The (new) Official PC building thread!

Abuzar: You know what's funny? Most Xclio cases actually have really poor airflow. The Coolermaster Mystique isn't too bad, but you can do far better.
Fasfrank: It's funny you should mention Flight simulator. Flight Sim X is one of the most demanding programs you can run on a PC. It's also interestingly enough the most heavily dependent upon CPU power, by about 4 times!

 

abuzar1, lol about that case, i don't like the looks of it but I'm sure it cools well.

I do like my Antec 900 lots though , looks and performance

 

FasFrank, shooting up Heroin is hella fun tho...

 

When I got my 900 (and it seems I was one of the first to own one, December 06 I think I bought mine) I thought the looks would be an acquired taste for most people. I like it, but I wasn't expecting it to be as ridiculously popular as its turned out to be. I guess gamers are suckers for a lot of fans. (Bah, my NZXT Lexa has more fans, they're just not as big!)

 

the only thing i wish Antec would do is come out with a full tower version so we could do 4 optical drives.

everybody and there brother has the 900 now it seems like lol

 

Well, the prototype exists, it's called the Twelve hundred.
http://www.matbe.com/images/biblio/boitiers/000000058151.jpg

 

thats still 3 optical drives bays with all three fans right?

so you would have to remove one fan to get the fourth opticAL DRIVE BAY

 

Yeah if you wanted 4 5 1/4" drive bays. Not that many people use that many of those though.

 

yeah 3 optical drives are plenty for most, me included

 

I still need to get another DVD burner, my old one got Starforced. To prevent that happening again though, I'm going to use a 5 1/4" USB enclosure methinks. Can't be bothered replacing my DVD drives every time I want to play a certain game. I'll probably just grab the GSA-4163BA from my old PC, that served me well enough.

 

why does money have to be so hard to come by? i just got busted and now owe over a grand to the RCMP. plus i now have close to the limit on my DL. this, together with the laptop i shattered like a week ago is enough to make me wanna friggin shoot myself. looks like its gonna be definitly after new years till i can get that rig i posted earlier...

 

Well, accidents happen, but why are you in trouble with the RCMP?

 

I know its been mentioned, but not talked about in depth so here it goes...
Is there really a reason to build a new machine now, with penryn and phenom so close to release? Reports say they should be compatible with current mobos, but I never upgraded to AM2/ C2D, choosing to learn a little about OCing my 939 Opteron. People like me, and I know theres quite a few around, have to buy nearly everything but a case and drives, and by that point, you might as well so you can have an extra complete machine to use/ sell.
I will be upgrading soon also, and I am trying to figure out if I should buy half (case, memory, etc.)now with the holiday sales sure to happen, then buy the new mobu/cpu combo when it comes out early 2008 I believe.
Sorry for rambling...any thoughts anyone?

 

cpu and gpu can be bought later, withthe new ranges of intel and nvidia coming out, but case psu, memeory and mobo can be bought now, with no need to change.

 

Indeed, recent motherboards will support Penryn CPUs on the 775 platform. Not sure about Phenom for AM2 boards.

 

Phenoms are listed as an AM2+ on the specs sheet at Tankguys.

From Tankguys....

Socket AM2 will support upcoming AMD Phenom processors.

From Wikipedia...

 

Intel showed their new quad core, with more 45nm to come soon. Looks like AMD is about to show their quad, with a similar timeline to release the rest of theirs.
I will probably buy everything but memory, mobo and CPU before the end of the year with the rest when they come out.

 

I went ahead and ordered a 2.2 Ghz Phenom. I'll work up a list of the rest of the stuff and post it. I'm getting this motherboard for it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128075

 

Looks interesting. Keep us posted on how good it is.

 

Here is the proposed parts list:

Motherboard $169.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128075

3 HDDs
2 WD Raptors $349.98:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136012
Hitachi Deskstar 750 GB $204.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145184

Two of those XFX 8800 GTs $619.98:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150254

RAM $147.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220161

XP Pro $139.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116059

Case $124.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163094

PSU $189.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153038

DVD burner $33.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151153

DVD ROM $18.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135151

Floppy $6.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16821103203

OMG!!
13 Item(s) ($2,007.87)

This should give the Phenom a fighting chance against E6600/E6850/E6750 PCs. Even if it doesn't outperform them it will still be a nice PC.

I'm not going to place the order yet. I'd really like some comments on the parts before I do.

I wanted to stay below $2500.00. I usually don't buy everything from Newegg, I like to shop around, Newegg is great for making a list though.

I'd like to mention something here...
I'm not a young man, most of you here could be my kids (God forbid!)
I was promoted recently and also am getting a nice bonus which will help pay for this. What better way to spend money, right?

It probably seems a bit rash, just ordering up a couple of thousand dollars worth of PC parts. I have been planning a Phenom build for a couple of months now so this is as good a time as any to do so.