Birth of a Lethal PC

[Fox Body]

Okay, a few of you remember me talking about Half Life 2 coming out in Sept. 30-03 and me preparing a machine that could handle it with no problem. Since then, my brother help me put together a pretty vicious PC. Here are the specs.....

Computer Specifications:

·· Motherboard - EPOX EP-8RDA+ Built in LAN/IEEE 1394/USB 2.0
·· CPU - AMD 2600+ 2.09 GHZ 333 FSB
·· Memory – DDR 1024 MB
·· Video Card – ATI 9500 Pro AGP 8x 128MB
·· TV Tuner – Hauppauge Win-TV PVR250 Multi-Encoder w/remote
·· Sound Card – Creative Labs 32-bit PCI
·· Modem – Motorola 56k V90 modem (dial-up sucks )
·· Rom 01 - Pioneer 52X cdrom/16X DVD
·· Rom 02 - LG 24X10X40 cd-Writer
·· Drive 01 – 120 GB Maxtor HDD
·· Drive 02 – Zip250 100/250 MB disk
·· Drive 03 – 1.44 MB Floppy disk
·· Fans – 2x90mm and 1x120mm case Fans
·· ViewSonic UltraBrite A90f+ 19" Flatscreen CRT Monitor (love the "ultrabrite" for gaming option) -- I prefer CRT over trueflats for gaming purposes...

Yeah, I know this isn't the fastest PC in the world (Dan's is ), but I'm not too far behind.

One of the best things about the whole deal is the price. All together, through various means of which if I expounded them to you I'd have to kill you (nothing illegal though ), I spent roughly $800 for the entire system (including monitor ). BTW, I am factoring in my old computer which I sold for $300 (but still for these specs, $1100 is still superb).

So, comparing it to a Mustang, you could say I'm running a 400-500 rwhp beast that does 10s in the 1/4 but I only spent a grand total of ~$2700 to get me there (plus I still have radio and A/C) .

....and yes I am kinda bragging (but in a good way ) cause I'm happy . I know some of you guys can relate. Hey Dan, we should have a computer race and see which PC loads up Windows the fastest and then we can talk about it in the Street Racers Corner forum (j/k)

[StangFlyer]

Awesome Foxy Body! I'm sure you're geeked about it. I sure was when I first fired up my new screamer. It's funny because it doesn't "seem" tremendously faster than a healthy normal system... UNTIL you do something like digital video editing or gaming, then you see how much power it does have. I can crunch an entire 9 gig DVD worth of video data down to a 4.7 GB DVD-R in 15 minutes or less with this thing. Or, compress an entire DVD into a VideoCD file in 1.5 hrs with the highest quality settings. My old 1 Ghz Athlon system took FIVE OR SIX HOURS to do the same task. Now, that's a massive difference.

Any ways, that's a decent system you put together. If you put some killer cooling pieces in it (CPU, case fans, motherboard chipset, video card) you could definitely overclock it some too. That's the whole reason I went with the water cooling set-up, I wanted to keep it nice and cool while I overclocked the piss out of it. I've got my 3.06 Ghz hyperthreaded P4 jacked up to 3.6 Ghz and my Radeon 9700 Pro all in wonder jacked up to 420+ Mhz (volt modded, RAMsinked, water cooled, and a side duel 80mm fan cooler).

I can point you to some good overclocking info if you want it... Lemme know. Congrats on the new system. You'll have to do some bench marking with it.

[Fox Body]

Thanks Dan. I forgot to mention, my powr supply is only around 350 W, but I'm not running alot of peripherals anyway, so it'll be fine. Yeah, I read up on yours in the last thread you had about your comp specs. You got like the best video card that's out (or at least second best).

I've been playing Unreal II and I must say that the reviews (by PC Gamer) are misleading. I love the game, even if it doesn't quite follow the same story line as U I. Glad I bought it.

I am always concerned about CPU temp. Mine doesn't usually get hot at all unless it is hot inside the house (which is not usual). The thought of water cooling crossed my mine, but I'm just about all spent out. Plus, I gotta save money for mods for the car . Therefore, I don't wanna mess around with overclocking it. See, your's is running high boost and intercooled. I gotta keep down the boost cause I'm not and I don't want it to detonate.

[cyberstang5.0]

Computer Specifications:

·· Motherboard - EPOX EP-8RDA+ Built in LAN/IEEE 1394/USB 2.0
·· CPU - AMD 2600+ 2.09 GHZ 333 FSB
·· Memory – DDR 1024 MB
·· Video Card – ATI 9500 Pro AGP 8x 128MB
·· TV Tuner – Hauppauge Win-TV PVR250 Multi-Encoder w/remote
·· Sound Card – Creative Labs 32-bit PCI
·· Modem – Motorola 56k V90 modem (dial-up sucks )
·· Rom 01 - Pioneer 52X cdrom/16X DVD
·· Rom 02 - LG 24X10X40 cd-Writer
·· Drive 01 – 120 GB Maxtor HDD
·· Drive 02 – Zip250 100/250 MB disk
·· Drive 03 – 1.44 MB Floppy disk
·· Fans – 2x90mm and 1x120mm case Fans
·· ViewSonic UltraBrite A90f+ 19" Flatscreen CRT Monitor (love the "ultrabrite" for gaming option) -- I prefer CRT over trueflats for gaming purposes

Getting performance parts for your car is a lot like modding out your stang Allways gives me a chubby Looks like you've got a sweet system there. Did you already buy the parts, or is that what your planning on getting? If you haven't bought the parts yet, I hope you don't mind if I make a few suggestions...

-Go with Intel on the chip (stick with Epox for the MoBo). I use to be a diehard AMD fan myself, but since Intel released their 533FSB, AMD just can't keep up. Not to mention, AMD runs super HOT. It's difficult to keep my 1.7 GHz AMD cool. My 2.4 GHz Intel runs at a beauitful 34c under load.
-I would go with Radeon for the Video Card. They are the "NEW" gaming card. They spank Invidia's cards like they were V6 slowmaros.
-If you can afford it, try to get a Trinitron Monitor from Sony. My 21" is mind boggling clear.

My GF is always complains at me for upgrading my PC. I guess that what you get when your a computer nerd for a living

[StangFlyer]

Yup... Your 350 watt supply will do fine if you're not running a bunch of drives and stuff. I went with a 500W set-up because I have loads of fans, drives, etc... Also, CPU temp is highly dependent on ambient air temperature in the room. Even with the water cooling system this is true. I mostly keep things cool running the A/C, so it's usually around 72ish in here. Right now I'm running at 85F/29C on the digital temp readout! Under full gaming load it'll still stay around 32C though, and that's overclocked almost 600 Mhz.

Cyberstang is right, you can't beat a Trinitron 21"! That's what I have also. I run at 1792 x 1344 resolution, which allows me to run multiple windows and size them so I can see everything all at once without switching between windows. Or, see an entire document all at once without scrolling pages, etc... I run my browser, email, IM (Trillian), and TV window all at once and they are laid out so I can see everything at once with room to spare. But, the nicest thing is when you do development work because it allows you to have a lot more code without wrapping or going off the side of the screen. Or, in Photoshop you have a lot more room to work with and see a whole web site layout at once (and even zoom in once and still see it all on one screen).

[ed1371]

Decent rig! What do you consider "no problem" though while you are running HL2?

I am a gamer with my puter first and foremost, and as a gamer, your puter is lacking in 2 areas, the CPU and the video card.

They are OK but a 2ghz proc and the ati 9500 will do the bare minimum to run the new games that are coming out. Spend a little more and at least get a better video card.

[Hethj7]

Originally posted by Dan McClain
Awesome Foxy Body!

hehe....I think Dan likes you .

[Fox Body]

Originally posted by cyberstang5.0
Getting performance parts for your car is a lot like modding out your stang Allways gives me a chubby Looks like you've got a sweet system there. Did you already buy the parts, or is that what your planning on getting? If you haven't bought the parts yet, I hope you don't mind if I make a few suggestions...

-Go with Intel on the chip (stick with Epox for the MoBo). I use to be a diehard AMD fan myself, but since Intel released their 533FSB, AMD just can't keep up. Not to mention, AMD runs super HOT. It's difficult to keep my 1.7 GHz AMD cool. My 2.4 GHz Intel runs at a beauitful 34c under load.
-I would go with Radeon for the Video Card. They are the "NEW" gaming card. They spank Invidia's cards like they were V6 slowmaros.
-If you can afford it, try to get a Trinitron Monitor from Sony. My 21" is mind boggling clear.

My GF is always complains at me for upgrading my PC. I guess that what you get when your a computer nerd for a living

Thanks for the info, good to know. Everything is here and put together and working except that right now I only have 512 mb of memory. I'm picking up the additional 512 mb from my brother on Friday. Also, the video card is already ordered and on the way (didn't have enough money for a higher quality one). Right now I have a 64 meg GeForce 4 MMX (yes, MMX), but it does okay. I should have the complete product in less than 2 weeks.

Dan, 1792 x 1344 resolution? Man, I'm running 1280 X 1024 and I thought I was a bigshot .

ed1371, well, I'm a diehard Mustanger with my Mustangs first and foremost, guitars and cello (and music) second, and my gaming 3rd. I just really want a "solid" system. Not top, not bottom--- just solid. I think I succeeded. When I say "no problem", my experience with HL compared to MANY other similar type games is that I never had any real problems running the game on low end computers. I'm talking 330-500MHz processor, 512 ram, mid grade vid card, 640x480 to 800x600 resolution and still able to play with little to no choppiness. Whatever the programmers did, they did it well and I expect them to do it again. I've seen the graphics for HF2 and I'm pretty sure that with my setup, running 1024x768 res, high detail everything (video and sound) will do just fine with no choppiness (except maybe a LITTLE bit in high action parts of the game--- but I'm okay with just a LITTLE.....). Hey, I could be a little off, but it's like this... money is an issue and my budget is topped out. For the total price I paid, I think I did GREAT. It's like the stang, I'd like high 9s, but I ain't got the money, so I'll settle for low 12s .
I'm in no way retaliating negatively at you, I appreciate your frankness and honesty. I'm just discussing my reasoning behind the setup I chose, that's all.

Hethj7, yeah, I saw that. But I'm sure Dan's not a leg humper.

[StangFlyer]

[joe4speed]

I'm jealous!!!!!

[cyberstang5.0]

Originally posted by Fox Body
Dan, 1792 x 1344 resolution? Man, I'm running 1280 X 1024 and I thought I was a bigshot .

I run 1600x1200. Dan not only has a bigger motor, he has a bigger resoultion

[KiltedBanshees93GT]

Jesus, I must be driving the pinto of PCs, 366mhz w/ a 4 gig HD. Wow.
*Slinking away*
Congrats on the new system, sounds sweet, I miss gaming...mmmmwarcrack3mmmmmm,
J