Finally Ordered a New PC

[Lemur]

Well, my five year old AMD "Barton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlon#Barton_and_Thorton)" system is wheezing and chugging, so I finally ordered a new PC. The only part I could have scavenged from the old was the DVD writer; everything else had to go. Can't recycle the RAM, can't recycle the mobo, etc. (Note that the original PC had neither the Barton CPU nor the Radeon 9700 -- those were additions to extend its lifespan.)

Here's the specs on the new lemur tower of love:


Case (Antec P180 ATX Mid-Tower Case)
Power Supply (Thermaltake Toughpower 750 Watt V2.01 Power Supply [SLI Ready])
Processor (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6600 (2x 2.4GHz/4MB L2 Cache/1066FSB))
Motherboard (Abit AW9D-MAX i975X)
Memory (2048MB [1024MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair XMS2 Xtreme w/Heat Spreader)
Video Card (ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB PCI-Express x16)
Hard Drive (WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 16M Cache Hard Drive)
2nd Hard Drive (500 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache])
CD/DVD Drive (Sony DW-G120 Dual Format/Double Layer 16X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black)
Sound Card (Creative Lab Sound Blaster X-Fi)

If and when DX10 makes sense, I should be able to do a simple yank-and-switch. With any luck, this machine will also be good for 5 years.

[doc_bean]

There's always something better coming... (http://news.com.com/2100-1006_3-6123758.html?part=rss&tag=6123758&subj=news)

Nice system though, pretty much the same as mine (if it ever arrives :furious3: :furious3: :furious3: ).

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

How much did that set you back, Lemur?

[Lemur]

I'm not too worried. PCI will be supported for many a year, and I feel as though I found the sweet spot between cost and performance. The videocard, in particular, was a find. Almost as good as any of the top single-slot designs, and going for just over $200. That sort of thing makes the lemur happy.

As long as I don't have to swap out the mobo, I'll keep it up and running. Heck, I've kept my AGP PC running all this time, and as your linked article states, PCI was introduced in '03.

It's all good.

[Xiahou]

Here's the specs on the new lemur tower of love:


Case (Antec P180 ATX Mid-Tower Case)
Power Supply (Thermaltake Toughpower 750 Watt V2.01 Power Supply [SLI Ready])
Processor (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6600 (2x 2.4GHz/4MB L2 Cache/1066FSB))
Motherboard (Abit AW9D-MAX i975X)
Memory (2048MB [1024MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair XMS2 Xtreme w/Heat Spreader)
Video Card (ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB PCI-Express x16)
Hard Drive (WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 16M Cache Hard Drive)
2nd Hard Drive (500 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache])
CD/DVD Drive (Sony DW-G120 Dual Format/Double Layer 16X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black)
Sound Card (Creative Lab Sound Blaster X-Fi)

If and when DX10 makes sense, I should be able to do a simple yank-and-switch. With any luck, this machine will also be good for 5 years.What, no RAID? I keep telling myself that the next system I build will have striped drives for that xtra 1337 performance. :laugh4: Nice rig though.

Now you have to figure out what to do with your old system, I say it's time to make a Home-theatre PC. :2thumbsup:

[drone]

Actually, I heard a rumor that the Core2Duos don't handle RAIDs very well.
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32842
http://theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32818

Don't know how much is truth or speculation though.

[Lemur]

What, no RAID? I keep telling myself that the next system I build will have striped drives for that xtra 1337 performance. :laugh4:
I remember reading a taste-test comparison between raid and non-raid for single users in gaming environments. The gains from RAID were tiny. Me no worried.

[Xiahou]

I remember reading a taste-test comparison between raid and non-raid for single users in gaming environments. The gains from RAID were tiny. Me no worried.
Hey, you could easily be shaving 2-5 seconds off of load times in certain games.... now if you're one of those people who has an extra 2 entire seconds to waste then I guess you can settle for a un-1337 non-RAID system. ~D

[Lemur]

Xiahou, I know you're kidding with me, but I don't want any impressionable Orgahs to get the wrong idea. From no less an authority than Anand of AnandTech (http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2101&p=1):


If you haven't gotten the hint by now, we'll spell it out for you: there is no place, and no need for a RAID-0 array on a desktop computer. The real world performance increases are negligible at best and the reduction in reliability, thanks to a halving of the mean time between failure, makes RAID-0 far from worth it on the desktop.

There are some exceptions, especially if you are running a particular application that itself benefits considerably from a striped array, and obviously, our comments do not apply to server-class IO of uany sort. But for the vast majority of desktop users and gamers alike, save your money and stay away from RAID-0.

If you do insist on getting two drives, you are much better off putting them into a RAID-1 array to have a live backup of your data. The performance hit of RAID-1 is just as negligible as the performance gains of RAID-0, but the improvement in reliability is worthwhile...unless you're extremely unlucky and both of your drives die at the exact same time.

When Intel introduced ICH5, and now with ICH6, they effectively brought RAID to the mainstream, pushing many users finally to bite the bullet and buy two hard drives for "added performance". While we applaud Intel for bringing the technology to the mainstream, we'd caution users out there to think twice before buying two expensive Raptors or any other drive for performance reasons. Your system will most likely run just as fast with only one drive, but if you have the spare cash, a bit more reliability and peace of mind may be worth setting up a RAID-1 array.

Bottom line: RAID-0 arrays will win you just about any benchmark, but they'll deliver virtually nothing more than that for real world desktop performance. That's just the cold hard truth.



https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Lemurmania/2585.png

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Lemurmania/2584.png

[Xiahou]

While I won't disagree with his conclusions (RAID 0 isnt worth it), I do take issue with the test results. RAID performance is all about the controller and I would've really liked to see tests on more platforms than just the integrated controller on one mobo- and then you can play with stripe sizes too. Those estimates I cited earlier were pulled from some benchmarks I found... obviously I didnt save the link though, since I wasnt seriously expecting to have to defend the statement. :wink:

Personally, I don't care for RAID0 because of the fault tolerance issue. But, if I could find a RAID1 setup that clocked some decent read times, I might be tempted to jump.

Oh, and the Raptor is definintely a great drive. :2thumbsup:

[Spino]

I'm not too worried. PCI will be supported for many a year, and I feel as though I found the sweet spot between cost and performance. The videocard, in particular, was a find. Almost as good as any of the top single-slot designs, and going for just over $200. That sort of thing makes the lemur happy.

As long as I don't have to swap out the mobo, I'll keep it up and running. Heck, I've kept my AGP PC running all this time, and as your linked article states, PCI was introduced in '03.

It's all good.

Where in blazes did you find a X1900XT 512meg card for $200 and change?!? And how loud does it get during intense 3D gaming sessions?

[Lemur]

Hey Spino, the card was part of the PC package, so I don't think you can run out and buy it solo at that price. As for how loud it gets, I have no idea -- but that's part of why I bought it with the P180 case, which is supposed to be boffo for sound deadening. If it's intoerably noisy, I'll yank it and put a different cooler on the beast. Arctic Cooling (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/AcceleroX2/) is supposed to have a good cooler replacement for the 1900 series.

Xiahou, please, I'm not asking for you to seriously defend Raid 0, you 1337 gamer, you.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Sounds a lot like the PC I finally got, Lemur. :2thumbsup:

[Incongruous]

I wish I had that kinda money (donations are welcome:help:)
Nice, and I mean very nice rig bro.:2thumbsup:

[Spino]

Hey Spino, the card was part of the PC package, so I don't think you can run out and buy it solo at that price. As for how loud it gets, I have no idea -- but that's part of why I bought it with the P180 case, which is supposed to be boffo for sound deadening. If it's intoerably noisy, I'll yank it and put a different cooler on the beast. Arctic Cooling (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/AcceleroX2/) is supposed to have a good cooler replacement for the 1900 series.

Xiahou, please, I'm not asking for you to seriously defend Raid 0, you 1337 gamer, you.

Ah, ok. Well it's still a phenomenal deal for that card. Congrats on your new system.

You may also want to consider a Zalman VF900 heatsink/fan to cool that X1900XT. It has received a ton of praise from gamers and overclockers...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16835118001

[screwtype]

Well, my five year old AMD "Barton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlon#Barton_and_Thorton)" system is wheezing and chugging, so I finally ordered a new PC. The only part I could have scavenged from the old was the DVD writer; everything else had to go. Can't recycle the RAM, can't recycle the mobo, etc. (Note that the original PC had neither the Barton CPU nor the Radeon 9700 -- those were additions to extend its lifespan.)



Don't you just hate it that you can't reuse the RAM? I had the same problem with my PC. I'd love to know why they can't make mobo's backwards compatible with the last few generations of RAM, instead of making you buy the expensive super-duper new stuff every time that is also obsolete in six months.

[Lemur]

Well, I've had it for a few days, and I've finally got the drivers how I want 'em. (The SB card was really weird -- had a part number I could only find on German web sites. White box audigys are always an interesting thing ...)

I love it. It's freakin' awesome. And the video card is quiet, even when banging in RTW with everything maxed out. Haven't tried the true torture test yet (OBlivion), but perhaps next weekend. I'll probably replace the cooler on the 1900 anyway. I did a computer builder/network guy out here a big favor, so he's offered to do hardware work for me gratis.

Other than that, what can I say? The Antec P180 (http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=81800) is an awesome case. Nothin' but big 120mm fans turning real slow, and nice sound deadening throughout. And I love having the PS in its own area. Separate cooling areas = good thing.

Thank goodness I had to upgrade. I feel like a little kid again.

Once I've got the new VGA cooler, it will be time to play with overclocking ...

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Well, my five year old AMD "Barton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlon#Barton_and_Thorton)" system is wheezing and chugging, so I finally ordered a new PC. The only part I could have scavenged from the old was the DVD writer; everything else had to go. Can't recycle the RAM, can't recycle the mobo, etc. (Note that the original PC had neither the Barton CPU nor the Radeon 9700 -- those were additions to extend its lifespan.)

Here's the specs on the new lemur tower of love:


Case (Antec P180 ATX Mid-Tower Case)
Power Supply (Thermaltake Toughpower 750 Watt V2.01 Power Supply [SLI Ready])
Processor (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6600 (2x 2.4GHz/4MB L2 Cache/1066FSB))
Motherboard (Abit AW9D-MAX i975X)
Memory (2048MB [1024MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair XMS2 Xtreme w/Heat Spreader)
Video Card (ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB PCI-Express x16)
Hard Drive (WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 16M Cache Hard Drive)
2nd Hard Drive (500 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache])
CD/DVD Drive (Sony DW-G120 Dual Format/Double Layer 16X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black)
Sound Card (Creative Lab Sound Blaster X-Fi)

If and when DX10 makes sense, I should be able to do a simple yank-and-switch. With any luck, this machine will also be good for 5 years.


not bad, better then my 1 year 10 month computer.. I die over twice in order to get 500 GB Hard Drive ( I got 80 :no: )

[DukeofSerbia]

RAID 0 is the best for video editing when you work with large files.

[Shaun]

Well, my five year old AMD "Barton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlon#Barton_and_Thorton)" system is wheezing and chugging, so I finally ordered a new PC. The only part I could have scavenged from the old was the DVD writer; everything else had to go. Can't recycle the RAM, can't recycle the mobo, etc. (Note that the original PC had neither the Barton CPU nor the Radeon 9700 -- those were additions to extend its lifespan.)

Here's the specs on the new lemur tower of love:

Case (Antec P180 ATX Mid-Tower Case)
Power Supply (Thermaltake Toughpower 750 Watt V2.01 Power Supply [SLI Ready])
Processor (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6600 (2x 2.4GHz/4MB L2 Cache/1066FSB))
Motherboard (Abit AW9D-MAX i975X)
Memory (2048MB [1024MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair XMS2 Xtreme w/Heat Spreader)
Video Card (ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB PCI-Express x16)
Hard Drive (WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 16M Cache Hard Drive)
2nd Hard Drive (500 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache])
CD/DVD Drive (Sony DW-G120 Dual Format/Double Layer 16X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black)
Sound Card (Creative Lab Sound Blaster X-Fi) If and when DX10 makes sense, I should be able to do a simple yank-and-switch. With any luck, this machine will also be good for 5 years.

Nah, not five years, lookwhat we had five years ago, P3's. A P3 wont get you anywhere now. I would say between two and three years at most. Anyway, I have just built a system pretty much identical to that one, except that instead of the X1900XT I got the X1950XTX.

[Lemur]

Nah, not five years, lookwhat we had five years ago, P3's. A P3 wont get you anywhere now.
Hey man, if you were shopping smart in 2001, you would have gotten a Socket A Athlon system. That's what lasted me for five years, and it did a pretty good job. Now I'm betting that a Core2Duo will be the Athlon Barton Core Socket A of 2011.

Loved the movie with you and the zombies, BTW.

[doc_bean]

Hey man, if you were shopping smart in 2001, you would have gotten a Socket A Athlon system. That's what lasted me for five years, and it did a pretty good job. Now I'm betting that a Core2Duo will be the Athlon Barton Core Socket A of 2011.

Loved the movie with you and the zombies, BTW.

Hmm we both had a pretty similar system iirc (2.6Ghz, 512mb RAM, radeon 9700pro). Doom 3 was the first game to really strain my system (could handle 800x600 tops IIRC, looked pretty horrible) and that was only one or two years after I bought it...

[Lemur]

Hmm we both had a pretty similar system iirc (2.6Ghz, 512mb RAM, radeon 9700pro).
Yup, 'cept I went hog-wild in 2001 and got a gig of RAM. That was truly extravagant for a Windows 2000 gaming rig in '01, but I figured RAM was cheap enough, and it pays to get more than you think you'll need.

I'm not a big FPS fan, so I skipped Doom 3. (Wasn't that released in 2005?) Also, I didn't want to be tempted by high-end AGP solutions. After I'd put in the Barton CPU and the Radeon 9700 pro, I didn't want to spend any more money on the PC, so I declared an end to upgrades.

I'll probably do the same thing with my new PC. Upgrade the CPU once, maybe put in a DX10 card once they've shaken the kinks out, and stop upgrading.

[doc_bean]

Doom 3 was released Aug 3, 2004 according to Gamespot. I only tried the demoç since I didn't like how it looked on my system (and the monsters jumping out of dark corners gimmick got old even in the demo). Now FEAR was released in 2005 and that looked absolutely hideous in the resolution I was able to play it...

Strategy games tend to be about a year behind on system demands compared to fps games I think. Although that might change with games like CoH being released. RPGs seem to be the most demanding these days :huh2:

O well, I should be able to get by for a couple of years, enough interesting games are coming out to supply me with budget goodness in years to come :2thumbsup:

[AussieGiant]

From crusing around the boards it does seem as if MTWII will bend a few systems with the shadowing turned on.

I'm fairly confident my new system will handle everything on max.