Hello fellow PC Enthusiast & Modders -

I'm new to these forums, and so here's a little bit about me.

Back in 2003 I built a really cool pc - it had a Gigabyte GA-7VRXP, an Athlon 2100, and 512G of ram.

It's a case with a full window for it's left side, and I put a bunch of blue fans w/ lights in it, and some red LED's. A transparent sticker (etched style) on the window said "DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE".

Well, about 16 months later, the power supply blew a cap, and that was the end of that.

Anyway, I've recently gotten excited about rebuilding my pc - so I dug up the old case, replaced the burnt out crap with "spare parts' (for now), and while it's not as fast, it looks the same. I've got all the wires relatively hidden, so at least it's a beautfiful machine. I am planning on buying either a Gigabyte X38-DQ6(DDR2), or the new ASUS Maximus Extreme (DDR3) I'll then fit that with an Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Processor BX80557E6850 - 3.0GHz, 4MB Cache, 1333MHz FSB, Conroe, Dual-Core, Retail, Socket 775, Processor w/ fan.

The drives willl be 750GB SATA, etc. etc. etc.

The RAM depends on the mobo, but you catch my drift.

Even though what I've salvaged is not nearly as fast as what I had and especially what I'm going to build given the above (oh yeah, I just ordered a PC Power & Cooling / Silencer / 750-Watt / Quad PCI-Express / SATA-Ready / Black Power Supply - I will NEVER again be the victim of a power supply meltdown!!! >:O )

I'll take pictures tonight and post them if you're interested.

Anyway, this is my intro thread, and howdy and all that stuff.

Welcome aboard amigo

Quote: Originally Posted by Dex Welcome aboard amigo

*Voice of John Goodman from The Big Lebowsk*

"AND A GOOD DAY TO YOU SIR!!!

Welcome to pcapex. Any questions you have during your pc building project can most likely be answered on the forums.

What graphics do you plan on going with in this build?

Welcome to PCApex Dizzy Vizzy :-)
Keep us updated on your project :-)

Welcome to PimpRig... oops PCApex! Looks like you are going to build a nice machine. Check this link out: http://forums.pcapex.com/team_pimpri...g_started.html

E

Quote: Originally Posted by whatthe2600? Welcome to pcapex. Any questions you have during your pc building project can most likely be answered on the forums. What graphics do you plan on going with in this build?

I haven't got a clue...

Quote: Originally Posted by Slaymate Welcome to PCApex Dizzy Vizzy :-) Keep us updated on your project :-)

Thank you very much! I shall, and as I said, I'll take pics tonight. The guts are average, but the build is solid, very clean, and oooohhh, wooky at all da pwetty wights!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Fred_G Welcome to PimpRig... oops PCApex! Looks like you are going to build a nice machine. Check this link out: (edited by post count! :dag E

That, my good sir, is a GODSEND!!! THANKS!

By the way, wtf is folding at home, why do I need it, and [b]why and when did they stop calling this place "PimpRig"???


This seems to be a great community with a lot of cool people. I'm looking forward to contributing and learning from all of you!

Hello there.

Some suggestions for your rebuild:

Don't bother with an X38 board unless you need CrossFire (dual ATi graphics). Intel P35 is as good at overclocking - literally the only difference is PCI-E 2.0 support and two full spec slots. If you decide that X38 is the way forward though, the cheapest X38 board seems to be the X38-DS4 which is actually a damn fine piece of kit (I bought one last week.) It has everything that the DQ6 has except it has a few less power phases and the cooling is more basic.

You want to get yourself a Wolfdale Core 2 Duo as well - the E6750 is being replaced. Get the E8400 (3.0ghz, 6mb L2 cache, 1333mhz FSB). As for RAM, I wouldn't worry about DDR3 yet. It's very expensive and only really highly clocked quad cores need the extra memory bandwidth. You can build a decent DDR2 system for much less. So I would suggest some Crucial Ballistix 1066mhz stuff.

As for video, an 8800GT 512mb is a great card for the price, or for a bit less you can get a Radeon HD3850/70.

Quote: Originally Posted by reflux Hello there. Some suggestions for your rebuild: Don't bother with an X38 board unless you need CrossFire (dual ATi graphics). Intel P35 is as good at overclocking - literally the only difference is PCI-E 2.0 support and two full spec slots. If you decide that X38 is the way forward though, the cheapest X38 board seems to be the X38-DS4 which is actually a damn fine piece of kit (I bought one last week.) It has everything that the DQ6 has except it has a few less power phases and the cooling is more basic. You want to get yourself a Wolfdale Core 2 Duo as well - the E6750 is being replaced. Get the E8400 (3.0ghz, 6mb L2 cache, 1333mhz FSB). As for RAM, I wouldn't worry about DDR3 yet. It's very expensive and only really highly clocked quad cores need the extra memory bandwidth. You can build a decent DDR2 system for much less. So I would suggest some Crucial Ballistix 1066mhz stuff. As for video, an 8800GT 512mb is a great card for the price, or for a bit less you can get a Radeon HD3850/70.

Thanks for the advice!!! I'm at work right now, but I'll be sure to look into the E8400 when I get home!!!

Here is a link to the Folding section: Team PimpRig (F@H and more) - PC Apex Forums

You don't 'need' it, but a lot of us fold on the site's team. Kinda adictive, but for a good cause. You are welcome to join Team Fred_G!

E

Got a ps3???

Anywayzzz another welcome from a UK side member...

Before we proceed and the main welcome wagon arrive, I have a few notes you
may want to remember...

The Pimp Plague! -
There is no known cure!
Pcapex scientists attempted to extract user dna from
the first pimprig sock but to no avail!
The sock is known to be the original cause of this addiction and
pcApex scientists now believe the cure lies with the second sock.
However, the pcApex Elite are still attempting to track said sock and its owner
down!

The pimprig feather can be used to lessen the effects, but not for long periods of time,
and use of it also leaves some un-desired side effects such as;-

sudden fixation with dremmel use.
bondo sniffing.
Replacing transparent objects such as windows, skylights etc with modders mesh from mnpctech.com
Exsessive use of cold cathodes around the home.
and attaching dry ice pots, water coolin loops or massive heatpipe hsf's to ones head when
suffering from headaches etc...

Please Ask staff members for extended side effect list! ( 1ts Hug3!! )

LoL, welcome to pcApex and enjoy your stay

Also about the motherboard if your really into overclocking I'd recommend the Asus Maximus Formula(DDR2)/Extreme(DDR3) I have the formula and its a great clocker

As promised, here are pics of the pc I've built with temporary parts... I wasn't sure what forum to put this thread in, so let's hope this link remains working.

http://forums.pcapex.com/anything_go...post1062219943

Welcome abizzy Dizzy Vizzy

Good luck with the build - If you are after the latest and greatest - the X48 offerings from Gigabyte (like the X48-DS5/DQ) or X48T-DQ6 (DDR3 model) will be out in a couple of weeks (going into production around the 17th Feb)- they'll be sitting in the exact same price range as the X38 DQ6 models from what GB have told me.


But yeah - value/performance wise - P35 is still a good pick as Reflux said

Quote: Originally Posted by MasterP Welcome abizzy Dizzy Vizzy Good luck with the build - If you are after the latest and greatest - the X48 offerings from Gigabyte (like the X48-DS5/DQ) or X48T-DQ6 (DDR3 model) will be out in a couple of weeks (going into production around the 17th Feb)- they'll be sitting in the exact same price range as the X38 DQ6 models from what GB have told me. But yeah - value/performance wise - P35 is still a good pick as Reflux said

I'm only just beginning to study the P35 chipset and boards, and so far I really don't see a difference? Is it an nVidia compliant board, or ATI?

Is the X38 or X48 series (or any variation thereof) nVidia boards, or ATI?

I'm not exactly sure what board I'm going to get yet... the Gigabyte boards are terrific, but then again, so are the damned ASUS boards...

Quote: Originally Posted by The Dizzy Vizzy I'm only just beginning to study the P35 chipset and boards, and so far I really don't see a difference? Is it an nVidia compliant board, or ATI? Is the X38 or X48 series (or any variation thereof) nVidia boards, or ATI? I'm not exactly sure what board I'm going to get yet... the Gigabyte boards are terrific, but then again, so are the damned ASUS boards...

Yeah, both brands are good - it's just a matter of picking the one that has the feature set you are after

In a nutshell, P35, X38 and X48 are all intel chipsets. They can run either an Nvidia or ATI graphics card with no problem at all.
But...

If you want to run two linked graphics cards, you will only officially be able to run two ATI cards on them.

If you want to run two Nvidia cards though, you'll want to be looking at something along the lines of the 650i, 680i or the latest 780i chipset on a motherboard