[ZmaN]

Yeah remember all those hardware questions I had?  I finally had the money and built myself a new beast!
Heres all my specs:

NZXT Apollo Case
Cooler Master Extreme Power 650 Duo PSU
Asus P5K-E Motherboard
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2180, stock 2 ghz, OC'd to 3 ghz stable, stock V core
Cooler Master GeminII Cooler, with 2 x 120mm fans
OCZ Platinum Revision 2 RAM, 4 x 1GB = 4 GB's RAM  Timings and speed:  4-4-4-15 DDR2-750Mhz
XFX Nvidia Geforce 8800GT Alpha Dog Edition Video card
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
2 x Seagate ST325410AS, 250GB Hard Drives, totalling 500GB's of RAID 0 Array
200GB's in IDE Backup hard Drives
Lite On DVD Burner with Lightscribe, 20x speed  (actually needs to be RMA'd, it clicks when Crysis is put in)
Standard Floppy Drive
Zalman ZM-MFC1 Fan Controller
stock NZXT Side and Front Fan 120mm (sucks), Thermaltake 120mm A1926 exhaust fan
Sweet Neon lights mod.  I mounted one inside the door of the case and one under the air intake in the front it looks sick at night.
Microsoft Windows Vista x64 Edition

Pics are here:
http://s72.photobucket.com/albums/i172/ReinvntngurXit/New%20PC/



Heres what I upgraded from:
http://s72.photobucket.com/albums/i172/ReinvntngurXit/Old%20PC/
Its Specs:
P4 2.8 Ghz
Stock cooler (bleh)
MGE 450 watt PSU
Albatron PX915P Pro MB
512 MB Generic ram
Radeon X850 pro (sapphire brand, shouldn't have bought them because they locked the pipes)
120 gb and 80 gb in RAID 0 array, IDE Drives (IDE raid is @$!)
Audigy 2 ZS
NOISY fans! never realized how noisy they were till i unplugged them after i turned it on by accident

OC's:
OC'ing works like a charm!  to get to 3 ghz all I did was bump the FSB from 200 to 300.  All set to go.  I did get it a  little higher but Vista seemed unstable so i backed it down.


Temperatures:
I never recorded stock temperatures.  OC temperatures are as follows:
Idle:  as low as 18C, peaks at 25C, never goes high, usually hovers at 22C
Load:  NEVER goes about 45C, usually at 43-44C, sometimes as low as 39C
OCZ RAM NEVER gets hot, thanks to the XTC coolers on the RAM and the GeminII second fan blowing over it.
Asus heatpipe cooling is nice, though I can't see it cause of the cooler.

Voltages:
Never recorded these with a Voltimeter but Asus probe II reported the following:
12V:  11.98
5V: 5.02
3.3V: 3.31

Noise:
Even under load, everything stays pretty quiet, but If I turn all my fans down on the Zalman controller, my typing is louder than the Power Supply (thats all I can hear out of the system.
The 8800GT NEVER winds to full speed.  doesn't disturb me.
usually at full fan speeds its just whooshing sounds of air moving. 


Negatives:
the 8800GT blocked one of my SATA ports, not much of an issue but its cool.
The CM PSU had lame SATA Wiring.  all the SATA cables were on one line, so i had to convert molex power to SATA for the DVD Drive
The Lite On DVD Burner is Defective, it clicks when I put crysis in, and it won't read DVD Movies. 
the C.P.R. feature on this Asus board is NEAR IMPOSSIBLE to use properly.  I had to manually reset the CMOS a few times because the C.P.R. wouldn't work right.
The CMOS Jumper is BURIED behind my video card, and i only have a single slot cooler!  the video card MUST come out to reset the CMOS...  LAME!


I wanna thank you guys for any input you've given me.  I am so proud of this build.

[jr2]

:/  I would have recommended against Lite On... I've seen far too many of these turn out failing after only a short (few months to 2 years) period of time.  LG is good, I've used that (for years and years), IDK about others.

[Ashrak]

its not exactly what id call a beast, but its a good PC on a budget.

[Admiral_Stones]

If one wants a beast, he buys a Mac Pro.

[BloodEagle]

Because the Macintosh is known for being able to use 90% of the applications that have ever been created. 

[jr2]

...to use 90%...

Reverse those and you're spot on.   

[CP5670]

Lite On DVD Burner with Lightscribe, 20x speed  (actually needs to be RMA'd, it clicks when Crysis is put in)

If this is an SATA drive, it is related to the game, not the drive. It's a well known issue caused by the Securom DRM loaded on it.

[colecampbell666]

...to use 90%...

Reverse those and you're spot on.   

Ever heard of sarcasm?

[Admiral_Stones]

it's closer to 99%. Ever heard about BootCamp?

[achtung]

If one wants a beast, he buys a Mac Pro.

[jr2]

...to use 90%...

Reverse those and you're spot on.   

Ever heard of sarcasm?

Yes.  Ever heard of dry humor?

[WMCoolmon]

it's closer to 99%. Ever heard about BootCamp?

Exactly. And Apple has revolutionized computer, software, and electronics design in the last decade. Apple is probably the most recognizable hardware manufacturer out there. I'm sure that everybody on this forum could name two specific consumer electronics products that Apple has released in the last two years, not so much Sony or Toshiba.

Apple is easily my favorite computer company. Unlike Microsoft, they aren't known for their anti-competitive litigation and tactics. Unlike Linux, they aren't dependent on constantly copying what Microsoft does while snapping at anyone who dares suggest that Microsoft has superior software. They've actually made their name by coming up with new stuff that people like.

If you're really going to roll your eyes at Apple for not working with "90% of software", you might as well give up computing altogether. There's a lot of people who are convinced that Windows itself doesn't work 90% of the time. Not to mention that the best reason I hear for using Microsoft products is "because everyone else does it". And everything that works on Linux on a PC works on Linux on a Macintosh, unless you're using some esoteric distros or programs.

[CP5670]

I can't tell whether or not all that was supposed to be sarcasm.

Bootcamp is nice to have available, but you don't buy a Mac just for running Windows programs. The OS is the main attraction of those things, not the hardware, which is often lousy for the price.

[jr2]

Why doesn't Mac release their OS for non-Apple computers?  They might actually give M$ a run for their money, and, due to the competition, and the Linux geeks' insane drive to be better (at least in a geeky way) than other OSes, we'll get some spectacular products, for perhaps a decent price!!     

[BloodEagle]

Exactly. And Apple has revolutionized computer, software, and electronics design in the last decade. Apple is probably the most recognizable hardware manufacturer out there. I'm sure that everybody on this forum could name two specific consumer electronics products that Apple has released in the last two years, not so much Sony or Toshiba.

Wait, so you're saying that because they waste millions of dollars on advertisements that I should automatically think that they're the best? 

Apple is easily my favorite computer company. Unlike Microsoft, they aren't known for their anti-competitive litigation and tactics. Unlike Linux, they aren't dependent on constantly copying what Microsoft does while snapping at anyone who dares suggest that Microsoft has superior software. They've actually made their name by coming up with new stuff that people like.

Please tell me that you're being sarcastic. 

If you're really going to roll your eyes at Apple for not working with "90% of software", you might as well give up computing altogether. There's a lot of people who are convinced that Windows itself doesn't work 90% of the time. Not to mention that the best reason I hear for using Microsoft products is "because everyone else does it". And everything that works on Linux on a PC works on Linux on a Macintosh, unless you're using some esoteric distros or programs.

Hmmm, so I should just use the computer that can't utilize 90% of the applications that I need to use? Your logic has swayed me, I shall now castrate myself in front of the all mighty Apple logo in an attempt to appease Steve Jobs. 

By the way, I'm not a 'lot of people'. And it is most likely that this 'lot of people' are the same people that disagree with me on my preference of operating system.

----------------------------------------------------

[...] the hardware, which is often lousy for the price.

Seconded.

[achtung]

Why doesn't Mac release their OS for non-Apple computers?  They might actually give M$ a run for their money, and, due to the competition, and the Linux geeks' insane drive to be better (at least in a geeky way) than other OSes, we'll get some spectacular products, for perhaps a decent price!!     

Because they would have to support a huge amount of hardware compared to what they do now.

[jr2]

They could do what M$ does, have a "certified for Apple" thing, where the manufacturers have to meet certain criteria to be supported by Apple.

[WMCoolmon]

Wait, so you're saying that because they waste millions of dollars on advertisements that I should automatically think that they're the best? 

And to think I've gotten crap for "intentionally misunderstanding" people.

No, I'm not.

Please tell me that you're being sarcastic. 

No, I'm not.

Hmmm, so I should just use the computer that can't utilize 90% of the applications that I need to use? Your logic has swayed me, I shall now castrate myself in front of the all mighty Apple logo in an attempt to appease Steve Jobs. 

By the way, I'm not a 'lot of people'. And it is most likely that this 'lot of people' are the same people that disagree with me on my preference of operating system.

You should get the facts right. You've been told by two people that you can run Windows on a modern Macintosh platform, and you can go look it up for yourself if you think we're just having a go at you. Unless you're doing something esoteric, I don't see why you keep claiming that 90% of the applications won't work.

I'm not a 'lot of people' either when it comes to operating systems, either. Not at all.

[Wobble73]

I've heard that Vista works like a dream on some of the newer Intel Mac's!

[colecampbell666]

It'd work good on a high end (1750$+) PC, too.