Computers, who builds/mods etc?

[Future240]

I have been recently building mine up.

Here is what I started with POS

After having this POS for a year, my roommate and I decided that were going to build up our PC's. He made a rule where he had to keep his stock case, and being cheap I followed that one too.

So now it has

An Acer Phenom 9500 2.2 Ghz proccesr OC to 2.4 (Yea I know shitty, but hey I have to eat)
Vista 32, waiting on Windows 7 64 bit
Asrock A780MGH motherboard (Asrock may suck for intel but its tits for AMD)
Corsair 650HX PSU (modular is the shit)
8gb's of Gskill OC to 1066
HIS Radeon 4850
Lots of fans, thermaltake, vantec blah
Asus 23.6 Vh24 Monitor
Acer 19 monitor

PICS!!




So what is yall's setups.


Sidenote: Keep that MAC VS PC bullshit out of here.

[HyperTek]

Ive had this case since 01, been thru a few different motherboard setups
When i first watercooled it, pretty crud setup




Come home find a leak or puddle of water sitting on the video card every so often back in the day
General idea of the current cooling setup, radiator on top

Over the years you learn to put better parts in your watercool setup and is now it is leak proof.

Currently



My hardware is starting to age
DFI Bloodiron + E6700 @ 3.7
DangerDen TDX block , Bonneville core, MCP355 water pump
BFG 8800GT mcw60/ 1.3volt modded/820 mhz core
4gb ddr2 800
2X Seagate 320hd 7200.10 Raid 0
Creative X-fi Xtreme Music
Logitec X-530 5.1 surround system
Ultra 500w PSU
Windows 7 64bit beta

[ixfxi]

let the overclocking pc nerd-fest begin!

[BustedS13]

AMD Athlon 64X2 4400+
Biostar T-Series mobo
XFX 6800 OC
2gb ram
Antec Sonata II case (was quiet before i took the side off for ventilation)
...who cares, right. it was a budget build in 2006.
4x 750gb WD Greens
1x 200gb Barracuda
24" Sceptre

blah dee blah, shit's starting to show its age. i'm planning on getting a 28", so i'll probably wind up upgrading it a bit before '10

[Future240]

Originally Posted by HyperTek

Ive had this case since 01, been thru a few different motherboard setups

My hardware is starting to age
DFI Bloodiron + E6700 @ 3.7
DangerDen TDX block , Bonneville core, MCP355 water pump
BFG 8800GT mcw60/ 1.3volt modded/820 mhz core
4gb ddr2 800
2X Seagate 320hd 7200.10 Raid 0
Creative X-fi Xtreme Music
Logitec X-530 5.1 surround system
Ultra 500w PSU
Windows 7 64bit beta

That tower is fuckin huge. I have a mini tower. I don't have enough room to water cool and make it look good.

[ixfxi]

Originally Posted by BustedS13

nice lill old school tuner + baby speaker setup there... is that an old-school marantz or yamaha setup....? or a modern day bullshit throw-back system that just looks old? i'll assume that its a high quality setup, considering you have a turntable.

looks well organized. list the stereo specs

[Future240]

Originally Posted by BustedS13

AMD Athlon 64X2 4400+
Biostar T-Series mobo
XFX 6800 OC
2gb ram
Antec Sonata II case (was quiet before i took the side off for ventilation)
...who cares, right. it was a budget build in 2006.
4x 750gb WD Greens
1x 200gb Barracuda
24" Sceptre

blah dee blah, shit's starting to show its age. i'm planning on getting a 28", so i'll probably wind up upgrading it a bit before '10

I say that is a solid PC now, 2006 it must have been an absolute beast.

Right now I want a Phenom 940,955,965 processor, whichever I get a good deal on. Oh and a Western Digital Caviar Black to throw in Raid 2(might be 1 forget which it is called sometimes)

After that I will be done with this one, except for maybe a more powerful GPU, I don't want to hack up my case in order to cool it more.

Temps wise I am still learning so perhaps so of yall could tell me whats up. Right now my temps usually read around (right now pc has only been on for like 15 mins)

HDD 0: 37-41C
HDD 1:34-38C
Core: 30-34
System: 35-38
CPU:42-47
Aux:42-47

[BustedS13]

Originally Posted by future240

I say that is a solid PC now, 2006 it must have been an absolute beast.

the graphics card is lacking, and it's a 939 processor so i can't upgrade without replacing the mobo :/ but yeah, it ran Quake 4 pretty well (which is why i built it, too bad q4 SUCKS in comparison to q3a)

Originally Posted by ixfxi

nice lill old school tuner + baby speaker setup there... is that an old-school marantz or yamaha setup....? or a modern day bullshit throw-back system that just looks old? i'll assume that its a high quality setup, considering you have a turntable.

looks well organized. list the stereo specs

nah it's all vintage, no vintage appearance crap. it's a Technics SA-7300x receiver and a Technics SL-Q300 turntable. the speakers are Advent "new Advent" loudspeakers, and then some cheap Sony bookshelf speakers for low volume use.

....there's also an Altec Lansing 2.1 system so i can listen to the computer and a different source through the receiver, although the computer also goes through the receiver.

[driven_]

damn, i miss messin with computers. so much easier than cars. LOL.

used to do a lot of shit with computers.

i installed my OS when i was 11.
put together a shitty junk computer when i was 12.

then once i turned 14, i focused on my DL's and cars more.

really nice computers you guys got here though,
i eventually decided not to build one and i got a Dell. heh,

[g6civcx]

I have probably assembled thousands of computers when I was putting myself through college. Most of them were just basic setups for Internet use and word processing.

I've noticed that within the past 10 years or so, the price for bottom shelf components remain about the same. I can get better performance, but for price-sensitive consumers, the cheapest PC I can crank out remains about $200-250 with no software. It cost about the same as it did since the early 2000s.

You guys have some neat setups. I generally don't build many hardcore gaming machines so I don't get to see these components much.

[98koukile]

I built mine just for the experience... my sister continues to destroy it slowly with all the shit she does on the internet. It's pretty hardcore but I haven't really had time to do any gaming. The only thing I would change is getting a bigger monitor, I thought my 22" was huge when I got it, now I think I could go for a 24 or 28

[chibo]

I was in to computers from birth until about 18 when I got into cars hard, I wish I'd just stayed current with computers and never messed with cars. I still am current on most stuff, but hardware and OS changes aren't fresh in my mind like they used to be.

Back in the day I had a dangerden water setup with a 240(iirc)watt Peltier element - this was back in AMD XP2600 days before more than the most hardcore were even watercooling. First computer I built was back when the Tbird processors had just come out and black label delta fans were the shit.

Right now I'm running an old build
FX2 4600+
2GB Ram
7800GTX

I've recently been looking into replacing it with a very small and quiet setup that I can just sit right on my desk. They have nice mobos out now that are small form factor and fit in small cases that are designed to be just big enough to fit a nice video card or two.





I was never the showy person with computers (no LEDs, cold cathodes, windows cut, casemods, etc)... funny enough I'm the same way with cars.

[325irollin]

I've built 3 computers in the past few years. They all have UV clear cases with the most LEDs you'll ever see. I like them. They look really cool and work great. Intel & nVidia like it should be done.

[GSXRJJordan]

I've built probably a hundred computers, paid off my first car with money made during high school ~ I was pulling like $10k/yr owning "eQuality Computers" with one employee lol. 4 doctor's offices + $50-$100/hr (if I had to leave class, rate doubled) FTW.

Most exciting system built recently is a photo workstation for my dad, cost $2300 with the monitor:
*Intel Core i7 920 @ mild overclock on air, <3GHz
*Xigmatech Red Scorpion cooler (good quiet air cooler)
*MSI x58M
*6GB Patriot 7-7-7-20 1333MHz DDR3 kit, 2GB x3
*ATI Radeon 4870 x2 1GB - was the fastest single card at the time
*4 1TB WD Greens (7200RPM) @ RAID 5 for storage
*1 Intel X25M 80GB SSD for system and 10GB Photoshop swap (unbelievably fast, btw)
*Antec 300 case
*OCZ OC 600W modular PS, barely enough power lol
*Dell 24" S-IPS screen - displays like 104% of the Adobe color gamut, awesome screen for a graphic/print workstation, horrible for games (~30ms lag on IPS screens)
*Vista x64 with loader

My system was put together about a year before that one, so it's a little lame in comparison:
*Intel Core 2 Quad 2.5GHz
*Thermaltake Duo Orb
*MSI P35 Platinum Combo
*4GB OCZ 7-7-7-20 1333MHz DDR3
*ATI Radeon 4850 512mb (OC'd with Scorpion's dual 80mm fan cooler - quiet )
*WD Velociraptor 150GB system drive
*Seagate 750GB Movie Drive
*2x WD Caviar 250GB SATA-2 @ RAID 0 "other" drive
*Old school Super Micro full tower case, a few super-quiet 80mm fans
*PC Power and Cooling 550W? power supply, from like 1998 lol
*2x LG L226W 22" TN screens, great for games, can't hold a candle to the Dell on color accuracy even when calibrated
*Logitech G15 keyboard, G9 mouse, Momo wheel/pedals
*Klipshe Promedia v2 400 speakers, from back in the day, and Speedlink Medusa 5.1 headphones for "getting serious" (-ly nerdy on vent)
*Windows 7 x64 RTM with SLIC 2.2 bios mod

Originally Posted by g6civcx

I've noticed that within the past 10 years or so, the price for bottom shelf components remain about the same. I can get better performance, but for price-sensitive consumers, the cheapest PC I can crank out remains about $200-250 with no software. It cost about the same as it did since the early 2000s.

I've noticed that too! Bottom-end performance is what's come way up since the "sub $500 computers" first came out almost 10 yrs ago.

OK, I'm off to play NFS:Shift @ 1680x1050 with 4xAA @ 60fps. Kthxbye!

[Future240]

Originally Posted by chibo

I was never the showy person with computers (no LEDs, cold cathodes, windows cut, casemods, etc)... funny enough I'm the same way with cars.

I have the same power supply as you do. Just like I do with cars, I like a little show, but nothing outrageous.

[chibo]

Originally Posted by future240

I have the same power supply as you do. Just like I do with cars, I like a little show, but nothing outrageous.

That's not my current computer... well I should say not pictures of my actual box. I have the same case in black and PSU sitting in boxes waiting for my mobo/ram/cpu/videocard to come from Newegg on Monday though.

[Herro]

Built mine in February 2008, for around $500

-AMD PhenomX4 9500
-Corsair XMS2 4GB RAM (DDR 800)
-Asus M2A-VM
-WDC Caviar blue 500GB hdd
-MEGA-piece of shit Logisys PSU (550W) bearings turned to rocks or something, fan is hella loud during startup
-your typical Samsung DVD+/- RW drive
-Logitech X-240 2.1 sound system
-Thermaltake LANBOX lite
-BenQ T221W 22inch monitor
-purple cold cathodes and other unnecessary shit

damn...these days $500 gets you ALOT more.

I also built a mini-ITX NES computer for a friend. I'll go dig up the pictures tommorow. The thing ran off Ubuntu 9.04.

[vash_S14]

Hi guys, Im new here and would like to share my comp specs as well


CPU - Intel i7 965 XE
Mobo - ASUS P6T Deluxe
GPU - GTX 295
RAM - 3 x 2GB Corsair Dominator 1600
PSU - Corsair HX1000
HD - 2 x 300GB VelociRaptor
Soud card - X-Fi Extreme gamer
Speakers - Logitech Z-5500
Headset - Sony MD-RF6000 wireless surround
PC Case - Silverstone TJ-07
Monitor - Vizio 26" glass
Keyboard - Logitech G15
Mouse - Logitech G9
Mouse pad - Func industries

Water Cooling

CPU - Apogee GTZ
GPU - EK-FC295 GTX GPU block
Pump - Swiftech MCP655
Radiator - 240mm Feser X-Changer Xtreme
Radiator - 240mm Black Ice Extreme 2
Reservoire - EK-Multioption RES 250 Rev 2
Fittings - Bitspower compressed/angled fittings








And this is my old one with intel Q9650 and Ati Radeon HD4870x2 set up with similar water cooling stuff

[Om1kron]

lol my system is pretty solid till this day... back in 05/06 top of the line beast.

asus crossfire motherboard I forget the exact name but mvp series.
amd x2 4200
ocz pc3200 4gb (i don't know timings or speed as I don't overclock my pc's.)
ati x1900xt 512mb cache
western digital raptor 36gig x2 in raid 0 as my hard drive (YES two raptors in raid 0 have not failed and are RARELY OFF for 3 years now.)
western digital caviar 16mb cache 250gig drive
Creative Labs Fatality X-Fi (waste of money)

I think the motherboard is on it's way out... usb ports all think they're 1.1 now.

don't judge me, I need to dust and I am using a temporary desk, hence why this shit is on a del taco box.









I'll be replacing the hard drives in october when windows 7 shows up. I really don't play computer games anymore so no reason to upgrade my card until I can afford a 30 inch monitor.

[BustedS13]

i used to have that same Fatal1ty X-Fi board. i've since sold it and use the mobo audio out... just unnecessary, like you said.

[Om1kron]

Originally Posted by BustedS13

i used to have that same Fatal1ty X-Fi board. i've since sold it and use the mobo audio out... just unnecessary, like you said.

it made battlefield two more awesome... but that is the only game that utilized it. I doubt I'll build another pc from the ground up, this proc will never die. NEVAR!!!

[BustedS13]

yeah, i've got the same series (4400+), and it's rad... i think i might try a newer video card and 4 gigs of ram and see if this box still has life left in it.

[Om1kron]

shit, you can stuff 8 gigs of ram in a computer now... I'm sooo tempted lol.

[zenki.life]

holy shit such awesome nerdyness. haha.

that water cooling led shit is just crazy. looks so cool. wish i didnt dump all the money into the car now. im just starting to get into some major internet gaming

[irax]

has anyone built a mineral oil submerged computer? or how about a liquid cooled with an a/c cooled case?

[WanganRunner]

Originally Posted by BustedS13

+1 for cool vintage audio.

There's a guy on eBay who rebuilds old receivers, makes sure everything works, etc. A friend of mine has a Yamaha that he did and it's amazing, looks like new.


I'm trying to put together an analog desk headphone rig for my office at present.

[Future240]

Originally Posted by Om1kron

shit, you can stuff 8 gigs of ram in a computer now... I'm sooo tempted lol.

that's how much have. Gskill OC to 1066. Sucks Vista 32 won't read it past 4.

[Ben G]

my friends liquid cooled sprung a leak and ruined everything im afraid to go liquid cooled ever since then i have been just running and as for vista is anyone else running any form of Linux here?

[svensko]

I am trying to become more of a computer minimalist when I'm able to, i.e. using my atom core netbook instead of my macbook pro. I currently have a C2D desktop that I use for grad school research, mostly number crunching and hope to be buying a 24 core 64 GB of RAM workstation soon.

I'm greatly interested in beagle boards - BeagleBoard.org - default which uses an ARM processor instead of an x86 type cpu. If I had more time/money, I'd probably buy one to play with.

^^^^^ I run Debian 5.0.3 on my research work station and have used Ubuntu, Fedora, TinyCoreLinux, some Gentoo, OpenSUSE, among other distros in the past. I've messed around with netBSD and openBSD but nothing major. I actually work within walking distance from the Red Hat headquarters.

[svensko]

Originally Posted by Ben G

my friends liquid cooled sprung a leak and ruined everything im afraid to go liquid cooled ever since then i have been just running and as for vista is anyone else running any form of Linux here?

Run a liquid that doesn't conduct electricity, i.e. mineral oil. Also, run some sort of UV dye or food coloring that is obvious so that if a small leak does form you can catch it before it grows.