Custom Build

[Spectre]

I've ordered my parts and await the delivery of my goodies.

Case: NZXT Zero
PSU: Xigmatek 1,200W
Mobo: Asus Striker II Formula
Proc: Quad-Core Q9450 @ 2.66Ghz (Will overclock to: 3.2Ghz)
RAM: 4GB Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 SLI-Ready
HDD1: 500GB Western Digital
HDD2: 500GB Western Digital
Opt1: Blu-Ray Burner/HD DVD ROM
Opt2: Blu-Ray ROM/DVD-R/RW Burner
GPU: eVGA GTX 280 FTW
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek S1283

What do you think?

[Gangrenous]

One thing.... Get Western Digital Velociraptor 10000 RPM SATA hard drives, combines a SATA 3 Gb/s interface and 16 MB cache, ... yeah smoking hot. Thats the only thing I didn't get on my new Alienware system and I will be upgrading to it here this next month.:smokin:

[Kavadas]

IMO the Raptors are a waste of money. So they spool faster than a 7200. Is it really worth spending 5x as much? Not IMO. Even a weenie 74GB is buck fifty. I mean, if you really have the money go for it but I think that moola would be better spent towards an NVIDIA 200 series card.

[Gangrenous]

Yeah I'm just a fan of new stuff even if it is over priced, I work hard so I can play hard if I want to, but yeah I'm only running 2 300 western digital's right now and in AoC with my system im still over 100 fps every where. Not sure how much of a difference Raptors would make tho, but all the reviews make me want to upgrade.:smokin:

[Spectre]

I'm sticking with my two 500GB 7,200RPM HDDs. I wasn't impressed with the Raptor series; they are overpriced and won't be the newest fad once the newest Raptor technology releases.

[Horizonz]

Sounds like it's gunna be an awesome system. :)

[Spectre]

Indeed. It will be one of the best systems for its price range.

[Campbell]

I take it you use a lot of blue ray media?

[Kavadas]

Yeah, I was looking at the blu-ray stuff too. Waste of money IMO. All of the major studios have already decided on HD-DVD even though it's slightly inferior to blu-ray.

And really, what do you have that you are going to be filling blu-ray discs up with anyways?

Oh, and just so you know you can take a Q6600 and overclock it to 3.3 ghz easy so if you're only OCing to 3.2 with the Q9450 you can save a ton of money there.

Also, that power unit is complete overkill. You only need power for the CPU, GPU, two disc drives, and two HDs. The GTX 280 will eat up a good amount of power but all said and done about 900 watts should do the trick and give you some left over room to add one or two more components.

[Spectre]

I'm getting a quad core because I do a fair amount of graphic design work. The blu-ray is just to have and to compile all my goodies. The PSU isn't overkill; I am planning for the future. I intend to SLI two GTX 280.

[Campbell]

You know HD DVD lost the format war months ago kav? You could buy a hd dvd player for 60 bucks at costco a week after the last company declared in favor of blue ray.

I strongly feel that blue ray is the media industry's attempt at forcing an unneeded format down our throats. Digital ownership is much better than having another disk format you have to buy all your movies for again. The industry is trying to force that re purchase rather than pursuing a unified format for their copyright protection. Those who prefer digital ownership are screwed because every company that offers stuff has their own format, and most of these companies will cease to exist eventually or their format will stop getting software support.

It all comes down to greed on the part of the half a dozen or so major media giants.

But I digress.

Expensive rig, ought to last a couple years.

I took advantage of the AMD videocard war and got 2 4850's for $160 each :) Poped those babies in (and a few other odds and ends) and have been able to play max settings with good fps on every game I've tried so far, yet to try any of the super new ones though.

[Kavadas]

Really? I thought HD-DVD beat out Blu-Ray. I could've sworn that I read that Paramount and some other enormous company shifted entirely to HD-DVD like a year ago.

Hmmm, nevermind that then. Blu-Ray it is I guess. Thanks for the heads up!

Hey, I just noticed that Gang's animated avatar works and yours doesn't. Weird.

[Washburne]

It all comes down to greed on the part of the half a dozen or so major media giants.



I would hope they are greedy or else they will go out of business. Greed is the driving factor of a capitalistic economy and without greed there is no motivation to succeed. I have my own business and I dont get up every morning and work my ass off for the benefit of society, I work my ass off so I can buy myself a bigger house and a nicer truck, plain and simple. To quote a good movie..."Greed is good!". As long as big companies keep making big money they can afford to hire little guys like myself and I can continue to eat. Just food for thought.

Wash

[Campbell]

I would hope they are greedy or else they will go out of business. Greed is the driving factor of a capitalistic economy and without greed there is no motivation to succeed. I have my own business and I dont get up every morning and work my ass off for the benefit of society, I work my ass off so I can buy myself a bigger house and a nicer truck, plain and simple. To quote a good movie..."Greed is good!". As long as big companies keep making big money they can afford to hire little guys like myself and I can continue to eat. Just food for thought.

Wash

ROFL we've been up and down this particular debate several times. Again I stress the difference between wholesome greed and the kind of greed that leads to the current situation where no side can agree on format and none of em want what the consumer wants and is ready for, namely digital ownership. I would gladly pay the price of a Bluray disk for a digital HD version of a movie, as long as the format is open or universal, ala MP3 vs the proprietary MP4 of IPod. If all blue ray came standard with a digital ownership that would never loose tech support then blue ray would be much more palatable.

On a side note, I tried to use the digital copy from Blue Harvest, but there were so many DRM malware's on my computer that it crashed every time I tried to make the copy. load of bullshit I say.

No way in hell im buying all my movies again. I cant even leagally copy my old DVD's onto a hard drive apparently.

Look at the big picture. You got about a dozen media corporations holding a pseudo monopoly over us, rather than being one big company, its six of em working in cahoots. Yet still we have the negative effects of a monopoly.

[Washburne]

ROFL we've been up and down this particular debate several times.

I just like getting on my soap box. Makes me feel taller!

Wash