• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Most over the top build you ever did

J

jleves

Member
Seeing the how much have you spent on a video card made me think about my most over the top build - also my first build in 90 or 91.

486-33 (about 30 days after the 486-50 was released)
AMI EISA mobo w\ daughter card for CPU
AMI Fast SCSI EISA controller w\ 386sx processor and 1MB cache (later upgraded to 4MB)
Seagate 300MB SCSI drive (when 120MB was considered too much)
16MB RAM (when 1MB was standard, 4MB was high end)
Some ridiculous video card - I don't really remember
Viewsonic 17 inch CRT
2 floppy drives
I don't remember if it that was before CDROM or not - if not, I got one)
I don't remember about a sound card, but probably soundblaster if available.

Total cost: $6000+

The thing was just faster than anything around at the time. The EISA SCSI card and SCSI drive were about 10xs faster then the current 120MB IDE? drives at the time. All running Windows 3.11 🙂 I still have the mobo (with an evergreen upgrade cpu) and scsi controller in the garage. The viewsonic was retired about 3 years ago, but still going strong.
 
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ <- top of the line from AMD at the time
1 gig ram < 512 was the norm
Radeon 9800 pro <- Just came out
DFI Mobo
USR V.92 modem <-speed baby
17" LCD
120 gig hard drive
 
Intel Pentium II 450
Some 440bx board (can't remember which)
128 megs of RAM (upgraded to 256 about 2 years later)
IBM 16 gig hard drive
nVidia TNT card plus 3dfx Voodoo2
2X CD burner
19" CRT (died a few years ago; green channel went out)
Total cost: $2400 in November 1998

I basically used this computer for 5 years straight with no upgrades at all. Ran everything up to the original Black & White perfectly. I eventually tried to install XP on it and it ran like crap so I replaced it (well, most of it, I'm STILL using the same Boston Acoustics 2.1 speakers!) with a Duron 950 that was just sitting there unused. I think the motherboard and CPU are still in my parts box somewhere.
 
Probably my Conroe build....

E6300
Gigabyte GA-965P-S3
G.Skill 1gb ddr2-800
WDC 80gb SATA2 drive

$508

Not much I know compared to some of you, but it's the most I've spent on my computer at one time. Not even my first real upgrade was that much (Duron 600, Gigabyte GA-7ZM, cost like $300).
 
2x Xeon 5140's
Supemicro X7DAE
Supermicro SC743T-R760B
4x 250 gb HDD's in RAID 5 on a Promise FastTrak SX4100
2gb FB-DIMMS
7800 GT (I know, I know... but I'm waiting for 8800's to come out.)
 
Asus P5W-DH
Intel C2D E6600
2GB OCZ DDR2-800
2x Seagate 320GB HDD
1x ATi Radeon X1900XT
Viewsonic VX2025M
Antec P160 case w/ Antec NeoHE 550 PSU
Zalman CNPS9500 for CPU and Zalman VF900 for GPU
other basic parts to build a PC (optical drive, fans, keyboard/mouse, etc.)

total cost (including shipping/tax from Newegg): ~$2500
The system kicks @$$, IMHO.
 
My first complete system way back then, 386-sx $1800. Came close with my recent builds but never hit that mark.
 
when the 7800GTX 512mb cards first came out. got 'em in SLI, still considered one of the fastest graphics solutions for today's enthusiasts. but I had no idea what to run them on to satisfy my needs. over 2K with overnight shipping and VIP charges. rip off, hell yeah.

settled for an underclocked Radeon XTX card. sometimes I feel if I would have invested my money, I'd be more happy. I don't even play games like I used to anymore.

it all started when I was playing UT2004 with a Geforce FX5500, I envied those who had the Radeon 9800XT. I was like..., "why is the X800 already out and I still have a 5500?"

discreet graphics ain't all that. just get mid range stuff in the 200 dollar zone, like a 7900GS. after the next generation stuff comes out, move up the chain.

I mean, think about it, x800 Pro for $399.99? The card is barely 2 years old. Today it cost less than a 150 USD. Plug that into a system and you'll know how it felt to have one of the fastest cards in 2004. Wait until the next generation cards come out, and then make your purchase. Likewise with the X2 CPU's from AMD analogy. After Core 2's next core model comes out, the Pentium 4's and Pentium D's will be below the hundred dollar mark.

I tell you, when you're 16-19ish, you think that having the fastest car or computer is reason to stay cool. but man, was I wrong...
 
Completely From-Scratch build. This was about a year, maybe a year and a half ago.

AMD X2 4200+ (s939)
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
eVGA Geforce 6800GT
2x512MB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-6
Western Digital Caviar 200GB
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 value
Lite-On DVD-RW
Lite-On DVD-ROM
Aspire X-Navigator with 500w PSU
Zalman 7000alcu HSF
Arctic Silver 5
Logitech X-530 speakers
Samsung 19" analog LCD
Logitech Elite keyboard
Logitech MX-1000 mouse
Windows Xp Professional

Came to around $2500 when it was all said and done.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top