End of PWI....update

[Neo]

Those of you reading that thread for the first time, don't be alarmed. It just means an update of the current status of PWI (online gaming wise) as it relates to NEO making his return to the gaming ranks. In other words, the peaceful (and somewhat boring, after all, I wasn't there!) life that you guys have enjoyed is soon to be brought to an abrupt and LOUD end.

Here is the rundown on the PC that I am building.

Parts listed below have either arrived or have been shipped and will arrive Monday or Tuesday:

CASE: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
Newegg Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8 2E16811129021

POWER SUPPLY: OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W Power Supply 100 - 240 V CB/CE/CSA/UL/FCC
Newegg Link:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82 E16817341001

MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
Newegg Link:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82 E16813128064

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
Newegg Link:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82 E16819115018

CPU FAN: ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Newegg Link:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82 E16835118019

Memory: OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-1066 CL 5-5-5-15 EPP Ready Dual Channel Kit Retail OCZ2RPR10662GK
ClubIT Link:
http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A4 308302

Thermal Grease-------Artic Silver 5, of course!

All those above have been ordered. The case is here, and has been for a week. It took me a while longer to decide on the rest of the above items, but they now have been ordered, picked, and shipped.
(Most of my stuff I ordered from ClubIT thus far, the only exception being the Antec case, Zalman fan, and thermal grease).

The only thing I cannot decide upon are these:

8800 GT Nvidia card. I am pretty sure I am going with the EVGA Superclocked version, but it is hard to find in stock at a decent price right now. I can find it all day long for about $289, but was going to hold out for through Sunday in hopes of a deal coming along on FATWALLET.

HardDrive: Nothing fancy here, not sure if I will buy a single HDD or several and RAID 'em. My thinking is that I will probably just buy a single HDD, probably a Seagate, with about 320 gig of space. Like I said, nothing fancy.

Sound card: Can't make up my mind here. I am going to try the onboard sound for a several days or so, just to see how that goes. I will be using a PS/2 Keyboard and mouse port for those parts, as that is what I prefer. Also, it seems that some folks have had issues with the onboard sound when using USB keyboard and mouse. If I don't like the onboard sound, I am not sure what soundcard I will go with yet.

Monitor: I am stuck here. I had thought of going with a 24" one, but have been told by two folks who have them that they are just TOO BIG. Both claim that they have strained their eyes trying to take in all the action while gaming, LOL. Anyone who has thoughts on this size, or want to offer any suggestions on a monitor (keep it under $500 please) please feel free to expound upon your ideas.

That is about it for now. I have spent countless hours these last few months researching the products I have ordered. This includes all different types of forums, from the various overclockers forums to the specific product forums. I am satisified in the purchases I have made thus far, especially with the memory. I spent some time in the OCZ support forums, and found great info on memory as it related to my MOBO.

What I am trying to do is end up with a pc that is going to serve my needs for a while. I wish that the MOBO I ordered would have slots for DDR3 memory, but I can live without that for the time being. I also wanted to have a good gaming rig, WITHOUT spending all the extra cash of having someone else build it for me.

Enough of that.

Be afraid, PWI, be very afraid..............................NEO is coming, and he brings in-game PAIN with him.

[Jack]

The only good option for sound is a X-FI card.

[Widow]

I have this monitor and love it.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?Pr oductCode=10005834

I think Rag has it as well. It has DVI output, RGB (just in case), and for some strange reason HDMI (No in monitor speakers). But I like it alot and it is just the right size (22in).

Not to mention it compliments my 32in LCD TV.

And yes X-Fi would be the way to go if you want to get a "good" that will still be "good" if you ever goto Vista. There goes my Audigy 2 that I have when I got Vista *shudders*

[NLSoulja]

Yeah I have X-Fi which works hell of better on my new computer even though it gave me problems at first.

I have a 19" monitor which is nice and is my TV as well and a 17" monitor. 19" isnt too big at all, 22" would probably work well for me and you as well, even though you're an old man ;-)

Go ahead and get 4gb of memory imo, I wish I did, I probably will upgrade soon; although the computer runs just fine with 2gb, 4gb will be that much better.

Other than that, sounds like a bad ass machine. I got lazy and didn't build my last machine.

[Neo]

Let me address the memory deal first. At the moment there is no point in me getting 4 gigs of memory, as you are probably aware of the issues with XP and that much memory. As you may have guessed by now, I will NOT be installing Vista on this machine anytime soon. Don't try to convince me otherwise either, LOL. I can pretty much guarantee you that no matter how much research or thought you have given this matter, I have given it as much or more. Let's leave it at that.

As for the monitor, Widow, I have mixed feelings on this matter. I have looked at the one you have, as well as countless others. After searching and searching, I keep finding myself going back to Samsung models. My Samsung CRT flatscreen has been chugging along well over 3 years now, and it still looks great. The black level is still something to behold after all this time. Seems like I remember someone (Lowman, maybe?) in PWI talking about their Samsung monitor still looking and working great after several years of use.

As for the sound card, I am still not sure about that either. Jack mentions the X-Fi line, which is very nice indeed. My question is this: Are the games you guys are playing now utilizing EAX 5.0? Yes, there is a reason I am asking this.

[Juggalo Fett]

It's all crap...


:burp:

[NLSoulja]

Yeah, no point of 4 gigs on XP.

I have both Samsungs, one I have had for 4 years and its fine, the other for 1 year and its fine as well.

The X-Fi is just a solid card, Im not sure how much prices have come down now, but when I bought it, it was definitely NOT worth it.

[Jack]

You do want to get 4Gigs for the simple fact that new games are utilizing 1-2 Gigs now. Hellgate uses about 1.4Gigs of my memory.


P.S. you might want to consider XP Pro x64 for your memory problem.

[Jack]

Honestly, I am disappointed with pc gaming in general. They will never be anything like a console. If you really like gaming, and that is all you want then get a freaking xbox 360 and 1080p tv :P

[Neo]

Decided against the EVGA Superclocked editon graphics card, and went instead with this:

http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A9 630952#

It is a Gibabyte 8800gt card with a large Zalman fan. Reading some tech reviews of the card, it had some positives and negatives. On the negative side, it doesn't seem to perform as well as some other 8800gt's at higher clock speeds. However these were speeds in excess of 700, the Superclocked version only comes in at 650, so I don't feel to bad about that. The postives are obvious and subtle, the obvious being that Zalman fan. Core temps averaged in the mid 40 C range (active not idle) compared to upper 70's to low 80's C range for other 8800gt cards.

I have read that the 8800gt will stand core temps over 100 C without fear of compromising the card, but I have no desire to find out how true that is. My hope is to use this card for a while and then possibly upgrade to the 9x line of Nvidia cards due out this spring (I think) using Nvidia's upgrade program.

Still no decision on a monitor yet, I may wait a while on that, use my SyncMaster 955DF CRT (big enough to anchor the Queen Mary in a typhoon) for the time being, 'cause, like I said, it still looks great.

Probably will go with Jack's suggestion on the sound card. I had another in mind, but read some negative things on that.

[Jack]

I didn't read about the monitor but your best buy will be a 24" widescreen. Main reason there is that it will do the 1080p resolution which is good for a console. I know it isn't part of your plan but you never know. Also, having a computer monitor that can switch between a computer and console can be pretty damn nice. You can pretty much go with any monitor that will hit 3000:1 or higher contrast ratio.

[Ragnarok]

may i recommend the LG 22" http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1130522

[Neo]

HOPEFULLY....................I will be online sometime tonight. All the components I ordered have arrived.

I am going to Tiger Direct to pick up a few things, including a 8800GT that I will use for a week or so until my Gigabyte card arrives. Then, it's back to Tiger Direct to return the card, hehe.

I have no patience, when I decide I want something, I wanted it yesterday.

Stay tuned.

[Juggalo Fett]

Get the Samsung 22" TFT.

It rocks!!!!!!

[Neo]

Well, I am a little late getting started with the build, as I hung out at TigerDirect in Raleigh a lot longer than I meant to. I simply cannot pass by a television without stopping if there is a football game on, especially a game in the snow.

Anyway, I got the rest of components needed for the build, with one minor exception. No 8800GT cards in stock for me to tinker with for about 14 days, so I just got an 8600GT instead. I should have went to BestBuy for a card cause TigerDirect will often force you to pay a 15% restock charge on returned merchandise. Sucks ass, but I was ready to get home and start the build and see if everything works. On a side note, if any of you out there are interested in a slightly used 8600GT in a week or so, let me know and I will cut a deal with you!

Oh well, time to start putting it all together!

Jack, I would really appreciate it if you could send me a kiss over the internet for luck. You too, Juggs.

And Marsha.......oh, nevermind. I don't think I can say what I need from you in a public forum!

[NLSoulja]

get it running yet?

[Juggalo Fett]

http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/aktion/action-smiley-057.gif <3

[Neo]

FINALLY. Got it up and running tonight at 10:30 pm EST. Couple of things held me up.

First, I tried to skimp on buying another XP, and went the corporate dl direction. Burnt several disks, and during install on the new system I would get the dreaded "cyclic redundancy error" message. Thought it was an issue with the SATA hard-drive, but as it turns out, I just needed to burn the cd with Magic-ISO rather than Nero. Installed fine after that.

Now, for the second thing that is bugging me. I bought a temp card (the 8600GT) just until my Gigabyte 8800GT 512 arrived. Well, today I get an email from Amazon that they are going to refund my money due to the card no longer being available at the present time. Ok. I go to Newegg to see if they have it in stock, and instead of showing in stock, out of stock, and the notify me messages, it only says "deactivated".

Not sure what it means, but I do believe I am not getting the Gigabyte card like I wanted. Sucks too, cause I really wanted that card, dammit!

Anyway, look for me to be on TS tomorrow night. Later.