Posted awhile back, updated a bit

jerzz · Rated PG Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 6

Hey, I posted about building a rig a few months ago when I was planning out what to do. I will very soon, I hope, be making the purchases for my new rig.
This is what I had: http://bigbruin.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6191&highlight=thoughs+rig

This is the updated:
CPU
Mobo
PSU
Graphics Card
HDD
Case
CD-RW/DVD Drive
I have 1gb of RAM, so no worries on that

Thoughts and suggestions please, thanks

Kilamon · Rated XXX Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 811

What ram do you have?

I like your choice of hard drive. Grin

I have one of these andit is -quick- compared to my old ide drives. Plus, you can't beat the 5 year warranty from Seagate!

You might want to make sure that the DVD you're looking at is dual layer. If I had my choice of DVDRW drives right now, I'd get one with Lightscribe http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827101642 like that. Lightscribe is too cool for school.

Why does everyone get an asus? Get a DFI board. They have a forum at www.dfi-street.com if you have any problems or questions about the board. The support guy is a gamer (angry_games) and he runs that site as an employee of DFI. There are reps there from OCZ and other companies as well. There are even some custom BIOS versions. The SLi-DR board, the one I got, has support for 8 sata, 4 of which are on a SiL3114 chip which is capable of raid5. The other 4 are on the nVidia chip and can do raid1+0. It's a beefy board with lots of options.

I definately don't like your power supply. There're so many options out now for power supplies, and 500 watts alost seems the minimum any more. I picked up a 600w one by Ultra, but I guess you should probably research your motherboard and see what people are saying, especially from any support reps, about a recommended power supply. I know that for the DFI board, you need a floppy power, a molex, a 24 pin mobo connector, and the thin mobo connector as well. It's a lot of juice. Check out your board's recommendations though and make sure you have a solid one picked out.

I read a review that said he got one of those soprano cases and it was cool but the "toollness" system was less than toolless. My case truly is toolless, short of the motherboard. There are quite a few cases out there. Check out pimprig.com for some nice pics and reviews.

**Doctor Feelgood** · Posted: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 15:06:13 Post Subject:

We have our share of case reviews here, including one on the Soprano...

http://www.bigbruin.com/reviews05/ttsoprano/index.php?file=1

Check out the "Cons" listed at the end... All 4 are related to the tool-less drive system!

I have a pile of reviewed cases here, and I think my favorite is still my old Enermax CS-10182-BA Server Tower Chassis.

I like your setup in general, room for expansion and upgrade (like matchign another drive or video card), but the basics are covered with solid choices.

How did you pick the CPU? Maybe you could save some $$ and get a 3200+ and OC it... Or maybe shoot higher for a faster CPU? 3500+ seems to be middle of the road.

Kilamon · Rated XXX Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 811

my case >>> Soprano

I'm goign to take my case tins to a car painter, get some air brushing and do it up right. Smile

jerzz · Rated PG Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 6

I'm getting an Asus because they are known to be good boards, and i can get it for more than half the price of the DFI board.

I picked the CPU because I had a 3200+ Venice, and it went done in price, so i looked for something better. I do not want to OC at all and that CPU will suit me just fine.

My RAM is a stick of Kingston, and I dont remember the other, might be Kingston also.

The setup I have right now is trying to keep the price as low as it can be, because money does not grow on tree ya know, and I have a budget.

Edit: Any other suggestions for a PSU?

Shadowsilence · Posted: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 23:37:35 Post Subject:

PC Power & Cooling.

BeerCheeze · Posted: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 23:48:04 Post Subject:

**Doctor Feelgood** · Posted: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 20:33:03 Post Subject:

Here is an idea for a hard drive upgrade:

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4303155

Seagate 160GB Serial ATA/150 8MB Buffer ST3160827AS-RK - Retail Hard Drive Kit

$49.99 after $40 rebate! Sun

Kilamon · Rated XXX Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 811

too bad those are limit one per household. I need to get some friends so I can get 6 of those. :/

BeerCheeze · Posted: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 14:46:18 Post Subject:

I just got one of these: http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4353805 from Fry's while I was in San Jose. Grin