Computer Thread

[topdeeni]

My current machine says this:

AMD Phenom 9950 Quad-Core Processor

2048 Physical Memory... still doin' XP 32 bit so that is that.

GEforce 9800 GT with 1024

SATA2 128 gig flash drive... yeah it's small but solid state.

All housed in a Thermaltake case with way to many fans...

Since I DO NOT beleive in PC audio (homer stereo is a diffy can of wormz all together) I just use the onboard with a nice set of USB gaming headsets. Mice come and go as long as it is wirelss and has an adjustable optical resolution, the joystikk HAS to be a CH Products Fighter Stick or I won't fly and it posses a very simple DVD/CD burner that is not that fast.

I view the entire trainwreck through a 24" EIZO CE240W monitor.

I opted NOT to do SLI on this machine; something about two video cards only being able to add the ram up and stuill be stuck at the same clock speeds; I got 1024 on one card which is mo' than enuff' for what I do. I also opted to spend more for a much smaller solid state drive that is speedy as a stage 4 with the driver zinging on caffiene; I have a monster network storage device or two so I just move stuff I save to one of them now.

I essentially went as stripped as I could for extra options and focused on NOT using resources.

one last thing for the fun of it.... two networks: One internet, the second an IP based security system... What a great way to see which kid is REALLY starting the fight and who is lying...

 

[Chris]

I forgot to mention I run my system through my 3 free flat screens

 

[topdeeni]

I forgot to mention I run my system through my 3 free flat screens

I would do that.. If the games I play allowed me to have a front view and two side window views from inside a jet while I dogfite. A rearview mirrow would B extraordinary as well instead of having to scroll my views at lightspeed.

 

[STInate]

My system has one flatscreen and it came attached on a hinge.

 

[EvilAsPie]

What's a computer case? My computer works just fine without one

I have the Gigabyte EP45-UD3P. And it is an amazing motherboard. Has just about every option in the BIOS you would ever want, heat pipes between the heatsinks on the northbridge and southbridge. And all sorts of crazy awesomeness. They are around $150 new, but I got mine as an openbox on newegg fore $65, which was pretty sweet.

Gigabyte EP45-UD3P FTW!! Probably the best mobo i've used in a long time! That and a e8400 Dual Core OCed to 3.6 will rock the house!

 

[Stein]

Chris, I almost went 775 with the P35 version of that board. I found one for $50 online that I might get to move my dad on to.

I may also build another 939 system with parts from Dan if that works out.

How do you get all this free stuff?

I really need another monitor, or at least two matching ones. Right now I use a 22" as my main screen, and a 17" next to it.

 

[Chris]

Chris, I almost went 775 with the P35 version of that board. I found one for $50 online that I might get to move my dad on to.I may also build another 939 system with parts from Dan if that works out.

How do you get all this free stuff?

I really need another monitor, or at least two matching ones. Right now I use a 22" as my main screen, and a 17" next to it.

My 3 screens are all different sizes, resolutions, and DPIs... but free is boss

I go dumpster diving, I go to the MIT swapfest every now and again to pick up some good stuff for cheap, and I have a lot of connections. Next time I go to the MIT swapfest I'll give ya a holler, see if you want to come. You're right on my way, and a bit of gas money goes a long way... like all the way down to Boston and back

 

[Stein]

I can't decide if I want to build another 939 system for my dad, or build me a newer Core2Duo/Quad rig for me and pass my 939 to my dad.

I have a 939 mobo, a single core (which I would replace with a 939 opteron), and a 1gb kit of ram which I would also upgrade.

I found the motherboard I want (Gigabyte P35-DS3L) for $50, a backup mobo (EP43-DS3L) for $65, and another (DFI LP-LT-X48-T2R) for $130. We could get 8GB of low-end DDR2 for the same price as a high-end 2GB DDR kit. I could find a Q6600 or an E8400 for $130, or I could do a slightly newer model.

The 775 would cost a bit more ($50+130+40) with only 4gb than the 939, but would offer more performance.

What do you guys think? My 939 rig handles games fine, but a quad core would help me Fold@Home (google it) more, any C2D/Q proc will be a new journey overclocking, and I'll be more "future proof," if there is such a thing.

 

[Chris]

Future proof... bahahahahaha

So my last system was from 1999. It had dual 1GHz CPUs and could handle 2GB ram (although I couldn't find that much RDRAM). Think of that system in 1999, it would be the most amazingly powerful system anyone could imagine. Cost over a thousand dollars. But now it sits in the corner of my room...

Get a quad core, mine is great. I can compile things like the linux kernel in under 10 minutes where it used to take hours.

 

[2point5RS_Dan]

Future proofing doesn't exist. If anything it's just an excuse to buy more expensive stuff.

Honestly if you bought the s939 stuff off me, I'd be buying a C2D system to replace it anyways. Quad cores are in fact nice and I wish I had one for video encoding and for virtualization, but I get by with what I got. college = poor.

 

[Stein]

"Future proofing" was in quotes for a reason

I used to do a lot of mapping (counter-strike source) and the quad would have been nice for compiling the stupid lighting. I've been thinking of doing advanced graphics generating though (I think it's based off of fractals and 3d objects combined) to help my 2D-photoshop work, but its really complicated and I don't know where to start. A quad would help there too.

 

[topdeeni]

"Future proofing" work for about 24 hours with a PC...hahaha

 

[Chris]

My computer was obsolete when I bought it... i7 had come out about a month before. I really wanted to wait till about now when I could afford an i7 system, but my old system was acting up. I was sick of trying to work on a system that was acting up so I just bought my new system. Maybe I'll get an i7 system anyway...

 

[Stein]

I wish they had done some i7 motherboards with DDR2.

DDR3 is still waaay ahead of what the other hardware can keep up with from what I've heard. Unless i7 is that good.

 

[Chris]

I wish they had done some i7 motherboards with DDR2.DDR3 is still waaay ahead of what the other hardware can keep up with from what I've heard. Unless i7 is that good.

DDR is also crazy expensive. Part of the reason I didn't get i7, and also because it had only been out for a month, there wasn't much choice for mobos. I got a wicked deal on the EP45-UD3P which is one of the best mobos you can get.

 

[Stein]

Does anybody have any standoffs I can have/buy?

I need a set of ten, and they need to have 6-32 threads (general PC screw threads) for both the male and female part. I have a set that has 1/4" body length with only 1/8" of thread. I want one with more thread and preferably a longer body.

I could also use some momentary push-buttons and some switches or potentiometers capable of handling 12v at upwards of 5 amps.

I'm not going to both posting a WTB thread, but I figured someone here would have at least one of these parts.

 

[Chris]

Does anybody have any standoffs I can have/buy?I need a set of ten, and they need to have 6-32 threads (general PC screw threads) for both the male and female part. I have a set that has 1/4" body length with only 1/8" of thread. I want one with more thread and preferably a longer body.

I could also use some momentary push-buttons and some switches or potentiometers capable of handling 12v at upwards of 5 amps.

I'm not going to both posting a WTB thread, but I figured someone here would have at least one of these parts.

What do you need the standoffs for? You can usually improvise with other things... And you may be better off with voltage regulators than potentiometers. As for push buttons, look at radioshack.

I should really get my Maine computer forum running someday... this is me being lazy...

 

[Stein]

You should get it up and running already!

I need the standoffs to mount motherboards in the new case I'm building. I haven't cut the rear panel yet so the body size of the standoffs doesn't matter much. I'm mounting the mobo directly do the side panel so there's no room to route cables behind, and I figured 1/2" standoffs would allow me to fit some wires back there.

I may have found a button. It's a $10+ momentary (waste of money IMO) that I found used for $3. I've never been happy with the availability of parts at Radioshack, and the staff makes it worse.

 

[Chris]

You could just use stiff plastic water pipe or something for stand offs. They don't need to be threaded. Just through bolt the mobo to the case with the stand offs in between. When/if I get around to building my kick-ass case that's how I'm going to do it.

 

[Chris]

You should get it up and running already!.

do you have a high bandwidth connection I could run the server on...?

I don't have a huge amount of bandwidth, but I don't have any bandwidth limiting, port blocking, traffic shaping, etc. Which is nice.