what are u running

[Finner]

Logisys CS602SL Mid Tower Case w/ Arcylic  Window
ABIT VT7 Socket 478 VIA PT880 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Pentium 4 3.0E HT Prescott 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache Socket 478 Processor
OCZ Enhanced Latency 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Copper Heatspreader Dual Channel Kit System Memory
Geforce 6600 256MB 128-bit DDR AGP 8X Video Card
[CD-ROM drive] CD/R/DVD
Maxtor 6Y120P0 [Hard drive] (122.94 GB)
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1200JS 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA II Hard Drive**
VANTEC Spectrum SP-FC70-BL 120mm Ball Fan Card
WDE LCM-17v2 [Monitor] (17.1"vis flat screen
Aerocool AeroFlow-BB (Aerolite) w/Quad Blue LED
TV Tuner TNR AVerTVGo 007 FM+ MTVGOFMPS
SOUND BLASTER LIVE audio
VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter

** does not work with my motherboard (last i checked)
if some one can use it let me know...

[Mark]

I usually build my own computer beefed up for video games, but I got lazy with my last one as I've been gaming mainly on my consoles. At one point though I will build a nice new computer as I've learned it's not good to be lazy.

I'm currently running an HP Pavilion a1310n with these specs and I have added a 300GB hard drive, a BFG nVidia GeForce 7800 GT (overclocked) PCI-Express video card, a wireless network card, and a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS card.

[Finner]

thats the first one i built..  70% came from zipzoomfly  the rest was newegg

I need to build a new one 

[Mark]

Hey, those are the same to websites I use to buy parts! I remember when ZipZoomFly was called GoogleGear and the change came because there was too much confusion in that people thought it was Google who owned that website.

[Jason]

I've used NewEgg only for probably the last 5 pcs I've built as well as anything else I need parts-wise.  I've built my last 3 boxes and a couple for my dad.

My current rig is over 2 years old now I think and my trigger (mouse) finger is itching to go crazy again. 

Currently I'm in a Lian-Li case, 64bit AMD (I'd have to check the model/speed), gig ram, 2x 300gig wd drives, 2x 19" Samsung flat panels, geforce 6600 (I think?) 128mb pci-e card and few other odds and ends.  It still plays most games (even new ones) but it's reaching it's end of life in that department I think!

Plus, It's time to move up to some of those new 750gig drives!  Mwuahaha!

[Jason]

Man oh man, I went crazy on newegg this week.  I finally broke down and ordered myself a new pc to build.  It's been almost 3 years so that's long enough for me!

Keeping my Lian-Li case of course...but, all new components:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400
4GB G.Skill RAM
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition mobo
2x 750gig WD hdd's
XFX GeForce 8800GT 512MB Video Card (Looking forward to testing this puppy!!)
Lite-on DVD burner (I'll probably throw my current burner in too for disc-to-disc copies)
Coolermaster 750 watt power supply
Zerotherm BTF80 cpu cooler (I hope it fits...it's huge)

I'm upgrading/replacing all my case fans for bigger (and quieter) ones and I'm setting them up with an external fan speed controller so I can regulate them easily.

Can't wait to put this beast together.  (And I know my wife is ready for me to rebuild her old pc with the parts from my current one.  She gets a "new" pc every time I do and since she only uses the web and Office, it will be a huge upgrade for her too to get my current system: AMD 64 3200)

[Mark]

Oh nice setup! And you have a Lian-Li case, I didn't read that before. Those cases are shiny. My next computer will have one. My friend is currently using this one: http://www.lian-li.com/product/product06.php?pr_index=28&cl_index=1&sc_index=2&ss_index=6&type=b  (or possibly and older version of that one, it looks the same though) and he says the cooling in it is amazing and the standard fans that come with it are quite.

I have to ask though, what version of Windows are you going to be running?

[Jason]

This is my case...

http://www.lian-li.com/product/product06.php?pr_index=17&cl_index=1&sc_index=1&ss_index=4&type=b

I'm going to be running XP Pro of course. 

I'm making the move to Linux on my wife's pc this weekend and hopefully one of these days I'll follow.  But for now, it's XP all the way.  Not interested in Vista.

[Mark]

Yeah, I made the mistake and went for Windows Vista. While the OS itself if perfectly fine (at least in my experience) it's the compatibility issues that's getting me. For instance, my graphics card runs better on XP than Vista even with the classic theme running. I lose about 10 FPS. Hopefully nVidia will soon have a more compatible driver out. It sucks that it's taken this long.

What distro are you going to try? I'm running OpenSUSE 10.3 on my laptop and loving it. Interesting enough, my laptop kept crashing on me with both Windows XP and Vista so I thought it was dieing on me. But Linux is running solid. Very intersting.

[Jason]

I'm downloading the latest Fedora as we speak.  I think they're up to core 8 now.  I've had good luck with that one in the past so I figured I'd give it a shot first.

[Mark]

Ah, I've never actually used Fedora. I think I tried 4, but couldn't get it to work so I gave up and moved on. That's when I found Ubuntu, which ultimately led me back to OpenSUSE.

[Jason]

Fedora has been nice -- I've run 4 and presently have 6 on a pc here (though I only turn it on once every few months lol)

I'll see how 8 does this weekend.  I love torrents!  I just downloaded the 3.7gig iso in under 6 hours 

-Jason

[akheir]

Ok - now for some stupid questions  :

Keeping my Lian-Li case of course...but, all new components:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400

What was the rationale for the AMD processor?  I thought multithreading was still the domain of the premium Intels like dual cores, quad-cores, etc.?  (Not attacking your choice - I am asking because I don't know if usage made a difference or if it is simple preference or  cost or ...?)

Oh nice setup! And you have a Lian-Li case, I didn't read that before. Those cases are shiny.

Ok - what gives - what makes the Lian Li cases so nice?  Never heard of them before, but I haven't built a new system in a LONG time.  I always look forward to learning about the good stuff.  BTW - what is the general cost of them?

As I said, stupid questions.

[Jason]

Not stupid at all actually.

As for the processor question...  I moved away from intel (for my home pcs) about 3 pcs ago and I haven't looked back since.  The cost comparison for what you get is worth it alone.  I am not an expert on comparing benchmarks but buying a top end AMD chip generally means a savings of a good bit of money when compared to the exact same power from the Intel line.  So part of it is cost, part of it is performance and part is preference. 

As for the case, I was introduced to Lian Li a few years back when I was building my last pc.  They are light-weight aluminum (the case is VERY light out of box) and they stay very cool.  They're well constructed -- everything works as it should and opens/closes easily.  I've built a lot of pcs for people using $20 cases and higher and I found that this case was well worth the money for me.  You can find similar features on cheapies, but it's worth paying for the quality for me. 

So I'd say quality and coolness are my biggest reasons.

I think I paid about $150 - 200 when I bought my case but I think they're about 100 on newegg these days.  They have much newer models now but that's for the one I have.

[Mark]

As Jason susd the cooling is fanominal! And in addition to it's cooling the stock fans are super quite.