Suggestions

**MunkyPhil** · 09-09-2008, 05:06 AM

Hi all,

Not been around for a while but I promise I'm working hard so my absense is justified. Anyway, I'm setting up a new gaming rig for myself and am looking for suggestions or improvements to the planned setup below:

M/board: ASUS Rampage Formula X48
Processor: Intel Q9550 12Mb Cache (2.83GHz) + Zalman CNPS9700-LED CPU Cooler
RAM: 2x2Gb Corsair XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express)
PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad-Crossfire PCI-E 750W Power Supply
Case: Antec Twelve Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case

I'm pretty much at the limit of my budget so if one thing improves, something else probably has to drop in quality (or at least price). All suggestions welcome though (with justification preferably) - I'm a bit behind the technology now though so might have some 'easy' questions.

I intend to overclock sometime in the future. Basically, this whole rig is an effort to 'future-proof' myself and allow the most cost-effective upgrades later on, e.g. the m/board has 2xPCI-e 2.0 x16 slots for full Crossfire capability.

Hope all's well at TSF anyway, I'm finishing my course in October but still have to write my thesis (should be around 50,000 words!) so will probably find some time to come and start helping out again.

Cheers all in advance!
Phil

Tumbleweed36 · 09-09-2008, 05:21 AM

IMHO, you have a real nice looking build just waiting for you to put it together. This baby should really kick. Let us know how it goes.

**WereBo** · 09-09-2008, 05:37 AM

That's certainly an impressive list of bits there - if it assembles anything like my PC, the hardest job was disposing of all the boxes and packing, afterwards

**MunkyPhil** · 09-11-2008, 02:28 AM

Cheers guys

, looks like I'm sticking with this then.

ebackhus · 09-11-2008, 11:44 AM

I'm not a fan of Intel or Seagate, but otherwise I like it.

DonaldG · 09-11-2008, 01:10 PM

Up until recently, PCPro magazine had the Samsung Spinpoint FTD502IJ 500GB in its Blue List as the top performer.

I have 2 inside my machine and another one in an external caddy. I have had no problems at all

Now it is showing PCPro rate the Samsung SpinPoint FDT HD103UJ 1Gb as the bees-knees with the former as the alternative choice...

**MunkyPhil** · 09-12-2008, 03:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebackhus

I'm not a fan of Intel or Seagate, but otherwise I like it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DonaldG

Up until recently, PCPro magazine had the Samsung Spinpoint FTD502IJ 500GB in its Blue List as the top performer.

I have 2 inside my machine and another one in an external caddy. I have had no problems at all

Now it is showing PCPro rate the Samsung SpinPoint FDT HD103UJ 1Gb as the bees-knees with the former as the alternative choice...

The reason I chose the Seagate over the Spinpoint F1 was the 32Mb Cache (as opposed to the 16Mb for the Samsung) and the quicker average seek time of 8.5ms (8.9ms - Samsung), although, having looked at hard drive performance in Tom's Hardware, I'm not sure my choice is really based on anything useful.

What's wrong with Seagate anyway?

Tumbleweed36 · 09-12-2008, 04:37 AM

Seagate is an excellent drive, so you should not be disappointed. They also have a great warranty, so you have some protection there also.

**MunkyPhil** · 09-12-2008, 08:10 AM

Thanks Tumble, I'm still inclined to go for the Seagate - if only for the bigger numbers. It seems to me like it's just one of those things where some people have bad experiences and some people have good ones, as with many things with to do with PCs. I think I'll try my luck with the Seagate nevertheless- I've never had a bad experience with a hard drive before so I'm still in the 'they're all the same/equivalent' mindset and the Seagate is the cheapest 500Mb drive with 32Mb Cache where I intend to buy from.

Any other ideas? I'm really up for all kinds of criticism on this.

**WereBo** · 09-12-2008, 01:29 PM

The only other point I can think of, depends on the location in the room etc. If you can manage to put the PC quite close to your stereo system, you can take a stereo screened cable from the PC's headphone jack to the amp's line-in, so all the sounds/music/beeps 'n' squeaks come out the stereo's speakers - they sound infinitely better than the usual PC speakers.

Also, if you're into ripping your old vinyl/cassette collection, you can run another pair of cables back from the amp's line-out to the PC's line-in. That way, whatever gets played through your stereo amp can be ripped to the PC

**MunkyPhil** · 09-13-2008, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WereBo

The only other point I can think of, depends on the location in the room etc. If you can manage to put the PC quite close to your stereo system, you can take a stereo screened cable from the PC's headphone jack to the amp's line-in, so all the sounds/music/beeps 'n' squeaks come out the stereo's speakers - they sound infinitely better than the usual PC speakers.

Way ahead of you Werebo. I've got an old but high quality Yamaha amp that I've been using for a year or so now (plugged into S/P Diff) and a pair of Eltax Concept 180 Floor Standers. Got the X-Box running through it too. I wouldn't put up with rubbish sound quality. If I had a bigger and better shaped room I'd get more speakers for full surround sound too.

09-09-2008, 05:06 AM	#1 (permalink)
MunkyPhil TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Liverpool, England Posts: 1,140 OS: Win XP Pro SP2 My System	Suggestions Hi all, Not been around for a while but I promise I'm working hard so my absense is justified. Anyway, I'm setting up a new gaming rig for myself and am looking for suggestions or improvements to the planned setup below: M/board: ASUS Rampage Formula X48 Processor: Intel Q9550 12Mb Cache (2.83GHz) + Zalman CNPS9700-LED CPU Cooler RAM: 2x2Gb Corsair XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad-Crossfire PCI-E 750W Power Supply Case: Antec Twelve Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case I'm pretty much at the limit of my budget so if one thing improves, something else probably has to drop in quality (or at least price). All suggestions welcome though (with justification preferably) - I'm a bit behind the technology now though so might have some 'easy' questions. I intend to overclock sometime in the future. Basically, this whole rig is an effort to 'future-proof' myself and allow the most cost-effective upgrades later on, e.g. the m/board has 2xPCI-e 2.0 x16 slots for full Crossfire capability. Hope all's well at TSF anyway, I'm finishing my course in October but still have to write my thesis (should be around 50,000 words!) so will probably find some time to come and start helping out again. Cheers all in advance! Phil __________________ "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." - J. Robert Oppenheimer, July 16th 1945. CPU-z -- Memtest -- Speedfan -- Prime95 -- SandraLite Important Power Supply Info -- Applying Thermal Paste -- Posting System Specs Last edited by MunkyPhil; 09-09-2008 at 05:08 AM.

09-09-2008, 05:21 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,647 OS: XP Professional	Re: Suggestions IMHO, you have a real nice looking build just waiting for you to put it together. This baby should really kick. Let us know how it goes. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.

09-09-2008, 05:37 AM	#3 (permalink)
WereBo Resident Village Idiot Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: SE London, UK Posts: 14,449 OS: Win-7, XP-Pro SP3 My System	Re: Suggestions That's certainly an impressive list of bits there - if it assembles anything like my PC, the hardest job was disposing of all the boxes and packing, afterwards __________________ I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.

09-11-2008, 02:28 AM	#4 (permalink)
MunkyPhil TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Liverpool, England Posts: 1,140 OS: Win XP Pro SP2 My System	Re: Suggestions Cheers guys , looks like I'm sticking with this then. __________________ "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." - J. Robert Oppenheimer, July 16th 1945. CPU-z -- Memtest -- Speedfan -- Prime95 -- SandraLite Important Power Supply Info -- Applying Thermal Paste -- Posting System Specs

09-11-2008, 11:44 AM	#5 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,249 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Re: Suggestions I'm not a fan of Intel or Seagate, but otherwise I like it. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

09-11-2008, 01:10 PM	#6 (permalink)
DonaldG Manager Home Support, Assistant Manager Articles Team Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Somerset, UK Posts: 10,164 OS: XPsp2 Laptop & Vista Ultimate Desktop My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Suggestions Up until recently, PCPro magazine had the Samsung Spinpoint FTD502IJ 500GB in its Blue List as the top performer. I have 2 inside my machine and another one in an external caddy. I have had no problems at all Now it is showing PCPro rate the Samsung SpinPoint FDT HD103UJ 1Gb as the bees-knees with the former as the alternative choice... __________________ . Lest we forget... "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them." Submit New Articles Here TSF's Photographer's Corner .

09-12-2008, 04:37 AM	#8 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,647 OS: XP Professional	Re: Suggestions Seagate is an excellent drive, so you should not be disappointed. They also have a great warranty, so you have some protection there also. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.

09-12-2008, 08:10 AM	#9 (permalink)
MunkyPhil TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Liverpool, England Posts: 1,140 OS: Win XP Pro SP2 My System	Re: Suggestions Thanks Tumble, I'm still inclined to go for the Seagate - if only for the bigger numbers. It seems to me like it's just one of those things where some people have bad experiences and some people have good ones, as with many things with to do with PCs. I think I'll try my luck with the Seagate nevertheless- I've never had a bad experience with a hard drive before so I'm still in the 'they're all the same/equivalent' mindset and the Seagate is the cheapest 500Mb drive with 32Mb Cache where I intend to buy from. Any other ideas? I'm really up for all kinds of criticism on this. __________________ "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." - J. Robert Oppenheimer, July 16th 1945. CPU-z -- Memtest -- Speedfan -- Prime95 -- SandraLite Important Power Supply Info -- Applying Thermal Paste -- Posting System Specs Last edited by MunkyPhil; 09-12-2008 at 08:11 AM.

09-12-2008, 01:29 PM	#10 (permalink)
WereBo Resident Village Idiot Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: SE London, UK Posts: 14,449 OS: Win-7, XP-Pro SP3 My System	Re: Suggestions The only other point I can think of, depends on the location in the room etc. If you can manage to put the PC quite close to your stereo system, you can take a stereo screened cable from the PC's headphone jack to the amp's line-in, so all the sounds/music/beeps 'n' squeaks come out the stereo's speakers - they sound infinitely better than the usual PC speakers. Also, if you're into ripping your old vinyl/cassette collection, you can run another pair of cables back from the amp's line-out to the PC's line-in. That way, whatever gets played through your stereo amp can be ripped to the PC __________________ I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.