Yay, I finally ordered my $2k PC

[OSX]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: OmniShinzui
orion, too late. Whats wrong with Kingston? I do see the timings are great on the XMS tho...

OSX, uh...? Sorry to ask, but what is it? Is it 100% Necessary?

Timings don't really matter much unless you're overclocking. SCSI isn't really necessary since you have a Raptor. Ignore the haters and enjoy your system

If you have 2K$, then buying a Raptor is stupid. Top of the line SCSI drives are 5000RPM faster than that Raptor. In fact, the whole point of the Raptor was to bring SCSI performace to the home users.

Ignore the SCSI haters, if you're going for the XTR3M3 FATAL1TY UB3R HAXXOR5 rig of DEATH, then NOT using a SCSI disk is what's stupid.

 

[Bobthelost]

Originally posted by: OSX
If you have 2K$, then buying a Raptor is stupid. Top of the line SCSI drives are 5000RPM faster than that Raptor. In fact, the whole point of the Raptor was to bring SCSI performace to the home users.

Ignore the SCSI haters, if you're going for the XTR3M3 FATAL1TY UB3R HAXXOR5 rig of DEATH, then NOT using a SCSI disk is what's stupid.

Dear god! A fanboy, how quaint!

Bring me benchmarks that show a 36GB SCSI drive beating a raptor 74 in any real world single user benchmarks. Then try and find any drive smaller than 147GB that can do the same to the raptor 150.

Size matters, untill you get to the 147GB 15k rpm category you can't beat the raptor for speed. Anyone who can find a 147GB 15k SCSI drive and high end controller for the same money as a raptor 150 please drop me a PM cos i'm buying one.

 

[Looney]

Wowza, that's a good build! You've obviously done your research.

Only thing i would have done differently, is get a better monitor. The reason why you spent $2k on the computer was mostly for your eyes... so the best component imo should have been the monitor... and the monitor will easily outlast your computer... probably a few in fact.

 

[DotheDamnTHing]

:beer:

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: OSX

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: OmniShinzui
orion, too late. Whats wrong with Kingston? I do see the timings are great on the XMS tho...

OSX, uh...? Sorry to ask, but what is it? Is it 100% Necessary?

Timings don't really matter much unless you're overclocking. SCSI isn't really necessary since you have a Raptor. Ignore the haters and enjoy your system

If you have 2K$, then buying a Raptor is stupid. Top of the line SCSI drives are 5000RPM faster than that Raptor. In fact, the whole point of the Raptor was to bring SCSI performace to the home users.

Ignore the SCSI haters, if you're going for the XTR3M3 FATAL1TY UB3R HAXXOR5 rig of DEATH, then NOT using a SCSI disk is what's stupid.

And how much would a SCSI drive that smokes that raptor and the controller cost?

 

[OmniShinzui]

Oh yeah, now I remember SCSI. Its like the fastest hard drives available. No thanks. Upgrading from an ATA/100 hard drive to a raptor is good enough for me. I would use the Raptor as the main drive with the OS, applications (Fruityloops, Adobe Audition/Illustrator, etc), and some games. Use the 160GB for all my music (100GB + My own work), and the 300GB for more games, Movies, Pron, Pictures, Documents/Saved Work, and other stuff.

Loone, yeah I have. I've been tweaking my build since November. Then tweaking it almost bi-monthly for a half a year. I had only $1400 limit at first, getting a 6800GS, now a $2000 limit with 7900GT. Im going to overclock the AMD 4400+ to 2.4GHz, but I bet the stock cooler can handle it. Especially if I get thermalgrease. Oh, and the monitor. I friggin love it. Even if at the moment its doing 1400x1080 and D-Sub (going to do DVI and 1600x1080) at the moment. I do have to get a replacement tho (Got it last wednesday), theres these onr stuck grey pixels on the center-kinda left, and two major corners with backlight bleeding (bottom left, upper right). I didnt notice the pixels till this morning, and the bleeding on Friday. At least they cross ship, I just hope I dont suffer from thier bad Customer support.

edit: one dead pixel, not two

 

[Continuity28]

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: OSX

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: OmniShinzui
orion, too late. Whats wrong with Kingston? I do see the timings are great on the XMS tho...

OSX, uh...? Sorry to ask, but what is it? Is it 100% Necessary?

Timings don't really matter much unless you're overclocking. SCSI isn't really necessary since you have a Raptor. Ignore the haters and enjoy your system

If you have 2K$, then buying a Raptor is stupid. Top of the line SCSI drives are 5000RPM faster than that Raptor. In fact, the whole point of the Raptor was to bring SCSI performace to the home users.

Ignore the SCSI haters, if you're going for the XTR3M3 FATAL1TY UB3R HAXXOR5 rig of DEATH, then NOT using a SCSI disk is what's stupid.

And how much would a SCSI drive that smokes that raptor and the controller cost?

A SCSI drive that smokes the Raptor 150? You're talking $700 - $800 hard drives, not even counting the cost of a controller. Stick with Raptor 150 or even Raptor 74, the jump to high performance SCSI is not worth it for the money, hell you can even say that about Raptors... but as it stands a Raptor 150 is $280 which is much more affordable.

 

[Tig Ol Bitties]

Originally posted by: OmniShinzui

Loone, yeah I have. I've been tweaking my build since November. Then tweaking it almost bi-monthly for a half a year. I had only $1400 limit at first, getting a 6800GS, now a $2000 limit with 7900GT. Im going to overclock the AMD 4400+ to 2.4GHz, but I bet the stock cooler can handle it. Especially if I get thermalgrease.
edit: one dead pixel, not two

You wont need thermal grease, the thermal pad on the heatsink is really good and the heatsink itself is excellent, good enough to overclock to 2.5ghz if you're lucky, every chip OC differently, some better than others. Got mine to 2.4 easy on the stock fan, ill get more out of it later, dont need it right now.

 

[Continuity28]

Originally posted by: OmniShinzui
Oh yeah, now I remember SCSI. Its like the fastest hard drives available. No thanks. Upgrading from an ATA/100 hard drive to a raptor is good enough for me. I would use the Raptor as the main drive with the OS, applications (Fruityloops, Adobe Audition/Illustrator, etc), and some games. Use the 160GB for all my music (100GB + My own work), and the 300GB for more games, Movies, Pron, Pictures, Documents/Saved Work, and other stuff.

You'll be very happy with the 74GB Raptor.

I personally have mine set up like:

1x 150GB Raptor - OS, applications
2x 250GB RAID0 - Video editing workspace
4x 250GB - Storage

And all that together is likely cheaper than a SCSI drive that can outperform the Raptor. 280+80+80+80+80+80+80 = $760 Highest end SCSI (150GB) = $750 + cost of controller.

 

[OmniShinzui]

Out of curiousity, lets say the first time I format the raptor because the OS is starting to bug out or something, and got another Raptor 74GB then Raid0 it, would I get a big performance increase, or is it not necessary? Oh, and lets say I do have to format the raptor due to the OS being "dirty" (from like a nasty virus or trojan I cant shake, causing it to not boot correctly), I wouldnt have to format the slave drives right?

 

[Continuity28]

Originally posted by: OmniShinzui
Out of curiousity, lets say the first time I format the raptor because the OS is starting to bug out or something, and got another Raptor 74GB then Raid0 it, would I get a big performance increase, or is it not necessary? Oh, and lets say I do have to format the raptor due to the OS being "dirty" (from like a nasty virus or trojan I cant shake, causing it to not boot correctly), I wouldnt have to format the slave drives right?

I wouldn't do RAID0 for the system drive.. theres pros and cons, but really the Raptor is fast enough as a single drive to worry about it.

As for reformatting.. you would only need to format the Raptor in that situation. There is no master and slave for SATA because its serial. Serial meaning one drive per channel.

 

[OSX]

All right, let's see. I've decided to do a little review of 15K SCSI vs. the Raptor 150

The Raptor.
Cost: 400$
RPM:10000
Average seek time: 4.6 ms

The 15k SCSI.
Cost: ~200$
Avg seek: 3.3 ms
Model: HITACHI UltraStar 15K147

Now, let's add in a controller card. He wants RAID, of course. For a controller, we'll use the LSI Login MegaRaid 320, which costs 200$, making the 15K SCSI the same price as the Raptor in question. If he doesn't need RAID, he can get the Tekram DC-390 and save one hundred dollars. Now, I'm sure that someone will point out that's only a 40GB harddrive, and I'm rounding. Right now, if you're going for huge storage space for a decent price, you can't beat SATA. But if you're looking for performance, you can't beat SCSI, with it's 15 year head start.

 

[OmniShinzui]

Alright we get it. Thanks for the info, but no thanks.

Anyways, ordering parts is more frustrating than I thought. First, I order a Logitech G7 Mouse from Amazon, then I recieve a notice that they refunded my order due to selling it earlier that morning, so I order it again through amazon (seller TigerDirect) for $6 more. Then, I find out I have to change my ram, so I try and contact ZipZoomFly. Now, I find out Newegg sold the last eVGA 7900GT right after I ordered, so now im out of a Graphics card. At least they didnt charge my credit card yet. Still, now I gotta go through another vendor for it, and seeing how ZZF charges $349 for a $300 card is outrageous. MonarchComputers is the same as ZZF. At least Newegg said if they raise the price when they get next shipment in, I can show them my reciept and pay the price they gave me this morning ($310). Frustrating...

edit: mWave has it in stock for $319. Worth it? How is thier service, and how is thier RMA? Thanks in advance

 

[LOUISSSSS]

thats why you should do your research before buying

 

[Tsuwamono]

Originally posted by: OmniShinzui
Thanks for all the suggestions. I never knew Kingston had a bad time with DFI. I think I might contact ZZF to change the ram since they are still "Processing" my order (I hope they let me lol), so reccomend me 2GB Ram pack thats not over $175

OMG ya man. I build a PC with a DFI LanpartyUT RDX200 or something like that Mobo and it wouldnt accept the RAM until i turned her on with onyl ONE of the dual channel rams in the ORANGE slot and then put the other one in and it works fine. I dunno why they are retarded about that cause it wouldnt boot with only one in the orange slot but you had to do it or it wouldnt detect either RAM stick

 

[LOUISSSSS]

i recommend OCZ platinum series. many other people have corsair xms series. its up to you to decide what you like

 

[DaRkLoRd666]

Originally posted by: OmniShinzui
So, I just ordered all the parts for my first home-build rig, and I couldnt be more excited. Things have gotton in the way since October, and its been put off by a month, every month, for almost 6 months. I ordered everything from Newegg, Monarch, Amazon, and when I tried to order from ZipZoomFly, Visa froze froze the account till we called (overwith now tho). Anyways, These are the parts I got:

Case: Antec P180
PSU: Antec SmartPower 2.0 500watt
Motherboard: DFI LanParty UT NForce4-Ultra D ATX
Processor: AMD X2 4400+

• <<<<doesnt help with games that much if at all, u should have an fx or the 4000+ (exact thing as fx 55) but if u are going to use it to compile videos/sound/code it speeds it up a lot

RAM: Kingston ValueRAM 2GB PC3200
Hard Drive: Western Digital Raptor 74GB
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 300GB SATA3.0gb 16mb Cache
*Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 160GB IDE ATA/100
Video Card: eVGA 7900GT 256bit
Sound Card: Creative Labs X-Fi Platinum
DVD Drive: NEC 16x DVD Burner
*DVD Drive: Forget Brand 4x DVD Burner
Floppy: Samsung Floppy
Keyboard: Saitek Gamer's Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech G7 Wireless (Wired Keyboard = Ok; Wired Mice = Not IMO)
Speakers: Logitech Z-5500**
Monitor: Dell 2005FPW 20.1 LCD**

• <<<bad moniter, it has a high ms i think 14-18

*OS: Windows XP Professional
* = Already Own
** = Not part of money limit / Not ordered yet

Oh, and note Im getting Artic Silver 5 Thermalgrease, Artic Liquid Remover, Anti-Static Wrist Strap, and Magnetic Phillips Screwdriver at Fry's Sunday too. This is an upgrade from my old eMachines T2682 which has:
2.6GHz Celeron | 200w PSU | Mini-ATX Intel Mobo | 256mb Ram (512mb recently) | Realtek AC'97 Integrated Sound | Intel Extreme Graphics 2 64bit Integrated Video | 160GB ATA/100 HD | WinXP Home | Logitech Wireless MxDuo (Mx700 mouse/Elite Duo) | eView 17f2 17" CRT (15.7" Viewable) |

This is a big step up for me, and im really excited to build my first rig (prolly by friday). I will post pictures when finished, cause people seem to like that kind of stuff.

Other then that the system looks really hot, good luck with it

 

[LOUISSSSS]

that dell lcd is excellent for gaming and anything else u do with it. the 4400 is good too dont listen to ^^ with fx, unless u have $1k for an fx60 dual core. stick with your 4400, you'll be happy with it. just change the ram and reconsider video card to x1900xt, the g7 is nice and smooth but each recharable battery only lasts about 48 hours.. then you'll have to change. not too annoying but just letting u know. and antec quality psus has been going down lately

 

[OmniShinzui]

I still cant find the 7900GT in stock anywhere, but Newegg will have it in Friday (ZipZoomFly has it in for $350 tho, Fry's too...). I think the card is perfect for me, I wont need a $500 Video Card imo. I went with the 4400+ for all the Audio work I do, and I like to multi-task. I havnt heard the antec situation, is it really bad? The Dell 2005FPW is great, I dont have ghosting from what I can tell (tried movie, but havnt tried games). I just havnt been able to get ahold of ZipZoomFly because its the weekend, so I gotta call in the morning. Worst comes to worst, the ram doesnt work, and I have to RMA it for some Corsair or OCZ ram. 15% restocking fee sucks tho (gon be $25 more around).

 

[LOUISSSSS]

yes antec isn't the psu u want now. there are much better choices. if you dont change your ram now, you'll and aching to run your new cpu when you gotta RMA your incompatible kingston valueram with the DFI motherboard

 

[OmniShinzui]

Update on my system. I ordered an eVGA 7900GT OC on newegg for $319 (awaiting $10 refund), and it shipped today. ZipZoomFly is now "packed", not processing like before. Monarch still says order sent to warehouse, and my first newegg order came (Floppy/DVD Burner). I got thermalgrease and the remover, and my first PC game (FarCry; getting Fear and Oblivion saturday).

Contacted ZipZoomFly, and unfortunatly told me my order was boxed, and couldnt change the ram. They told me I could RMA it if I didnt open it, so I dunno. I got ram for my old system a few weeks ago, and all there was to the package was this front sticker taped to the sides, so I hope its the same way (so I can try it, and if it doesnt work, RMA it)

 

[BOLt]

Originally posted by: DJJ
Nice setup

Good luck with the build...Incredibly satisfying when it is all done & up & running..

I'd suggest an Opteron 165 instead of your current CPU choice. Yes, good luck!

Originally posted by: n7
Now i've seen everything...value RAM with a Raptor :laugh:

Nah, overall, good looking setup, good luck

Due to the efficiency of AMD's integrated memory dividers, ValueRAM OCs just as well as high-grade RAM. Check out my rig for proof. My set up can more than 2.7GHz from 1.8GHz stock, even with slow 1GB DIMMs of CVS.

Originally posted by: OSX
No SCSI?

On a desktop? Are you nuts? That's workstation-class stuff! SATA FTW!

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: OmniShinzui
orion, too late. Whats wrong with Kingston? I do see the timings are great on the XMS tho...

OSX, uh...? Sorry to ask, but what is it? Is it 100% Necessary?

Timings don't really matter much unless you're overclocking. SCSI isn't really necessary since you have a Raptor. Ignore the haters and enjoy your system

No one's hating...

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
kingston is not recommended with dfi, i had the same ram in 2 x 512 3-3-3-8. run memtest from the dfi bios and you'll see. also try to run super-pi and prime95 torture test. if it works then thats good but if its not too late rma for something else

Actually DFI tends to not like any sort of ValueRAM. Should be fine, though.

Originally posted by: OmniShinzui
Thanks for all the suggestions. I never knew Kingston had a bad time with DFI. I think I might contact ZZF to change the ram since they are still "Processing" my order (I hope they let me lol), so reccomend me 2GB Ram pack thats not over $175

Get 2GB of Corsair ValueSelect PC3200 (2 x 1GB DIMMs).

Originally posted by: OmniShinzui
I emailed ZipZoomFly and asked them kindly to change part of my order, the ram, from Kingston to Corsair XMS 2GB Dual-Channel (roughly same price). I know Newegg had that MiR, but I hate those anyways. Its still processing anyways, and hope they change it and just make me pay the difference. Everyone kept saying you can get cheap ram, so I assumed it was ok. I've mentioned the parts multiple times (once here, other times on other boards) and no one has brought the ram to my attention. Oh well, I hope this is good ram. Last thing I want to do is RMA the ram on the day of building, and have no system for a week (tho I can take out the PC2100 ram from my old system for temporarily).

edit: I might have to acually call ZZF to make sure...

That would suck for sure. ZZF is usually pretty good about stuff like that.

Again, best of luck!

 

[LOUISSSSS]

^^ contradicting yourself. i dont know about dfi and not working with ALL valueram, but i know for a fact that mine had problems with kingston valuram. and why would u say to get corsair valueselect if you have JUST stated that dfi isn't compatible with most valueram. please only state the truth and dont give false information

 

[OmniShinzui]

Well, I know that the only thing I can do is try the ram (I'd try just 1GB, then change RAM setting in the BIOS too), and it doesnt work, RMA it back to ZZF for another brand. My ZZF order should be here today, so thats cool. I called Monarch, and they said "Look for a tracking number on Thursday, we upgraded the shipping from Fedex 3-5 day (express saver?) to 2day. I hope I get it on Sunday lol.

Ok, about what tools I need. What should I get while im at fry's saturday? I have tweasers, thermalpaste/paste remover, screwdriver (small and big ones; Magnetic/non-magnetic), and have Twist Ties and a Anti-static wrist band on my list. Anything else? Im waiting to get everything first to see if I need any cables (like if I need a floppy cable since my OEM didnt come with one).