No pics yet because i only have a few parts so far (unexpected layoff, so lack of funding, have a new job now), but i'm wondering what people think of my upcoming project. This is for my dorm room and i plan to have it last for a few years without much in the way of upgrades. Any suggestions or comments about anything at all, cooling, noise, parts etc. Please no pre-mod flames, its a sweet case to begin with and i plan to stealth the drives, and probably cut my own window. Just some more general info, i plan to have RAID 0, for 1 480 something GB drive. Also you may have noticed the 2 speaker sets... The Audigy 2ZS is an 8 channel card (the mobo has onboard 6 channel, but the card comes with $200 worth of kick-ass games) so i'm gonna find a way to splice together the 2 sets into a 7.2+ surround system with the Sicuro satelites as my FR and FL. Prices on the PSU, cathodes and fans are high because FrozenCPU is a little bit more expensive, but i'm too lazy to do the sleeving (silver sleeve, black heatshrink, all Blue UV connectors) myself, and it ends up being cheaper since i dont have to buy all the tools and things. Not to mention they probably do a nicer job than i could. Once again, any comments questions or suggestions are welcome, and for anyone who missed it before SUPER OBVIOUS LINK :p

That looks like a killer system you are putting together. I see that you can reduce the price of the computer if you were to get a different mother board and processor. It is nothing for someone to OC a 2500+ to over 3200+ speeds.

That is my two cents worth.

Quote: Originally Posted by V4mpiro That looks like a killer system you are putting together. I see that you can reduce the price of the computer if you were to get a different mother board and processor. It is nothing for someone to OC a 2500+ to over 3200+ speeds. That is my two cents worth.

The proc and mobo aren't the expensive components of the system by a longshot, but the mobo is the only one i could find with 4 SATA ports besides DFIs next series up, the LAN Party NFII Ultra Infinity, which has some nice features, but nothing i would use. Its also $50 more and is a Green UV theme which wouldn't work with this. As for overclocking, think about how much i can overclock a 3200 :-D, i was really looking at the bus when deciding on chips, the 3200 and 3000 are the only 400MHz FSB chips AMD makes, might as well spend an extra couple of bucks for more stock MHz

Quote: Originally Posted by Cyno01 The proc and mobo aren't the expensive components of the system by a longshot, but the mobo is the only one i could find with 4 SATA ports besides DFIs next series up, the LAN Party NFII Ultra Infinity, which has some nice features, but nothing i would use. Its also $50 more and is a Green UV theme which wouldn't work with this. As for overclocking, think about how much i can overclock a 3200 :-D, i was really looking at the bus when deciding on chips, the 3200 and 3000 are the only 400MHz FSB chips AMD makes, might as well spend an extra couple of bucks for more stock MHz

The 3200+ doesn't overclock as far as the 2500+ does. Just so you know.

why is a case of bawls on your system total? don't get me wrong, bawls is the best cafinated drink, but wtf does it have to do w/ you system?

It's probably there because he plans on ordering it when he orders all of his other stuff, so he needs to include it in his total b/c he's gonna need that money when he goes to buy.

Quote: Originally Posted by Spectrum why is a case of bawls on your system total? don't get me wrong, bawls is the best cafinated drink, but wtf does it have to do w/ you system?

Like Psylariser said, i'll be ordering it with the other stuff, and i'll be drinking it while building, so why not throw it on the list.

Alright then. I have a couple of things to say about your system. While its all good and dandy, for the price you are paying, I would either go full out, or cut some of the crap off.

1) You are spending almost $3,000 on a system and arent going AMD64, Athlon FX, or a newer P4 system? Go for a AMD64 3200+ and a newer mobo, and I think you will find that it wont be that much more expensive.

2) I would get a case with better cooling. How about a CoolerMaster or something. I like the Antec SuperLanboy for the money. Great case with good cooling potential.

3)If you are spending that much on RAM, get Mushkin Level 2. Best stuff out there.

4)Good choice of video card. I have the same thing. Just remember it doesnt support dual monitors natively, and I'm not particularly impressed with their dual monitor stuff.

You could just wait about 2 months for the GeForce 6's to come out. Or the new Radeons. Then you wont kick yourself in the butt for not having waited. It will save you money in the long run, plus better performance. You can always get a PCI TV tuner.

5)Get a Lite-On DVD/CDR-RW for 15 bucks more.

6) Those mice are going to suck in comparison to something like a Logitech MX 510. You can change out the LED's yourself if you just have to have it.

7) That heatsink wont do you much in terms of overclocking. Go for the big daddy Zalman Cu-7000. Just make sure you have the mounting holes to mount it.

8) If you get a case with good cooling, such as a Coolermaster, Kingwin, or Antec, then you wont need hard drive coolers. Waste of money and space.

9) Most good mobos come with atleast 1 SATA cable. Check that before spending money on more.

10) Do you really need a floppy? I havent used one in years. Get a USB thumbdrive and save space in your case and unclutter it from the dang floppy cables.

11)That mouse pad looks kinda small. Do you really need your mouse pad to look like a freaking UFO? I dont even use a mouse pad with my optical mouse.

12) Never heard of that speaker company. I recommend the Logitech Z-3's if you want 2.1's. They are incredible to say the least, plus they look awesome. 2 bucks more and free shipping at newegg.com

13) Why the heck do you have 2 sets of speakers? If you are getting 2, just get one and get the Logitech Z-5300's. THX certified and good price. Free shipping yet again.

14) 4 Cold Cathodes? Good luck finding space in that case of yours.

15) Go wireless if you are going to get a mouse bungee. Saves you money, plus it will just rock all the more.

16) Are you actually going to use a graphics tablet?

17) That PowerMate thing would be a waste of money to me. Get a good keyboard with a volume control knob. Bam, same thing, less money.

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You seem to just be buying stuff just cause. Spend your money wisely, and I think you will be happier in the end.

neo, one thing to note about the powermate knob.. it does more than simple volume control.
so if he's going to use it to it's potential... I'd get it, if he only wants volume control, what you said is the rigth path, and also frees up a USB port.

I'm going to ditto the AMD64 option, going with the MSI K8T Neo will give you your wanted 4 SATA capability and a ton of goodies (I'm reccomending it as I have it and am very happy wiith it) although I don't know off hand if it's compatable with the Mushkin ram neo reccomends (although it probably is) but I use OCZ platnum on mine and it looks pimp and works great

Only problem is, you'll be hard pressed to find ANY RAM with the BH-5 chips, not to mention the Mushkin L2's. You'll also be paying an arm and a leg from the scalpers who actually are selling them. I think bio mentioned the other day that zipzoomfly had some of the Kingston ram in stock with BH-5's. That would be your best bet.

Good points all around, and i agree with you about some of them. I'm still not completly sold on the top of the line XP, i have been contemplating getting an athlon 64 instead after drooling over some benchmarks. The case has excelent cooling, 92mm up front, 120mm in the back, and i dont plan on overclocking much so i prefer a more passive cpu cooler. Moot point anyway, since i already have the case. As for the hard drive coolers, they cool some, so it cant hurt, but they also function as vibration dampeners and 3.5" to 5.25" adapters, since i'm going for low noise and i cant find an extra hard drive cage for my case anywhere. I have a spare CD burner that i'm going to use untill i can get a dual layer dvd burner, i prefer having 2 drives as opposed to a combo drive so i can do on the fly copying. The fan mouse is cheap and kinda neat, so i thought what the hell, see how it works, conversation piece etc The other mouse is, as far as i can tell, this without a microsoft logo. I already have the MS mouse, bought it as soon as i saw it had a transluscent scroll wheel and stuck some blue LEDs in it. As for the other drive, click the link, its not just a floppy, it also reads half a dozen solid state cards, which is good since the case only has one external 3.5" bay, i have a usb drive on my watch too :p I agree with you on the mouse pad, its small, but i havn't found a lighted one i like better, also, this one has a usb passthrough. If you'd read my post more carefully you'd see why i have 2 sets of speakers. A friend of mine has the Sicuros, made by Realworld Tech and they're pretty sweet, but i wanted real 7.1 surround and hacking together 2 of the coolest sets i could find seemed like the most hardcore way to go about it. And i already have the z-640s, they rock. Blah blah blah, might as well reply to most of your points. I dont reallty like wireless, dont know why, just dont, yes i'm going to use the tablet, and any other tablet i've seen is three times as much, so why not. And lastly, after reading amazing reviews of it and actually playing with one at compusa, theres nothing like having a bigass glowing machined aluminum knob for a power button, volume control, jog wheel and whatever else i set it up to do.

You are spending almost $70 on CCFL's. Here are some other options at SVC for about $15 total.

I have had those cathodes for quite awhile and they have been great. No difference between the two brands.

Quote: Originally Posted by gorked You are spending almost $70 on CCFL's. Here are some other options at SVC for about $15 total. I have had those cathodes for quite awhile and they have been great. No difference between the two brands.

They have all the options though, silver sleeving, black heatshrink, blue UV connectors. It ends up being cheaper than buying the materials and tools tools and doing it myself. Plus time saved etc.

yes, but those options cost extra as well... you're paying 2x what you would for an SVC ccfl, and then more for the sleeving... aprart from the time saved, you really aren't coming out on top as far as the ccfls are concerned.

Dont forget i'd have to buy the molex removal tools and whatever else if i wanted to do my power supply myself. Its not something you can do with a screwdriver. My time isn't worth that much, but i messed up enough molex pins (must've been a female only tool, the barbs on the male pins got badly crimped) on my friends box trying to clean up his wiring (luckily had enough spares) that its not something i want to deal with again. I wish someplace that sold CCFLs for cheap did sleeving too, but i dont mind paying a premium on that stuff to have it done right.

when you're paying that much isn't the idea to have fun and do it yourself? because you can just get a machine from some manufacturer that may not outperform it (not like you intend to do much OCing) but will save you work, which is what it seems you're trying to do

besides if you're spending 2500 bucks is 9 bucks more for a molex removal tool that hard to cough up?

sleaving your own PS and stuff is great because you have that feeling of accomplishment when everything boots up and no small electrical fires start inside your case

Cyno01,

You posted this system in the project feedback section, so don't get defensive when people make suggestions...

The best molex removal tool I ever had is a tiny eyeglass screwdriver. For me, it woks faster and better than the premade tools. Get one and give it a shot, I think it will work fine for you.