Topic: Pyro's new machine thread

[PyroMenace]

So the system I've got has lasted a good while, 5+ years now, but like all good tech, it gets outdated. With Pug's help, I've come up the the parts I want, I just ordered the first batch through Newegg. Here's what it looks like:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem
Cooling: Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan
Video: Nvidia EVGA Geforce GTX 275
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58
Memory: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 3 x 2GB (6GB) Memory Sticks
Case: Thermaltake V9 Black Edition
Power Supply: Corsair 750W ATX12V 80 Plus Certified Power Supply

The optical drive and hard drive Im using out of another computer I bought off somebody which also has a 9 in 1 card reader. That list is mainly coming from this one which Pug pointed out to me. That Silverstone power supply on there I think is what I'm still going to get. I almost grabbed a heavily discounted 700w Rosewill power supply but it had quite a few bad reviews of them failing so I passed. The memory, case, and heatsink/fan are the parts I purchased already. The only real thing left to debate is which brand of the Nvidia card I should get, I'm waiting to see some roundup reviews to pop up here hopefully by next month.

Also, big thanks to Pugnate who pretty much did all the research for me.

[Xessive]

Sweet, it looks like a sweet machine that will last.

What's the damage? $$$

[Pugnate]

You will be surprised Xessive.

And yea, super jealous. Intel is not f'ing around anymore.

[scottws]

So the system I've got has lasted a good while, 5+ years now, but like all good tech, it gets outdated. With Pug's help, I've come up the the parts I want, I just ordered the first batch through Newegg. Here's what it looks like:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem
Cooling: Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan
Video: Nvidia Geforce GTX 275 card (Haven't picked a brand yet)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58
Memory: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 3 x 2GB (6GB) Memory Sticks
Case: Thermaltake V9 Black Edition

The optical drive and hard drive Im using out of another computer I bought off somebody which also has a 9 in 1 card reader. That list is mainly coming from this one which Pug pointed out to me. That Silverstone power supply on there I think is what I'm still going to get. I almost grabbed a heavily discounted 700w Rosewill power supply but it had quite a few bad reviews of them failing so I passed. The memory, case, and heatsink/fan are the parts I purchased already. The only real thing left to debate is which brand of the Nvidia card I should get, I'm waiting to see some roundup reviews to pop up here hopefully by next month.

Also, big thanks to Pugnate who pretty much did all the research for me.

I always love threads like this.  It's always exciting to see someone getting new stuff.  That heatsink/fan combo is crazy!  Yeah everything now seems to be vertically oriented when it comes to heatsinks.  I think my current PC has the last horizontally oriented heatsink I will ever have.

As far as your comment on the PSU, you did the right thing.  PSUs aren't cheap, and this sometimes leads people to scrimpt on them a bit.  Never do that!  Always go with a trusted, reputable brand for PSUs.

Is the i7 a dual or quad core?  I don't know anything about them.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, I second that.  A good power supply is a must, especially since these days upgrades seem to increasingly need more power.  So leave some headroom if you can afford to.

It is exciting when somebody gets a new system.  Except for the envy when I realize how much better it is than mine.  But I can't complain... mine is holding up really, really well for when I bought it and what I've put into it since.

[Pugnate]

hahaha Scottws, I am the exact same way dude. A lot of my friends/family here take me along to build their PCs, and I almost feel like they are doing me a favor. Then, I get to play with their toys first, since I do the software installations.

The ci7s are natively quadcore. I think there was a big ruckus from AMD fanboys, that their processors were 'real' quadcores, while Intel's core2Q series were two dual cores modified together... though it didn't matter since the Intel C2Q series smoked the AMD quadcores.

Anyway, all core i7s have been designed as quads from the ground up. They are also a lot faster than the core2Ds and the core2Qs.

The corei7 that Pyro is getting, is clocked at 2.4, but is faster than a core2D/Q series 3.2GHz processor. I guess in P4 terms, that means the corei7 would be equivalent to a P4 7.0 or something?

The X58 board Pyro picked up means he is safe to upgrade for the next two years of Intel processor lines without having to upgrade his mobo -- from what I read.

Early next year we have the 6 core "Westmere" processors coming out, which Anandtech says will be really really powerful.

I like how Intel isn't lying down here. Let's just hope AMD finds some way to stay afloat.

[PyroMenace]

Sweet, it looks like a sweet machine that will last.

What's the damage? $$$

Well looking at just raw numbers, if I buy everything on that list plus the Silverstone PSU from Newegg with tax, but excluding rebates and shipping it comes to about $1,250.

[Xessive]

That's a pretty sweet deal. Judging from the specs it will hold you out for a while. I spent around $1000 on mine almost 2 years ago and I still don't feel the urgency to upgrade or anything, although I am tempted to just get 1 more gig of RAM.

Wish you the best of luck putting it together man. It can be fun but tedious at times. The most exciting moment of anxiety for me is the very first boot up. It's always clouded with doubt and uncertainty with a bucketload of "what ifs" but a successful boot never fails to satisfy

[Quemaqua]

You guys are all doing better on your rigs than I did.  I think mine was like $2300 or something.  I forget.

[Xessive]

You guys are all doing better on your rigs than I did.  I think mine was like $2300 or something.  I forget.

Well, I was going for the bare-minimum approach. I did go nuts on the mobo though. That alone cost me $300, vid card $350, CPU $200, and the case and 500w PSU came together at around $100. I already had a monitor and speakers so I didn't add that in to the calculation.

Come to think of it, I do have a performance fan and heatsink in my old system, the Coolermaster Hyper 6, that I liked but it was for my AMD Athlon64 Socket 939. It was great but too bad it's stuck in there now. I won't think about a major performance heatsink until I consider overclocking. As is, my current Intel Core2Duo E6750 is doing fine.

[Pugnate]

I think systems are a touch cheaper now as well, I guess.

[scottws]

I would always go for an aftermarket heatsink so I can get a quieter 120mm fan.

I think my current system was around $2,000 USD but that includes a $600 monitor.

My current system is fine and will be for at least another year, but I've been thinking of getting something new.  I'm leaning for a Dell Latitude E6400 laptop but that would be like $1,100, precluding me from getting a new system for at least another couple years barring some windfall.  Jennie doesn't like me throwing a lot of money at technology for the sake of technology.

[Xessive]

I remember one of my older systems in Canada I went fan crazy! It had 9 fans total (10 including the powersupply)! The CPU fan was pretty big but then I set up 4 fans on the back and 4 on the front (right in front of the harddrives). Switching it on was like activating an air purifier! Got some god ventilation going on under my desk

FOr my current system I was considering setting up liquid cooling but it was gonna cost me at least another $300 for a decent one, so I passed.

[Quemaqua]

I'm really looking into a laptop now.  Want to get something with wifi so I can be upstairs on IRC and doing web stuff without having to drag my ass down here to the game room.  Otherwise Julia and I will never see each other.

[Xessive]

The majority of (if not all) new laptops come equipped with basic wifi and bluetooth. You shouldn't any trouble finding a decent system.

If you have a Wireless-N (or N1) router it might be worthwhile to invest in a little Wirelss-N USB dongle just to get that extra range out of your wifi.

The walls in my apartment are concrete so the average wireless signal just barely gets through if there's just one wall obstructing it.

Oh and in hardware news my bro and I got new gamimg keyboards!

I got the Razer Lycosa:


And my bro fell in love with the Saitek Cyborg:


Our primary concern was backlighting. We wanted keyboards we could use comfortably at night, when we generally play the most. Though I have to dmit it comes in quite handy wth late night e-mailing and general typing. They cost us about $75 each; it's totally a luxury expenditure but we had just gotten paid and we couldn't resist. So far we're happy

[W7RE]

My biggest problem with keyboards has always been that I'm addicted to mini keyboards. I wouldn't mind having a nice keyboard with all the bells and whistles, but the numpad is always in my way, and I need some shallow "alpptop" style keys. Someone should make a keyboard that has the numpad on the left side.


I always have the problem that I never follow PC hardware unless I'm actively looking to upgrade/build. So when I DO start looking around, I'm lost. I can put the parts together just fine, it's picking which ones to get that's the problem. It's not as easy as power vs price, you have to know what all the specs mean and why one thing is better than another. The one place that I have most trouble with is motherboard. I could narrow it down based on CPU, but then I still wouldn't know what to get.

Are there any good hardware sites for keeping up with news and reviews? I've heard of a few over the years like HardOCP, Tomshardware, and Anandtech, but can never remember which ones I've heard criticized and praised.

[Xessive]

Here's one I was considering which might be right up your alley:


The Microsoft Sidewinder X6, detachable numpad!

It was around the same price range but the Lycosa's sexy sleek look was too appealing.

EDIT:
It's backlit too! The keybaord is red and the numpad is amber.

[W7RE]

Hey, that's pretty slick. I'd prefer the whole thing be smaller, but I didn't think anyone actually made one where you could put the numpad on the left.

[Xessive]

Haha small enough?

I think the keyboards you like are the mini multimedia keyboards, the ones that resemble the key layout on laptops. Kinda like this one (except not necessarily with the trackball).

[Pugnate]

W7RE I still use Anand a lot. Tom's HW is pretty OK as well. I used to visit SharkyEx years ago lots, but they have really been neglected by whoever owns them, and aren't as up to date as the rest.

HardOCP is only a step above The Inquirer in terms of journalistic integrity.

[W7RE]

Haha small enough?

I remember seeing one that size before, I think the exact same pic, and I almost ordered one when I saw it, even though the one I have now is working just fine. Yea the second one you linked is a lot like what I use. I never touch the media buttons though, and the silver parts above and below the keys feels like wasted space.

[Quemaqua]

You guys are so different in your habits.  I use my numpad constantly.  And what's with the backlit keys?  My last keyboard was so beat up there weren't even letters on any of the keys anymore, and my current one is well on its way to being unreadable.  My uncle tried to use it to check his email a while ago and almost gave up in despair.

[Xessive]

You guys are so different in your habits.  I use my numpad constantly.  And what's with the backlit keys?  My last keyboard was so beat up there weren't even letters on any of the keys anymore, and my current one is well on its way to being unreadable.  My uncle tried to use it to check his email a while ago and almost gave up in despair.

I use the numpad a lot too. Especially in Excel when.

One of my really old keybaords is losing the letters on its keys. Drives my bro and dad nuts!

One feature of the Lycosa is that it's got black-on-black keys, which means that when the backlights are off it looks a lot like that blank Das Keyboard! It made me realize that I'm actually not that bad with blank keys The other lighting option is the WASD cluster. I love backlit keyboards now. It's funky!

[scottws]

You guys are so different in your habits.  I use my numpad constantly.  And what's with the backlit keys?  My last keyboard was so beat up there weren't even letters on any of the keys anymore, and my current one is well on its way to being unreadable.  My uncle tried to use it to check his email a while ago and almost gave up in despair.

I'm totally with you on this.  I hate working on laptops because there is no numpad.  And I feel like backlit keys are too... I don't know... l33t.

[Pugnate]

I wouldn't be able to do my office work without the numpad.

Wow, Que, that is almost exactly what I was going tto say. I don't really care for the backlit keyboards, and in fact, my keyboards get worn to the point where they aren't readable -- but I keep them since I am so comfortable with them.

In fact the last time I bought a new keyboard was when my uncle was visiting from Thailand, and was in despair using my system because the worn keys got in the way of him checking his e-mail!

edit:

Xessive, those keyboards certainly do look cool, and I would get one when I am a rich man... but for now, whenever I have $75 or so handy, I have a lot of other places where that money can provide me more pleasure. No, I don't mean 1-800 numbers.

edit 2:

Yes, I've seen the Lycosa here. Always looked cool.

[W7RE]

I actually do like numpads, and I miss mine sometimes. When I game with a full size keyboard though, my mouse pad and keyboard always seem to get closer and closer to eachother, and eventually my keyboard is overlapping my mouse pad and getting in the way of my mouse. The way the keyboard I have (linked above) sits is about an inch from the endge of my mousepad. Anything bigger than the one I have and my WASD keys would be further to my left, and feel awkward.

So really, it's not that I have to have a mini keyboard, it's that I feel all the junkn on the right would be better on the left. The numpad, the arrows, the home key and it's cluster. I usually have my right hand on my mouse even when not gaming, so all that stuff should be closer to my left hand anyway.




As far as backlit keyboards, I'm not sure I could get used to that. When I game in the dark, I don't want lights in my peripheral vision. I get annoyed at the green light on my Xbox controller when I play it in the dark, and that's just one thin little light. Also as much as I hunt and peck on my keyboard, when I can't see it I'm surprised at how well I can touch type.

[PyroMenace]

Alright I just ordered the rest of the parts and updated the list. The power supply I went with is this Corsair one, really good price for a nice 750W. I also went with the EVGA GTX 275 card, its got good reviews, its the cheapest one and its got free shipping. Now I just have to wait in horrible anticipation for all of it to arrive.

[Xessive]

The good news about backlit keybaords is you can switch the lights on and off. As I mentioned earlier, gamer keyboards allow you to light only the WASD cluster if you want.

I don't really understand how the backlighting ties in with the wearing of the keys problem. If anything backlit keybaords solve the problem since the characters are engraved (at least mine is). Plus in my case the keys are rubber-coated. I won't have to worry about worn keys again.

The light is not too bright that it distracts you, just enough to look clear and legible when you peek at it, you can set the brightness on most of them anyway so that's not an issue.

Pug, please note that I recently broke up with my gf, so that gave me a bit of extra spending cash that was originally intended for dinners and various other gf-related money-costing activities. So, great accessories come with a compromise.

[Quemaqua]

Awesome, Pyro.  I like eVGA.  I had several nvidia cards through them, all were top notch.

And you know W7, I sort of feel your pain.  My keyboard now is really too big, and I have very little mouse space.  I think I've just managed to get used to it over the course of a couple years.  It isn't ideal, but I'm so used to the cramped space I don't really think about it anymore.  But if I moved the numpad I'd have a good bit more room.  I do actually use it for games sometimes, though, so I probably wouldn't want to.

[scottws]

Yeah I have an eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS and it's been a champ.

[PyroMenace]

So I got the parts in on wednsday which I was surprised because that was really fucking fast which I am very happy about. Everything went without a hitch, and after a good 20 hours of usage now its still going strong without any problems. The only issues I had when building was getting the huge geforce card in, I wish I could put it in before I put other things in but that would have made it difficult doing everything else after. Also since the heatsink/fan is such a huge beast, the thing comes pretty damn close to the side panel lid, in fact so close that I had to take the 120mm thermaltake fan off of the panel because it wouldnt fit. But doesnt seem to be a big deal because the monster does a great job at cooling the i7 processor. After playing many games and using applications at the same time, the CPU temp barely broke 40 C. So yea, I need to catch up on my PC gaming now, and Crysis and DoW2 are on the list.

Other than that, the only other thing is the hard drive activity LED doesnt work, not like thats all that important. I also took a couple pics if anyone is interested.

[Pugnate]

Post da pics

[scottws]

Other than that, the only other thing is the hard drive activity LED doesnt work, not like thats all that important. I also took a couple pics if anyone is interested.

I hate it when hard drive activity lights don't work.  That's my main complaint with Macs.  You can't tell if they are locked up or if it is actually don't something.

Maybe the leads are backwards?  It's probably an easy fix.

[PyroMenace]

I hate it when hard drive activity lights don't work.  That's my main complaint with Macs.  You can't tell if they are locked up or if it is actually don't something.

Maybe the leads are backwards?  It's probably an easy fix.

Yup, you were right. As I was putting the HD from the old computer back into this one, and unplugged it and turned it around and presto its been working.

Anyway, here are some pics, they aren't a lot and I wish I took more but was too excited to get her up and running.

Here's just a line up of all the parts still in their retail boxes, it was like friggin Christmas I tell you.


And here is the Gigabyte motherboard in all its naked glory.


I meant to take a shot of just the motherboard and heatsink installed by itself, but here it is inside the case. As you can see that monster of a heatsink rises all the way up right to the edge of the side.


The PSU packaging was interesting, inside the box the PSU was inside this soft velvet back, I was hesitant to take it off, it felt all holy.


Here's everything pretty much all plugged in with the exception of the video card, PSU cables everywhere.


The last shot I took was of the eVGA video card, I wonder how much bigger are these things going to get.


And thats it. Last night I downloaded and installed the Windows 7 RC, didnt have a empty DVDR to write the ISO to so I just put in another hard drive and installed it from that. So far I really like it, its much faster and smoother than XP, cant go into that much details yet since Im still fiddling with stuff. The notification stuff still drives me crazy but luckily you can turn most of it off. Oh yea and its sooo purdy.

[scottws]

It's funny that you mention you're running the W7RC.  I've been wanting to do that either on my work laptop or my desktop.  Right now I just have it going in a virtual machine, but I don't get the hardware-accelerated effects.  It's neat, but from what I've seen in videos what I've got going is only scratching the surface of W7.

I've been considering purchasing another hard drive for my work laptop and putting it on there.  My only concern is the VPN client I need to run.  If it doesn't work in W7... well that will suck really bad.

[Pugnate]

Pyro that looks sexy as hell. Especially the case.

I almost bought that PSU myself.

[W7RE]

Yea just the looks of that system makes me want to build one. I usually end up grabbing mismatched parts and they clash. I see nothing flashy like lights and shit, but that still looks damn sexy. I love the aesthetics of the case, PSU, and especially the CPU cooling.

[Xessive]

Wow Pyro, that is gorgeous! The case sleek and even the individual components look sexy!

[Quemaqua]

I'm actually not a big fan of his case overall (just looks-wise), but I have to say the inside is very stylish.  It looks all high tech and awesome and it makes me jealous.  And that heatsink/fan is just ridiculous.  In a good way.

[scottws]

Pyro, how has Windows 7 being going?  I'm having a terrible time with it in my virtual machine.  It locks up constantly.  I also can't get my VPN client to install.