July 4, 201016 yr So a couple days ago, my computer locks up (first time EVER) and on restart it starts getting screwy. Now I can't even boot to safe mode. I've tried and tried and tried and only thing I can come up with is video card or HD issue. So I figure, nice....easy fix. Well, then July 4th rolls around and so do all the sales. Well, lets just say I went with a full on upgrade. :D Took advantage of the sales and my Iraq deployment money and put together a machine that I intend to keep building upon over the next few paychecks. Heres my current and old setup: Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600Video Card: GeForce 8800GT 512MBMobo: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3LHDD: WD 500GB 7200Ram: G.Skill 8GB DDR2PSU: CORSAIR 650WCase: Thermaltake ArmorOS: Vista 64bit Heres my NEW setup: Processor: Intel Core i7-920 BloomfieldVideo Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 480Mobo: EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 X58HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TBRam: G.Skill Ripjaw 6GB DDR3PSU: CORSAIR 850WCase: CORSAIR Obsidian 800DOS: Vista 64bit I will use the DVD drive out of my old computer in the new one, as well as my 2 Samsung 24" widescreens. Future plans include: Adding more ram, however the Mobo reads sticks best in 3's so 6GB works for now. 12 soon maybe? Also would like to SLI another GTX480 and plan to run water cooling (whether I SLI or not). A new keyboard is in my future too. I'll try and post some updates once I receive all the parts and start building next week.
July 4, 201016 yr You really should consider adding a SSD as your next upgrade. You could keep the HDD for storage. Much more useful than 12gb ram Robin hood x1 - D left half x1 - Karils coif x1Sara plate x1 - D legs x1 - Black mask x2Zammy plate x1 - Torags hammers x1 - granite maul x1Red mystic top x2 - Red mystic bottom x 6 - __________________________________
July 4, 201016 yr Author Actually thats on my list as well. Just need to order it. I figure I can clean install Windows and put a few apps on a 60GB SSD then use the 1TB for storage. Looking at the OCZ Vertex 2 60GB.
July 11, 201016 yr Do you really need a new power supply? Corsairs last a long time, and as far as I can tell, 650W is enough for the new one. Save the 150. Also, Vista 64 bit? I liked Vista despite what everyone else says, but 7 blew Vista out of the water.
July 13, 201016 yr Author Vista 64 bit because I already had it. Works fine, no point to upgrade. I went with the 850w because I significantly increased my power usage. Not only with the video card but also 3-4 times as many case fans, new case lights, and more hard drives. The scraps of my old computer, including my 650w PSU are going to my brother. The computer is built and running, its what I'm using now to post. Its basically a beast. I boot windows fully in about 20-25 seconds. Will get some pics eventually.
July 13, 201016 yr I'd recommend buying a small but fast SSD (40gigs would be enough) and moving Windows over to that, and using the 1TB hard drive for storage. But I guess you already knew that :P EDIT: Just read the other posts, and now I feel like an idiot. Oh well. POH Agility Course, Please Support!
July 13, 201016 yr Vista 64 bit because I already had it. Works fine, no point to upgrade. I went with the 850w because I significantly increased my power usage. Not only with the video card but also 3-4 times as many case fans, new case lights, and more hard drives. The scraps of my old computer, including my 650w PSU are going to my brother. The computer is built and running, its what I'm using now to post. Its basically a beast. I boot windows fully in about 20-25 seconds. Will get some pics eventually.I'd still go for 7, particularly if you want it for gaming. Vista is a memory hog compared to 7 and from what I understand the upgrade is pretty cheap. Mine boots in 15-20 (w7) "It's not a rest for me, it's a rest for the weights." - Dom Mazzetti
July 13, 201016 yr Actually, Windows 7 uses the same amout of RAM that Vista uses, so they're both memory hogs. Vista got known for that since the computers weren't strong enough for it and people still installed it on their computers. I have Windows 7 on both my computers, and Vista starts faster on my old desktop that has 3GB of RAM than my laptop that has 4GB of RAM. New desktop it's much faster though, only around 5 seconds for a hibernate and 20-25 from a cold boot. There isn't really a performance boost either, I regretted getting windows 7 for my new desktop, even with some feature I absolutely love, like libraries, the performance and change isn't worth it right now.
July 18, 201016 yr Author Heres it is finally. Still a big work in progress. Still need to sleeve the cables and do a little more cable management, add a little more touches of light in the bottom, and connect the rest of the fans. Also need to add a fan to the radiator on the back (Will be a white finned fan). But here it is for now, at least its finally alive and running. Only thing i'm not happy about are the blue ripjaw heatsinks on the memory. Way to bright blue, and will clash with what i'm eventually trying to do. Eh, i'll figure something out...or replace them. Heres a close up of the GTX 480 with backplate and high flow bracket.
July 18, 201016 yr Actually, Windows 7 uses the same amout of RAM that Vista uses, so they're both memory hogs. Vista got known for that since the computers weren't strong enough for it and people still installed it on their computers. I have Windows 7 on both my computers, and Vista starts faster on my old desktop that has 3GB of RAM than my laptop that has 4GB of RAM. New desktop it's much faster though, only around 5 seconds for a hibernate and 20-25 from a cold boot. There isn't really a performance boost either, I regretted getting windows 7 for my new desktop, even with some feature I absolutely love, like libraries, the performance and change isn't worth it right now.Yes. People are hailing 7 as "faster" because they now have the correct hardware to utilise it. I ran Vista for some time on my P4/6200/1.5GB DDR1 machine and it wasn't that bad. I used the 7 RC on my current machine for some while and nothing really stood out about it. I wanted to upgrade from XP, so I just installed Vista. My mother's desktop has roughly similar specifications to my own and it has 7 installed; the difference between Vista SP2 and 7 aren't really that noticeable at all for me. I think it's pretty amazing that the anti-Vista people that haven't used it since launch are going all over 7. Anyway: I like it. It's powerful and aesthetically pleasing and I hope it looks great by the time you're done with it. Steam | Soup | Last.fm
Create an account or sign in to comment