So I a bit grumpy about this whole topic because the home brew computer they put on my desk at work uses inferior hardware and frequently (several times a day) powers off unexpectedly.
I don’t know how much they “saved” by foregoing a Dell, but it was probably eaten immediatly by the tech time to assemble it. Then there is my time to restart several times a day and my time to redo whatever work was lost. Can you say “save obssessively?”
Arrrrgh!!
Well, I feel like a dumbass.
The board that you suggested before, with the lesser chipset, only supports 800MHz RAM. The Mushkin 1066 stuff I just bought is worthless. Poop.
-Nicholas
A few weeks ago i decided to build my own computer, my laptop was quickly becoming obsolete and an upgrade was due. My friend and colleague, was in a similar situation, and between the two of us we researched component compatibility and configurations.
A little over two weeks ago he stumbled on your blog and it proved to be incredibly useful once it came to actually assembling the components and configuring the BIOS. Thank you for your efforts, and keeping such a detailed journal of your build.
The stress test applications you suggested worked great, and your guide to overclocking made me very comfortable with a process i had NEVER before even investigated. You wouldn’t happen to have a similar one for networking, would you?
Thanks Again,
EVGA 680i (68-A1), Q6600 (OC’d to 3.0 @ 56C peak), Thermaltake (BIG) Big Typhoon, EVGA 7900 GT (x2), 4GB OCZ SLI PC6400, 1TB Seagate HD, D-Link Wireless N, OCZ GameXTREAM 850w, Ultra Alumuinus Full, 2x DVD-R/RW, X-Fi Music XTream, Hauppauge TV.
Thanks Again.
The board that you suggested before, with the lesser chipset, only supports 800MHz RAM.
Remember, we overclock the bus, which increases the memory speed. So even on the “lesser” 650i chipset, you can make the memory run at 1066 MHz if you want to.
I cannot get the rthdribl demo to run, for whatever reason
I don’t see a video card in your list of build parts. Make sure you aren’t using on-board video, and install the latest video drivers from either ATI or NVIDIA as appropriate.
Just thought you’d be interested to know that I priced up this kit in the UK, and it arrives at the princely sum of 1500 - about $3,000 at today’s prices.
Still, you can’t buy that much PC for 1500 at Dell.com…
(And I note that this stuff is already cheaper than the prices you found. Incredible.)
I’d love to know with the 6801 sli motherboard which speakers should i but to compliment the onboard sound system?
CoolerGuys is having a sale on those Antec P182 cases for $139.95 shipped ($30 cheaper than newegg):
From my experience developing on Vista, 2GB RAM is pretty miserable
My experience has been very positive on Vista for development and gaming, even in BF2 and Supreme Commander, which use over a gigabyte plus all by themselves.
But sure-- go to 4 GB if you think that’s a better tradeoff. That’ll force you into 64-bit OS land unless you want to only get 3 GB effective, though.
Jeff,
It seems that the sound-dampening foam would reduce the heat-dissipating quality of an all-aluminum case that serves as its own giant heat sink. Have you noticed if adding the foam inceases temperatures inside the box?
Somehow you’ve inspired me to build a computer from scratch, something I haven’t done in years. I only have a couple of questions …
What laser temperature gun were you using and did you like it? I found quite a few on Amazon, but I’m not sure which one I’d get.
What’s the “Mark I finger”? I can’t seem to find any place that tells what this is and/or where you get it.
… whether you have time to get back to me and answer or not, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to write this fantastic little series!
NeilO,
I’m pretty sure the Mark I finger is your finger
“What’s the “Mark I finger”? I can’t seem to find any place that tells what this is and/or where you get it.”
NeilO - you need to use your Mark1 eye ball…
Hey Jeff, Nice work with Scott’s PC. I’m currently building mine the main decision now is to-water or not to-water. I like that cooler you put into Scott’s - the Ninja. Not too wide so it doesn’t go over the memory sticks like others. How fast a processor do you think it can cool properly? What about the 3.0ghz quad? Thanks man,
miguel - miguel@steelbluesolutions.com
This has been a great little series Jeff. Thanks! And just in time as my current home PC is 6+ years old and I’m due for an upgrade soon.
Slick setup… what I’d really like to see is some discussion on the quiet aspects of the box. Power was a big part of this venture, but so was making it a quiet machine. You mentioned it but it seemed like an after thought. This is as much of an art as building a beefy box for a good price. I’d love to see some additional discussion here… even something on your podcast. Things like the foam used and where to place it, how the drives were dampered, the optimal speed of the fans (as you can set the speed on the Zalman fans), and most of all… how to know where the noise is coming from and how quiet is “quiet” (for example, we know 8GB RAM is a lot compared to 2GB, but 4GB is much more reasonable today for desktops [speaking with a very wide brush]… but is 5db unreasonable to shoot for? I have no idea as this is the part I can’t speak intelligently to).
-AC
(cross posted on Scott’s post)
Samsung SyncMaster 940UX 19-inch LCD Monitor
a USB monitor if you want more than 4 display 
or can’t have 2 video cards
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/index.php?x=reviewsid=639page=4
I got my rig build at Extreme PC
I used this configurator:
http://www.extreme-pc.ca/customize.asp?productid=371441
I score like 18,500 in 3dmark 2006
Well nice post.The board that you suggested before, with the lesser chipset, only supports 800MHz RAM…
SEO
I can’t believe you’d recommend the Sonata case. Just plug “sonata power supply problems” into Google and you’ll see immediately why that’s a poor choice.
Antec makes great cases, but I think the PSUs in the Sonata cases must be the factory rejects.
Might I also suggest Ars Technica’s System Guide? It’s usually pretty good and updated every few months.