Computer Ordered: **Build pics up***

[jon_s]

I can't wait!! Pics as and when things arrive 8)


Item: Mitsumi OEM Silver Internal Floppy Drive 1.44mb 3.5 Inch
Qty: 1
Cost: 3.48

Item: Aopen DUW1616L 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer Internal IDE Retail Chameleon (beige/silver/black)
Qty: 1
Cost: 26.99

Item: Maxtor 6V160E0 160GB SATA300 7200rpm 8MB Cache - OEM
Qty: 1
Cost: 41.99

Item: Enermax Liberty 400W Modular ATX2.2 PSU
Qty: 2
Cost: 43.98

Item: Lian Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Silver Mid Tower Case - No PSU
Qty: 1
Cost: 45.14

Item: Creative Speakers I-Trigue 3400 - 2.1 41W RMS Speakers
Qty: 1
Cost: 38.28

Item: Acer TravelMate 2403WXMi Cel-M 370 1.5GHz 512MB 40GB
DVD±RW 14.1" WLAN XP Home
Qty: 1
Cost: 388.07

Item: Foxconn 955X7AA-8EKRS (775) ATX / Intel 955X / PCI-E
Qty: 1
Cost: 109.91

Item: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) (AC-000-AC)
Qty: 4
Cost: 2.95

Item: Gainward BLISS GeForce 7800 GT "Goes Like Hell" 512MB
GDDR3 VIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GWGFFX7647) (GX-026-GW)
Qty: 1
Cost: 209.95

Item: Intel Pentium 4 920 Dual Core "LGA775 Presler" 2.8GHz
(800FSB) - Retail (CP-111-IN)
Qty: 1
Cost: 154.95

Item: Corsair 1GB DDR2 XMS2-5400 TwinX (2x512MB) (MY-059-CS)
Qty: 1
Cost: 69.95

8)

[yg60m]

Keep us updated mate :wink: and congrats !

[jon_s]

Thank you :P

I will have a full photographic record of the build 8)

[SFDMALEX]

Nice shopping in your money, everything is so cheap :lol: I need to mulitply all that by 2 hehe


Keeps us posted.

[jon_s]

Ahh, VAT and shipping costs need to be added to all that.

In total it came to £1450 but that includes a fairly handy desktop and a basic laptop (just for word/internet).

[gigdy]

why is there 2 PSU's and 4 things of thermal paste?

[PATo355]

Me no like intel & maxtor :P

Me no like aopen and foxconn ... the rest is good ... p4 is not bad at all .

[jon_s]

why is there 2 PSU's and 4 things of thermal paste?

I put in an order for a mate to save on delivery.

I am pretty sure, somebody, somewhere has an 'issue' with everything I have bought!! It is a lose lose situation. I am pretty happy with it and it should run fairly quick.

[jon_s]

we no like jon_s :D

:o Oh no! :(

What did I do wrong?

From now on I will start the day chanting: "I will not buy Intel, Foxconn, Maxtor or Aopen".

Having said that, the Foxconn 955X blah blah blah is pretty good IMO so...... :slap: hehe

:wink:

[Erez]

hehehehe congrats man! sounds good ;)

[TransAm]

looking forward to build pics as I am going to be building a media PC in the near future.

hope you enjoy your new toy, Jon.

what games, if any, will you be playing on it?

[jon_s]

Ahh, I will reveal the games at a later date :wink:

(translate as: I am not 100% yet lol)

[crazidude]

Item: Gainward BLISS GeForce 7800 GT "Goes Like Hell" 512MB
GDDR3 VIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GWGFFX7647) (GX-026-GW)
Qty: 1
Cost: 209.95


Everything looks fine, but what made you go for a 512mb one? There aren't any advantages to spending more on 512.

[jon_s]

My decision to go for the Gainward was based on several factors. While you may not agree with what I am about to say, they, IMO make sense and as a result I am happy with my decision.

1) A simple issue regarding cost, with the release of the 7900 cards, the cost of the Gainward came down by £40 odd, which put it firmly in my price bracket.

2) The performance advantage of the Gainward is through a combination of factors, not just the 512mb. The card is already OC’d (as indicated by Gainward's "Goes like Hell" ('GLH') range) to 450/650 as compared with the standard GT reference boards which are at 400/500.

I accept that you can do this yourself, but hey, I am lazy. Although, probably more accurate; I do not feel that I have enough knowledge to embark on overclocking properly. I am at the stage of "a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing". Having said that, by all accounts, the GLH range of cards can be clocked further.

3) Regarding the 512Mb, it should be noted that not only is there more memory, but perhaps more importantly it is running quicker at 1.3 GHz. (Compared to the 256Mb of 1Ghz).

4) Regarding the 512 v 256 'debate', I bought the card with an eye on the future. Currently, games may not demand 512Mb, but they will eventually. There is a marked performance difference between 256 and 512 when running games at high quality settings (i.e when the 256mb card uses over 100mb of system memory), perhaps nothing really noticeable now, but as games get inevitably more complex I believe the gap will open.

One reviewer summed up my position:

It’s so difficult to choose either way really. You could buy a 256MB card today and it would most definitely serve you well for a year or two, but on the other hand there is no reason not to get a 512Mb card other than price. The performance increase 512MB offers over 256MB is here today in game we all play and the gap will only increase with the next generation of titles, think UE3 and you’ll get what I mean.

So, all in all, the Gainward GLH card can more than hold its own, further at the time of purchase it undercut the 1800s on price. It does out perform other 7800 GT cards so I put my money where my mouth is and got it.


256mb v 512mb (using a a de-clocked Gainward card as a reference)
http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=33&page=1

a review of the Gainward 7800 GT GLH 512mb:
http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=32&page=1

[DeanGTI]

Looks like my building skills are going to be publicly judged!! Better do a good job of putting it together now then :D

[jon_s]

Ahh, may I introduce Dean. A good friend of mine who is building the PC, with my very limited help (making cups of tea). Although, I do intend to learn a thing of two about putting a PC together :P

[jon_s]

Just a quick update from work:

Two deliveries have been made at home (according to online parcel tracking). When I manage to leave work I should have a processor, DDR2, Graphics Card, Motherboard and lots of Artic compound.

8)

[jon_s]

Uploading now...not long :P

[jon_s]

http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/450/img23393oy.th.jpg (http://img383.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23393oy.jpg)http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/229/img23445dk.th.jpg (http://img383.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23445dk.jpg)http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/9426/img23450xw.th.jpg (http://img383.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23450xw.jpg)
http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/5784/img23466ck.th.jpg (http://img383.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23466ck.jpg)http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/5182/img23477ei.th.jpg (http://img379.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23477ei.jpg)http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/3997/img23487kh.th.jpg (http://img379.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23487kh.jpg)
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/3012/img23505oy.th.jpg (http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23505oy.jpg)http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/4913/img23515lb.th.jpg (http://img387.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23515lb.jpg)http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/5707/img23522nn.th.jpg (http://img387.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23522nn.jpg)
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/1153/img23539it.th.jpg (http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23539it.jpg)http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/381/img23555ad.th.jpg (http://img365.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23555ad.jpg)http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/6646/img23544dm.th.jpg (http://img507.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23544dm.jpg)
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/272/img23613sg.th.jpg (http://img507.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23613sg.jpg)http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/3707/img23688dx.th.jpg (http://img378.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23688dx.jpg)http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/3429/img23698xr.th.jpg (http://img380.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23698xr.jpg)
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/5725/img23716po.th.jpg (http://img380.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23716po.jpg)http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/1267/img23731zq.th.jpg (http://img380.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23731zq.jpg)

[DeanGTI]

looks good so far, good to see foxconn supply plenty of cables.

[DeanGTI]

he's got a scythe ninja. better than the zalman imo. I changed from a zalman to the scythe ninja, and my temps are on idle 9 degrees lower, and upto 12 degrees under load.

I agree though, the intel ones aren't very good, they are inefficient, noisey and a git to clean out.

[DeanGTI]

I never heard of Foxconn do they make AMD boards too?

Foxconn make most of the connector components for most motherboards. They have been making motherboards under there own name for a little while now. The foxconn boards are regarded as being better than intels own boards. Im not sure if they make AMD boards, personally I would like at the ASUS K8 series for the X2 chips.

[jon_s]

Zalman was on the list, but I got a Scythe Ninja which arrived today....

Todays presents:
http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/478/img23754cs.th.jpg (http://img367.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23754cs.jpg)http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/7016/img23768xu.th.jpg (http://img524.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23768xu.jpg)http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/170/img23772rx.th.jpg (http://img384.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23772rx.jpg)
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/1242/img23802bt.th.jpg (http://img384.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23802bt.jpg)http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/9710/img23812gn.th.jpg (http://img384.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23812gn.jpg)http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/3601/img23823ir.th.jpg (http://img387.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23823ir.jpg)
http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/3664/img23869fj.th.jpg (http://img473.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23869fj.jpg)


couple of Scythe reviews:

(it should be noted that Scythe now ship their cooler with a 120mm fan)
http://hardware.gamershell.com/articles/scythe_ninja_cpu_cooler_review/
http://www.viperlair.com/reviews/cooling/air/scnj1000/

[jon_s]

No problem, at the end of the day I did put up pics of the standard Intel item, so could understand where you were coming from :D

I have the speakers up and running. Ok, they are not going to win any award espcially against the system next door, but for £40 they are pretty damn good!! A VAST improvement over the tin pot speakers I got with my current computer.

One more delivery to go, it should arrive tomorrow. :P

[DeMoN]

good stuff good stuff, but why did you go INtel instead of amd?

[gigdy]

good stuff good stuff, but why did you go INtel instead of amd?

his normal heater wasnt working well enough

[jon_s]

good stuff good stuff, but why did you go INtel instead of amd?

I was just sticking with what I know :oops: Dean was/is an AMD man but I decided to plump for Intel. I appreciate that AMD are better on several points, such as power consumption, raw speed and I suppose overclocking potentail. However, I doubt that I would notice the difference.

My aim for the PC was to build a robust, stable and respectably fast PC which has the potential to be upgraded as and when. At this point, I doubt that I will be going down any overclocking routes. Therefore I wanted a PC that would run the latest games fairly well out of the box so to speak.

I also wanted to build a PC that was capable of running the next generaltion of games - albeit, potentially, with some upgrades.

I think the spec of the computer meets my requirements. You never know, next time I may go down the AMD route. 8)

p.s according to online tracking, my final delivery has made it to my local depot and is on route to my house :P I will as always, get pics up when I get home.

[jon_s]

pps Dean!!

Just noticed your sig. Hahahahaha. The offer is still there, I will sue their ass if you want :wink:

[jon_s]

Ok, everything is here 8)


My final Christmas day for a while -

One computer in parts:
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/8233/img23899kr.th.jpg (http://img384.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23899kr.jpg)

The bits in detail:
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/1857/img23906ug.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23906ug.jpg)http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/290/img23919nv.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23919nv.jpg)http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/1256/img23929nj.th.jpg (http://img384.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23929nj.jpg)
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/6312/img23930qt.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23930qt.jpg)http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/9127/img23945lg.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23945lg.jpg)http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/1261/img23952wi.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23952wi.jpg)
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5047/img23967hx.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23967hx.jpg)http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/3896/img23974kc.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23974kc.jpg)http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/9688/img23985ly.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23985ly.jpg)
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/8562/img23995dt.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img23995dt.jpg)http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/728/img24003mv.th.jpg (http://img371.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24003mv.jpg)http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/7175/img24013jp.th.jpg (http://img371.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24013jp.jpg)
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/875/img24023ao.th.jpg (http://img371.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24023ao.jpg)

There is also a HD and a floppy drive....but I suspect you all know what they look like lol

My vote for the best item goes to.........















.........the Enermax Liberty power suply. It rocks! Really well finished and solidly built. Big thumbs up from me on that front.

So there we go. All my orders are in. I will be building it with Dean (Dean will be building it lol) probably next weeked (April). I will get a running account of what is happening up and running just so I don't feel completely redundant! :P

[taygunho]

congrats jon_s!. enjoy your new pc and laptop.

[jon_s]

Cheers taygunho :P

What do people think if changing the 7800's cooler for something like the Zalman VF700-CU, is it worth it or not?
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=91821

Also, I have seen some reviews of graphics card coolers which have highlighted that the standard 'thermal connection' on some cards (I have not seen anything about Gainward) is not all that good. For example:
http://www.ocia.net/reviews/vf700/page2.shtml

Is it worth, at the very least, replacing the thermal compound on the Gainward?

0X

[jon_s]

Ahh is the vf900 out? Not sure I have seen it in the UK...hang on...


edit:

Certainly on the UK Zalman site. I will have a hunt, but it is not listed with any of the companies that I bought my bits from :?

edit 2:

found one -
http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/videonorthbridge/vf900-cu

It is listed under the 7900 cards, but the ZAlman site does say it will fit on the 7800 cards. 8)

I think it will be my first upgrade :!:

[No.1]

the Zalman coolers are nice and quiet.

I went with the 120mm for my CPU
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/7672/img32286jm.th.jpg (http://img95.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img32286jm.jpg)
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=17574060483&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=91817

And for my GFX card i got the other Zalman cooler - can't remember the model.
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/9108/img32293gm.th.jpg (http://img95.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img32293gm.jpg)

[jon_s]

Ahh the GFX cooler looks like the VF700 8)
Is that 'Zalman' stamped to the copper fins? Nice touch!

[No.1]

Yeah - it is a nice touch (but the dust isn't too cool :roll: )

Both fans are extremely quiet.

The GPU has two connectors, a 5V (quiet) and a 12V (cooling) - i put it on 5V and have no problems with over heating and definitely not noise - though i only play Quake III from time to time.

The CPU is another dust-hogging fan, but spins just as quietly, though there can be a slight whirr at lowest speeds at a different pitch to the regualr fan whirr - can't really complain though.

[jon_s]

Hello again;

The computer is going to be built today, expect a full 'running commentary' with pics from around 4pm onwards.

[DeanGTI]

Its alive Igor!!!!! :wink:

[jon_s]

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/9752/img24087jq.th.jpg (http://img401.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24087jq.jpg)http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/4574/img24098bu.th.jpg (http://img401.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24098bu.jpg)
http://img347.imageshack.us/img347/9593/img24107al.th.jpg (http://img347.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24107al.jpg)http://img308.imageshack.us/img308/423/img24112xf.th.jpg (http://img308.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24112xf.jpg)http://img347.imageshack.us/img347/9886/img24120jx.th.jpg (http://img347.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24120jx.jpg)http://img347.imageshack.us/img347/9201/img24132fj.th.jpg (http://img347.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24132fj.jpg)
http://img347.imageshack.us/img347/5143/img24140df.th.jpg (http://img347.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24140df.jpg)http://img332.imageshack.us/img332/2431/img24167el.th.jpg (http://img332.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24167el.jpg)
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/3163/img24171aw.th.jpg (http://img340.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24171aw.jpg)http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/7818/img24182fg.th.jpg (http://img340.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24182fg.jpg)http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/6527/img24190mp.th.jpg (http://img340.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24190mp.jpg)
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/8960/img24222xe.th.jpg (http://img340.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24222xe.jpg)http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/2340/img24233vs.th.jpg (http://img340.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24233vs.jpg)http://img415.imageshack.us/img415/2101/img24243ru.th.jpg (http://img415.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24243ru.jpg)http://img331.imageshack.us/img331/3984/img24256pl.th.jpg (http://img331.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24256pl.jpg)http://img346.imageshack.us/img346/5610/img24266un.th.jpg (http://img346.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24266un.jpg)http://img346.imageshack.us/img346/1451/img24271le.th.jpg (http://img346.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24271le.jpg)
http://img331.imageshack.us/img331/1471/img24280oh.th.jpg (http://img331.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24280oh.jpg)http://img346.imageshack.us/img346/922/img24290kc.th.jpg (http://img346.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24290kc.jpg)http://img331.imageshack.us/img331/1766/img24298fn.th.jpg (http://img331.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24298fn.jpg)
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/4750/img24303ba.th.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24303ba.jpg)http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/3149/img24312qk.th.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24312qk.jpg)http://img334.imageshack.us/img334/2007/img24325mt.th.jpg (http://img334.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24325mt.jpg)http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5571/img24340ld.th.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24340ld.jpg)http://img334.imageshack.us/img334/6793/img24361yo.th.jpg (http://img334.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24361yo.jpg)http://img334.imageshack.us/img334/9367/img24373lh.th.jpg (http://img334.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24373lh.jpg)
http://img325.imageshack.us/img325/834/img24382yg.th.jpg (http://img325.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img24382yg.jpg)

[jon_s]

Well, the computer is built!

The whole process went without a hitch and we are currently installing all the drivers e.t.c

After an hour or so of running, the processor is running at a whopping 6-8 degrees C at idle, which is nice!

The only small issue we have is regarding the foxconn as there is no spare\rear fan power so currently there is no rear exit fan. However, an connector will sort that out.

Oh, so far the floppy is not working, but that is not a major issue.

We (Dean) is a bit shocked at the CPU temps and thinks that there *could* be a sensor reading issue. However, the Scythe may just be doing a bloody good job!!

[jon_s]

We suspect something is wrong.

searching for speedfan now. However, if the sensor on the board is faulty, then what ever we use to test will always be wrong - won't it?

The Scythe will have a push-pull system tomorrow, when the connector for the rear exit fan gets sorted.

[DeanGTI]

The problem appears to be with the software that Foxconn supplied to read the temperatures from the board. It isn't displaying all the temp sensors and for some unknown reason has associated the wrong sensors with the processor zone. I installed MBM5 and Speedfan and they both read a temp of 28-29 degrees, much closer to the expected temps.

Panic over for jon, he doesn't have a faulty board.

[RC45]

So - hows the bugger run???

[jon_s]

It is running pretty well 8)

Anyone suggest any benchmark software (free) that we could compare things with? I know there was once a thread with a benchmark competition...in the Dan days.

We have still not solved the temp sensor issues, but I am not too worried about that as I am not overclocking anything yet.

[No.1]

try runnning a 4M calculation of super pi

[jon_s]

Ok, I have Super Pi.

Currently Farcry is being played on the highest settings with no issues which is a nice change from my old PC.

i will do the benchmark in a bit.

[jon_s]

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/6950/superpi4ka.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=superpi4ka.jpg)
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7044/cpuz11fm.th.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cpuz11fm.jpg)
http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/6328/cpuz23qz.th.jpg (http://img350.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cpuz23qz.jpg)
http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/4880/cpuz33kk.th.jpg (http://img350.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cpuz33kk.jpg)

Not too bad. I suppose there are some better :wink:

[jon_s]

3dmark 03 en 06 ;)

Ok......I am searching for it......


.....found it...it is a big file!! I will post results later 8)

[jon_s]

I am not sure how to if I can't tell what temps I am running at.....I'm blind..BLIIIND!!

[jon_s]

3d results:

http://img334.imageshack.us/img334/4803/3dresults7nd.th.jpg (http://img334.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3dresults7nd.jpg)

However, I have no idea how good/bad that is :? I know my Intel struggled during the CPU tests!!!! :lol:

[jon_s]

Well, it was not going to compete with the beast that you are/were building for that competition! :P

[TransAm]

All this build and test malarkey sounds fun (not)!

Anyways, good luck with it, certainly building is a much better idea than buying an off the shelf HP or whatever :good:

[jon_s]

All this build and test malarkey sounds fun (not)!

Anyways, good luck with it, certainly building is a much better idea than buying an off the shelf HP or whatever :good:

Hehe, I have no idea what I am doing! Thank god for Dean!

[TransAm]

OT but does Dean drive an MG perchance?

[DeanGTI]

not quite, Fiesta Zetec-S (Hence the ZS)

[TransAm]

You know where I was coming from on that one though! (MG ZS) :wink:

[DeanGTI]

I will let you off :p