The Official PC building thread - 4th Edition

Just updated my brothers network with a wireless router/bridge. Now his Wii and PS3 can connect to the net too. Unfortunately, his PS3 just quit. Unreal LOL! He mentioned to me that the PS3 puts out some heat in its current location. The following stand is similar to what he has. He keeps it in the lower right corner. He cracks the door open when he runs it. Apparently that isn't enough. I think the video processor quit. Cause it acts like it boots up, but there's no video signal.

It was actually pretty easy to set up the Buffalo router. I've been sitting on it for over a year. Never opened the box. Was about to sell it on ebay and realized that it was exactly what my brother needs. Looks like he's already enjoying free wii demo games I'm always intimidated by new technologies. But setting up the router wasn't too bad. I imagine they're all different though.

 

Them damn Geforces

Nah I shouldn't joke, I've recently bought a PS3, and have so far been exclusively using it for Gran Turismo 5, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit and Little Big Planet sit there too eagerly awaiting to be played. The Slim version of course puts out far less heat than the original, so I can understand potential heat issues with the original consoles, knowing what geforces are like.

 

His was a slim. But I guess the slims like airflow as well. As well they should. Heck, my mothers blu ray player puts out a considerable amount of heat. In fact I had to lift it up to allow airflow underneath of it. Otherwise the video would freeze.

 

Well, plenty of room in our TV stand, so hopefully should be OK

 

3/4 of the people I know who keep their ps3's on a shelf/cabinet (like that picture in oman's post) have had their ps3 die at least once. I don't own one but if I did I'd definitely keep it out in the open lol.

 

not had mine die yet but its just standing on the floor with nothing around it.

 

I strongly recommended with his next one, that he allow it as much air as possible

 

Keeping dust from accumulating is more important for a PS3 than PC IMHO because of the smaller vents clogging easier and the sheer hardware crammed into the box (ever open one to change hard drive?) Add that to a cramped cabinet with no airflow and you might as well place it in the microwave and cook it!

 

Sam,

This is all well and good, but Money in the US dried up quicker than a swamp in the middle of the Sahara Desert, right after the holidays. An example of how bad things are here, is CD Album sales! Billboard sales show Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" album dropping over 80% in one week to an almost unheard of 62,000 sales last week. The lowest #1 album sales in the SoundScan era! Michael Jackson's "Michael", that was predicted to go Platinum early and often is languishing at 151,000 total sales. Newegg has recently been pushing Cheap Bar Sets, Rice Cookers, and Watches instead of Hi tech Computer components. Basically anything they can buy cheap and sell for a profit!

Sandy Bridge has a great lineup, but their top seller in the US at the moment, is the Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo), and the Phenom IIx6 1100T 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo), is outselling it in the US and Canada! In spite of modest gains in employment, things are worse off this year than they were last year during the same time period! Sometimes having the best overclocking CPUs, does not necessarily equal having the best CPU sales!

Russ

 

Money is certainly dried up here. I'll be lucky to buy the SSD I want next month, after I buy my brothers Ford explorer. My car's going in the crapper real quick LOL!!! It's the darndest thing really. I've never heard of such behavior in a vehicle before. Lets just say it has extreme electrical issues, which effects when and how the transmission shifts. Sensors, you know I love um LOL!

 

The i5 2500K is naturally going to sell more because it's much cheaper than the i7 2600K. As I raised earlier, it can overclock just as well as the 2600K, and it's more of a standard use / gaming-oriented CPU. I imagine it will soon surpass the X6 1100T because of its comparative performance, however, the X6 CPUs do get a lot of extra sales from people who have no idea what they should be buying. Something that looks the best is often more useful than something that is the best!
I think the 'country is broke' argument's pretty void when we're discussing a cheaper CPU

 

Totally understand your point, but I really don't think CD sales should be used as an indicator of the economy... In this digital age, CD sales have gone down steadily for the last 5-10 years, especially CD's by bubble gum bland top 40 country music, and a dead pedophile.

 

Deadrum33,

Forget the Dead P, but Taylor Swift's had several Platinum and Multi-Platinum Albums, including "Speak Now". I don't particularly care for her type of music, but she has sold very well. To drop from 300,000+ sales to 60,000+ sales in one week, normally doesn't happen! Jackie Evancho who is Classical Crossover, sold 1.1 Million Copies of "O Holy Night", and dropped from 5th in the Billboard top 200, to 26th, the week after New years! True, Jackie's album is a Christmas album, but she's still the greatest pure voice I've ever heard, in my 62 years in music! Again, not my Genre, but I will by her new album due in April/May, just for the beauty of her voice! This kid's 10, and sounds like 30! Gifted doesn't begin to cover it!

Russ

 

I really don't think musical sales are a good way to analyse spending. Right here spending will have slumped because everybody panic bought stuff before VAT went from 17.5% to 20% at the start of the new year.

 

Sam,

On the contrary, the way Parents in the US indulge their kids today, Album sales rarely ever dip that far that fast. In the US they are a pretty good indicator whether people really have spendable money or not. The Kids usually get what they want these days, and they don't seem to be getting their way at the moment. Serves the little spoiled brats right! My kids ever talked to me the way these kids backtalk their parents today, there would be a new window or door somewhere! LOL!!

Russ

 

Is there such a thing as a computer tower, designed with merely hard drives in mind? E.g. no optical bays, or maybe just one. and holds 16+ hard drives? For cheap? This is a tall order isn't it LOL! I'm not talking lian li, just something extremely basic, with sufficient cooling.

 

The only cases I know of that hold that many hdd's are lian-li and MountainMods (both expensive).

 

The NZXT Whisper I use would fit the bill. Can take two 3x5.25->4x3.5 adapter bays through its 6 5.25" slots, and it has 9 internal 3.5" bays for hard drives, and it is also noise-dampened. Heavy though, and a little cheaply made.
Total drive count would be 17 with adapters.

 

Thanks Maw for the jawdropping idea LOL! This has gotta be the most jaw-dropping beautiful case I've ever seen! Wish I had the money. I'd probably buy it in a heart beat.

Sam, you've recommended the NZXT before. I had forgotten which one exactly it was. That looks like a very smart decision. I'd say the price newegg is asking is well justified. Again....wish I had the money. I guess my current case that houses my secondary will have to do for now
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146051&Tpk=nzxt whisper

 

As cubes go, I prefer the Lian Li PC-343B, customised. Horrendously expensive but pretty reasonable looking considering how fugly most cube cases are.