I can still hear you...

[samm]

Oops

[Bokishi]

2GB DDR3 can be had on the cheap currently. WHy the hell do you need 8GB??

[Kaftan Barlast]

2GB DDR3 can be had on the cheap currently. WHy the hell do you need 8GB??

 

(as I would like at least 8gb of ram for some gfx applications)

 

 

You need tons and more tons of RAM to do high-res renderings, simulations and some other neat stuff.

[Gorth]

You need tons and more tons of RAM to do high-res renderings, simulations and some other neat stuff.

Nah, it's only for hobby purposes. My current PC has 2gb and is groaning under the pressure (wearing my poor old hd's down with the constant fiddling with the pagefile). So I figured that Vista would use 2gb for itself, 2gb more (4gb total) would be no improvement, so lets go for what it is possible to squeeze in there (on a non server/workstation motherboard).

[Gorth]

Both Nvidia and ATI have passively cooled GPU's. Both get very hot but Nvidia's version (of their fastest passively cooled card) breaks the 100 degrees Celsius barrier and that is just insane. I'd aim for a Sapphire HD3870 Ultimate:

 

http://www.sapphiretech.com/sn/products/pr...ew.php?gpid=217

This one must have leprosy. Noone, and I mean *noone* carries this particular model. The other similar models with fan cooling are all there allright, but not this one (and Sapphire doesn't do direct sales).

 

Time for plan B

 

Any good cards suitable for watercooling out there?

[Gorth]

I've also heard that Samsung's ordinary HD's are the most silent of the HD's out there. The Samsung Spinpoint F1 is probably the best 1TB drive out there right now. It's crushes the competition in gaming performance while being a bit more silent than Hitachi's offerings (I use Hitachi..), but much louder than Western Digital's Caviar GP. So a slow WD GP or a fast Samsung F1..

Bought a Samsung Spinpoint 1TB

[Gorth]

My casing and my powersupply showed up yesterday (Friday)

 

Unfortunately, no motherboard yet, so no testing if any of it is DOA.

 

The case looks nice, both on the inside and the outside. It really looks like a lot of thought went into making it as silent as possible, yet still have some air flow. Not cutting my hands to shreds inside the casing while my XL hands were rummaging around, loosening screws and trying how the powersupply fit was a nice change of pace too. "Detachable" HDD bays was a nice move too. Mind you, I've only had 3 PC's in my life, all with noname, cheap casings.

 

Looking for ram, I going to order 8 Gb of corsair ram. I just wonder if there is much of a difference between the 1333 and the 1600 version (looks like the same latency). Is one better than the other for overclocking? I've never tried overclocking before

 

As for CPU, I've decided to bite the bullet and go for liquid cooling, so I might as well get something decent, rather than downclock and oversized cpu. I am currently looking at a QX9650, QX9775 and the much cheaper Q9550, wondering why the latter cost half the asking price of the first (and only a fraction of the middle one)?!? Again, any of these better suited for overclocking?

 

Any blu-ray drives out there that are particularly good or bad (I don't think noise levels are an issue, as they are only running intermittently)?

[mkreku]

The only difference I know between the different CPU's you mentioned is that the ones with an X in their name are completely unlocked and are factory clocked higher than the cheap part. The cheapest CPU is hardware locked in some way to not be as overclocking friendly as the others. If I remember correctly.

[samm]

Good to hear the case seems good! Chances growing I'll get one of these too.

 

The X CPUs are from the "Extreme"-Line, standing for "Extremely high prices" I never bothered looking up anything about them, so I can't help there.

Looking for ram, I going to order 8 Gb of corsair ram. I just wonder if there is much of a difference between the 1333 and the 1600 version (looks like the same latency). Is one better than the other for overclocking? I've never tried overclocking before

Once again the same warning: Overclocking (if it works ) results in higher power usage, results in bigger heat, results in more noise created when cooling the parts. Anyway, if the 1600 version has the same latencies as the 1333, it should far better usable for overclocking, meaning that you can push its frequency up to 1600 without losing data access speed. Edited June 21, 2008 by samm

[Gorth]

Tiny (frustrating) stumbling block... who has ever heard about monthly transaction limits on internet banking before?!?

 

I've received and assembled the stuff I got so far. Apart from the power supply and casing being a *very* tight fit, it looks nice. Motherboard fit in easily, Harddrive resting on little rubber thingies, cabling organised on the backside of the "backplate" on which the board is fastened. All neat and tidy and no loose cables all over the place. Had to make up my mind which of the modular cables to attach to the power supply too.

 

Waiting for another 4 days in shopping carts around the internet is an Intel QX9650, 2 sets of Corsair TW3X4G1333C9DHX, a Sony BWU200S optical drive and a Thermaltake Orchestra CIW0097.

 

Since I can't squeeze that in, in a single months transactions without upgrading my account to a small business account (since there has to be room for other expenses), I'll need to split even that in two shopping sessions. Looking at the bright side, it gives me the chance to wait for the second batch of the new 4870 ATI cards (I am always reluctant to buy first production runs).

 

oh, and maybe I should look for a new bank too...

[Gorth]

I really should be ashamed of myself, decided to buy the cheapest of the cheap, el cheapo gfx card (the less than 50$ kind, but with passive cooling) and borrowed a core 2 duo plus 2gb of ram from a buddy. just so I could get the thing up and running (and so I could see if what I had bought so far actually worked). An old, rickety LG DVD drive that can only read DVD-R is pretending to be the optical drive.

 

Ordered the QX9650, the Corsair TW3X4G1333C9DHX (two of them), and the Sony BWU200S blu-ray writer. The cooling solution I had in mind is out of stock. Call for details

 

Nevermind, that is a problem for another day. I am not going to bother much with cooling until I get the gfx card(s) that I want. The Sapphire 4870 looks very nice at the moment, if not available quite yet.

 

Now, do I get a Vista Ultimate 64bit OEM or Full Retail?...

[samm]

What's the difference in price and content (OEM vs Retail)?

 

It's cool reading about the progress of things

[Gorth]

What's the difference in price and content (OEM vs Retail)?

 

It's cool reading about the progress of things

Thanks

 

I hope to join the "Post your specs" thread some day soon.

 

The price difference is approx. 250$ vs 450$ (australian, about 0.95 USD per Aussie dollar). Same product, same features. One is tied to your motherboard and can not be used on other computers (once activated), should you decide to relocate your system.

[Moatilliatta]

The price difference is approx. 250$ vs 450$ (australian, about 0.95 USD per Aussie dollar). Same product, same features. One is tied to your motherboard and can not be used on other computers (once activated), should you decide to relocate your system.

I imagine your interest, or lack of, in Windows 7 could be a factor when making this decision?

[Gorth]

Partially. I was never too excited about Vista, but I figured it might be a better choice for a brand new machine. I need a new (64bit) OS anyway, since my old 32bit XP pro would be wasted on it (like, using 3 out of 8 gb of ram)

 

Edit: Moot point, bought the full retail version today

[Gorth]

I gave up trying to get the Thermaltake cooling tower. Went with a Zalman Reserator 2 instead. Fan less of course for maximum silence

 

Now just waiting for already ordered bits and pieces to arrive. I noticed that the ATI4870 has been added to the various online stores product pages, but still nothing in stock. For something that looks like identical cards, there seems to be a bit of a price difference between Sapphire and Gigabyte cards. Anyone know why?

[samm]

For something that looks like identical cards, there seems to be a bit of a price difference between Sapphire and Gigabyte cards. Anyone know why?

Any links? If they really are identical, go for the cheaper one, of course Sometimes things like guarantee etc. make a difference, sometimes it's faster clocks, different coolers, sometimes it's just the brand.

[mkreku]

For something that looks like identical cards, there seems to be a bit of a price difference between Sapphire and Gigabyte cards. Anyone know why?

I use Sapphire and I'm very happy with them. Gigabyte has a rock solid reputation too with ATI cards, so you can't exactly go wrong here.

 

Sometimes (not in this case because of GDDR5) the difference is in different brands of RAM modules on the card. Some manufacturers buy cheap RAM that gets very hot and is slower, other companies buy more costly RAM. Sometimes they have different brands of fans. Sometimes they use cheap conductors and stuff. Things like that may vary. Oh, and check what's in the box too. Gigabyte is probably more generous with software bundles and perhaps even cables/adapters.

[Gorth]

Thanks, I'll see if I can figure out what is in the boxes

 

Unfortunately, I am going to be working overseas for a couple of weeks now, so I won't have time to play with my new "toys"

[mkreku]

Two new suggestions:

 

4870x2: http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/07...870.x2.in.july/

 

Water cooled 4870: http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/07...er.cooled.4870/

[mkreku]

Ok, I am now a proud owner of a Sapphire Radeon HD 4870. Just a warning: it is NOT silent! It's pretty quiet when idle, but when you start up the computer, the GPU fan threatens you with a sound worse than a vacuum cleaner. I've only tried a few games so far and it can handle anything without any slowdowns. Fortunately it doesn't speed up the fan at all, almost, when playing.

 

Going to try Crysis now.

[mkreku]

OK, played through the first level of Crysis.. I only used 1280x1024 (my monitor likes that resolution) but with everything on max, 4x antialiasing and not a single stutter anywhere! It's pretty powerful! Huge leap forward from my X1950XTX at least. Maybe I should try Crysis with 8x antialiasing? :D

[Gorth]

Well, lets just say, you definitely got me hooked on that watercooled solution you posted a link to previously

 

If not that one, it should still be possible to mod a card to use watercooling instead of fan, or is that a pipe dream?

 

So far, my little 50$ card is holding the line (I've only really pushed it a bit with NWN2). It actually supports directx 10.1 and Vista Aero

 

What is the difference between the x2 cards and 2 single cards in a CrossfireX setup (besides using a single slot)? The price looks the same for the two solutions.

[samm]

Actually, it is (was?) the common way to mod a card (plus the rest of the pc) to use watercooling, it's a new phenomenon that you can buy this already equipped.

 

The X2 card could theoretically be faster* than two separate cards in crossfire while using a little less power**. To know for sure, you'll have to wait for reviews to pop up, as well as drivers helping the 4xxx cards with the power saving features...

 

*: because the connection between the two chips could run not only via the on-card pci-e 2 interface similar to normal crossfire, but also be supported with an additional so far pretty mysterious "crossfire side port"

**: redundant units on two cards can be eliminated, and different, more efficient, parts could be used because the power draw of two 4870 on one card would be incredibly high and difficult to cool

Edited July 8, 2008 by samm

[Gorth]

Putting in an on-line order for a "Creative PCI EXPRESS X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series [22C-XFITFC]" and two "Samsung 500GB 'HD502IJ' HDD - SATA II 7200rpm" to set up in a 1TB RAID 0 (no idea what HDP is, they claim that the HDD is 20% faster).

Slight change of plan, as that particular model HDD was/is out of stock. Decided to go for two 640Gb disks instead.

 

Decided to bite the bullet and ordered a Sapphire ATI Radeon 4780X2 with 2Gb Ram. I've seen water cooling blocks that are ready for them, so I'll look around a bit and see if I can find an Australian reseller.

 

Now I just need to find a suitable monitor, then I am more or less done for now.