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jeffie7

Wrong Whole!
VIP
Been putting off building a new PC for awhile, how it's that time, I think I'm ready to upgrade.

Here's the stuff!


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Cables Unlimited 24-Inch 2-Device Rounded IDE Cable - Clear (C250-2040)[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$9.99[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$9.99[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Linksys WUSB54G USB 2.0 Wireless Network Adapter - 54Mbps, 802.11g (L48-2268)[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$54.99[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$54.99[/FONT]
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OCZ / GameXStream / 700-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA Ready / SLI Ready / EPS / Active PFC / Power Supply
(O261-2005)
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$129.99[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$129.99[/FONT]
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Thermaltake TR2-R1 / AMD Socket AM2/939/754 / Aluminum / 92mm Fan / CPU Cooler
(T925-1168)
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$12.99[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$12.99[/FONT]
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Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit DSP OEM DVD
(M17-7412)
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$119.99[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$119.99[/FONT]
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OCZ SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB)
(O261-7054)
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$84.99[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$84.99[/FONT]
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Biostar TForce TF570 SLI Motherboard - NVIDIA, Socket AM2, ATX, Audio, PCI Express, Dual Gigabit LAN, USB 2.0, Serial ATA
(B450-2320)
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$99.99[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$99.99[/FONT]
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Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB Hard Drive - 7200, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM
(TSD-320AAKS)
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$74.99[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$74.99[/FONT]
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CoolerMaster CM690 ATX Mid-Tower Case
(C283-2032)
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$79.99[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$79.99[/FONT]
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AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition Processor ADX6400CZWOF - 3.20GHz, 2MB Cache, 1000MHz (2000 MT/s) FSB, Windsor, Dual-Core, Retail, Socket AM2 (940),
Processor - No Fan
(CP1-AM2-6400)
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$179.99[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$179.99[/FONT]
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BFG GeForce 8600 GT OC2 ThermoIntelligence Video Card - 256MB GDDR3, PCI Express, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, Video Card
(B52-8610)
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$169.99[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$169.99[/FONT]
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Samsung SH-S182M DVD+RW OEM Light Scribe Burner - 18x DVD±RW, 12x DVD±R, 8x DVD±R Double, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 16x DVD-RAM, 48x40 CD-R, 32x40 CD-RW
(S203-8507)
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$24.99[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]$24.99[/FONT]


Go figure I forgot to add a keyboard/mouse to the list since I'm keeping my other keyboard =`( doh!

Also not shown is a new monitor, I picked up a gateway 24" widescreen HD monitor.
Also as for sound I'm going to use my Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS from my current PC.

This should be an ok build for Sonar 9 and Photoshop. =)

Now I have to wait.... guessing sometime next week it will be in.
 
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Ew, cant believe you went with TigerDirect. They are so corrupted. Oh well.

In terms of the case, its an awesome case, but case flow isnt what expected for as many fans as I have in it. However, for the price, its a really nice case. And speaking of cooling, this guy is much cheaper, but loads better:
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER RR-CCH-L9U1-GP 92mm Hyper TX2 CPU Cooler - Retail

Also, why an AMD system? Support for the little guys? I guess someone has to keep them afloat to give Intel some comp. :D

Lastly, for the video card, I would've plunked down an extra 50 bones and got an 8800GT. Two 8600GTs cant even come close to it. THe only sucky thing about it is its avaliablitiy. SOmewhat hard to find, but shit, you wont be disappointed.

All in all, solid choices.


PS YUCK IDE CABLES :ph34r:
 
AMD because the last 2 Intels I had had major issues, it was a long time ago but it still left a bad taste in my mouth, plus for the money you can't beat AMD.

Cable is for nothing more then the DVD drive. Hard drive is going to use SATA.

Video card because of the rebate, its like 114.99 after rebate. I have a 360, PS3, and Wii, gaming on the PC isn't my #1 goal. Running Sonar and photoshop is.
Plus for the money If I'm not happy down the road I figure I could buy another one for 70-100 bucks in a few months and run two on the board since its an SLI board and the cards are also SLI.

As far as Tigerdirect. I've bought from them year after year after year with nothing but great things to say about them, I've never had any issues with them and shipping has always been super fast.

Back to AMD.

Phenom 9700, AMD's 1st Quad-Core CPU | Tom's Hardware

Check out the specs for the 6400+ IMO for under 200 bucks it is hands down the best bang for the buck. What sucks is I just messed a sale on it, it was 149,99 over the weekend =(
 
Just some random pictures.

Case rocks!!!!! I haven't pushed it yet, just installed Sonar 7 and Paint Shop Pro, still waiting for Photoshop.

So far I've yet to see the system slow down, even when opening 10, 3 meg pictures at the same time in paintshop pro. Next on my list of things to install is Pro Sampler and Halflife 2 esp 1.
 

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Nice! You gonna overclock that beast? You did get the "black version" :ph34r:

I wish my LED lights glowed :( I think of the wires burnt out or the LED itself for the HDD and PowerLED.
 
Buy an 8800GT

:werd:

I took my 8600GT back in four days and got an 8800GT, but mine is a gaming, and an everything else rig. I was thinking about getting the 6400+ too, but have heard nothing but the Q6600 running circles around it, so I am going Intel on my build.
 
:werd:

I took my 8600GT back in four days and got an 8800GT, but mine is a gaming, and an everything else rig. I was thinking about getting the 6400+ too, but have heard nothing but the Q6600 running circles around it, so I am going Intel on my build.

As posted up top.

Phenom 9700, AMD's 1st Quad-Core CPU | Tom's Hardware

279.99 for the Q6600 and 169 for the AMD. 6400+ looking at bench marks I have no clue why anyone would spend and extra 40% or so for that chip.

Then again, fan boys will be fan boys and no matter what, intel will always be better.
(not calling you a fan boy, just the people who talk chit about how great intel is VS AMD) just check out the bench marks. Is it worth an extra 100 bucks?

Again with the video card, is what I got a great card? no, its a 119 or so dollar card after rebate. I can easily slap another one in and run them both SLI. in the end I have a 360, PS3 and Wii and really could care less. It's been over a year since I touched anything game wise on my PC. Even then the game I did play ran great on my old 2400+ using a 60 dollar video card from 6 years ago.

P.S just looking over the bench marks again and go figure, the AMD 6400+ was a bit faster then the Q6600 when it came to photos shop.. nice =)
Over all the Q6600 seems to be faster, but.... not fast enough to spend the extra cash.
 
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:werd:

I took my 8600GT back in four days and got an 8800GT, but mine is a gaming, and an everything else rig. I was thinking about getting the 6400+ too, but have heard nothing but the Q6600 running circles around it, so I am going Intel on my build.

As posted up top.

Phenom 9700, AMD's 1st Quad-Core CPU | Tom's Hardware

279.99 for the Q6600 and 169 for the AMD. 6400+ looking at bench marks I have no clue why anyone would spend and extra 40% or so for that chip.

Then again, fan boys will be fan boys and no matter what, intel will always be better.
(not calling you a fan boy, just the people who talk chit about how great intel is VS AMD)

I hope not, I've been running AMD for years now :p

just check out the bench marks. Is it worth an extra 100 bucks?

Well, the AMD Phemon does very good in rendering 3D applications, but overall, the Q6600 has better performance. To me, I use my computer for a lot of things, gaming, music, video editting, Photoshop, so I look at overall performance. If I was using it only for 3DS Max 2008 I would get the AMD no questions asked. I also take into account overclocking abilities, and results, heating, longevity, etc.

Again with the video card, is what I got a great card? no, its a 119 or so dollar card after rebate. I can easily slap another one in and run them both SLI. in the end I have a 360, PS3 and Wii and really could care less. It's been over a year since I touched anything game wise on my PC. Even then the game I did play ran great on my old 2400+ using a 60 dollar video card from 6 years ago.

The 8600GT is a great card, it couldn't run Crysis very well, if you aren't doing any graphically intense gaming it will more than pay for itself.

P.S just looking over the bench marks again and go figure, the AMD 6400+ was a bit faster then the Q6600 when it came to photos shop.. nice =)
Over all the Q6600 seems to be faster, but.... not fast enough to spend the extra cash.

My justification for spending the extra is that more and more programs are going to be coming out that will take advantage of quad cores, I look at it as future proofing. Besides, I am waiting till after Christmas, and the 1st of the year to buy my Q6600, either sales, or new released CPUs will drive the price down. I was also a little dissappointed that the Phenom didn't smoke the Q6600 since AMD has had a lot of time to work on it with Intel already have their quads out.
 
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Welp, its already time to upgrade.

My video card cooling fan is making a noise, BFG has a lifetime warranty but in order to have it replaced I need to send it in, they wont let me pay for one ahead of time and swap them out. sigh, ohwell.

So, I bought another video card, same model. I'm going to replace the one in my PC with the new one, send the old video card in for repair then once it comes back I'm going to run both of them using the SLI bridge or whatever its called.

Also I'm picking up another 2gb of memory.

That makes it 512mb worth of video ram and 4 gb ram.

For anyone wondering, I've yet to play a single game on this PC since building it.
Sonar and Photoshop takes most of my PCs time.
 
I need to finish out the Halflife expansion packs and maybe check out Crysis.
I'm in no hurry.

Right now I'm working on Mass Effect and Mario Galaxy.


I don't know if I would bother with Crysis even with 2x 8600GTs. An 8800GT performs better than 2 8600GTs in SLI and even though Crysis can play in Very High with it, it is still prone to lock up, and a lot of heat. Maybe if the patch comes out and does what it is supposed to with optimizing the game it will be another story, but right now Crysis rapes even high end vgas. HL2 should run like butter though.
 
I need to finish out the Halflife expansion packs and maybe check out Crysis.
I'm in no hurry.

Right now I'm working on Mass Effect and Mario Galaxy.

Ah. I think I'll head out and grab the Orange Box sometime this week. I've been playing a lot of UT3 the last month or so.

I don't know if I would bother with Crysis even with 2x 8600GTs. An 8800GT performs better than 2 8600GTs in SLI and even though Crysis can play in Very High with it, it is still prone to lock up, and a lot of heat. Maybe if the patch comes out and does what it is supposed to with optimizing the game it will be another story, but right now Crysis rapes even high end vgas. HL2 should run like butter though.

:shrug2:

Quite a few people are actually reporting decent performance on an 8600GT with Crysis, but that's on pretty low graphic settings. It's still playable, just not super pretty. Then again, when I used to play tournaments, I would turn ALL the eye candy off so I could be super LPB and max out my frame rate.

In any case, SLI 8600GT should handle Crysis if you turn things down, and a pair of 8600GTs is still cheaper than one 8800GT... and it doesn't matter to me, because I'll be hunting for another G92 8800GTS when I start getting frame rate hungry again. :D

I was actually thinking of getting an 8600GT for the HTPC. I think most 8600GTs don't require extra power, and that would work well with a low output mATX power supply.

Jeff- does your BFG 8600GT require external power?
 
Yea, it can play it if you turn everything on low, maybe medium, but the eyecandy is a big part of the appeal of Crysis. The graphics are intense, especially if you use some of the mod configs :)

The BFG 8600GT runs of the PCI-E slot, no extra power cable.
 
How do you think dual 8600s (256mb) would do VS a single 8800? (512)

I would think it wouldn't be that bad.
 
given that two 8600gts lag behind a 8800gts 320mb, id say the difference between them and a 8800gt is considerable.

ive just never been a fan of sli because the gains arent aways consistent from game to game, takes up more room case wise and usually produces more heat than 1 card. but watever, if you can afford it or prefer it.
 
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