What's Your Computer Build?

[yeow_Z]

current rig set up;

hardware:

Intel i7 920 @ 3.2Ghz (for now)
Gigabyte X58 UD4P
Diamond 4870x2
Sapphire 4870x2
Corsair Dominator 6Gb 1600 PC3 12800
Corsair HX1000w PSU (in this pics, the antec psu was installed, old pics)
HP w22408 monitor
Logitech G15 keyboard
Logitech G9 mouse
Logitech G35 7.1 surround headphones

water cooling parts:

Swiftech Apogee GTZ || EK GPU Water Blocks || Thermochill 160.1 rad || Black Ice GT Stealth 360 rad || Bitspower Compression Fittings || MCP350™ w/ XSPC Top || MCP350™ ||EK-RES250 Reservoir

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3349/3408191774_be7ffbd00b.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3648/3409113670_97674c32c7.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3300/3408860949_fcdc909a61.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3311/3416128333_c2014dfc0e.jpg?v=0
yeah i know its off balance.:lol:

[yeow_Z]

and my old Q9550

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3635/3348353025_b35859c4b4.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3348354031_e3be3d6686.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3447/3349189356_ff4c76c1e2.jpg?v=0

and my older q9450 is water cooled also, themes was Black and RED. kinda lazy to upload the images. but if you guys want to see, i can post it.

[yeow_Z]

I don't understand, If I'm running the 1600 memory at stock speeds of 1600mhz, how is it slower than 1066 memory running at 1066mhz?:confused:
Unless you are saying that 1600mhz is an overclock? But on most x58 boards , (like the EVGA) 1600mhz isn't an overclock AFAIK.

you can go to bios setting for the memory to achieve the 1600mhz without overclocking your cpu. 1066mhz is the default clock of the mobo (Auto)

[drisley]

you can go to bios setting for the memory to achieve the 1600mhz without overclocking your cpu. 1066mhz is the default clock of the mobo (Auto)
Ah yes, thanks!

Btw, SICK pictures! I love the look! Is that a stock process you use, or a special action to get the contrast and colour so nice?!:eek:

[yeow_Z]

^ur welcome and tnx. for the pics, i just add a very little bit saturation and some contrast on the orange setup. for the yellow. just sharpen and resize.

[drisley]

They look amazing!

[yeow_Z]

tnx again!

[thegpfury]

I'm a bit of a hardcore gamer, and I build computers for businesses in my spare time...

AMD Phenom x4 9950 overclocked to 3.1ghz
8gb ram
Two 1.5TB drives
Geforce 8800GS
Geforce 7600GT
Geforce 7300GT
5 17" screens
1 15" tv/screen combo
1 19" widescreen

[smcclelland]

Here's my new setup, finally converted everything over.

24" Apple Cinema LED Display
15.4" Macbook Pro 2.8ghz
4Gb DDR3
320gb drive - replacing with OCZ Summit 250gb SSD
512mb Nvidia 9600M GT

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3630/3675862716_5825c93aa0_o.jpg

[equetefue]

Where did you get that screensaver.... Me want !!

Anyways, newest built..

Alpha-Omega

i7 i920 @4.2ghz
Evga 3-Way Sli
OCZ Gold DDR3 1600 12Gb Total
Enermax Evo 1250 80+
EVGA 8800 GTS 640
WD Raptor 150gb
HT Omega Striker Soundcard
Logitech MX-518 Mouse and G15 Keyboard
OCZ HTC Ram cooler
Win 7 64bit
Pack inside BTX modded Silverstone TJ07 Temjin

Watercooled by Heatkiller 3.0 Waterblock, Feser 240 Xchanger, 655 Pump, EK reservoir, Feser Cooling liquid.

UPC for back-up

Photo Editing:
Wacom tablet
LG 26" LCD


http://s152588970.onlinehome.us/PiCs/Computers/TJ07/TJ07%20Pre.JPG

http://s152588970.onlinehome.us/PiCs/Computers/TJ07/TJ07%20Pre%20(3).JPG

http://s152588970.onlinehome.us/PiCs/Computers/TJ07/TJ07%20Pre%20 (8).JPG

http://s152588970.onlinehome.us/PiCs/Computers/TJ07/TJ07%20Pre%20 (10).JPG

[jm4ever]

Well after going through this thread I must say there are some very talented computer builders on this board.

I'm toying with the idea of putting together a i7 rig but am a little hesitant as I have never built one from scratch. Just a bit worried about buggering up some pretty expensive components.

It seems like quite a lot of people ended up picking either the Cooler Master 932 or Cosmos S as your case. Both of these look very nice but would be a bit to big to fit under my desk.

Since this computer would be pulling double duty for general stuff, photography and for my son's gaming, I'm looking for something with good cooling ability.

I've narrowed down my case choices to the Cooler Master 922, Cooler Master Storm Scout or Cooler Master 690. Does anyone have any experience building a computer using one of them? I can't believe how hard it is to choose a decent case let alone all the other stuff like graphics cards and motherboards

And I used to think trying to decide on a new lens was hard.

[yeow_Z]

check the antec 900 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129058), afaik, one of the recommended case for good in airflow, i have the antec 1200.

[jm4ever]

yeow_ z,

Yes I did check the antec 900 out and from what I can tell it is one of the best cases available for airflow. Apparently there is no dust filters on the intake fans so it has a tendency to suck lot of dust inside.

Does your 1200 pick up any more dust than any other case you've used? There is a updated version, the Antec 902 available that has some dust filters so I guess I'll check that one out too. I'd really like the option of shutting off the LED fan lights in case I find them too flashy or bright. My son will no doubt want them on:)

Thanks

[MaxxuM]

yeow_ z,

Yes I did check the antec 900 out and from what I can tell it is one of the best cases available for airflow. Apparently there is no dust filters on the intake fans so it has a tendency to suck lot of dust inside.

Does your 1200 pick up any more dust than any other case you've used? There is a updated version, the Antec 902 available that has some dust filters so I guess I'll check that one out too. I'd really like the option of shutting off the LED fan lights in case I find them too flashy or bright. My son will no doubt want them on:)

Thanks

I've had a 900 case for more than a year and yes, it does suck in dust. There are holes and fans everywhere on it - just like most computers. Even computer with filters get dirty inside. There is no way to seal a case well enough. Even in my older wood floored home there is only the finest layer of dust which comes off with a damp cloth or a blow from canned air. The first rule, don't put your computer's or printers on the floor - it will get dirty fast. Second rule, if your getting dust bunnies within a month and your computer is raised up (on a desk) then clean your house more often ;)

[yeow_Z]

like what maxxum said, even computer with filters get dirty inside, which is normal. you can buy the air duster to maintain the cleanliness of your computer. never heard about the 902. been couple of months last time i visit forums about computers. imo, its all up to you how you maintain your computer. buy a soft brush and air duster to clean your hardware at least weekly. i think my antec 1200 has filters, but i never used it, and never use the blue led fans. its more better if you have air compressor, no more dust problem.;)

[drisley]

Yes, my Coolermaster has a huge filter along the front, but it still gets VERY dusty inside and needs cleaning every 6 months. Nothing beats compressed air.

[azncarbos]

Seeing a lot nice system here!!! Kind make me want to build another one....LoL

[twofruitz]

PC
Gigabyte GA-X58-UD3R motherboard
Core i7-920 2.66ghz at 2.8ghz
6GB DDR3 Corsair TriChannel(1600MHz)
640gb Western Digital Caviar Black 32mb Cache 7200RPM HDD.
2x 500gb 7200RPM (Seagate and Samsung) for storage
Antec P160 Gaming Tower
Thermaltake 650watt Toughpower
Creative Soundblaster X-Fi PCI-EX
ATI 4870 1gb Graphics

Monitors
37" LG HD TV
26" Acer X263w
22" ViewSonic VX2245wm

Peripherals
G11 Keyboard
MX518 Mouse
Few TB's of external drives

Running Windows 7.

[abc2000]

PC:
Asus P5Q Pro Turbo
Intel Core 2 Quad 9550
4 GB G-Skill Ram
640 GB WD(caviar Black)(OS and Apps and scratch disk)
1 TB western digital Caviar Black
Nvidia 9400 GT
Artic Cooling Freezer Pro 7
Corsair 650TX PSU
Cooler master Centurion 590
20 HP LCD
Windows 7 64 Bit
microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse
Wacom Bamboo Tablet

Just built it 2 days ago..
Built this on a budget.
Love it so far!

[smcclelland]

Where did you get that screensaver.... Me want !!


This one? http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3609/3343751503_1703c9744b_o.jpg

[azncarbos]

I like that wallpaper

[Village_Idiot]

Put it together yesterday.

Intel i7 920
Asus p6t mb
6GB OCZ
Nvidia 295 GTX 1.8GB GPU
WD Velociraptor 150GB 10k RPM HDD
generic 52x DVD burner
Pioner 8x Blu Ray burner
1000W PS

HP 30" monitor

I need a new case. There's one I'm eyeing that allows thermal cooling. I want to OC! Eventually I'll have another 295 GTX as well. I'll probably end up with a 1600W power supply at that point too.

[Sauk]

My OSx86 Build: Works 100% | iATKOS v7 DVD 10.5.7 for Intel/AMD
GIGABYTE GA-EP45C-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 | EVGA 512-P3-N873-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 | 2 x CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) | 2 x ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA | Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black and Silver Full Tower Case | 2x e-SATA External Drives (Seagate; My Book 1TB Drivers)

I have 4 internal drives now, 2x500GB and 2x1TB drives.

I just received 2 more WD Green drives, 750GB each.

The 2 external drives were put onto a WHS box I built with extra parts.

In that build I have 1x80GB hard drive with the OS on it, and 2x 1TB external drives mentioned above.

Lastly I have a 1TB external USB drive acting as my Time Machine backup drive.

[jm4ever]

Well I've pushed the button and have a bunch of stuff coming from newegg next week so I'm hoping to have a new i7 rig up and running in a week or so.

One question, as far as I know the stock cpu cooler that comes with the i7 has a thermal pad on it preinstalled, did most of you removed this pad and replace it with thermal paste instead?

I've heard the paste is better but if I'm not over clocking do I need to worry about it?

[Sauk]

I would suggest the paste. I think you will see at least a few degrees cooler if not more. Plus it is super easy to do

[yeow_Z]

Well I've pushed the button and have a bunch of stuff coming from newegg next week so I'm hoping to have a new i7 rig up and running in a week or so.

One question, as far as I know the stock cpu cooler that comes with the i7 has a thermal pad on it preinstalled, did most of you removed this pad and replace it with thermal paste instead?

I've heard the paste is better but if I'm not over clocking do I need to worry about it?


not kinda big deal if you keep the stock paste but $7.98 wont hurt your pocket. use ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020) thats overclocker's paste.

[Mark]

Matt, why are you running iATKOS?
Set it up with an EFI partition/the new Chameleon the next time you re install (maybe for 10.6)... It is so much easier to just run software update :D

[Sauk]

Mark,

I ran that for a bit and didn't have any issues updating....Though to be honest I think next time I want to go back to mac os (just love the OS) I might order that EFX USB thing. Every thing I have is compatible with it so it should run great.

I recently went back to Windows 7 to give it another try. I had some of my credit card stuff compromised so I moved away from the mac OS stuff for a bit (I purchased a Leopard disk just never used it, made me feel better about using that iATKOS stuff). Didn't know if the OS was compromised from being hacked so I moved back to Windows 7 which just plan gets hacked :D

[imput1234]

Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream SLI 850W
CASE: NZXT Tempest
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R
CPU: Intel Q6600
RAM: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066-PC2 8500
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE 500GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache x2
Video Card: XFX GeForce 9800GT
Optical Drives: Lite-ON Black lightscribe
Rosewill 3.5" Internal Card Reader
CPU Cooling: ZeroTherm ZEN FZ120

Operating System: Windows Vista 32bit, Windows 7, Ubuntu

Input Devices:
Wireless: EDIMAX Wireless LAN PCI Adapter
Keyboard: Logitech G15
Mouse: Razer Krait
Speakers: Logitech G51 5.1 surround sound

Monitor: HANNspree HF237 23" 1080p HDMI

[squaresnappr]

Some nice setups here. I was cleaning out my home office on my last 2 days of my vacation and decided to paint it. So i basically really cleaned all the dust out and organized it better. As you can see in the last picture; its pretty tight quarters but its a wide office. Small, humble and IMO, organized!

Macbook Pro Sr
2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 Gb 667 Mhz DDR 2 SDRam
Nvidia Geforce 8600M GT
120 Gb Hard Drive

Apple LED Cinema Display 24"
Apple Cinema Display 20"
Mac Pro 2009
2.66 Ghz Quad-Core Xeon Nehalem
6 Gb 1066 Mhz DDR3
640 Gb Hard Drive
1 Tb WD Black Hard drive
Nvidia Geforce GT 120

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/1857/img3461jrj.th.jpg (http://img29.imageshack.us/i/img3461jrj.jpg/)

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/5540/img3454a.th.jpg (http://img14.imageshack.us/i/img3454a.jpg/)

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/6619/img3450g.th.jpg (http://img198.imageshack.us/i/img3450g.jpg/)

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/263/img3443r.th.jpg (http://img210.imageshack.us/i/img3443r.jpg/)

[airfrogusmc]

I just ordered a Mac. Should be here tomorrow.

2 quad core Intel Xeon processors 2.26 Ghz
16 GB memory ( 8x2GB)
Hard drive bay 1- 640 GB serial ATA
Hard drive bay 2- 1 TB serial ATA
24” Apple cinema flat panel display

[Sauk]

holly cow! how much did that run you?

[Moppie]

I just ordered a Mac. Should be here tomorrow.

2 quad core Intel Xeon processors 2.26 Ghz
16 GB memory ( 8x2GB)
Hard drive bay 1- 640 GB serial ATA
Hard drive bay 2- 1 TB serial ATA
24” Apple cinema flat panel display


Are you building it yourself?

[nphsbuckeye]

Are you building it yourself?
LOL. That's what I thought, since when can you build your own Mac?

[lunasicc]

CPU: Intel Q6600
CPU Cooler: zalman 9500
Motherboard: p5q pro
GPU:gtx 260 core 216
Memory:4 gigs 800mhz ocz
Hard Drive:2 western digital terabytes
500 gigs samsung
320 external
Power Supply: 750w power trio
OS:windows seven
Case: antec 900
Display:22" acer
Speakers:KRK v4 studio monitors, AMAZING SPEAKERS...
I/O Devices: saitek eclipse keyboard,logitech g5
Photo Related Software: Photoshop CS3, Lightroom 2,photomattix,
pc dominates mac,that will be all

[jdizzle]

I just ordered a Mac. Should be here tomorrow.

2 quad core Intel Xeon processors 2.26 Ghz
16 GB memory ( 8x2GB)
Hard drive bay 1- 640 GB serial ATA
Hard drive bay 2- 1 TB serial ATA
24” Apple cinema flat panel display
Congrats on the new rig Allen! :) If I wasn't a gamer, I would go Mac all the way.

[airfrogusmc]

Congrats on the new rig Allen! :) If I wasn't a gamer, I would go Mac all the way.

Thanks JD yeah no more hungapp freeze-ups and such. I can't wait. :lol::lol:

[airfrogusmc]

holly cow! how much did that run you?

Yeah I know but think if it like this the 200 2L is not the cheapest 200 either.

[airfrogusmc]

LOL. That's what I thought, since when can you build your own Mac?

And why would I want to build my own when I can have it delivered the way I need it? I'm a photographer. I don't have enough time for that or the expertise. And I do have a very good friend thats runs an IT dept for a very large corp and is VERY VERY good, in fact he built the computer I'm on right now, he recommended Mac. Like I said before I've used both EXTENSIVELY and had both for a while and I prefer make for many reasons. They are both just tools nothing more like cameras and there is a proper tool for the job. For me macs work and play better with the graphics and photography programs I use. Its just that simple.

[Sauk]

Yeah with out a doubt the mac os is more stable. With snow right Around the corner that thing is going to fly!

[In2Photos]

And why would I want to build my own when I can have it delivered the way I need it? I'm a photographer. I don't have enough time for that or the expertise. And I do have a very good friend thats runs an IT dept for a very large corp and is VERY VERY good, in fact he built the computer I'm on right now, he recommended Mac. Like I said before I've used both EXTENSIVELY and had both for a while and I prefer make for many reasons. They are both just tools nothing more like cameras and there is a proper tool for the job. For me macs work and play better with the graphics and photography programs I use. Its just that simple.
There is nothing wrong with that, except this thread was designed for computer builders to show off their build. ;)

[yeow_Z]

i also love my graphics card. 2 units of 4870x2 ($500+ each) and they are watercooled by EK waterblocks. and i love building my own computer. computer is very useful nowadays. dslr without computer is useless.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3648/3409113670_97674c32c7.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3349/3408191774_be7ffbd00b.jpg

[Sauk]

Nijel,

I love building my own as well. I used to do it on a 6 month basis a few years ago lol

One thing I have always struggled with is hiding wires. How are you able to do this? I have a very large case but it seems my power cables inside are super thick and not very easy to adjust or hide.

Can you take pictures of the rest of the case? I would love to see it.

Also any advice or websites you know of that deal with that would be great


Oh last thing, I have been thinking of going watercooled, any advice there?

[jdizzle]

i also love my graphics card. 2 units of 4870x2 ($500+ each) and they are watercooled by EK waterblocks. and i love building my own computer. computer is very useful nowadays. dslr without computer is useless.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3648/3409113670_97674c32c7.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3349/3408191774_be7ffbd00b.jpg

Nice setup. Even though, I'm not an ATI fan, they still make good cards. :) I'm looking to upgrade and liquid cool my videocards to dual EVGA GTX 295 Co-op hydro coppers. $700.00 each. OUch! Hehe! :)

[Moppie]

There is nothing wrong with that, except this thread was designed for computer builders to show off their build. ;)



As Mike said, this thread if or computer builders to show off thier build.

I have just cleaned up a whole lot of posts there were not even close to being on topic, I don't want to have to do it again. :cool:

[YP5 Toronto]

Update:

Computer name: Haven
CPU: Intel i7 920 @ 4.0Ghz, 1600mhz QPI
Cooler: Koolance 350, Swiftech 655, MCR220 Rad, 4 x Scythe S-Flex Push Pull
Mobo: Asus P6T Deluxe V2
GPU: BFG nVidia 280 x2 SLI
RAM: 3x2gb OCZ 1600 Platinum 7-7-7-24
Hard drives: 2 x 60GB SSD Summit OCZ Raid 0 - OS drive
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1 TB x 2 in Raid 1
OCZ Vertex 30GB x 3 in Raid 0
Optical: 2 x Sony 18x DVD RW drives
PSU: Enermax Revolution 85+ 850W Power Supply (80+ Silver Certified)
OS: Windows 7 Proffesional 64bit Retail Full Version
Case: Coolermaster Cosmos S
Display: HP LP3065 30" Wide 2560 x 1600
Display: Dell 2005FPW - Inverted Portrait
Speakers: Logitech G51 Surround Sound Speaker System
IO: Logitech G15, MX518
Photo related: PS LR, Sandisk Extreme IV Firewire 800 card reader, ColorVision Spyder 2 Pro

Other: Ear Force HPA2 - Multi-speaker 5.1 ch Surround Sound Amplified

EDIT: Great deal on two new 60GB SSD Summit SSD drives from OCZ. Also did a full clean install of Windows 7 Pro 64bit. Win 7 is a truelly impressive OS from MS. It is what Vista should have been.

SSD drives are still considered early tech, but they have come down in price and don't require you to be a techy to use. SSD in combination with Win 7 is amazing.

[Sauk]

Have no idea why my post was deleted as it had to do with computer build..

But what would you suggest for water cooling? Any sites that could show me how it works, how to set it up, etc..?

i also love my graphics card. 2 units of 4870x2 ($500+ each) and they are watercooled by EK waterblocks. and i love building my own computer. computer is very useful nowadays. dslr without computer is useless.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3648/3409113670_97674c32c7.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3349/3408191774_be7ffbd00b.jpg

[R.Perez]

Well I am selling this next week, but this is what I am currently using..

http://tf2newbs.com/newbs_upload/IMG_3016.JPG

http://tf2newbs.com/newbs_upload/IMG_3062.JPG


Lian Li V1000Z // Intel Core i7 920 @4.0 ghz // 3 x 2gb Corsair Dominator 1600 mhz DDR3 // Noctua U12P // EVGA GTX-285 // Creative X-fi Titanium // 2 x 150gb raptor in raid 0 // 2x WD 1TB Green in Raid 0 // Evga GTX-285

[squaresnappr]

Nice R. Perez, very classy. May I ask why you are selling it? I also like the Lian LI card reader. Also, did you do that cable sleeving because it looks great. My pc is so shoddy and old.

[YP5 Toronto]

please delete this one.

[R.Perez]

Nice R. Perez, very classy. May I ask why you are selling it? I also like the Lian LI card reader. Also, did you do that cable sleeving because it looks great. My pc is so shoddy and old.


I am selling it because I am moving to Hawaii in December and bringing just is not practical. I am going to be buying a laptop ( I know, I know ) to replace it. Oh and yes, I did the sleeving myself, it only took about 2 days ;) and lots of hurt fingers.

[Moppie]

Have no idea why my post was deleted as it had to do with computer build..


My fault, it got caught up in the Macintology sermon and I deleted it by mistake :o

I've restored it now. :cool:


Nijel,

I love building my own as well. I used to do it on a 6 month basis a few years ago lol

One thing I have always struggled with is hiding wires. How are you able to do this? I have a very large case but it seems my power cables inside are super thick and not very easy to adjust or hide.

Can you take pictures of the rest of the case? I would love to see it.

Also any advice or websites you know of that deal with that would be great


Oh last thing, I have been thinking of going watercooled, any advice there?

[Sauk]

No Moopie,

Np :) Thanks for restoring.

[yeow_Z]

Have no idea why my post was deleted as it had to do with computer build..

But what would you suggest for water cooling? Any sites that could show me how it works, how to set it up, etc..?

Nijel,

I love building my own as well. I used to do it on a 6 month basis a few years ago lol

One thing I have always struggled with is hiding wires. How are you able to do this? I have a very large case but it seems my power cables inside are super thick and not very easy to adjust or hide.

Can you take pictures of the rest of the case? I would love to see it.

Also any advice or websites you know of that deal with that would be great


Oh last thing, I have been thinking of going watercooled, any advice there?

sorry for late reply. there are a lot of forum for watercooling. try these;

overclockers (http://www.ocforums.com/)
realredraider (http://www.realredraider.com/)
XS (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/)

for the wire management, i suggest to start from the scratch, remove all the hardware from your tower. if you have extra $, buy a modular PSU, use sata cables. btw, what case you have and PSU?

my camera is on the shop right now, ill take new pic for my set up and show where the wires are hiding.

[Sauk]

I will get you that information to you tomorrow...

Thanks for the reply ;)

[joooowan]

i havent updated my computer in a while

Antec twelve hundred
Intel Q9550 @ 3.6Ghz
Corsair Dominator 4GB
EVGA 8800GTS x2 SLI
EVGA 750i FTW
Corsair 750W PSU
and a few hard drives.

Logitec Z-5500 speakers
Logitec G11 keyboard
Logitec G5 Mice
uh..... samsung 22inch monitor, 19inch monitor

i pretty much swear by logitec and EVGA, and Corsair

[lifethroughalens]

At last I have upgraded my ageing and rapidly deteriorating Dell laptop :)

Had it a week, built it myself and I can't imagine how I ever existed without it. Editing HD 1080p is now a breeze, as is play back of high bit rate films. Programs load in split seconds and everything is massively responsive. I also noticed a huge difference in performance by overclocking it from 2.66 to 3.4Ghz, with very little difference in temperatures.

CPU runs approx 41C idle in 23C ambient and never tops 70C on full load with fans at minimum in the case. Fans on max brings it right down to mid 60's. Superb.

GPU runs 49C idle fans @ 40% and 64C max load with fans at 80%.

Photoshop FLIES...at last, i'm ahead of the curve!

W7 64bit Evaluation Copy: 7100 (Loads of bugs and issues, conflicts with software and explorer crashing / hanging...I did like it - but explorer crashing is doing my head in)

i7 920 OC'd to 3.4Ghz on stock cooler and thermal paste (Don't need fancy cooling!)
6GB Patriot DDR3 1600Mhz RAM (going to 12GB as soon as possible for Video editing)
Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Motherboard (Brilliant bit of Kit, but needs an extra IDE input IMO)
4x1TB 7.2K 32MB WD Caviar Black HDD (Solid drives. Will get a small SSD for Boot OS)
Corsair 650W TX PSU (Excellent. A modular version would have been nice though)
1x Nvidia GTX260 GPU Golden Sample (Brilliant! Overkill for AA3 and Counter Strike!)
Coolermaster Sniper Case (amazing bit of kit)
Sony DVD Dual Layer drive (from old build)
Dual Dell 24" S2409W (not bad - but not great either. Good value)
Creative T40 Speakers & a TV tuner card

[drisley]

lifethroughalens, that's almost the exact setup I'm looking at building. I currently have an A64-4600+ with 2GB Memory. What was your Dell? I used to upgrade yearly, so I never noticed huge improvements since everything was so recent. But it's been 4 years so I'm excited to see how a new build compares.

BTW, I've been running W7 x64 RC 7100 since it was released, a couple months I think, and it's solid, no crashing at all, no conflicts with software, no real noticeable bugs.
I wonder if you are having hardware issues. How are things when you aren't overclocked?

[lifethroughalens]

lifethroughalens, that's almost the exact setup I'm looking at building. I currently have an A64-4600+ with 2GB Memory. What was your Dell? I used to upgrade yearly, so I never noticed huge improvements since everything was so recent. But it's been 4 years so I'm excited to see how a new build compares.

BTW, I've been running W7 x64 RC 7100 since it was released, a couple months I think, and it's solid, no crashing at all, no conflicts with software, no real noticeable bugs.
I wonder if you are having hardware issues. How are things when you aren't overclocked?

Hi there drisley,

I had an old inspiron 9400 2.16Ghz Core 2 Duo with 2GB RAM...and boy, it struggled with most things! I got it as a free upgrade after my old dell 9300 started to overheat (P4 3.6Ghz). Dell just replaced it for free after I had had the 9300 for 2 years! Amazing customer service. Yes...I was the one!

I have had several issue with explorer on all 3 of my W7 setups - old desktop, the lappy and the new PC build. I suspect that it's a software conflict between some common software that i'm running on all 3 setups. Definitely not any memory issues and totally unrelated to the OC'ing. I had a problem with the RC W7 - explorer crashing when I right clicked a photo. That vanished with the RTM version but now I have this problem, specifically with accessing the 'My Computer' shortcut.

When I click on 'Computer' after the start button, explorer opens but it hangs as the green bar fills up the address bar and won't display any folders or drives locally or remotely.

This also causes a bug with existing thumbnails vanishing in explorer and no longer being generated within other windows displaying photos. Instead there is just a blank page representing the photo. Annoying! I have seen a few other people with this exact issue too.

I will have to remove software bit by bit to find the culprit. Oh goody!

And by the way, if you do build a similar PC, you will not be disappointed :)

[drisley]

Wow, sounds good as far as your old computer vs my current. I think mine would be generally slower. So an upgrade sounds exciting!

I've been running W7 x64 sine the beta was available, and now the RC, so in total for half a year, 8-10 hrs a day, and I've never experienced any issues even remotely like yours. In fact, I've really never experienced any issues at all. W7 runs perfectly stable, as Vista did for 2 years before that, XP for years before that, and Windows 2000 for years before that. In 9 years since going to an NT based OS (Windows 2000), I think I've only had 1 blue screen of death or system crash, taxing my system heavier than most, every day, all day.

The only "bug" I found with W7 was that if you use a monitor profile generated by Windows' built-in calibration software, the picture viewer becomes veeeeery slow and sluggish. But I just switched to my hardware generated colour profile and now it's fine.

[lifethroughalens]

Wow, sounds good as far as your old computer vs my current. I think mine would be generally slower. So an upgrade sounds exciting!

I've been running W7 x64 sine the beta was available, and now the RC, so in total for half a year, 8-10 hrs a day, and I've never experienced any issues even remotely like yours. In fact, I've really never experienced any issues at all. W7 runs perfectly stable, as Vista did for 2 years before that, XP for years before that, and Windows 2000 for years before that. In 9 years since going to an NT based OS (Windows 2000), I think I've only had 1 blue screen of death or system crash, taxing my system heavier than most, every day, all day.

The only "bug" I found with W7 was that if you use a monitor profile generated by Windows' built-in calibration software, the picture viewer becomes veeeeery slow and sluggish. But I just switched to my hardware generated colour profile and now it's fine.

Yes, I must admit that over 15 years of using Windows PC's I've very rarely encountered the 'blue screen of death'...but I have had more crashes than I can shake a stick at due to low system resources and poorly written, memory hungry software. I'm always trying 100's of different programs out, video editing, picture editing, plugins, picture resizes, downloaders...the list goes on and on....some of them from spurious sources - not many of them actually turn out to be keepers - probably 1%. So you can imagine what my poor registry must feel like :)

Even though I would run CC cleaner, registry mechanic and various spy tracking software every day, eventually a fresh install is called for- and with XP Pro that was becoming a nightmare what with all the security updates and patches required. It would take 2 days to do an install and update and 30 reboots!

The new build PC was working great for a couple of days, as far as explorer stability goes...then as I loaded more and more software on to the system, it went pear shaped at some stage and started having the same old issues opening and displaying 'my computer'. I'm definately not alone in this, I have found a few threads displaying exactly the same problems and the only solution seems to be to remove all your software until you find the cause.

How very Windows...

OSX dual boot is an option I suppose :lol:

[drisley]

Then again, the vast majority of people using W7 don't experience any of these problems at all.

Since you don't experience these problems until after loading up more and more software, it must be a buggy piece of software, or maybe drivers? I almost wonder if it's software that has something to do with your cd/dvd, maybe burning software? I too install LOTS of software, more than anybody I know, from all sources. Generally what I do if I don't like a piece of software I just tested, I uninstall it, then search the harddrive and registry for any remnants and delete. It's not really that much work, but yes, it should not be necessary. Why these software vendors can't write uninstallers to delete all the remaining folders and registry entries that their software installs is beyond me.

And don't let the marketing fool you, OSX can have just as many problems. My friend who switched to a Macs last year is frustrated to say the least... Adobe CS4 constantly is crashing OSX on him, and he doesn't find the OS very intuitive. I've had three other former PC users switch to Mac and then switch back. Heck, my Apple iTouch crashed last nite playing a video! LOL!

[AzzKicker]

Too Many Intel users :)


Heres my stuff arriving tomorrow:

Computer Name: The Terminator
CPU: AMD 9950 X4 2.6ghz Quad Core
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100253HDMI Radeon HD 4650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Hard Drive: WD 640GB
Power Supply: CORSAIR 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS
OS: Windows 7

[Mastamarek]

you can check me out here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Mastamarek

[PM01]

My rig so far..

CPU: Intel i7 965 Extreme loafing @ 4.0Ghz
Cooler: Coolit Systems Freezeone Elite - idles at 16C.
Mobo: EVGA x58 Classified 760
GPU: 2 GTX 295 in SLI
RAM: 3x2gb Corsair Dominator GT 2000 at 8-8-8-24
Hard drives: WD500, WD750, Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1 TB
Optical: Plextor 22x - I HATE SONY DRIVES - they don't last with heavy usage!
PSU: Ultra X3 1000 watt
OS: Windows Vista 64 Ultimate
Case: Coolermaster Cosmos
Display: NEC 2690 WUXI2 - incredible monitor - glad I got rid of my crappy Apple Cinema Display - the ACD PALES when compared to a high end monitor!

Speakers: Dynaudio Audience 50, modified.
External amp - McIntosh MC440M, modified. Even the best audio amps out there pale to this one...seriously. :)
IO: Logitech trackball

[Nightcrawler]

I built both my desktop and server. The desktop is a little dated and could use an update, but I would rather wait until I need it so that I can spend my money on glass.

Desktop -

Computer Name: Lightning
CPU: Intel E6600 overclocked to 3.2GHz
CPU Cooler: Zalman 9500
Motherboard: Asus P5B Deluxe
GPU: PNY 9800GTX and EVGA 7900GS
Memory: 2GB Ram (2 x 1GB Patriot)
Hard Drive: Seagate 400GB
Power Supply: Corsair HX620
OS: XP Pro
Case: Antec 900
Displays 1 and 2: 20" Acer AL2051W
Display 3: Epson Home Cinema 720
Speakers: Connected to my 6.1 surround through coaxial digital
I/O Devices: Regular old keyboard and mouse
Photo Related Software: Photoshop CS3

Server -

Computer Name: Jupiter
CPU: Intel E2140
CPU Cooler: Stock
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-965GM-S2
GPU: Integrated
Memory: 2GB Ram (2 x 1GB GeIL)
Hard Drive: 5 - 500GB Western Digital in RAID-5 for 2TB of storage
Power Supply: Antec TP 650
OS: Ubuntu 8.04 Server
Case: XION Hydraulic
Has nothing connected to it except for power and LAN and it is sitting in a closet.

I haven't updated my specs in awhile.

Desktop -

Computer Name: Lightning
CPU: Intel Q9550 overclocked to 3.4GHz
CPU Cooler: Zalman 9500
Motherboard: Asus P5B Deluxe
GPU: PNY 9800GTX and EVGA 9800GT
Memory: 8GB Ram (4 x 2GB Crucial)
Hard Drive: 2.4TB (Two Samsung F3 1TB and one Seagate 400GB)
Power Supply: Corsair HX620
OS: Vista Ultimate
Case: Antec 900
Displays 1 and 2: 20" Acer AL2051W
Display 3: Epson Home Cinema 720
Speakers: Connected to my 6.1 surround through coaxial digital
I/O Devices: Regular old keyboard and mouse
Photo Related Software: Photoshop CS3

Server -

Computer Name: Jupiter
CPU: Intel E6600
CPU Cooler: Stock
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-965GM-S2
GPU: Integrated
Memory: 4GB Ram (2 x 1GB GeIL and 2 x 1GB Patriot)
Hard Drive: 5 - 500GB Western Digital in RAID-5 for 2TB of storage
Power Supply: Antec TP 650
OS: Ubuntu 8.04 Server
Case: XION Hydraulic
Has nothing connected to it except for power and LAN and it is sitting in a closet.

[JEmerson]

Computer Name: DAVE
CPU: Intel E8400 @4.2ghz/4.66ghz for benchies.
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P :D
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q Deluxe
GPU: GTX260 @ 730/1600/1400 w/custom exhausts.
Memory: 8*gb (4x2gb Corsair PC28500)
Hard Drive: 1tb x 4 RAID 10. (Although ATM only got three drives after Seagate 7200.11 died.
Power Supply: Corsair 620w Modular PSU HX620
OS: Running Windows 7 pre-release.
Case: STacker 832.
I/O Devices: Logitech G15 Keyboard, Logitech G5 mouse, Wacom Bamboo to aid cloning, Logitec G25.
Photo Related Software: Photoshop CS3, Lightroom 2. Noise Ninjarr!!

[Raikyn]

I'm jealous most of the specs here are better than mine :(

Anyway
CPU: Athlon 64 5000+
Mobo: Asus M2N-E SLI
GPU: Asus 4890
Mem: 6GB DDR2 800
HDD: Corsair x64 64Gig SSD, WD 250GB, WD 640GB
PSU: Silverstone 580W
OS: Win7 64bit
Monitor: 26"Viewsonic + 22" Samsung

Biggest performance hit I notice over the years of upgrading was the change to a SSD. Must have in my opinion in any new setup or upgrade.

[acetic]

Computer Name: Computer
CPU: Intel Q9650 @ 3.0GHz
CPU Cooler: OCZ Vanquisher
Motherboard: Gigabyte EP45-UD3L
GPU: MSI GTX260 extreme ultra mega overclock edition (Forget what it's actually called! :P)
Memory: 8 GB Ram (4 x 2 GB g.skill)
Hard Drive: 500GB Seagate
WD Caviar Black 1TB
Power Supply: FSP 500w 85%+ efficiency PSU
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Case: some random one I found
Display: Samsung T240 (24")
Speakers: Audio Technica ATH-M30, JVC HA-RX900 (both headphones)
I/O Devices: Logitech G15 Keyboard, Logitech MX1000 mouse (needs replaced soon)
Photo Related Software: Photoshop CS4, Lightroom 2, DPP

I need more RAM and HDD space

[basroil]

bit different, see the bottom
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E7500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz
CPU Cooler: SILVERSTONE NT07-775
Motherboard: Intel BOXDG43GT
GPU: GMA X4500 (gets less FPS in HL2 than my 6 year old ATI 9600XT)
Memory: 2 GB Ram (2 x 1 GB low profile kingston)
Hard Drive: WD Caviar Green 1.5TB
Power Supply: HEC-270W TFX
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Case: hec Black 0.7mm Thickness SECC Steel 7KJ9
Display: Samsung HLR5667W
Speakers: Sony DAV DX-(forgot number) Dream System (1000W)
Network Connectivity:LINKSYS WMP600N
Photo Related Software: Windows Fax and Preview ;)

Yea... not my photo editing build, jusr something for the home theater that will be able to do just about anything including CPU only decoding of 30mbps bluray streams. I just bought my photo editing rig from dell since the cost was actually significantly less than if i had bought everything myself.

[Dooms_day]

Computer Name: shellc0de
CPU: AMD 64 x2 (2.9 ghz)
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Key3 spirit (just a big round fan with a light)
Motherboard: M2Ne-SLi
GPU: PNY GTX 275 with 896MB DDR3 (i LOVE this card)
Memory: 2 one gig sticks (dual channel)
Hard Drive: Used 500GB SATA (dunno what kind)
Power Supply: Ultra 500w PSU
OS: Win7x64 Ultimate
Case: Generic ULTRA case
Display: Westinghouse 22" (1680x1050)
Speakers: Generic 4.1 surround
I/O Devices: Sony VAIO Keyboard/mouse (soo old but i love ball mice)
Photo Related Software: CS4 Everything, Sony Vegas (video editing)

More than enough for every photo related project, more for intense max settings gaming, and video editing. I plan to upgrade the CPU and RAM to compensate for the video card but, whatev, UT3 runs great at 1680x1050...;)

[Tom W]

Computer Name: Office_PC_2007
CPU: Intel Q8400 at 2.67 GHz
CPU Cooler: Intel cooler packaged with the processor
Motherboard: Asus P5N-E SLI
GPU: XFX GeForce 8600 GT, 256 Meg
Memory: 4 gig (2 X 2-GB Corsair XMS2) DDR2
Hard Drive: 2X 320 Gig Western Digital 7200 RPM SATA
External HD: Several
Power Supply: 500 Watt "80%-plus" PSU
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium, 32 bit, SP-2
Case: Antec Sonata III
Display: Dell 2407 24" LCD, Dell P992 19" Trinitron (currently in storage)
Speakers: Harman-Kardon HK695 with sub.
I/O Devices: Microsoft Digital Media Pro keyboard, Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 2000
Photo Related Software: PSE-7, DPP, Capture One 5, all the other Canon stuff.

I just swapped out a Dual Core E6750 processor for the Quad Core Q8400. The improvement is quite noticeable in DPP.

[themadman]

Former Primary Computer (Since I built my new one, my wife uses this one. LINK (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=9393785&postcount=242) to new primary):
Processor: Intel Q6600 @ 3GHz
RAM: 2GB Corsair Dominators
Video Card: 2x EVGA 8800GTX (one died so I am down to 1...)
Mobo: EVGA 780i SLI FTW
Power Source: Thermaltake Toughpower 850W
Harddrive: 2x Western Digital 1TB in RAID 1 (Caviar Green)
750GB Seagate as storage (since my 1TB seagate recently died)
CPU Cooler: Zalman 9500LED
Monitor: 22in Acer
OS: Windows XP 32bit
Case: Xion Stacker
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=6206118

Primary: Razer Lachesis
Keyboard: Standard Microsoft

Externals... 2x 1TB, 2x 500GB
Macbook Pro... Macbook... several other PC's I built... too lazy to list em all =)

[kouasupra]

I just barely built this computer last weekend. I'm so glad I did and I won't ever buy another HP computer for photo editing. I must say it's super fast to load up all my programs. Here's my setup..

CPU: Intel i7 920 2.66@ 3.8GHz (1366)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master V8
Mobo: Asus PT6 (1366)
GPU: ATI Radeon 5770 (x2)
Memory: 12 GB RAM Corsair 8-8-8-24
HDD:
1- Samsung SSD 128GB (OS, Programs)
2- WD velociRaptor 300GB 10,000RPM (Photos)
1- WD 1TB 7200PRM (photos, Movies)
1- WD 640GB 5400RPM (music)
Drives Lite on CD / DVD-R burner
Drives Lite on Blu Ray player
Fan Controller AeroCooler Fan controller
PSU: Corsair 850w
OS: Window 7 home edition 64 bit
Case: Antec 900
Display: 26"Samsung t260, 24" Samsung widescreen
Network: D-link 556 b/g/n
Sound: Sound Blaster x-fi

[basroil]

GPU: ATI Radeon 5770 (x2)


/me wants :(

[kouasupra]

/me wants :(

Those are great GPU. I recommend them if you have the money for it.

[basroil]

Those are great GPU. I recommend them if you have the money for it.

aside from a lack of funds (which i can get if I really wanted), PSU and mobo aren't up to snuff, 360W PSU and single pci-e 16x foxconn mobo...

[themadman]

I honestly thought the 5770 was a bit of a disapointment. It didn't really blow away the competition in that price bracket like the 5850 and the 5870 did in their price brackets. Although the 58XX and 5970 are extremely bad ass! (But I guess if you have TWO 5770...)

[basroil]

I honestly thought the 5770 was a bit of a disapointment. It didn't really blow away the competition in that price bracket like the 5850 and the 5870 did in their price brackets. Although the 58XX and 5970 are extremely bad ass! (But I guess if you have TWO 5770...)

5770 is a 4870 with dx11, better overclocking, and half the idle power draw. 700 line was always meant to be mainstream, 800 enthusiast, and now they reserve the 900 moniker for X2 cards. I currently have a 4850, so 5770 would be a nice increase (20%) increase for me, but if you already have a gtx260 or better, or 4870 or better, no point

[themadman]

5770 is a 4870 with dx11, better overclocking, and half the idle power draw. 700 line was always meant to be mainstream, 800 enthusiast, and now they reserve the 900 moniker for X2 cards. I currently have a 4850, so 5770 would be a nice increase (20%) increase for me, but if you already have a gtx260 or better, or 4870 or better, no point

Completely agree. I guess my point is it gets outperformed (in games atleast) by the previous generation 4870. It IS DX11 and can drive three monitors, which is a plus. It also tends to be priced a little below the 4870. For me, since they released the 5870 and the 5850, I was expecting the 5770 to blow other cards out of the water (like the 5870 and 5850 did).

[basroil]

Completely agree. I guess my point is it gets outperformed (in games atleast) by the previous generation 4870. It IS DX11 and can drive three monitors, which is a plus. It also tends to be priced a little below the 4870. For me, since they released the 5870 and the 5850, I was expecting the 5770 to blow other cards out of the water (like the 5870 and 5850 did).

ati's 4770 didn't blow the 3870 out of the water (though by that time the drivers were much better so the 4770 did perform pretty well against the 3870, not to mention the 4770 is actually overpowered in relation to the 4850 and 4650)

[tester3000]

Computer Name: LightSpeed
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 @ 4.2Ghz
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R
GPU: 2x BFG GeForce 8800GT 512MB in SLi
Memory: 6 GB Ram (3 x 2 GB OCZ DDR3 @ 1600Mhz)
Hard Drives: 2x 500GB Seagates in Raid 0, 2x 1TB Segates in Raid 1, 1.5TB Seagate
Power Supply: Corsair 650 Watt
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Case: Antec 900
Display: Samsum T240 24"
Speakers: Logitech X-530
I/O Devices: Logitech G15 Keyboard, OCZ Equalizer mouse

[myjunk]

I just got myself an Acer Aspire M7720-492 http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/desktop_pcs/acer/aspire_m7720/269353

CPU : i7-920 @2.66 (Stock)
GPU : 1GB ATI 4850
Memory : 6GB (no idea what speed)
Hard Drive : 750G Hitachi (came as is), 74G WD Raptor (gonna put in some additional drives for RAID0)
OS : WIndows Vista Home Premium (64 Bit) <-- This sucks!!!!
SPeakers : Sonic Gear Enzo 4000
Keyboard/Mouse : Acer supplied wireless
Display : Old Acer 22in 1600x1050
MOtherboard : No Idea.
Warranty : 3 years

This is a stock computer, and not one I built on my own. (wanted to, but it's cheaper to buy this all in and get up and running quickly)

With the 8 cores, Running Lightroom is a Freaking Breeze compared to my old laptop (x60 - 1.8G core duo). Latency is nearly none.

One thing though, It's sucking up ram like nobody's business.

[PM01]

Computer Name: LightSpeed
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 @ 4.2Ghz
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R
GPU: 2x BFG GeForce 8800GT 512MB in SLi
Memory: 6 GB Ram (3 x 2 GB OCZ DDR3 @ 1600Mhz)
Hard Drives: 2x 500GB Seagates in Raid 0, 2x 1TB Segates in Raid 1, 1.5TB Seagate
Power Supply: Corsair 650 Watt
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Case: Antec 900
Display: Samsum T240 24"
Speakers: Logitech X-530
I/O Devices: Logitech G15 Keyboard, OCZ Equalizer mouse

Nice rig tester3000. How much vcore are you pushing?

[Mike55]

CPU: Intel Q9400 quad core
Motherboard: Gigabyte g33m-S2
Ram: 8 gb Mushkin
Hard Drive: Kingston 40GB SSD (Intel Controller O.S./Apps drive), 2x 1.5 TB WD Greens
OS: Windows 7 64 bit
Monitor: Samsung T240HD calibrated
Sound: Delta 66 pro sound
Gfx: Nvidia 9800 GT 1 GB Power Effecient

The best performance upgrade you can make people is to dump the standard HDD(even raid)and upgrade to a SSD for your O.S. and apps drive. It will make a bigger difference than a CPU upgrade in real world use. We are talking instantaneous loading of apps. I'm trying to build the fastest "green" machine I can that straddles a place between power use and climate change friendly(well as friendly as it can get anyway). The hard drives were a major component in that.

SSD absolutely trounces RAID and your standard HDD's(Raptors included). I highly recommend it as soon as you possibly can. You will see your windows experience rating skyrocket.

[basroil]

CPU: Intel Q9400 quad core
Motherboard: Gigabyte g33m-S2
Ram: 8 gb Mushkin
Hard Drive: Kingston 40GB SSD (Intel Controller O.S./Apps drive), 2x 1.5 TB WD Greens
OS: Windows 7 64 bit
Monitor: Samsung T240HD calibrated
Sound: Delta 66 pro sound
Gfx: Nvidia 8600 GT 256 MB


The best performance upgrade you can make people is to dump the standard HDD(even raid)and upgrade to a SSD for your O.S. and apps drive. It will make a bigger difference than a CPU upgrade in real world use. We are talking instantaneous loading of apps. I'm trying to build the fastest "green" machine I can that straddles a place between power use and climate change friendly(well as friendly as it can get anyway). The hard drives were a major component in that.

SSD absolutely trounces RAID and your standard HDD's(Raptors included). I highly recommend it as soon as you possibly can. You will see your windows experience rating skyrocket.

For storage (since ssds are actually very expensive), get the caviar green line of disks. They idle at a very low power, stop more frequently, and active power is quite possibly the lowest of any drive out there (non-ssd, though less than some ssd)). Also gets really good performance, generally averages over 80mb/s.

[Sauk]

A 40gb hard drive, doesn't windows 7 take up 20 gb of that?

I would for sure need more since I use LR2, Adobe CS4, and many many other programs.

[In2Photos]

A 40gb hard drive, doesn't windows 7 take up 20 gb of that?

I would for sure need more since I use LR2, Adobe CS4, and many many other programs.
Mine does. I wouldn't use anything less than 64GB or so for an OS disc. I don't know how some of these guys do it and I don't have that many programs.

I'd love an SSD, but I can't justify the price, even on an i7 rig. To get speed and size runs $200 plus.

[Mike55]

A 40gb hard drive, doesn't windows 7 take up 20 gb of that?

Nope. My install for Windows 7 64 bit is 8gb. Disabling hibernation(pointless on a desktop), disabling system restore (I do my own backups) and adjusting the page file size to 2gb makes the install go from 14gb to 8gb. I've always kept my data on a secondary ahrd drive form the O.S., and this SSd is no exception. That includes the Lightroom 2 Library file.


I would for sure need more since I use LR2, Adobe CS4, and many many other programs.


I have a few dozen apps installed(including LR2, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc) and still have like 30% free on the drive. And I get a 7.6 on the windows 7 experience rating. No platter drive will get above a 5.9., even in raid.

You will see more of a speed difference going to a good SSD than you will going to an i7.

[basroil]

Nope. My install for Windows 7 64 bit is 8gb. Disabling hibernation(pointless on a desktop), disabling system restore (I do my own backups) and adjusting the page file size to 2gb makes the install go from 14gb to 8gb. I've always kept my data on a secondary ahrd drive form the O.S., and this SSd is no exception. That includes the Lightroom 2 Library file.




I have a few dozen apps installed(including LR2, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc) and still have like 30% free on the drive. And I get a 7.6 on the windows 7 experience rating. No platter drive will get above a 5.9., even in raid.

You will see more of a speed difference going to a good SSD than you will going to an i7.

SSDs are good, but in my case, 40gb just isn't enough for all my programs... hell, not counting user data, the size of my install is 37.3 GB (40,131,863,635 bytes). Then again, I have CS4 master, assassin's creed, and farcry 2 installed there, each taking up over 6gb on average. Add in another dozen or so programs and you get a large install very fast

[Mike55]

SSDs are good, but in my case, 40gb just isn't enough for all my programs... hell, not counting user data, the size of my install is 37.3 GB (40,131,863,635 bytes). Then again, I have CS4 master, assassin's creed, and farcry 2 installed there, each taking up over 6gb on average. Add in another dozen or so programs and you get a large install very fast


That's because you are putting your games on the O.S. drive. I have a ton of apps on the drive with plenty of room. Just install your games on a seperate drive.

When you see the difference a quality SSD makes, you will never go back. The difference is that huge.

[themadman]

New Primary Computer
Processor: Intel i7-860 OCed at 3.61GHz (Currently =P)
RAM: 16GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B (Formerly 4GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator)
Video Card: ATI Radeon 5850 (ASUS brand)
Mobo: EVGA P55 FTW
Power Source: Coolermaster UPC 900Watt
Harddrive: 2x Western Digital 1TB in RAID 1 (Caviar Black) + 2x Western Digital 2TB in RAID 1 (Caviar Green)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS 9900A LED
Monitor: 23.8 in ASUS and 23 in Dell U2311H
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64bit
Optical: LG DVD Burner 22x (SATA)
Case: XClio Windtunnel (soooo quiet, I love it!)
Speakers: Bose Compansion 2 Speakers
Headset: Plantronic DSP550 Headset
Primary Mouse: Logitech G5
Keyboards: Saitek Eclipse (red)

[Sauk]

that seems like a serious overkill power wise, but looks like a nice setup

[basroil]

that seems like a serious overkill power wise, but looks like a nice setup

But by having a 900W psu, he gets max efficiency at full load :D

[Mike55]

Themadman - if you like quiet get a SSD for your O.S.

[PJ]

Computer Name: The Aluminum Monster
CPU: Intel E8400 Wolfdale slightly overclocked
CPU Cooler: Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Motherboard: EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel
GPU: 2 SLI'ed Nvidia 8800GT Superclocked
Memory: 8 GB Ram Kingston with heatsink
Hard Drive: #1Western Digital 500gb Caviar
#2 Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black
Power Supply: Can't remember. Some modular Power supply
OS: Windows XP 64bit and Windows 7 Home Premium
Case: COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evolution with 7 120mm fans OOooo Yeeaahhhh :)
Display: Samsung Syncmaster 216BW (just put a big scratch on it with a falling picture frame :( grrrrr) Time to upgrade! :)
Speakers: Crappy Balzmart speakers that aren't worth crawling under my desk to see the brand name.
I/O Devices: aiptek graphics tablet 12inch
Photo Related Software: Photoshop CS 4, Lightroom,

[themadman]

that seems like a serious overkill power wise, but looks like a nice setup
My wife won the power source around a year ago sooo I figured use what I have oppose to buy more stuff =)

But by having a 900W psu, he gets max efficiency at full load :D
LOL =P

Themadman - if you like quiet get a SSD for your O.S.
I really wanted one but the prices are still a little steep for me. I might get one in a year when prices drop. I want a decently big one, maybe 64-128GB and that would have cost me another 250-500 which I could not afford. But you are right, the loudest thing in the computer are the hard drives =)

[jeiroq]

I figured I'd jump in here too. I'll be upgrading in a few months to an i7 system with DDR3 tri-channel and a Kingston SSD (128GB drive for $230 right now!).

Here's my current build though:

Computer Name: BlackBeast
CPU: Intel E6750 C2D OC'd 3.2Ghz 100% stable with 48+ hour Prime test
CPU Cooler: Zalman 9900 CNPS LED CPU Cooler / Arctic Silver Ceramique
Motherboard: Asus P5W-DH Deluxe
GPU: PNY XLR8 8800 GTX OC
Memory: 4GB Corsair Dominator PC8500 (2x2GB)
Hard Drive: WD VelociRaptor 300GB 10k RPM (OS/Installs)
WD 500GB Drive (Music)
WD 1TB Drive (Movies)
WD 1TB Drive (Shows)
WD 1TB External (Pictures/Misc)
Power Supply: Ultra X3 600-watt modular
OS: Windows 7 Pro x64, OS X Snow Leopard
Case: Cooler Master 690
Optical Drive: Plextor 18x DVD-burner
Display: Gateway HD2200
Speakers: Yamaha 5.1 receiver through S/PDIF (110wRMS x 5) with Bose 301's for main and surround L/R and Bose VCS-10 for center channel. Dayton 15" Titanic Mk III (1000wRMS)
I/O Devices: Microsoft Wireless Laser 6000 keyboard with IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 and Tooya Pro tablet (10"x6.25" active area)
Photo Related Software: Adobe Photoshop CS4, Adobe Lightroom 2.3, Photomatix Pro Plus, Artizen HDR, onOne Plug-In Suite 4.5, Nik Silver Efex Pro, Nik Sharpener Pro 3.0, Tiffen Dfx

[Eagle]

Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06GHz
ASRock 4CoreDual - SATA2 R2.0
Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD4650 1G DDR2 Video Card
2.0g DDR2 5300 Memory - Dual Channel
Maxtor HD 40g (Windows 7 and system utilities)
Maxtor HD 40g (Programs)
Western Digital HD 500g (Photos, Photo software and personal storage)
Western Digital Passport External HD 160g
Mad Dog MegaStor Triple Format DVD-RW
Asus DVD-RW
Corsair 650w Power Supply
Altec Lansing Speakers
Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 5000
Logitech Keyboard
Canon MP530 Printer/Scanner/Copier/Fax
Netgear Wireless-N Router
Scientific Atlantic 2100 Cable Modem
SanDisk USB 2.0 CF Card Reader
AOC 19" Widescreen Monitor

[myjunk]

:-)
I just upgraded my current setup w/ another monitor.
Now I have an 22in Acer 1680x1050 and an 24in DELL U2410

[PM01]

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 @ 4.2Ghz
CPU Cooler: Corsair H50 with 2x Scythe Slipstream (110cfm each)
Motherboard: eVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI
GPU: Sapphire Radeon 5870
Memory: 6GB Ram (OCZ Gold PC3-12800)
Hard Drive: Intel X25-m 80Gb (Gen 2)
Hard Drive 2: Seagate 1TB
Home Server: 4TB (Gigabit)
Power Supply: Antec CP-850
OS: windows 7 Professional x64
Case: Antec P183
Display: Asus VW246H (looking for an IPS monitor)
Photo Related Software: Photoshop CS4 Extended & Lightroom 2

You should try Phase One 5.x with your build. Utilizes all the cores...and really cranks through the RAW files! :)

[Yohan Pamudji]

You should try Phase One 5.x with your build. Utilizes all the cores...and really cranks through the RAW files! :)

So does Lightroom 2. Seems like all the current 3rd party RAW converters do, to be fair. Underutilized cores is mostly a thing of the past.

[Depth]

I never knew this thread was here.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4316681301_e4d31937e2_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42504877@N00/4316681301/in/set-72157611540005468/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2745/4317415968_e700267bd5_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42504877@N00/4317415968/in/set-72157611540005468/)

[PM01]

Really looking at the i980 Extreme chip now....6 cores! :)

[jeiroq]

With hyperthreading it's equiv to having 12!!

[PM01]

Definitely! I usually crank out several hundred to several thousand RAW file conversions per assignment with the i7 that I have now. Can only imagine it with the 6 core/12 thread processing...might be worth the bucks!

[Genome]

not really like having 12 cores as each core is multitasking but pretty damn amazing none the less.

[DarthSparky]

Ok here is mine - my first build:

* CPU: Intel i5 750 Quad Core - 2.66Ghz 8MB Cache
* CPU Cooler: Intel cooler supplied with processor
* Motherboard: Asus 1156 P7P55D Pro
* Memory: 8GB RAM (4x 2GB) OCZ Gold DDR3 1600Mhz
* Sapphire HD5750 1GB Vapor-X Graphics Card

Hard Drives:
* 1 x OCZ 60GB Vertex Sata II SSD (for OS and key apps)
* 2 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB Sata II 32MB Cache Dual Processor HDDs (one for music and spill over apps, the other for photos only)
* 1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB Sata II HDD (Films)

Optical Drives:
* 1x Sony AD-7241S 24x DVDRW drive

Power Supply:
* 1 x Corsair TX 650 Watt

Case:
* 1 x Xclio A380Plus (Silver)

Displays:
* 1 x Dell 23" P2310H Widescreen FP Monitor
* 2 x Dell 19" 1907FP Widescreen Monitors (one in landscape, the other in portrait)

Speakers:
* Harmon Kardon 5.1 speakers

I/O Devices:
* Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 (Keyboard and Mouse)
* Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch Tablet
* Sandisk USB Card reader

Network:
* 1 x Lacie 2Big 2TB NAS (in RAID 1 configuration)
* 1 x Lexmark 540N Colour Laser Printer
* 1 x HP Photosmark C7280 Wirelss inkjet Photo printer

OS:
* Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit

Photo Related Software:
* Lightroom 3 Beta 2 64 Bit
* (Lightroom 2.7 64 Bit also installed)

[Yohan Pamudji]

With hyperthreading it's equiv to having 12!!

That's like when you ask kids if they'd rather have 1 quarter or 10 pennies and they choose the pennies :D But seriously, 6 cores... I'd love to be able to afford that but it's way too rich for my blood right now. Maybe when AMD's 6-core CPUs come out if they're faster than Intel's quad-cores I'll give those a look.

[PM01]

Now running with an i7 980x overclocked to a stable 4.4 Ghz. 6 cores / 12 threads of fun. :)

On Cinebench 11.5, it's about 4 percent slower than a TWO chip (8 cores/16 thread) W5590 Xeon. This is for the CPU test.

[Doc Fluty]

i just have

win 7 64 bit
amd 9750 quad core (2.4)
8 gb ram
corsair 450 watt ps
oem MB
ati 5770
1 tb oem hard drive...

http://i39.tinypic.com/35n0qbn.jpg

[boconnor811]

EVGA x58 SLI LE
i7 920 (oc'ed to 3.4ghz)
6GB Gskill ddr3
intel x-25M 80 gb SSD - OS & apps
WD Caviar Green 2TB - Storage
Asus Radeon 4350 (killer of my widows experience rating:)
Corsair Professional 650w Modular PSU
High Speed PC techstation

[boconnor811]

EVGA x58 SLI LE
i7 920 (oc'ed to 3.4ghz)
6GB Gskill ddr3
intel x-25M 80 gb SSD - OS & apps
WD Caviar Green 2TB - Storage
Asus Radeon 4350 (killer of my widows experience rating:)
Corsair Professional 650w Modular PSU
High Speed PC techstation


Here is a bad cameraphone pic. Being a photography forum, you think I could do a little better LOL;) This was before adding the storage drive and cleaning up some cable routing etc, but you get the idea.

[CJM Photography]

Ill post spec's later, and for some reason in the resizing the picture got distorted.

[boconnor811]

Ill post spec's later, and for some reason in the resizing the picture got distorted.

Hey 1911, what keyboard is that? Is it wireless, I need something that is wireless and lights up for my HTPC.

[CJM Photography]

Hey 1911, what keyboard is that? Is it wireless, I need something that is wireless and lights up for my HTPC.
there arent alot of wireless keyboards that are back lit, but mine is a Microsoft sidewinder X6, It is wired but it's a great keyboard

[b.han]

Motherboard: eVGA X58 SLI LE
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 Overclocked to 4ghz
Memory: 12 GB OCZ Black XMP
Graphics Card: eVGA nVidia GTX280
Power Supply: 850 Watt Silverstone Decathlon
Case: Modified Thermaltake Armor Full Tower
Harddrives: 1 x Western Digital Raptor with 2x 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11
Display: NEC EA231WMi

Cooling:
Pump: Swiftech MCP655-B Pump
Waterblock: Swiftech GTZ
Radiator: Black Labs GTX 260
Tubing: Feiser 1/2" Inner Diameter
Reservoir: EK-Multioption
Coolant: Mixture of distilled water, biocide, glycerin, and dye.

[YP5 Toronto]

Update:

Computer name: Haven
CPU: Intel i7 920 @ 4.0Ghz, 1600mhz QPI
Cooler: Koolance 350, Swiftech 655, MCR220 Rad, 4 x Scythe S-Flex Push Pull
Mobo: Asus P6T Deluxe V2
GPU: EVGA Nvdia GTX 480, BFG Nvidia GTX 280 (PhysX)
RAM: 3x2gb OCZ 1600 Platinum 7-7-7-24
Hard drives: 2 x 60GB SSD Summit OCZ Raid 0 - OS drive
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1 TB x 2 in Raid 1
OCZ Vertex 30GB x 3 in Raid 0
Optical: 2 x Sony 18x DVD RW drives
PSU: Enermax Revolution 85+ 850W Power Supply (80+ Silver Certified)
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Case: Coolermaster Cosmos S
Display: HP LP3065 30" Wide 2560 x 1600
Display: Dell 2005FPW - Inverted Portrait
Speakers: Logitech G51 Surround Sound Speaker System
IO: Logitech G15, MX518
Photo related: PS LR, Sandisk Extreme IV Firewire 800 card reader, ColorVision Spyder 2 Pro

Other: Ear Force HPA2 - Multi-speaker 5.1 ch Surround Sound Amplified

Update: The video gamer side "forced" me to pick up the new Nvidia 480, amazing card.

[b.han]

How's the Fermi performing in terms of temperature?

I heard that thing gets pretty toasty.

[YP5 Toronto]

How's the Fermi performing in terms of temperature?

I heard that thing gets pretty toasty.

Reviews that came out before production were over stated. Its hot, marginally hotter then the 280, but the fan is noisier over 75%, sound is noticable.

[richierich1212]

Processor: AMD 1055T @ 3.6GHz / 2.7GHz NB 1.3v
Motherboard: Gigabyte MA790XT-UD4P
Cooler: Scythe Mugen 2 + Gentle Typhoon Push / Pull
RAM: OCZ Gold DDR3 PC3-8500 @ 1600MHz 6-6-6-19-11 1.75v
Storage: SuperTalent UltraDrive ME 64GB SSD, Seagate 1.5TB HDD
Graphics: 8800GT 512MB
PSU: Antec NeoPower HE 550w
Monitor: HP ZR24w 24" 1900x1200 LCD

[buggz]

I just bought:
an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T CPU, 4GB of Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3K2/4G RAM, and a GIGABYTE|GA-890XA-UD3 RT motherboard.
Can't wait to put it together, have all the rest of the stuff.

[benesotor]

I think my build is starting to feel all the work I give it!

2 of my 7 fans on my case have stopped, clogged with dust I suspect, I replaced one 140mm then the day I installed it one of the front 10mm fans stopped!

I render a lot of video, and 100% usage of an overclocked quad-core for 1-2 hours at a time is enough to cook an egg!
So until my replacement fans come.. this is my system to ensure I get sufficient airflow!

http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp196/benesotor/IMG_5566.jpg

Crazy but it works.
Anyway for people who are interested...

Thermaltake Element S case
Asus P5N-D MoBo
Intel q6600 at 2.6Ghz
6GB DDR2 Kingston RAM
NVidia 8600GT 512MB
Coolermaster 600W PSU
Thermaltake (and now Akasa) fans!

[PM01]

100 mm fans? I've never seen a 10mm before...

[CJM Photography]

100 mm fans? I've never seen a 10mm before...
I was gonna say something like "how the heck are 10mm fans useful?" but I didnt cause I knew he made a typo.

[GilesGuthrie]

Computer name: Cragganmore (working title: PhotoMonster)
CPU: Intel i7 920 @ 3.8Ghz
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P
Mobo: Asus P6T Deluxe V2
GPU: Sapphire Radion 4850 Vapor-X
RAM: 3x2gb Corsair Dominator
Hard drives: 1x OCZ Vertex 120GB
3x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB plus
1x Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB in RAID 5
Optical: LG 18x DVD RW drive
PSU: Corsair HX1000
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Case: Antec 1200
Display: Dell 2408
Speakers: Cambridge Audio DACmagic, Quad 34 preamp, Quad 306 power amp, B&W DM602S3 speakers
IO: Razer Lycosa, Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 5000
Photo related: Lightroom 2.7, Photoshop CS3

There's a gallery of the build process (http://giles-guthrie.com/gallery/20090605-pm) if you're interested.

[nickanzo]

CPU: Intel i7 930 @ 4.2Ghz
Cooler: Corsair H50
Mobo: ASUS P6X58D Premium
GPU: XFX-ATI Radeon HD 5770 Crossfire
RAM: Corsair-Dominator 3x2GB PC3-16000 DDR3
Hard drive: Western Digital-Caviar Black 1TB
Optical: LG-10x Internal Blu-ray Disc Double-Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Drive
PSU: Corsair HX1000
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Case: Coolermaster Storm Scout
Display: Asus-24" Widescreen Flat-Panel TFT-LCD
Speakers: Bose Companion 5

Pictures:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3309/4571799381_805dedf637_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3411/4571798655_17dc8e41ca_b.jpg

[CJM Photography]

CPU: Intel i7 930 @ 4.2Ghz
Cooler: Corsair H50
Mobo: ASUS P6X58D Premium
GPU: XFX-ATI Radeon HD 5770 Crossfire
RAM: Corsair-Dominator 3x2GB PC3-16000 DDR3
Hard drive: Western Digital-Caviar Black 1TB
Optical: LG-10x Internal Blu-ray Disc Double-Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Drive
PSU: Corsair HX1000
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Case: Coolermaster Storm Scout
Display: Asus-24" Widescreen Flat-Panel TFT-LCD
Speakers: Bose Companion 5

Pictures:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3309/4571799381_805dedf637_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3411/4571798655_17dc8e41ca_b.jpg
2 things, why such a low speed disk drive and how much did this all cost?

[nickanzo]

2 things, why such a low speed disk drive and how much did this all cost?

Low speed disk drive because i plan on buying a SSD when they come down in price a bit (don't feel the need for one right now). It cost about 2.5k overall, but i got 24 months free financing with best buy so i cant complain.

[benesotor]

100 mm fans? I've never seen a 10mm before...

120* Sorry :p


@Nikanzo, with an amazing desktop like that I think you should compliment it with an awesome IPS display... Dell 3008? :p

[PM01]

nickanzo,

What are the temps, full load, with the H50 cooler? Nice rig. :)

[CJM Photography]

Low speed disk drive because i plan on buying a SSD when they come down in price a bit (don't feel the need for one right now). It cost about 2.5k overall, but i got 24 months free financing with best buy so i cant complain.
I mean on the optical drive, 10x is SUPER SLOW?! 2.5 isnt that bad!

[nickanzo]

I mean on the optical drive, 10x is SUPER SLOW?! 2.5 isnt that bad!

I figured i don't do that much burning of blu-ray stuff. It does 16x for dvd's, i just got it so i can play blu-ray discs.

[b.han]

Reviews that came out before production were over stated. Its hot, marginally hotter then the 280, but the fan is noisier over 75%, sound is noticable.
Thank you for clearing that up. :) I'm very interested in trying out the Fermi but my bank account says no. :(

Oh neat. We're doing show and tell. Here's mine. :)

Here are my specs:
Motherboard: eVGA X58 SLI LE
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 Overclocked to 4ghz
Memory: 12 GB OCZ Black XMP
Graphics Card: eVGA nVidia GTX280
Power Supply: 850 Watt Silverstone Decathlon
Case: Modified Thermaltake Armor Full Tower
Harddrives: 1 x Western Digital Raptor with 2x 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11
Display: NEC EA231WMi

Cooling:
Pump: Swiftech MCP655-B Pump
Waterblock: Swiftech GTZ
Radiator: Black Labs GTX 260
Tubing: Feiser 1/2" Inner Diameter
Reservoir: EK-Multioption
Coolant: Mixture of distilled water, biocide, glycerin, and dye.

Audio Setup:
Receiver: Harman Kardon AVR154
Speakers: AV123 ETL525M
Headphones: Sennheiser HD580 with HD600 Grills and HD650 Cables.

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/8411/compn.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/hs9f1l.jpg

And the bias lighting. :)

http://i39.tinypic.com/j5icyd.jpg

[Yohan Pamudji]

Speakers: AV123 ETL525M


Nice! You've inspired me to reorganize my desk to make room for my currently-unused old Paradigm Studio 20s and Marantz receiver :)

[benesotor]

Can I assume people with these insane watercooled systems are gamers?

[themadman]

Can I assume people with these insane watercooled systems are gamers?

Thats not always a good assumption. If you see them with massive graphic cards, they are likely gamers unless they do some major GPGPU stuff.

[benesotor]

Thats not always a good assumption. If you see them with massive graphic cards, they are likely gamers unless they do some major GPGPU stuff.

I'm just wondering what other uses a very powerful consumer PC would have... other than maybe video editing or 3D graphics. Then again I haven't seen to many video editing suites with cases that look like that!

[b.han]

Nice! You've inspired me to reorganize my desk to make room for my currently-unused old Paradigm Studio 20s and Marantz receiver :)
Yay!
Can I assume people with these insane watercooled systems are gamers?
I can't say the for the other people who water cool but I do it because it's something I've always wanted to try and it looks really cool. Pretty pointless, I know.

[R.Perez]

Lian Li V351B
Core i7 930
Evga mATX X58 Mobo
6gb Corsair dominator DDR3 w/ fan
2x 60gb OCZ Agility RAID0
2x 1TB WD Green RAID0
Sapphire Radeon 5870
Corsair 650HX
Corsair H50
3 x Asus 24" monitor, combined resolution 5790x1080
Swan Dk1080mkII's
Sennheiser HD-595's
Beresford TC-7250 DAC
Razer Mamba
Razer Lycosa
Razer Carchias
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/4057/mg5751.jpg

[aboss3]

I got the following built last summer:

CoolerMaster HAF 922 case
Core i7 920 CPU - OC'd to 3.6GHz
EVGA x58 SLI Classified Motherboard
300gb 10k RPM Western Digital Velosiraptor Hard Drive
1Tb Samsung Spinpoint Hard Drive
6Gb Corsair Dominator RAM - OC'd
EVGA GTX285 nVidia Video Card
CoolerMaster V8 CPU Cooler
20" + 19" Samsung LCD

ThermalTake external eSATA dock for WD 500Gb Hard Drive for backups.

[aboss3]

Lian Li V351B
Core i7 930
Evga mATX X58 Mobo
6gb Corsair dominator DDR3 w/ fan
2x 60gb OCZ Agility RAID0
2x 1TB WD Green RAID0
Sapphire Radeon 5870
Corsair 650HX
Corsair H50
3 x Asus 24" monitor, combined resolution 5790x1080
Swan Dk1080mkII's
Sennheiser HD-595's
Beresford TC-7250 DAC
Razer Mamba
Razer Lycosa
Razer Carcharias



I like your 3-mon setup! Excellent!

[In2Photos]

Lian Li V351B
Core i7 930
Evga mATX X58 Mobo
6gb Corsair dominator DDR3 w/ fan
2x 60gb OCZ Agility RAID0
2x 1TB WD Green RAID0
Sapphire Radeon 5870
Corsair 650HX
Corsair H50
3 x Asus 24" monitor, combined resolution 5790x1080
Swan Dk1080mkII's
Sennheiser HD-595's
Beresford TC-7250 DAC
Razer Mamba
Razer Lycosa
Razer Carcharias



Nice setup!

However, your image is too large, please resize to 1024 max.

Thanks!

[Knockout05]

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler

Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80580Q9400

HIS H485QS1GP Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support IceQ4 Video Card

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2

Since it has been built, ive added two 1tb drives and with externals, i have upwards of 4tbs of space:daunting:

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn179/Knockout05pbn/IMG_0355.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn179/Knockout05pbn/IMG_0111.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn179/Knockout05pbn/IMG_0313.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn179/Knockout05pbn/IMG_0311-1.jpg

[Moppie]

Nice set up.


COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case



I took the fan off the side of 690, and moved it to the top as an exhaust fan.
Its reduced temps on both the CPU and the hard drives.

I think having it in the side was interfering with air flow though the case :cool:

[In2Photos]

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler

Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80580Q9400

HIS H485QS1GP Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support IceQ4 Video Card

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2

Since it has been built, ive added two 1tb drives and with externals, i have upwards of 4tbs of space:daunting:

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn179/Knockout05pbn/IMG_0355.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn179/Knockout05pbn/IMG_0111.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn179/Knockout05pbn/IMG_0313.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn179/Knockout05pbn/IMG_0311-1.jpg
I had to change your images to links as they exceed the 1024 max pixel dimensions for embedding. Please keep this in mind next time to post images.

[PM01]

Nice! You've inspired me to reorganize my desk to make room for my currently-unused old Paradigm Studio 20s and Marantz receiver :)

I'm very tempted in bringing out my McIntosh audio pieces and Dynaudio speakers. Modded out the XFi sound card with better op amps too. And not the so-so sounding ones from Nat Semi.

[Knockout05]

Nice set up.




I took the fan off the side of 690, and moved it to the top as an exhaust fan.
Its reduced temps on both the CPU and the hard drives.

I think having it in the side was interfering with air flow though the case :cool:

Ill have to try that out. May do it tonight. This is my main build. The screen uptop is for a prebuilt where i just test random things. Im looking to rebuild my main rig to allow for two video cards so i can get some more monitors. Eventually want to wall mount both of my 24s.

I had to change your images to links as they exceed the 1024 max pixel dimensions for embedding. Please keep this in mind next time to post images.
I do apologize, sir. Most of the forums Im use to posting on have auto resizing. Thanks though!

[DarthSparky]

Here are some pics (details of build at post 259 (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=9999893&postcount=259))

450629


450630

[Gabe63]

How's the Fermi performing in terms of temperature?

I heard that thing gets pretty toasty.

I tried it out and it was hot. What bothered me was not only did the card get hot but everything got hot. I could not touch the case, MOBO, TV card, etc. There is no way temps of 90c + are good for anything.
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii122/55SAMBA/IMG_7340.jpg?t=1273937152