Metallurgic

Motherboard Monitor doesn't support my mobo revision, and game me all kinds of crazy temps. Asus PC Probe encountered an error when installing, and did not read any temps after install. Maybe I'll find a better version on my mobo cd.

So far core temp wins.

Alright my cd had a more current edition, and it seems decently accurate.

Far cry isn't cheesy. Play the demo. You will get the idea. Its as real as CS: Source at times. the only thing that may be cheesy is the enemies' reactions to you. Other than that, it's cool.

Any computer will be able to play F.E.A.R. If you have a dx8 video card or higher, it will run.

I'm just bored sitting at school. 4 hour gap in between classes. I'll get back to you when something exciting happens.

I can't believe I've never heard of asus pc probe, since I have an asus mainboard. I give that a try when I get home.

I used to use Everest to monitor my system's temps, but they stopped updating Home Edition. On my new pc, the last version of Home Edition displays mostly incorrect information. It even states that my CPU and mobo are at 15c. I don't trust speedfan either.

Other than those two, what are some up to date applications that you use?

For you 8800 users, what kind of apps do you like to use for fan control? I am using Rivatuner. It has been much better than nTune, which I had to set manually after every restart.

I'll check it out. I might be able to squeeze a few cables back there. The left side panel is exactly like the right side. Just the same brushed aluminum.

I have heard nothing but good things about Far Cry, and I plan to buy it soon.

I use CD Burner XP for burning CDs. It seems that they have recently added DVD support as well.

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

As for wiping hard drives, I have never used anything but Windows.

i'd almost just use the onboard audio and scrap the audigy 4. the hi def audio is supposed to be pretty sweet.

I was thinking about that, but I wasn't sure. I'll do some research. Onboard would help, because I believe the front audio ports could be used with my motherboard. My Audigy doesn't even have the same plug form factor as the cable from my case.

Cable management is going to be tough in this case, there is only one real place I can stuff the unused cables that won't restrict airflow.

about -5 today. -15 windchill. WOOT!

I'm using an xBox 360 controller on my PC. It will work with any game that has decent gamepad support, but if it doesn't, you'll need to find a custom driver that can bind functions and adjust dead zones correctly (I used to know the site, but I have forgotten the url.)

Great build quality, comfortable, and if you liked the smaller xBox controller, you'll like the feel of the 360 variant.

Again, there's not a lot of driver support out there, so you may just want to skip the hassle and go with a Logitech.

Having your OS on a separate hard drive won't do anything except complicate things. The best thing you could do with those two drives is use the 320 for OS/ games, and put your page file on the 80gb.

Then again, since the 80 is ide, I would just leave it out entirely to keep things simple.

Oh ok. It's not on that board then. Some of the newer boards take an 8pin instead of a 4pin. That 4 pin is the one i was talking about.

 

The more I look at that case, the more I like it!

 

Is that a soundcard in your lowest pci slot?

Also, I noticed this and was wondering about it - that board tells you to put 1 stick of ram in yellow and one in black? I thought it was usually just yellow and yellow, then add black after. Though, with my amount of experience, that doesnt mean much

The soundcard is an Audigy 4.

Some manufacturers differ. After building my friend's pc, we found out that on his mobo (MSI socket 939) that if you match colors, it's single channel. But if you alternate colors, it enables dual channel. It was one of the first things I checked after booting it up. I went into CPUz and verified that it was running in dual channel.

The mobo manual usually has these configurations listed (although the diagram from my asus board was a bit ambiguous in terms of memory configurations.)

My all time favorite hybrid shooter is Deus Ex (the original). Lots of people like FEAR, and I plan to buy it soon.

I'm not sure which you mean. There is a separate 4 pin connector (that can be seen in the 3rd picture to the upper left of the cpu). There is also a 4 pin connector that pairs with the standard 20 pin to make a wide 24 pin connector. I didn't need any adapters for anything, luckily.

Personally, I won't mind the difference in performance (if any). It's just a new standard that we're just going to have to get used to. If you want some added performance, then you can just turn off the fancy interface while you play games. Frames per second aside, I can't wait to use the first good looking Windows operating system. My school should have it in April sometime.

The case is by far my favorite part. It is almost silent, except for a high cfm fan I have inside.

I have a few questions for you 8800 owners:

How do you monitor your GPU and CPU temps? I tried Everest, but I know it's wrong. It reports 15c for my cpu.

Does anyone use the Nvidia tuning application for tuning your rig? I used it, and it seemed to make a rather large difference in WoW (almost 20fps or more).

Is there anything you guys would reccomend for me to do to make my 8800 or c2d perform its best? I really don't know much about them.

By the way, thanks for everyone who helped me out! I love my new pc. It should last for a couple years.

Update!

I was so excited about building it that I didn't get a chance to take many before photos. Here are a few shots that I just took. Note: I haven't had much of a chance to do some cable management, so it might look a bit messy inside.

Here are a few benchmarks to accompany the pictures:

3D Mark 2006 (free version on default settings) score = 10222

Source Stress Test on Max Settings (average fps) = 249

Final Setup:

Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4

8800 gtx superclocked

OCZ 2gb ddr2 800 RAM

Antec Performance 180 case

Antec 650w PSU

ASUS P5N-E SLI Mainboard

Yes, the 8800 is dx10. I will never buy from Dell, mainly because of their history with proprietary hardware. Newegg FTW!

ok. Well, i doubt I'll need ultimate to run games and general purposes.

 

Can anyone give me the definition/difference for OEM and retail? In laymen's terms off the top of your head? thx!

If you buy Vista OEM, and you install it on your machine, it is ILLEGAL to install it on any other machine for any reason. It is permanently bound to that system (legally). Whether there is any way for MS to enforce this is debatable, but that's what it means. If you buy Vista RETAIL, you can install it on any computer, so long as it's only on one computer at a time.

Think of OEM Vista as a Vista license that comes with a brand new Dell PC. It's illegal for you to install that OS onto any other computer. It becomes a new computer when you get a new motherboard (although this could vary depending on manufacturer).

Another update: I forgot to change the link for my video card to the regular 8800gtx, and in my haste accidentally bought the superclocked edition. Oh well.

yep

Although SLI is tempting, it just isn't worth it to me. I'd rather replace the 8800 with something insane next year.

The PSU will have to do; it's already been shipped!

Update: I ordered the parts just now, so they should be here next week sometime. I think I am going to document every step of this build, and post pics when I'm done. Thanks for all the input!

Final Price (Including Shipping) $1,662.00

This one is $10 more for a 100W more. I used this one for my new comp a month ago.

Antec 650W

 

Mini's only hassle with it when building my comp was that it wasn't modular, so all the extra cables had to be tied off.

Awesome PSU. I'll replace the other one on my list with that one right away.

I have always loved this case. Good cooling design, front ports, durable, filters and not to mention a good price. Might be a bit small, but I think the layout will offer better organization than most cases in its class.