# new system i want!!!



## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

this is what i want!!

iv got exspemsive taste! and i love thermaltake produts!

thermaltake black armor case with a clear side pannel.

abit an8 sli fatal1ty mobo

AMD 64 x2 4400

Corsair XMS3200 2GB (2x1GB) 400Mhz Non-ECC Pro Series with Activity LEDs 

DiamondMax Plus10 250Gb 16Mb Cache ATA133 Hard Disk Drive 2 of them

ATI X800 GTO 256MB PCI-E DVI/TVO

Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 LS Sound Card 

NEC ND4550 16x DVD+/-RW/RAM Double Layer Black

Creative Inspire T7900 7.1

FP931 19IN LCD 1280X1024 75HZ 16MS SILVER/BLACK

Thermaltake Silent Butterfly Pure Power 480W - Xeser Edition

Thermaltake Big Water Se water cooling


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## Mithrilhall (Mar 28, 2001)

So...what's the damage $$$?


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

about £1500 which is about $2625!!!!!!


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

Why did you go ATA133 instead of Sata?


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## ekim68 (Jul 8, 2003)

What are you going to do with it?

Games?


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

loserOlimbs, thankyou, iv just done reserch into that, and now ill have to change what HHD i get

and ekim68 , yea for games. web design, media that sort of stuff


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

I am looking at the A8N ultra myself, and from what I hear it has great onboard audio and was suggested i wouldn't need to use my existing audigy 2 zs. just something you may want to look into and save you some $$$

Late,


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

cheers. i supose i could try the onboard sound and then if im not happy with it later i could buy audigy 2 zs or different.

thanks AvvY


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

The ASUS A8N as I remember it has 7.1 surround sound and is supposed to sound great.


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

The Abit Fatal1ty A8N sli has:


> AudioMax 7.1Ch
> S/PDIF In/Out


 for audio
whereas the A8N Ultra has:


> AudioMax 7.1Ch
> S/PDIF In/Out


- So the same stuff. the non sli fatal1ty board is only 5.1ch.

But as you suggested, try the onboard audio out first and if you don't like it go after the audigy 2 ls. for the fatal1ty board, i'd imagine it would be fairly reasonable -> that board is a monster with all its wizabang. heh, i take it you love your games.

late,


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

yea i used to play quite a few games but havnt that much recently, (my machine isnt that up to date to handle new ones) so when i finnaly get it all bought ill be playing again.

im goin to order my first piece tomoro.

The Thermaltake Armoro case.

carnt wait!


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Yeah, I wanted that case myself, but just a little to expensive. Good luck 

Late,


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

Just Orderd it. should get it within this week 

I carnt wait!!!!!


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

got my case this morning.
looks ace!!! ill try and get some pictures up soon.

goin to order a Silent Butterfly Pure Power 480W With Black Housing - Xeser Edition tonight 

shuld look good with new case!!!


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

just order my power supply!!! should get it friday!!!  hehe, im dead excited!


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

nice work. keep us posted! -> i'd love to see some pics and of you putting it together.

Late,


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

got powersupply this morning!

looks ace! i carnt wait till its dark so i can see it all lit up!

next either -

Thermaltake Bigwater SE - water cooling thing
Or
DiamondMax Plus10 SATA NCQ 250Gb 16Mb - hard drive

any sugestion which first?


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

I'd get the hdd. Then get the cooling later on once the system is running so you can see if you really need water cooling.

Late,


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

true, and i do need more space.


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

loserOlimbs said:


> The ASUS A8N as I remember it has 7.1 surround sound and is supposed to sound great.


It does sound great--you can't beat it with any sound card.


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

See the thread I did on watercooling in this forum. I researched it a lot and the Swiftech System got much better ratings than the Thermaltake Big Water. Don't get me wrong, I have a Thermaltake Case and fans as well so I like them, but the Swiftech system is better, albeit more expensive, but still reasonably priced. 

But as someone noted you may not need it. I tried to cool my system with air cooling, adding fans, changing the heatsink, etc. to no avail. Just make sure you can return whatever heatsink you try, if it doesn't work.


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

iv decided on a new sound card!!!

well as-seam im getting the fatal1ty an8 sli, i thought i should go for the 

'Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS'

and while im at that i saw the 

'Fatal1ty X800 XL'

how about that!!!!


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

x_saosin_x said:


> got powersupply this morning!
> 
> looks ace! i carnt wait till its dark so i can see it all lit up!
> 
> ...


Hard drive first. Consider the WD Raptor 10,000 RPM 74 Gigs--its more expensive (about $150) but I am not a big fan of large hard drives for the main drive--I'd spend the money on the speedier Raptor and then use a second hard drive for storage. You don't want a bunch of large video file on your main drive anyway, which is the only way you'll fill up 74 Gigs.


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

Mulder said:


> See the thread I did on watercooling in this forum. I researched it a lot and the Swiftech System got much better ratings than the Thermaltake Big Water. Don't get me wrong, I have a Thermaltake Case and fans as well so I like them, but the Swiftech system is better, albeit more expensive, but still reasonably priced.
> 
> But as someone noted you may not need it. I tried to cool my system with air cooling, adding fans, changing the heatsink, etc. to no avail. Just make sure you can return whatever heatsink you try, if it doesn't work.


yea i saw that thread you did, but i duno, i was sold on the led's and front drive bay and stuff! it was like been a kidd in a sweet shop


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

x_saosin_x said:


> iv decided on a new sound card!!!
> 
> well as-seam im getting the fatal1ty an8 sli, i thought i should go for the
> 
> ...


As was mentioned these new MOBOs have absolutely outstanding onboard sound--I see no need for a sound card unless there is some special purpose for it. Hook your speakers up and take a listen to the onboard sound first. Soundcard is the LAST thing I'd buy after everything else and only if you actually need it because the sound will be much more dependent on your speaker setup , not the sound card. I'll bet you can't tell the difference between the onboard and a Sound Blaster Card--I sure can't.


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

x_saosin_x said:


> it was like been a kidd in a sweet shop


LOL--I know exactly what you're talking about--my wife would love to see NewEgg go out of business! 

BTW--I think that phrase is "Kid in a Candy Store"--it doesn't translate well to "kidd in sweet shop". 

But that Big Water System will certainly be superior to air cooling. If nothing else, your computer will run quieter even if not less cool. After having a water cooled system, I wouldn't go back to air--not unless they found a way to do it much quieter and more efficiently.


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

Mulder said:


> Hard drive first. Consider the WD Raptor 10,000 RPM 74 Gigs--its more expensive (about $150) but I am not a big fan of large hard drives for the main drive--I'd spend the money on the speedier Raptor and then use a second hard drive for storage. You don't want a bunch of large video file on your main drive anyway, which is the only way you'll fill up 74 Gigs.


hmm fair point, ill look into that,

iv neva had Sata before and only done abit or research into it,

but can you have more that 2 hhd drives?
like 3 sata, or 2 sata and one ata??

i duno much on that,

then if thats possible id get the WD Raptor 10,000 RPM 74 Gigs (im not botherd about price, the skys the limit) and id use that then for windows and documents

then 2nd hdd for games and programs, and my website stuff.

and then 3rd for my media section.


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

Mulder said:


> BTW--I think that phrase is "Kid in a Candy Store"--it doesn't translate well to "kidd in sweet shop".  QUOTE]
> 
> ahh over here in england we don't have
> candy, we have sweets
> ...


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

x_saosin_x said:


> hmm fair point, ill look into that,
> 
> iv neva had Sata before and only done abit or research into it,
> 
> ...


You can have any combination of SATA and PATA (i.e., IDE) as long as you have the connections for it, at least I can on my MOB) so check the MOBO specs.

You want to run your OS, games and progams on the Raptor because of its speed. Store the large files (like video and music) on a second drive. use a 3rd drive to back up. I have a SATA external connection on my MOBO and you can buy them for your slots as well. My 3rd drive is an external SATA (much quicker then USB or FIREWIRE)--its a regular internal drive, but put in an external enclosure. I use that as a backup for critical data because I can detach it--its plug and play--just plug it back in and the computer recognizes it without a reboot.


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

just checking out the western digital raptor. just a few thing...
8mb cache instead of 16mb on the maxtor
no NCQ
only one they have is the 74gig

would that matter?

and i dont think id have eoughf room if i put my os, games and programs all on that drive.

and it says "WD Raptor is a new class of hard drive that matches SCSI reliability and performance"

whats SCSI, iv seen it about but dont know anything about it


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

You should be able to have as many SATA drives as you have connections, same with IDE.

If you go 4 SATA, and 3 PATA, and its still not enough... buy a RAID PCI card, they make them for both SATA and IDE as well.


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

so your saying you can mix and match sata with ata?


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

ha, just seen that it has 4 sata connectors, should be enoughf then! ha,

just this board i have at the mo only has 2.


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

Yeah, you can mix'em!

There is also the SATAII choice, but don't worry too much about it, SATA is fast as it is, especially when your OS is on it. Windows will load faster then you can blink!


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

x_saosin_x said:


> just checking out the western digital raptor. just a few thing...
> 8mb cache instead of 16mb on the maxtor
> no NCQ
> only one they have is the 74gig
> ...


Most gamers prefer the Raptor as it is fastor than drives with larger caches.

Ok, I'm really going to get you intrigued now!  What a lot of gamers do is run two raptorts in a "RAID 1" configuration thereby increasing the speed and HDD capacity (Windows sees them as 1 drive at 148 Gig). That's the ultimate because then Windows doesn't have to wait until its finished writing one sector to start another--its writing to two drives simultaneously and thus increasing the speed significantly over a stand alone Raptor--it would be like greased lightning.

As to the dilemmas with game fitting all on one Raptor drive (if you go that way) just split it up--put the games with higher speed requirements on the Raptor or put all your games on the second drive and keep the Raptor for the OS and your programs. There is no rule that you have to have all programs or all games on one drive--there is no advantage to that EXCEPT in a situation where a game or program needs to access the root drive then obviously its better off being stored on that drive.

What I do is split my main drive into two partitions and keep the OS on one partition all by itself (the "C" drive)--my programs go on the other partition. This keeps the OS operating more efficiently. I don't know that it really makes much difference anymore--I started doing that in the days when the drives were much slower and before NTFS so having two partitions kept the OS from running on a drive that was fragmenting much more often (as the drive with programs would) and is just a habit now. With the speed of these new drives (especially the Raptor) and the NTFS efficiency I'm not sure it really does anything.


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

Mulder said:


> Most gamers prefer the Raptor as it is fastor than drives with larger caches.
> 
> Ok, I'm really going to get you intrigued now!  What a lot of gamers do is run two raptorts in a "RAID 1" configuration thereby increasing the speed and HDD capacity (Windows sees them as 1 drive at 148 Gig). That's the ultimate because then Windows doesn't have to wait until its finished writing one sector to start another--its writing to two drives simultaneously and thus increasing the speed significantly over a stand alone Raptor--it would be like greased lightning.
> 
> ...


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## Rukee (Nov 15, 2005)

I`ve run RAID before in a gamer machine and really didn`t notice anything diffrent while gaming. A single SATA drive will be fast enough for most people.


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

x_saosin_x said:


> i like that sound of that but still dont really understand "RAID 1"


What it means is that Windows treats two drives as 1 so that it can read and write to the drives separtely thereby increasing speed--that's the upside. The downside is that if one drive fails, you lose the data on both drives, so you need to have your critical data backed up. Obviously, if you have only your programs and games on that drive--you don't care because you can resintall them all. But if you have data you want to save, you need to back it up to another drive (which you should be doing even without RAID).


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

rite, now i understand alittle more,

but how do you do it? is it some thing you do when you create a partition? or is it somthing else?

cheers


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

x_saosin_x said:


> rite, now i understand alittle more,
> 
> but how do you do it? is it some thing you do when you create a partition? or is it somthing else?
> 
> cheers


Its something else. Your MOBO manual will have instructions on creating a RAID array (or at least it should). Also, people here can help you do that. I have not set on up myself (although I was seriously considering it).

BTW--you don't really need a RAID array, I just mentioned it because its give you more space (you can use two Raptors to add up to 146). But as someone noted, a SATA drive with a 16 MEG Cache should be fine.


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## Anon23 (Mar 18, 2005)

If this hasnt been stated. Take the product name and paste to compare on www.pricewatch.com !! Find the lowest prices. You can save up to 500 easy. For systems with alot of components that is.

Oops it looks like you bought it already. 8) Good luck! If you have any more to buy. Use new egg to find what you want for the most part then use Pricewatch with the Manufacturers ID on the item to look up prices.

I saved alot since i could see what online store absolutely had the lowest prices. And if you get to know the stores enough you can find which ones have sales and get stuff cheaper.


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

Anon23 - im from england so i carnt use them sites or delivery wold be expensive.

but i only have my case and powersupply at the moment, so i still need to buy alot of it yet. but cheers tho.


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

x_saosin_x said:


> Anon23 - im from england


That is a HUGE disadvantage!


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

narr, i don't think so.
i think all the pricers over hear are reasonable


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## Space Cowboy (Apr 19, 2005)

To lazy to read the whole thread but I've run into a brick wall. Windows XP SP2 *will not* recognize 4 gig of ram. I've been playin with it for a few weeks now.

Just so ya know


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

x_saosin_x said:


> narr, i don't think so.
> i think all the pricers over hear are reasonable


I was joking--I meant its a huge disadvantage to be British in general!


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## bonzobob999 (Nov 24, 2004)

Mulder said:


> What it means is that Windows treats two drives as 1 so that it can read and write to the drives separtely thereby increasing speed--that's the upside. *The downside is that if one drive fails, you lose the data on both drives,* so you need to have your critical data backed up. Obviously, if you have only your programs and games on that drive--you don't care because you can resintall them all. But if you have data you want to save, you need to back it up to another drive (which you should be doing even without RAID).


With a raid 1 configuration (mirroring) if a drive fails its possible to add another drive and rebuild the array. With the Raid 0 configuration (Striping) if a drive fails you lose your data as its interleaved between the two drives.......thats how I understand it anyway. Besides if you had one big IDE drive and it failed you would lose your data anyway, unless you have pot's of money to spend on data recovery.
I find the Raid array I have helps with large files video editing etc but can't say I notice a difference in gaming or browsing.
Have a look at these sites x_saosin_x you might find what you need at the right price. 

http://www.overclockers.co.uk
http://www.planetmicro.co.uk
http://www.savastore.com/

P.S. Mulder I can think of a worse place to come from....cough cough.


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

space cowboy - where on earth did you get that idea from, Ram hasnt been mentioned at alll!!, lol


bonzobob999 - thanks for thoese site. theres a pair of wd raptor on savastore.com for £200 ish. ill probually get them and run another 250gig hhd along side.

but ill have to get my head arround the Raid thing when it comes to it, ( i learn better when i do things).


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

RAID
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

Couldn't say it any better myself!


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

Thanks loserOlimbs. iv saved it in my favorites so i can come back and look at it when i come around to set them up.


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

No problem, we could sit here and write a million summaries on RAID for you, but why not just go straight for the head!


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

okay, some changers have been made for what im wanting to build, so heres the updated version.

Abi Fatal1ty An8 Sli - Mobo

AMD 64 x2 4400

Corsair XMS3200 2GB (2x1GB) 400Mhz Non-ECC Pro Series with Activity LEDs 

Western Digital Raptor 74 GB, 10000 RPM, 8 MB Cache x2 Raid thingy ma bob.

DiamondMax Plus10 SATA NCQ 250Gb 16Mb - Hard drive

Fatal1ty X800 XL 512mg - Graphics card

Fatal1ty Sound Blaster X-Fi

Creative Inspire T7900 - 7.1 Speakers 

Hyundai 19" Height Adjustable Black 12ms Internal PSU TFT Monitor

Thermaltake Big Water Se water cooling

NEC ND4550 16x DVD+/-RW/RAM Double Layer Black

----------------------------------------------------

Already got my case - Thermaltake armor blac w/side side pannel
and power supply - Thermaltake Silent Butterfly Pure Power 480W, Black

just need to wait till after christmas to start buying more part. goto spend money on others first, lol


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

Great, we'll be here, even after Christmas.


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

cool, cool.
it seems like forever untill ill get it finnished. lol.

oh and iv just taken some pics of what my machine looks like at the moment with the new case and psu

have they gota be hosted somewhere else to get a pic on here?


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

ahh yea. seen it now.


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

Nice, nice and clean, aren't you glad you have the round cables?


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

cheers. yea the coloured cable wraps were on with the psu.
still need tiding up alittle. ill be glad when i get SATA cables instead of chunky IDE cables.
still need a floopy disk drive (black to match) even tho i dont use it.
need to get my dvd rom thing with black case to match, grey looks alttle out of place.

the fan controle on the from is in silver with looks outa place but i suppose is acceptable.

i was also thinking of aking the metal cage inside out and spray painting it black, because it looks outa place been silver/grey ish inside.

but thats all to come after christmas.


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## stumonky (Mar 23, 2004)

This is a good read cuz I am gettting ready to build one similar myself.

One question tho - x_saosin_x why not go with 2GB of RAM if you are building da beast?

I've been getting lazy doing custom builds (too busy at work) so I spec'ed this one out...

Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ01 Workstation Aluminum Case 
SONY DWQ-28A DUAL FORMAT 16X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER 
SONY 16X DVD-ROM
AMD ATHLON64 X2 4400 CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK + 3 EXTRA CASE FANS 
FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 6in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer 
Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM 8MB Cache WD740GD
Maxtor 250GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Hard Drive 
EVGA nForce4 SLI Chipset SATA RAID Dual PCI-E Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,&7.1Audio 
Corsair Value Select 2048 MB (512MBx4) PC3200 400MHz Dual Channel DDR MEMORY
OS: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional X64 Edition 
PRO_WIRING: Professional Wiring for All WIRINGs Inside The System Chasis with High Performance Thermal Compound on CPU [+19] 
TEMP: THERMAL TEMPERATURE LCD DISPLAY WITH 3X FAN CONTROLLER [+12] (SILVER COLOR) 
VIDEO: NVIDIA Geforce 7800 GT 256MB 16X PCI Express Video Card [+267] 
VIDEO2: NVIDIA Geforce 7800 GT 256MB 16X PCI Express Video Card [+320] 
_PRICE: (+2166) from CyberPower


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

stumonky said:


> One question tho - x_saosin_x why not go with 2GB of RAM if you are building da beast?


i am getting 2GB of ram

Corsair XMS3200 2GB (2x1GB) 400Mhz Non-ECC Pro Series with Activity LEDs


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

bonzobob999 said:


> With a raid 1 configuration (mirroring) if a drive fails its possible to add another drive and rebuild the array. With the Raid 0 configuration (Striping) if a drive fails you lose your data as its interleaved between the two drives.......thats how I understand it anyway. Besides if you had one big IDE drive and it failed you would lose your data anyway, unless you have pot's of money to spend on data recovery.


Yes, you are correct--I meant RAID-0, which doubles the drive size, but with no mirroring, so no backup as with RAID-1 and other RAID configurations (5 & 10, i.e.). I frankly see no reason for anything other than RAID-0 for a home computer because cost is a big factor--you'd have to buy 4 Raptors to get the same thing as 2 with RAID-0. Just make sure you have your data files backed up.



bonzobob999 said:


> P.S. Mulder I can think of a worse place to come from....cough cough.


Wales?


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## bonzobob999 (Nov 24, 2004)

Mulder said:


> Wales?


Well as an Englishman I would have to agree but then again Moby would say the same about England.........kind of a hate your neighbor thing  some good pubs in Wales though.....................but I was thinking of somewhere a bit further away.


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

now now girls 

well i got my spray paint this morning to spray the silverish metal inside the case that is visible. might do it tonight.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

How about the new Power Mac, 2.5GHz Quad-core PowerPC G5

Specifications Image

* 2.5GHz Quad-core PowerPC G5
* 16GB 533 DDR2 ECC SDRAM- 8x2GB
* 2x500GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
* QUADRO FX 4500 512MB SDRAM
* Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
* Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
* Apple USB Modem
* 16x SuperDrive DL (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* Fibre Channel PCI Express Card (w/ SFP-SFP cable)
* Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse - U.S English
* Mac OS X - U.S. English
* Final Cut Express HD + Motion 2 preinstalled
* Accessory kit

All this for only 
Subtotal $23,968.00


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

:O ..... o...m....g... *salivates*
16gb ram...holly molly!
4 core 2.5ghz proc?
2x500gb....
wow....

just wow...


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Ok AvvY maybe this one here.

http://www.alienware.com/Configurator_Pages/mj-12_7750.aspx?SysCode=PC-MJ12-7750&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT
Only $11,727.00

Or this one

http://www.boxxtech.com/products/8200.asp
Boxx 8200 Series
6 HDD Bay Chassis / SCSI Drives / Windows OS
Dual XEON DP 3.2GHz, 2MB Cache, 800MHz FSB 
8GB DDR2-400 ECC (8 DIMMS)
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4000 SDI PCI-e [+$5796] 

Only $27,854.00

Then I could get some RenderBOXX's and add more to the price. 
http://www.boxxtech.com/products/rendernodes.asp
Config to $5,950.00 each.


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

That's insane. So much money... I'm only spending around $1500AUD on my next box, so thats probably around $1000USD


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

But it is nice to dream.  
I mean I picked almost everything that cost the most when I config them and then added this and that. 
I mean really [+$5796] for a video card NVIDIA Quadro FX 4000 SDI PCI-e


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Lol, I am being cheap only spending just under $300AUD for my graphix card. heh.

x_saosin_x you got the an8 fatality sli board right? What's the "Guru Panel" like? apparently it is bundled with your board. I am thinking of buying it for my AN8 Ultra.

Late,


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

He hee be too. I wonder just what some of those graphix cards do that make them cost so much because some are still just 64 or 128 or 256 MB so it is not the amount of memory on them.


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Well, I have been working hard to learn everything I can about them. it's not jusy the memory they have, but like a cpu, the clock speed and like ram the frequency. ontop of that there are pipelines and such wich all contribute to how fast data can be transfered/displayed. I am getting a Gigabyte x800 256mb. Now there are 512mb cards coming on to the market - not to mention sli setups.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

There is a whole lot of things a video card and a monitor can do.
Look at the attached file from SiSoftware Sandra and see my video card.
Look on the right of many of the lines and it says NO.
Now the video card has so many setting and other things but I do not play around with them or even know what some of the things are. 
So do not know if some things with the NO could be a YES if I changed things on the card.


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Here are the specs for that card:
(Yours is the 5200, but this is fairly close)

NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500
Graphics Core: 256-bit
Memory Interface:128-bit.
Memory Bandwidth:6.4 GB/sec.
Fill Rate: 1.1 billion texels/sec.
Vertices/sec.: 68 million
Pixels per Clock (peak): 4
Textures per Pixel: *16
RAMDACs 350 MHz


Which isn't too bad I don't think. Not a gamers card and wouldn't support anything too advanced, but it looks alright for most use and older games. I wouldn't bother upgrading unless you game. That seems to be the rule of thumb. Sure, Vista is going to be demanding on graphics, but nothing too much.

Have a look at my out put for my ATI 9800 Pro:


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Space Cowboy said:


> To lazy to read the whole thread but I've run into a brick wall. Windows XP SP2 *will not* recognize 4 gig of ram. I've been playin with it for a few weeks now.
> Just so ya know


Is this true? If so what IS the MAXIMUM supported memory of WinXP? This article http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2001oct/bch20011002008144.htm says it supports UP TO 4gig.

Edit: found this http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx so this is so, but you need to change the boot.ini file with the /3gb switch?


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

AvvY said:


> Lol, I am being cheap only spending just under $300AUD for my graphix card. heh.
> 
> x_saosin_x you got the an8 fatality sli board right? What's the "Guru Panel" like? apparently it is bundled with your board. I am thinking of buying it for my AN8 Ultra.
> 
> Late,


not yet, i posted abit ago saying ill have to wait till after christmas to buy parts.

only got case and powersupply at the moment


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Ah fair enough - I too am waiting till the new year to buy stuff, just incase new stuff is released and prices drop - not to mention post xmas/new years sales.

Let us know what the "Guru Panel" is like when you get it - I will probably have to order it direct from abit, doesn't look like a stocked part around here.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

I am not a gamer either and don't understand all that cards can do. Just got one with 128 DDR memory. But I looked at your and your see that I have things listed that you don't and you have things listed I don't but I still don't know what it means. 
I am sure if I did know more then I could have a better card that would work on images programs and the 3D image programs like bryce, poser etc so that the programs think and do things better and faster. But bet they casy more for those cards too. I bet also some of those cards are for CAD programs and do things that I would never use so it work be a waste to buy them no matter how good of a card they are.


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

finnished spraying my case!

looks alot better now, i think.

ill take a pic when my batteries have recharged for my camera.


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

Hey, hewee.

Yeah, the Quattro cards are for programs like CAD or MAYA.

Your paying big money for the instruction set on the card.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Thanks loserOlimbs. Being not a gamer but someone that like image programs I will have to get me a good card that will do what I do but not cost a arm and leg.


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

*cough* hijack *cough*


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Yeah - I appologise for my part


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

At least its a good hijack!


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## pc_doctor (Jan 22, 2005)

x_saosin_x said:


> narr, i don't think so.
> i think all the pricers over hear are reasonable


Hi, I found the UK site http://www.pricewatch.dealtime.co.uk/xCH-components - there you go - we are proud to be british now


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## x_saosin_x (Oct 13, 2005)

cheers pc doctor!!

that usefull!! will use it to find the cheapest parts for differnt shops.


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## pc_doctor (Jan 22, 2005)

x_saosin_x said:


> cheers pc doctor!!
> 
> that usefull!! will use it to find the cheapest parts for differnt shops.


x_saosin_x - i also found www.lowestonweb.com - i found this site cheaper for processors. Let me know how it goes - im building one next year for the new Operating System


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