Zap
Elite Member
GRRRRR, don't know why but lately I've been hitting ENTER at the wrong time and making blank posts, editing now...
My "old" gaming rig:
P4 2.53@3.33GHz
Zalman 7000AlCu (undervolted w/Fanmate)
2GB dual channel RAM (2x1GB)
AGP 6800GT video (runs passive with Evercool dual heatpipe cooler)
MSI PT880 mobo
Antec Super LAN Boy case
Pioneer 16X DVDR
Maxtor 250GB EIDE
TTGI 550W PSU
I've posted pics here before, but before the RAM/vidcard upgrades. Here's a new pic.
My "new" gaming rig that I built about a month ago... been going to weekly LAN parties so haven't had time to post about it here. Parts... so far:
Sempron 3300+ @2.65GHz
AMD retail box quad heatpipe HSF
Biostar Geforce6100-M7 (had a Tforce6100 in there that overclocked better, but using it in my HTPC because the Tforce allows undervolting vcore)
1GB Geil CAS 2 RAM (2x512MB)
Sapphire Radeon X850XT PCI-E video
LiteOn 16X DVDR
Seagate 200GB EIDE
Fortron 300W mATX/SFX PSU (dual rail, 24 pin, nice!!! This PSU makes it all possible)
A+GPB aluminum mATX slim case (had two of these for years but never was able to build a good system in them because of lack of good PSUs, lack of good mATX boards and lack of cooler running parts - had a "wire trick" overclocked mobile Barton in there before with a nice Enermax 270W SFX PSU but thing kept overheating, and alas the Enermax was an older model without 24 pin, also I didn't have a short enough optical drive BITD)
Total weight for the mATX system is under 15 pounds. Indeed my bathroom scale registers about 12 pounds. Now, don't know how accurate that scale is, but it isn't a cheap one. Hefting the cases, the mATX system is about ½ the weight of the SLB and about twice the weight of my Dell i6000 notebook. Suffice to say that it is really lightweight and relatively compact.
Future upgrades (have them here and tested, just need to find time to install):
Opteron 144 @2.7GHz
Biostar Tforce6100-939
2GB Corsair XMS CAS 2 (2x1GB)
Picture 1 is a composite, first is the front of case while powered on. On the left image the camera flash overpowered the power LED which is embedded in the big power button. The four openings lit up blue are like those found on the Antec P160 case. They are "funnel" shaped with the rear of the "funnel" being quite small so it restricts airflow - something I'll remedy someday with a dremel. Also, this is why the FDD opening has no face plate, for airflow. Seriously you can feel the air moving in through top and bottom openings. The entire face is silver colored plastic with clear plastic over it for some bling. Bottom "USB" cover hides the power switch for the blue lights, two USB ports and headphone/mic ports. Middle image shows what it looks like in a darkened room. The power LED embedded into the power switch is a bright white, the bottom four LEDs are bright blue and the HDD LED (which I happened to catch while running) is really, really bright blue. Bling bling at darkened LANs. Image on the right shows the rear of the case. At the top the Fortron PSU shows nice ventilation. It looks kinda similar to a "typical" ATX PSU with 120mm fan, but is just downsized and has a slimline 80mm fan. Really quiet and puts out enough power for my purposes. Really amazing for such a small package. It has dual rails and 20+4 pin to support any moderately powerful system short of SLI - speaking of which, only thing it is missing is a 6 pin PCI-E plug so I had to use the adaptor that came with my video card. You can see the dual exhaust fans, 60x15mm slimline. They are also reasonably quiet for a 60mm fan. The case used to have grills over the fans but I cut those out. There is no ATX port plate because the boards I got were Newegg refurbs and didn't come with them. Some day I'll stop being lazy and cut my own out of aluminum flashing (been there, done that, pretty easy and cheap). Towards the bottom is the video card with stock cooling that exhausts air out the back. The video card is by far the noisiest part of the system, and possibly gets the hottest.
Picture 2 shows the "new" rig juxtaposed next to my "old" rig, both front and back pictures. This gives an idea of size.
Picture 3 shows side view of the smaller case in front of the larger. Now, it may look just as long but it's an illusion brought about by the angle of the camera - the fronts of the cases are lined up with each other, really they are! As you can see, both cases have straps.
Picture 4 shows the inside of the case. Kind of cramped and messy, but I'll try to clean it up a bit after I get my Tforce/Opteron/2GB setup in there. Besides, no side window to see the mess.
I've now been to FIVE overnight weekend LAN parties with this rig and it's performed extremely well. I basically have my accessories (kb, mouse, cables, etc.) in a backpack and hold this system with one hand and my 17" LCD (came from CTX with handle) with my other hand.
My "old" gaming rig:
P4 2.53@3.33GHz
Zalman 7000AlCu (undervolted w/Fanmate)
2GB dual channel RAM (2x1GB)
AGP 6800GT video (runs passive with Evercool dual heatpipe cooler)
MSI PT880 mobo
Antec Super LAN Boy case
Pioneer 16X DVDR
Maxtor 250GB EIDE
TTGI 550W PSU
I've posted pics here before, but before the RAM/vidcard upgrades. Here's a new pic.
My "new" gaming rig that I built about a month ago... been going to weekly LAN parties so haven't had time to post about it here. Parts... so far:
Sempron 3300+ @2.65GHz
AMD retail box quad heatpipe HSF
Biostar Geforce6100-M7 (had a Tforce6100 in there that overclocked better, but using it in my HTPC because the Tforce allows undervolting vcore)
1GB Geil CAS 2 RAM (2x512MB)
Sapphire Radeon X850XT PCI-E video
LiteOn 16X DVDR
Seagate 200GB EIDE
Fortron 300W mATX/SFX PSU (dual rail, 24 pin, nice!!! This PSU makes it all possible)
A+GPB aluminum mATX slim case (had two of these for years but never was able to build a good system in them because of lack of good PSUs, lack of good mATX boards and lack of cooler running parts - had a "wire trick" overclocked mobile Barton in there before with a nice Enermax 270W SFX PSU but thing kept overheating, and alas the Enermax was an older model without 24 pin, also I didn't have a short enough optical drive BITD)
Total weight for the mATX system is under 15 pounds. Indeed my bathroom scale registers about 12 pounds. Now, don't know how accurate that scale is, but it isn't a cheap one. Hefting the cases, the mATX system is about ½ the weight of the SLB and about twice the weight of my Dell i6000 notebook. Suffice to say that it is really lightweight and relatively compact.
Future upgrades (have them here and tested, just need to find time to install):
Opteron 144 @2.7GHz
Biostar Tforce6100-939
2GB Corsair XMS CAS 2 (2x1GB)
Picture 1 is a composite, first is the front of case while powered on. On the left image the camera flash overpowered the power LED which is embedded in the big power button. The four openings lit up blue are like those found on the Antec P160 case. They are "funnel" shaped with the rear of the "funnel" being quite small so it restricts airflow - something I'll remedy someday with a dremel. Also, this is why the FDD opening has no face plate, for airflow. Seriously you can feel the air moving in through top and bottom openings. The entire face is silver colored plastic with clear plastic over it for some bling. Bottom "USB" cover hides the power switch for the blue lights, two USB ports and headphone/mic ports. Middle image shows what it looks like in a darkened room. The power LED embedded into the power switch is a bright white, the bottom four LEDs are bright blue and the HDD LED (which I happened to catch while running) is really, really bright blue. Bling bling at darkened LANs. Image on the right shows the rear of the case. At the top the Fortron PSU shows nice ventilation. It looks kinda similar to a "typical" ATX PSU with 120mm fan, but is just downsized and has a slimline 80mm fan. Really quiet and puts out enough power for my purposes. Really amazing for such a small package. It has dual rails and 20+4 pin to support any moderately powerful system short of SLI - speaking of which, only thing it is missing is a 6 pin PCI-E plug so I had to use the adaptor that came with my video card. You can see the dual exhaust fans, 60x15mm slimline. They are also reasonably quiet for a 60mm fan. The case used to have grills over the fans but I cut those out. There is no ATX port plate because the boards I got were Newegg refurbs and didn't come with them. Some day I'll stop being lazy and cut my own out of aluminum flashing (been there, done that, pretty easy and cheap). Towards the bottom is the video card with stock cooling that exhausts air out the back. The video card is by far the noisiest part of the system, and possibly gets the hottest.
Picture 2 shows the "new" rig juxtaposed next to my "old" rig, both front and back pictures. This gives an idea of size.
Picture 3 shows side view of the smaller case in front of the larger. Now, it may look just as long but it's an illusion brought about by the angle of the camera - the fronts of the cases are lined up with each other, really they are! As you can see, both cases have straps.
Picture 4 shows the inside of the case. Kind of cramped and messy, but I'll try to clean it up a bit after I get my Tforce/Opteron/2GB setup in there. Besides, no side window to see the mess.
I've now been to FIVE overnight weekend LAN parties with this rig and it's performed extremely well. I basically have my accessories (kb, mouse, cables, etc.) in a backpack and hold this system with one hand and my 17" LCD (came from CTX with handle) with my other hand.
