top of it.

[kiwi_2005]

Don't listen to this sissy! :O:

Common sense is all we need.

Better safe than sorry besides they only cost a few bucks, already shes had one issue with her hdd and no one is mentioning best to wear an anti static strap just to be safe. Cowboy techs! :D Also avoid when working with hddware any clothing that's wool, & standing on carpet they both create static. If wearing an anti static strap too uncool, then as mention touching a metal part will kill the static, temporary.

http://i54.tinypic.com/29msi7d.jpg

[Arclight]

Yeah, always grab on to a radiator for a moment. That, and make sure I don't touch any contact points or circuits to begin with.

[frau kaleun]

Well, I have the board in the case all nice and secure. Found a little rubber "foot" or bumper that I must've had left over from some bit of furniture or shelving, it even had a little rubber peg on one side that fit very nicely into that dicey corner screw hole on the board. Was able to pare it down small enough so that it fits between the board and the chassis and provides support just under that corner without having to screw it into anything.

Now just waiting on the PSU which should come today, if so I can take a spare kb, mouse & monitor home from the office and try it out this weekend.

[frau kaleun]

To make it power up you will need a CPU in the socket. Don't even have to have the fan, but I wouldn't advise that. Seat the fan anyway, just dont use any thermal paste since its a quick test.

Nothing else should be needed. Mem, graphics, etc will all check during post - but if you get that far then you already know the board is likely ok so they don't need to be in.

Power on, watch for the cpu fan to stay spinning and powered. If it does, don't worry about POST beeps, just run it for a good 60 seconds and keep your eyes and ears open for smoke or odor. If you get that far, you probably are good.

If you are good - don't forget to go back and apply the thermal paste!

Thermal paste was pre-applied to the fan, so it was stick it in there and then do or die.

Turned it on, it ran and beeped like crazy, fan spinning fine. I let it run for a minute and no smoke or sparks or burning smells. I think I'm good. :yeah:

Thanks for all your help so far, guys! Now comes the fun part... adding memory! Plugging in expansion cards! Seating all the drives! And best of all... CABLE MANAGEMENT! :woot:

But first... dinner. :D

[FIREWALL]

Thermal paste was pre-applied to the fan, so it was stick it in there and then do or die.

Turned it on, it ran and beeped like crazy, fan spinning fine. I let it run for a minute and no smoke or sparks or burning smells. I think I'm good. :yeah:

Thanks for all your help so far, guys! Now comes the fun part... adding memory! Plugging in expansion cards! Seating all the drives! And best of all... CABLE MANAGEMENT! :woot:

But first... dinner. :D


:woot::woot::woot::woot::woot::woot: I think my blood pressure dropped a few knotches after reading this post, :haha:

I have a gutt feeling it will be smooth sailing for you on this project.

Treat yourself to a couple of your favorite cocktails, put your feet up, and relax.

Hard as it maybe get , a good nites rest and, give it a fresh start tomorrow. If you have tv in your bedroom turn it on low volume and pick up a book your working on.

With dinner and a couple of cocktails in you and the above. Saturday will be here before you know it. :DL Friday has been a full and successful day. Why spoil it now frau kaleun . :yep:

I know you'll have great news for all of us tomorrow. :woot:

[frau kaleun]

:woot::woot::woot::woot::woot::woot: I think my blood pressure dropped a few knotches after reading this post, :haha:


:D

I know you'll have great news for all of us tomorrow. :woot:

TBH I don't know if I'll do anything more this weekend - tomorrow's jam-packed and Sunday will be everyday chores like laundry and groceries. But I can take it really slow now, because finishing the new build will eventually mean pulling some parts out of the current rig, which I'm not planning to do yet. I'll probably leave that until I have plenty of time to do all that and then get the new computer set up in the old one's place, which will mean moving a lot of stuff off my desk and getting all the cords and cables sorted and then putting everything back. That's a big job and not one that I can do in fits and starts if I have to be stepping over and around a lot of piled up stuff just to manage my normal workday routine. I have a whole network of shelves and hutches built up over my desk and everything will have to come off them so I can pull the desk out enough to work behind it. If I don't clear the shelves I end up with a constant stream of disgruntled action figures raining down on my head while I'm trying to work. :doh:

But I am taking off work the week of Labor Day, plus I'll have the weekend before and after. That was when I was originally planning to get it all ready to go anyway, so I'm actually ahead of schedule. And that will be a long stretch where I can make an ungodly mess in here and not have to worry about getting everything all put back and out of the way so I can find my work shoes the next morning. :O:

[FIREWALL]

:D


TBH I don't know if I'll do anything more this weekend - tomorrow's jam-packed and Sunday will be everyday chores like laundry and groceries. But I can take it really slow now, because finishing the new build will eventually mean pulling some parts out of the current rig, which I'm not planning to do yet. I'll probably leave that until I have plenty of time to do all that and then get the new computer set up in the old one's place, which will mean moving a lot of stuff off my desk and getting all the cords and cables sorted and then putting everything back. That's a big job and not one that I can do in fits and starts if I have to be stepping over and around a lot of piled up stuff just to manage my normal workday routine. I have a whole network of shelves and hutches built up over my desk and everything will have to come off them so I can pull the desk out enough to work behind it. If I don't clear the shelves I end up with a constant stream of disgruntled action figures raining down on my head while I'm trying to work. :doh:

But I am taking off work the week of Labor Day, plus I'll have the weekend before and after. That was when I was originally planning to get it all ready to go anyway, so I'm actually ahead of schedule. And that will be a long stretch where I can make an ungodly mess in here and not have to worry about getting everything all put back and out of the way so I can find my work shoes the next morning. :O:

I think you made a very wise decision. I know getting that new rig up and running is an exciting and hard to resist feeling at any age. :yep:

But, doing it half arsed and having to empty shelves again so, you can pull out desk and get at computer to find out what wasn't plugged in tight or what ever.

I want you, even with small setback that you overcame To know that great feeling of accomplishment all us selfbuilders feel the first build.

And you'll definitely know your rig better than if some shop did it.

And they've made mistakes that a member posted here and he didn't get so much as a sorry about that. He since has become a self builder starting , with upgrades and then plunged in and, like yourself built a new one.

We'll and I will look forwards for updates around Labor Day. :up:...:salute:

Regards FIREWALL :DL

[frau kaleun]

Thanks.

One thing I can do is uninstall the voice/fax modem from this rig and take the card out and put it in the other one. I only keep it as a a backup in case my hi-speed service goes out... it's through the phone company so a dial-up account is thrown in for free and I like to have that option available just in case. In the new rig the card will sit at the bottom of the board just below a gfx card, one of which I have free and can put in place but I'd rather get the little card in there first since with the bottom-mounted PSU trying to squeeze it in between that and the gfx card later doesn't look like much fun. :D

But for now it will have to wait, was out all day yesterday and am still playing catch-up today on normal household chores. Ugh. :stare: :O:

[frau kaleun]

I now have all the expansion cards in the new case... backup dial-up modem, sound card, and both gfx cards. I've been uninstalling the ones that came out of this rig and removing them bit by bit. Got the old HD4650 back in this rig, which is the card that came preinstalled on it, and reverted back to the onboard audio so I can still listen to Ludwig for the time being. :yeah:

Also got the memory sticks in. Now it's just drives and cable management, for which I'll need some additional accessories, and making a decision on extra fans. Oh and whether or not to stick something like extra USB ports into one of the 3.5 slots. Then I think I'm done with the hardware business.

And now, a question:

I need to know how to set up the Crossfire on the dual 5770s in the new rig. There are two of the little "tabs" on each card where a Crossfire cable could be used to connect them, but I don't know if that means I use both cables I have (one came with each card) or just use one of them.

I have looked on line and can't find anything that answers the question definitively. One thing says you need one cable for each card being connected, which would mean I use both cables and both sets of "tabs."

Another source has a picture showing only one Crossfire cable connecting the two cards.

None of the documentation I have for the 5770s answers the question either, the pictures in the manual I found online for them makes it look like it should only be one Crossfire cable but then it also shows BOTH power cables being plugged into the same card, which is not only physically impossible as far as I can see but is also contradicted by written instructions found elsewhere.

So - I iz cornfused. :doh:

[Arclight]

You only need 1, but some claim having both bridges connected gives a minor performance boost.

Basically 1 bridge per pair. If you had 3, I guess you would have a bridge from the center card to each of its neighbors.

[frau kaleun]

You only need 1, but some claim having both bridges connected gives a minor performance boost.

Basically 1 bridge per pair. If you had 3, I guess you would have a bridge from the center card to each of its neighbors.

Thank you. Sounds like you could do one or both, one is probably sufficient but two doesn't hurt anything. I guess that explains all the conflicting info I found.

I still can't get over the picture in the manual for the card that shows two power cables plugged into one card. After seeing that, I didn't really want to trust anything else that it said. :D

[Arclight]

Been reading a bit as well, and it's indeed rather confusing. :doh:

What it comes down to though, is that 2 bridges provide more bandwith than 1, so technically it can't hurt and should improve performance (at least in cases where 1 bridge would not provide enough bandwith).

Some report issues with 2 bridges though. If you experience something like "texture flashing" or general instability, try running with 1 bridge and see if that solves the problem.

[frau kaleun]

Well, that's good to know.

I figure I'll start with two and see what happens. If nothing else having both of them hooked up will give me one less little piece of something that I have to stow somewhere. :O:

[frau kaleun]

Okay, another question!

For a couple of the case fans I want to use a variable airflow/RPM fan that will push more or less air depending on what's needed at any given moment, since the mobo already has headers in place that will allow this. It recommends connecting the rear (exhaust) fan that way, but I would also like to have an intake fan that does the same.

My choices are: the front intake fan, which pulls air into the case over the HDD bays, or one of the side fans that will pull air in over top of the PSU and onto the GPUs.

The HDD bay is sideways, although vented, if that matters. I don't know if that would mean that the extra potential air flow coming in that way would be advisable, or just wasted in terms of what it does for the rest of the interior. And I do like the idea of a side fan that would potentially push more cool air over the GPUs when needed.

Either way there will still be a fan in both spots (and a total of two blowing in from the side), I'm just curious as to which spot would be most advantageous for a variable fan. :hmmm:

[Arclight]

To the best of my knowledge, most if not all boards only feature a 4-pin PWM connecter where the CPU fan is supposed to go. Aren't you normally forced to use a fan controller for normal 3-pin fans? :hmmm:

That said, Arctic Cooling has fans that feature PST (PWM Sharing Technology), which is fancy bullocks for having both a female and male PWM connector on the same cable, allowing you to daisy-chain PWM fans. I've got one of their fans with another PWM fan on the CPU cooler, both RPM controlled.

At any rate, I'd go with the side-fan. It probably takes its cue from CPU temp; seems the side-fan is in the best position to help aleviate that. Also ensures that you have sufficient cooling over the HDs at all times, which don't have any other form of cooling otherwise, unlike a CPU or GFX card.

[frau kaleun]

To the best of my knowledge, most if not all boards only feature a 4-pin PWM connecter where the CPU fan is supposed to go. Aren't you normally forced to use a fan controller for normal 3-pin fans? :hmmm:

My board has a second 4-pin header for a chassis fan, that works off the same whatever-it-is that regulates the CPU fan. The mobo fan connectors are these:

CPU_FAN (4pin)
CHA_FAN1 (4pin)
CHA_FAN2 (3pin)
PWR_FAN (3pin)

Anything plugged into the first two can be set up using the optional Q-Fan2 feature, which has to be enabled in the BIOS and then has an interface that you can access in Windows to set up profiles for those fans - one for minimal noise, one for maximum performance, one to vary fan speed with temperature.

I admit I'm a little confused as I'm not sure whether the two 3pin headers provide no variation in fan speed at all, or provide it but without the user being able to set up profiles for them the way you can with the 4pin Q-Fan2 headers. :06:


At any rate, I'd go with the side-fan. It probably takes its cue from CPU temp; seems the side-fan is in the best position to help aleviate that. Also ensures that you have sufficient cooling over the HDs at all times, which don't have any other form of cooling otherwise, unlike a CPU or GFX card.

That's about what I was thinking, it seemed like variable air flow would be more valuable over the GPUs. Unfortunately it also means I won't be able to have two glowing LED fans on the side. Oh well, the other one can always go in the front. :O:

I found a splitter at Newegg designed specifically to allow one 4pin header to control two case fans... only one "reports" anything to the mobo, but both get the same regulation based of what the primary one reports. Since they make the cable for it, I kinda assumed it was doable. Hadn't even seen fans designed to daisy-chain like that but I guess that means it's definitely an accepted option.

Actually now that I look at it again, the manual just recommends plugging the rear exhaust fan into either the CHA_FAN1 or CHA_FAN2 header, it doesn't specifically say to use the one that works with Q-Fan2. Originally when I thought the rear fan was supposed to be used with Q-Fan2, I was thinking about what someone (maybe you) said about not having exhaust fans pulling more air out than could be pulled in so I thought maybe I'd better have one intake fan that was getting the same regulation as the main exhaust fan.

But maybe I'd be okay with one 4pin fan on the side over the GPUs that can rev up and rev down as needed along with the CPU fan and just plug the rear exhaust fan into the other CHA_FAN header and let it do whatever it does from there.

Oh in case it matters, the overall fan setup is:

120mm front intake
120mm side intake x 2
120mm rear exhaust
140mm top exhaust

I'm assuming that's what I want, air in through the front and sides, and out through the back and top.

That's not counting the PSU fan but it's only really pulling air into the PSU through its own dedicated vent.

Do you recommend using the mobo fan connectors in general whenever possible, as opposed to running power through 4pin molex connectors from the PSU? I mean if it's not an LED fan, I read somewhere that those shouldn't be connected to the motherboard.

[Arclight]

Got everything on the board; 200mm front intake, 200mm side intake, 200mm top exhaust and 120mm rear exhaust. The PSU is in it's normal orientation, intake at the bottom. Draws air outside the case and exhausts directly. 2 of the big ones have a LED as well (I know Jan, didn't get them for that, that's just how it came :O: ). Plus a 120mm and 92mm on the CPU.

I doubt they would make case fans that exceed the power requirement a board connector can supply, to be honest it's the first time I've heard of such a possibility, but if you feel more comfortable using molex you might as well use that. (in other words, haven't got a clue if it matters :hmmm: )

It creates some overpressure inside the case, which arguably helps keep out dust, but only the front intake is filtered so that's not really applicable in my case (pardon the pun).

[danasan]

Frau Kaleun,

if you have fans with 3 pins and you want / need their speed controlled (maybe too noisy) this little guy does the trick:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21OeL19JPFL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

On Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-Fanmate-2-Speed-Controller-Retail/dp/B000292DO0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313654900&sr=8-1) I hope this is available in the US :O: I used them myself and put them into some friend's rigs. I'd give it 9.5/10

[frau kaleun]

It creates some overpressure inside the case, which arguably helps keep out dust, but only the front intake is filtered so that's not really applicable in my case (pardon the pun).

Heh, my next question was probably gonna be about filters. There's already a mesh filter built into the front panel that will cover the front intake, and a removable one for the PSU vent on the bottom. But nothing for the side/top/back. I will probably go to Microcenter and actually eyeball some stuff before I make any decisions there.

I am perfectly happy to plug everything I can into the board if possible. Not sure where I saw the thing about LEDs not running off the board, it might have only applied to a specific board being discussed in something I was only looking at for fan info. I don't think it was in the manual for my mobo.

Frau Kaleun,

if you have fans with 3 pins and you want / need their speed controlled (maybe too noisy) this little guy does the trick:

On Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-Fanmate-2-Speed-Controller-Retail/dp/B000292DO0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313654900&sr=8-1) I hope this is available in the US :O: I used them myself and put them into some friend's rigs. I'd give it 9.5/10

Thanks, I will keep that in mind. No idea how noisy any of the fans will be until I get them in but most of the ones I'm looking at seem to get high marks for being relatively quiet. One can only hope! :DL

[AVGWarhawk]

I believe my LED light bars are run right off a power supply plug. I can take a look if you want.

[frau kaleun]

I believe my LED light bars are run right off a power supply plug. I can take a look if you want.

I will probably run all the fans off the mobo, I've certainly got enough headers for it. Right now I'm leaning towards only having one LED fan which will be in the front of the case since it's all mesh there and I think it will look nice.

I have two LED fans I was going to use but the second one would end up in the back as an exhaust fine and I'm not sure I want it there since I've already decided against LED fans on the side. I may just send the second one back and use something else. I'll have to see how it looks this weekend when I get in there and start hooking more stuff up.

[FIREWALL]

Couldn't wait till Labor Day huh ? :DL Don't blame ya. :haha:

My BP would climb thru the roof and would slowly grow hard to be around. :D...:yep:

Just take your time and always use wrist strap.:yep:


And Most Important. Stand back every once in a while. And ENJOY build. :D

[frau kaleun]

Couldn't wait till Labor Day huh ? :DL Don't blame ya. :haha:

My BP would climb thru the roof and would slowly grow hard to be around. :D...:yep:

Just take your time and always use wrist strap.:yep:


And Most Important. Stand back every once in a while. And ENJOY build. :D

Well, the bit about making the big switch when I'm off work that week really has to do with the time involved in physically getting the current rig off the desk and the new one set up and running properly in its place, which involves moving almost everything on and above the desk out of the way (we're talking at least 2-3 boxes of stuff here) and then pulling the desk out a bit. And then getting the new stuff in place and putting back everything I moved out of the way, and then having a lot of software to install and backup files to restore. None of that ever goes as smoothly as planned and I don't want to get myself in a spot where I have NO working computer and no time to deal adequately with that problem because OMG it's two in the morning and I have to go to work the next day.

The actual putting together of the computer itself is not the part where I need the big blocks of uninterrupted time, almost all of it can be done ahead of time in small increments (and needs to be done or at least considered thoroughly as I still have a couple decisions to make about what I need and/or want and will have to order online). The only thing I really can't do until I'm ready to complete the switch is pull the HDDs out of the current rig, because I need this rig to work until I'm ready to start up the new one in its place and get the OS installed and critical backed up files restored. Everything else that's coming out of it can come out of it at this point if I want to take it that far, I've either got something to replace it with or don't need it in there any more.

[FIREWALL]

Understood. :salute:

[AVGWarhawk]

I will probably run all the fans off the mobo, I've certainly got enough headers for it. Right now I'm leaning towards only having one LED fan which will be in the front of the case since it's all mesh there and I think it will look nice.

I have two LED fans I was going to use but the second one would end up in the back as an exhaust fine and I'm not sure I want it there since I've already decided against LED fans on the side. I may just send the second one back and use something else. I'll have to see how it looks this weekend when I get in there and start hooking more stuff up.

Truth be told the blue light bars are nice and make the machine look great but the light is just to much sometimes. I have a clear sided case. The lights are bright and many. You might find one or two LED working is sufficient for the wow factor and not dominating or providing a bothersome light when enjoying the new computer.

[frau kaleun]

Truth be told the blue light bars are nice and make the machine look great but the light is just to much sometimes. I have a clear sided case. The lights are bright and many. You might find one or two LED working is sufficient for the wow factor and not dominating or providing a bothersome light when enjoying the new computer.

That's my thinking exactly. I like the idea of the LED visible through the front of the case, which is black mesh. I've already got that fan in place and held the front panel over it, and it looks pretty cool without being overpowering. There are a couple of things inside the case that also have blue LED but they are fairly small and aren't right up against a panel vent like another LED fan would be, so they mostly just light up the inside of the case which is also nice.

Since I have no clear panels or windows and the case sits back in an alcove I can't see the point of having a lot of LEDs shining out the vents where the fans are, I think that would get old really fast.

Anyway I've got almost everything in there except the stuff that won't come until next week and that's stuff that would go in last anyway. I do have both optical drives and two HDDs in with all the cables hooked up plus the power/SATA cables for the last HDD are in there in position just waiting for the drive, and my front panel USB hub is in place just waiting to be hooked up to the adapter I ordered.

I'm really glad I got a case with a horizontal bay for the HDDs, it's so much easier getting the drives in and it leaves extra room for cables to run up and down inside the case without them curling up in front of the mobo and blocking air flow. Where I can't run them outside the drive bays and back in I've got plenty of space to run them up and down without blocking the big vents in the HDD bay, and since every other spot in there will be empty there's some good airflow from that front fan. I was concerned about it but when I fired it up I could feel cool air blowing over and under the drives and on through to the rest of the interior. Combined with the two side fans blowing air straight onto the GPUs and mobo I think it will stay plenty cool in there. Having the PSU on the bottom helps a lot too, any extra cable just coils up in the extra space in the bottom of the case without blocking anything that needs air. And I'm not fighting gravity with the big ATX/PCI-e power cables. :yeah:

[AVGWarhawk]

My computer sits on a shelf underneath the desk. I have a pull out keyboard shelf and this blocks the bright blue lights that shines up towards my eyes. Although the lights look cool, a darkened room the lights can be a distractions. I did have one burn out and did not replace it. If the other goes I will not replace it either.

[frau kaleun]

The Day of Days is fast approaching!

The only thing I have left to do (I think) on the new rig is to put the last HDD in, which is currently the boot disk on this computer... so I will be starting to back up the few things I need to back up from it (most stuff is already on or backed up to an external drive, yay). I will probably shut this thing down for good tomorrow and put the drive in the new machine and then... we'll see what happens. :O:

[Arclight]

Well then the world will explode... thought we already established that? :O:

Best of luck, few things are as rewarding as putting the thing together and firing it up. :salute:

For some people anyway, and assuming it doesn't explode.

[frau kaleun]

Well then the world will explode... thought we already established that? :O:

Best of luck, few things are as rewarding as putting the thing together and firing it up. :salute:

For some people anyway, and assuming it doesn't explode.

:yeah:

Eek I just remembered I gotta decide what I want to do for paging files, I made a separate partition on one of my current disks for that but left the boot disk 'as is' (except for tinkering with the size of the paging file) because I didn't want to fool with trying to repartition it. If I'm gonna create separate partitions on each disk this time I want to do it in the initial setup.

[frau kaleun]

:woot: :woot: :woot:

I maded my own 'puter and it werks!!!!!1!

Now I gotta lotta lotta software to install. :D

[Sailor Steve]

So, the world isn't destroyed? :hmmm:

[Herr-Berbunch]

:woot: :woot: :woot:

I maded my own 'puter and it werks!!!!!1!

Now I gotta lotta lotta software to install. :D


Woohoo indeed! It works, the world still turns and contains life (of sorts!). You'll be setting up your own custom PC company next... :arrgh!:

[Arclight]

So, the world isn't destroyed? :hmmm:
Give it time, she just fired it up. ;)

[danasan]

You might notice some minor performance improvements...:D

[kranz]

I've been always wondering why do ppl buy high-end " 'puters" which increase global warming to play tetris or/and "use" redtube.

and, yeah, i'm just jelly :D

[Herr-Berbunch]

I've been always wondering why do ppl buy high-end " 'puters" which increase global warming to play tetris or/and "use" redtube.

and, yeah, i'm just jelly :D

It takes a lot of power to post pics of lolcats, I believe some even need speeds of <.00001 fps, huge figures! Only today are such CPU and GPU combinations available to the home enthusiast enabling them to post such pics. All other pics previous were posted by university or government supercomputers.

So the reason FK has built her rival to Fujitsu's K-computer purely to increase her post count. :03:

And still she'll never catch up with the 'Buna :arrgh!:

[frau kaleun]

@all: :O: :O: :O: :rotfl2: :D

Yeah, it works, nothing has blown up (so far), but I have about 2 trillion files in Windows Updates that have to be downloaded and installed plus I'm still working on getting all my must-have programs on here.

I'd love to hang around and chat, but Windows Updates says I need to restart again. :wah: :O:

[Kaleun]

I maded my own 'puter and it werks!!!!!1!

As the world is still turning,

Pictures or it didn't happen!

Kaleun

[AVGWarhawk]

Very cool! Enjoy the new toy!

[frau kaleun]

Very cool! Enjoy the new toy!


:yeah:

I'm sure I will enjoy it a lot more when I actually have time to *play* on it... which should be soon since I think I'm done installing all the critical software and backups and Windows has finished updating everything it can for the time being.

But first I have to put back all the stuff I had to move in order to set the thing up, which is the real killer. :wah:

At least I finally got all the trash from the build - all the empty boxes and bags and whatnot I was saving just in case something clearly didn't work and had to be returned - gathered up and taken out to the dumpster. For a while there it looked like a Newegg warehouse had exploded in my living room. :O:

[AVGWarhawk]

Nothing like the smell of new electric devices warming up!