gentlemen, i dont want us to get into discussing specifics like that our this will become a 30 page long computer hardware thread.

might i suggest those who are wanting to get into discussing specifics like that, look to a forum better suited for computer hardware and component questions?

i am a member at this sight http://forums.techpowerup.com/index.php


it is adware free and very very helpfull in quickly answering specific computer questions but you will need to register there to post.

i would caution that it does have quite a few "punks with superiority attitudes" so dont let them bug you and

they are also split into the preverbial intel/nvidia vs amd/ati camps so take any comment about which brand is best preferences with a grain of salt.

now lets get back to lying to our wives :D

That's pretty much my system but I dropped 3gb of Ram into it, a new 700w power supply and am on the 4th video card upgrade, currently geforce 9500GT. I'll probably get a new system this coming year as it's showing it's age.

One last post regarding hardware and that's it for me in this thread. I think everyone who's thinking on buying, building, or upgrading a PC should hold off if they can until the next generation nVidia card is released (code name "Fermi" and introduced as a card designed for super computers). This thing is supposed to be a quantum leap...not an incremental jump.

It will likely hit the shelves sometime in March (maybe a bit sooner). It was supposed to be released in 4Q, 2009 so the March date is much more realistic I think.

Careful dude. The power company squeals when I fire my rig up, and that one looks even more powerful than mine :arrgh!:

EvGA 780i mobo

Intel Core2 Extreme QX9650 Quadcore 4 cores @ ~3.00 ghz

2 Toshiba DVD /CD RW optical drives

2 EVGA 260 GTX vidcards in SLi

2 WD 500 Gb harddrives SATA

8 Gigs of OCZ SLi ram

Toughpower 1000 watt psu

All packed into an Antec 900 series case

And between the case and the components, there are 9 fans blasting away at high rpm.s

Also an Altec Lansing Dolby 5.1 surround speaker system that pumps 140 watts

And last of all a HannsG HG281D 28in monitor / HDTV

The neighbor's lights dim when this thing fires up.

I have a couple vids of WWII bombers and fighters doing fly-bys, and if I crank the volume, the house and surrounding ground shakes.

you guys forgot the most important hardware for those systems, remove the side window and install a small window a/c unit for all that heat you guys are making.

it must be like a small space heater running lol.

and monitors are putting out as much heat as pc's are nowadays

Just got my custom rig last weekend, here is what I got:

AMD Athlon X2 duo core 6000 3 GHZ processor
1,000 GB hard drive
4 GB RAM memory
Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT (1 GB memory)
Windows 7
Apevia tower

This is my first custom machine. I am really enjoying the games I have been missing out on. (Left 4 dead is awesome)

Your hard drive seems a little weak. You sure you have enough space? :O:

just curious why you chose to go with a 9500 card when its a few generations old?

if it was to save money then a 9800 would have been very little price difference and is a better card IMO

whats done is done but im wondering if theres something about a 9500 i didnt know about?

ps - that 1000 GB HDD is called a 1 TB (terra bite) it sounds cooler to say it that way too :O:

Its actually pretty simple.

Go to tomshardware and take a look at the benchmarks. They test everything.

Choose each part on separate, comparing it on the benchmarks. I always go for the best cost/performance.

After that, buy those parts individually in a store, or online, like amazon.com, where you can get the best possible prices. Free shipping for those in US.

Then you can either mount it yourself, its pretty easy. Comes with manuals and everything. I always mounted myself all my rigs in the past. Theres nothing like the sensation of unwrapping your brand new parts and putting it together, you feel like 12 years old, mounting up your new toy.

After that, throw some windows 7 64bits, cos its the best SO at the moment, and you wont have to worry about drivers (it installs everything by its own), and get ready to play some games.

IMHO, so far the best buy is:

I7 920
6gb ddr3 corsair 1333mhz (3x2gb)
Asus P6T
Corsair 600w PSU
GeForce 250gts 1gb
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200rpm 32mb cache

You can get this rig for near 700 dollars.

For your screen, any 22" LCD is good enough. If you have money to spare, go bigger, but the 22" is at the moment the best cost/performance.

When buying a case, go large, as large as you can. Best airflow will make sure your parts lasts longer before collapsing. New games requires a lot from the parts, making a lot of heat. You'll have more room for the cables and parts, more room to move your hand around when changing something inside. Nowday's VGA cards are quite huge, so if you buy a small case you might have problems installing your memory or hdd.

:up:

i would add one note to what PT said and that is to be cautious when choosing a PSU because sometimes you find some brands have shorter wires then others and if you get a full tower case its even more critical you check the customer reviews of that PSU for ANY comments of tight or short wires.

with a "modest" amount of skill you can extend wires yourself but it voids warranty and i doubt you want to buy something that you need to modify.

myself i stick to mid-tower cases and for me i find coolermaster cases have very good ventilation.

something PT didnt cover was "fans" i would recommend carefull shopping for "quiet" fans but check the dbl (decible) sound levels because many fans put "quiet" or "silent" in the name but they are just as noisey as a regular inexpensive fan. i consider anything below 20 dbls as quiet and anything below 15 decibles as silent, anything over 25 decibles and you WILL hear it.

also pay close attention to the cfms a fan puts out, some fans drop cfms way down to reduce noise but it also reduces cooling and circulation in your case. fans are getting quieter all the time but the general rule is high cfms mean high noise so when comparing "quiet" fans you have to use cfms as a usefull guide to picking the quietest fan that still has the most cfms. i would never get any fan that puts out less than 35cfms absolute minimum and 45 cfms is what i prefer to use as a minimum.

myself i like the "sythe" brand fans because you hardly hear them running. you can find them here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...538&name=120mm

fans that are truely "quiet" or "silent" are more expensive but not that bad, maybe $12 to $15 for most 120mm size where the regular "noisey" case fans run like $5

Tried that, the power pole transformer toasted from the added power requirement

I wouldn't wait. You can use your 'old' nVidia card for PhysX processing. That's what I plan on doing with my current GTX280.

Don't skimp on your parts! Shell out the money, it will be worth it (latest system I built was around $3000 - but it flies and I hate to wait on anything to load or crappy frame rates on high game settings). I've been building my own systems for over 15 years. There isn't one pre-built system that can compare to a custom built one. Period. You get what you want, not what some corporation was able to buy the cheapest for. The motherboard is the heart and soul of a system - get the best (I prefer Asus - currently their Crosshair III Formula as it is just awesome).
Processors - AMD or Intel? I prefer AMD. You have to be a serious hard-core gamer to realize the difference between the two. I prefer the underdog...plus they are WAY cheaper. I have an AMD 955 Black Edition quad-core oc'd to 3.8GHz and it's stable (with a Zalman cooling it of course). You just can't go wrong with AMD. Picked up the X4 955 BE for $225 on NewEgg.com.
Case - Antec 1200. It'll keep things nice and cool and plenty of room for expansion (and GTX280 size video cards fit with no problem and room to spare)
Power Supply - Galaxy Evo 1.2kW. Has enough room to expand your system for many years and it's modular.
CPU Coolers - Zalman. The only way to go if you're going to oc.
Memory - OCZ. Never had a problem with them.
Video Card - BFGTech nVidia GTX___. They give lifetime warranty on their video cards and I've never had a problem with them.
Case Fans - replace your stock case fans with good quality aftermarket ones. Look for ones with the 4 pole plug so you can monitor speed and PWM them for speed control (power savings and heat control).
Hard Drives - WD VelociRaptors. If you like speed and hate waiting for things to load you'll love these. Put them in a RAID 0 and you'll wonder why you didn't do it before (my system is backed up by a custom-built server running Windows Home Server so I'm safe to use RAID 0).
My .02 worth.

@Webster

I didnt mention coolers cos I always use the stock Intel cooler. Its pretty enough for the CPU, even with small overclocks. I dont ever overclock, and I think its not necessary. Most dual cores will be more then enough to run anything, its usually the ram, hd and videocard that makes the difference.

Also, the Intel stock coolers are so damn quiet that more then often I turn my computer off, thinking its already off when Im going to turn it on. Its so damn quiet I cannot tell if its on or off. (except for the leds, that I dont usually plug in the mainboard, i prefer it that way).

:up:

i was only talking about "case" fans for the case cooling

as for CPU coolers its like choosing a girlfriend, everybody likes something a little different so i wouldnt get into recommending those although personally i agree the stock intels are fine. i use the arctic cooler 7 so it directs the heat staight out the rear fan and its even quieter than intels stock cpu cooler. i've been told it keeps the CPU cooler than intels stock cooler but it dont push it enough to know for sure.