Computer Building Thread
 

I'm seriously bored, and thought it was about time to have another one of these threads. Show off what you've done, discuss present and future builds, or just chit-chat.

I wish i could afford the (havent beenkeepingup) newest and badest i7 or whatever the newest chip is.

i want a badass computer so bad

There's still some pretty affordable stuff out there besides those. I'll post mine in a bit.

I've built what I consider to be two distinct builds. I'm not one who builds every six months. I build, run it for as long as I'm happy then do it again. Both times I didn't go for bleeding edge tech, but a decent combo of performance and above all value.

Circa 2004 build:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...h_0d97c5fc.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...h_52d3b6c4.jpg

A7V600
Athlon XP 2500+
2GB DDR400
9600XT
Linksys 11b wifi card
Random 450w PSU (upgraded to the Thermaltake below)
No-name case from Dealsonic

This ran well for almost five years before I got the itch to build again. That long partly because I quit my career and was a SAHD and money was tight. When I got my new job a new build was the first thing I did. Over time I had to disconnect the reset switch because it was locking up the boot sequence. Bought a second A7V600 before I tracked down the problem.

February 2009 build:

This is kind of a two-stage build, no pics right now of the first stage.

XFX GeForce 8200
Phenom X3 8650
4GB DDR2 1033
Thermaltake 430w PSU
Powerspec case

I really didn't do anything until last month when I was tired of the cooling issues. I was running near 65 C under load while encoding movies, and I wasn't going to last. Upgraded the case to a Cooler Master 960 II Advanced and I absolutely love it. Huge upgrade in the case, and there's tons of room and it's dead silent. Also upgraded the CPU cooler and it's made a marked improvement as well. Wish I had now gone with something different, but I think I'll save that for build 3 coming up in a couple months.

Here's the current pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...h_032f6320.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...h_510a5773.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...h_c2fb5783.jpg

Build 1 is now serving as a...server. But it's not going to be in that role too much longer because it's horribly inefficient and loud.

oh! i remember I built an XP2400+!

you gonna stick with AMD?

Not sure. That's where the value continues to be, to my untrained eye. Thinking about a X4 965 Black.

But I suppose I need to build a low power, low temp server first.

Thats probably why we drive Acura's.

I built a Sandy Bridge i7 desktop for myself a couple months ago. I'll buy a good graphics card this fall when the games I want come out. Currently it has an ATI HD 4850 in it. Nothing special today but it runs everything I do well.

and about how much did that run you, sans new vid card youre about to buy

$900, excludes monitors, graphics card that I had, mouse, keyboard. Just the case and everything in it.

so sad now i had a virtual build in a wish list in new egg and now its gone this thread reminded me on checking to see how much it cost it was well over 2000 when i "put it together" but the intent was to buy parts as they came down in price.

I need to build again..

Dreading figuring out the pieces, though...

I will re-use current Lian Li case.

Looking for well equipped i5, stable reliable mobo, ram, pwr supply

Currently rocking a P4 3.4 w/2gb ram and a great Asus P5GDC mobo I built in 2005 that has been running non-stop since then...

I generally build not at top of the line, but a touch below, since I don't overclock or play the latest craziest games.

Any thoughts on components?

Sandy Bridge i5 should do it :nod:

Let me build a list for you.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136795

$59.99

HIS H467QR1GH Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814161315

$64.99

Rosewill RV2-700 700W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V SLI Ready Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817182173

$59.99

Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52400
Item #: N82E16819115074

$189.99

Intel BOXDH67CLB3 LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813121508

+ (combo deal)

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B
Item #: N82E16820145345

$159.98


Subtotal: $534.94 + approximately $7.33 shipping

nice!
your initial price of 900 was shocking.

My $900 rig is a top of the line i7 with 16 gigs of RAM and a 850w power supply :tomato:

:woot:

I like em nice and stable...

d'oh.

I saw the word sandy bridge and thought it was the same processor.

Put an SSD in that for a boot drive Stogie... you won't be disappointed.

Keep your data on the HDD, and back up regularly.

^ really? I never power down so startup times don't mean much to me...

Will I see a benefit in programs running that's commensurate with the price increase over non-ssd?

:yes:

SSD's make a difference for some people.

With your OS on the SSD, the registry will be there along with your program files, so every time you open a program file or the system accesses the registry it'll be faster than a HDD. Give it a shot -- 120GB is plenty large for most people.

I put Windows 7 on my SSD and it boots up in 5 seconds :what:

built my i7 rig about a year ago...

Cost roughly $1500 after monitor. it's been running over clocked for the last year

1- i7-930 Bloomfield overclocked to 4.0GHz
1 - Antec 902 Case
1 - Intel X-25M 80GB SSD Boot Drive
1- CORSAIR CWCH50-1 High Performance CPU Cooler
1- ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
1- OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
1- LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support
2 - WD 500GB in Raid 1
1- SIIG Card Reader
1 - Sapphire Radeon HD 5770
1- OCZ Mod Extreme 700W Modular PSU
1- LG 24" FLATRON W2453V
1 -Logitech Slim Key Board
1 -Logitech MX Revolution Mouse

these are the parts maybe an extra fan or two wasbaught for the build


Currently i'm working on building 5 low end AMD PCs that will last for the next 5 years. pretty much have each PC under $250 a piece. Their meant to be simple workstations for an office.

My old rig and the War of the worlds edition PC....just need to stop being lazy and build a new one.

http://www.movieweb.com/news/contest...-the-worlds-pc

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_dGRiFtx8IUU/S2...0/DSC01339.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_dGRiFtx8IUU/S2...0/DSC01344.JPG


Antec: Performance One P182 ATX Tower
Evga NF68 motherboard
Intel Q6600 quadcore oc @ 3.02
2 500GB Seagate HDs
EVGA gtx 280 1gb and BFG gtx 260 OC maxcore 896 mb GPU
4gb(2x2gb) Dominator 1066 Ram
Corsair Hydro Series H50 CPU Water Cooling Kit
Corsair TX750W PS
Creative Audigy 2 platinum ZS sound card
windows 7 ultimate

Sound and Monitor:
46" Sony 1080p LCD HDTV
Logitech z-5500 speakers

OK, I am sold.

I need to grab an SSD, I just hate having to a clean sheet Windows install.

is there anyplace to get bare laptops? (without HDD&RAM)

i really want to pick out my own but dont want to pay initially for something i know i dont want to keep

Debating what I want to do next.

On the main rig, I'm undecided to stay with AMD or try a Core iX build. My mobo doesn't support AM3, and is DDR2. So whenever I decide to get a new mobo, it's going to be a rather expensive trip - mobo, CPU and RAM.

I'd like to go with an SSD for the OS drive.

I'd like to buy a dedicated video card - especially if the next board I get doesn't have onboard, I'm ready.


I'd also like to switch to WHS for the server build. I also need more data drives for it as well, not to mention building a whole new version that's low power and super quiet.

:ponder:

My current Frankenputer

-Raidmax Smilodon case (easiest case I've ever worked with even if it does weigh as much as 1982 Buick)
-Corsair TX-750 PSU
-Asus P7P55D Pro mobo
-Intel i5 760 Quad core CPU
-4GB Corsair XMS3 RAM
-EVGA Nvidia GTX260 c192 (yeah, I should have waited for the c216 version)
-2x WD Caviar Black 1TB Drives
-1x Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB Drive
-1x WD Caviar Black 500GB drive (Hackintosh drive)
-1x LG DVD-RAM burner with Lightscribe (which I actually use from time to time)

There's 3 80mm fans and 1 120mm fan on the front. At idle its pretty quiet, but if I'm playing for any length of time it gets pretty loud. Sadly I don't do much with it lately other than pay bills. That needs to change though.

litesout, that's almost the same motherboard as I have in my son's computer -- did you have problems with the LAN port driver shutting the port down and not being able to wake it up?

local company in Houston. I worked for them/know the owners.

http://directron.com/nbbarebone.html

the new intel Sandybridge architecture is very fast. however i have seen some reviews that an i5 is fast and better for gaming. personally i like intel products.

However AMD is coming out with their new bulldozer chip that is AM3 and is supposedly really fast since it will have 8 cores on a chip, unlike intels which are 4 cores + hyperthreading. and as always they will probably be cheaper then the intel ship

As far as SSD i would try to stay with intel SSDs or OCZ ssd. i have an intel and even though the write speed is advertised as slow it is still very fast.

for standalone graphics i would pick up a Sapphire 6870 if you want really good graphics. if your an occasional gamer i would pick up a 5770 instead, it will be cheaper.

Mine's slow coming out of sleep mode. After clicking the mouse to wake it up I normally have to wait about 30-40 seconds until I can actually use it, but I attribute that more to having 4 internal and 1 USB hard drive that have to wake up as well. Never had the first problem with the LAN port. Only thing I can think of is maybe BIOS? I had to update mine as soon as I got it to fully support the i5 760 chip (it saw it as a 750) so I never experienced it with the out of the box BIOS version.

Very occasionally game. Thanks for the 5770 rec.

Heres my computer, built it myself. Approx value when I bought all the parts is $1000.

http://img37.picoodle.com/i573/yvuru/m1tx_f5e_u7gn9.jpg

http://img38.picoodle.com/i573/yvuru/m1tx_806_u7gn9.jpg

http://img38.picoodle.com/i573/yvuru/m1tx_c72_u7gn9.jpg

Antec 300 Illusion case
Asus M4A87TD Evo AM3 870 Sata 6gb/s USB 3.0 motherboard
AMD 1090T overclock @ 3.7 GHZ cpu
ADATA 8GB ddr3 @ 1600mhz gaming ram
Samsung 1TB 7200rpm hard drive
Gigabyte AMD 6850 video card
Antec 550W modular power supply
Edimax Wireless N wifi card
Memory card reader
DVD burner
Noctua NH-U9B SE2 cpu cooler, with fans in push/pull configuration and ultra low noise adapters

Computer has 9 fans all in LOW settings. Wanted a fast, ultra quiet computer with dust filters.

This is my gaming rig and it has not disappointed me ever, I built it with intentions of upgrading it in the future.


edit: I am an AMD/ATI fan. Always had problems with intel/nvidia throughout my life. AMD/ATI has never given me problems. With intel/nvidia performance drops like crazy and heat is always an issue. Melted my video card before and the intel processors performance was always subpar in my opinion, also intel/nvidia cooling hardware was very subpar and sounds like jet engines while having trouble maintaining appropriate operating temperatures(this was my experience with past computers im sure its different now with the new processors but I have given intel/nvidia enough chances). My experience with AMD/ATI is that the performance stays the same and the temperatures are more than acceptable.

due to the relatively mediocre games for the PC I am still running the following setup

8500 OC to 3.6Ghz
8GB DDR 2 ram
4870 512MB
Chi Mei 1680*1050 panel
WDC 1TB HDD
Gigibyte P48 based mATX mainboard

still can play most games on it

Might upgrade to a i5 based machine with a 7xxx card from ATI in the fall. No chance I will use ATi CPU because Intel's i series pretty much cleans house and Intel chipsets are pretty much problem free

stogie. get the SSD. if u dont wanna spring for that, look at the momentus XT.

i have one in my MBP and it is rocket-fast while bouncing 60+ track audio files and rendering video. i got it dirt cheap too at 99 bucks.

clone

Thanks for the tip!

Waiting to see what Herr Mod Snake puts together for parts for me... No hurry, like I said, the P4 XP box is rocking strong!