My new SFF PC

Cov(enant)

New member
CPU ... Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 / 3GHz / 6MB cache

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Memory ... GeIL Black Dragon / PC-6400 / 800 MHz / 2x 2GB

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Motherboard ... Asus P5E-VM HDMI

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CPU Cooler ... Zerotherm CF900

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Hard Drive ... Western Digital WD10EACS 1TB

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Power Supply ... Silverstone ST50EF-Plus-SC

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Graphics Card ... eVGA GeForce 8800 GT / 512MB

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Monitor ... Samsung SM2493 HM

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PC case ... Silverstone SG01-S Evolution

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Keyboard ... Saitek Eclipse

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Firstly like to say that memory looks awesome, it`s too bad we don`t see it as a side view when it`s installed >.<

2ndly that camera you got does some damn good shots.

3rdly, having not had such a gratuitous amount of hardware pr0n in 1 thread for such a long time - I`m personally giving u reps on general principle.

Great setup in general. I`d be tempted to look out for a silver finished optical drive.. funny enough I think Kemp was selling one not so long ago..

EDIT: performance wize, I would have gone for a small drive for your OS and kept the 1t for game/app installs and general store.
 
Rastalovich ... thank you very much dude ... the memory really looks awesome I have to say. The eyes of the dragon head glow in red color (you can see the LEDs just about on the picture above the case fan).

But in reality it looks much better than on this picture.

And the camera, haha ... oh man that is only from my mobile phone (Motorola V3x) - nothing special though, but thanks for the compliment.

I should have put at least some comments next to the pictures, here we go:

1) The CPU ... was hard to get. It was everywhere out of stock and when I called the store where I got it from, they confirmed to reserve it for me but it was the last one in stock.

2) The memory modules are not easy to get either, not because they're in short supply like the CPU, but it seems that they're just not popular enough.

Well, I found a store who have them in their product range and ordered just these modules from them ... nothing else.

3) The motherboard ... well it had to be mATX, and this one seems to be the best mATX there is at the moment. Many performance fans still don't believe that this mATX can compete with high class full ATX boards - but it's true.

4) The CPU cooler ... hasn't got the best performance in cooling, but I needed a very low profile CPU cooler. So the choice was very limited.

Was thinking of a Zalman one, but didn't like the way it was fixed onto the socket ... with a lever. This one looked much more stable. Anyway ...

5) The hard drive ... first I thought about 500GB, but as the prices are constantly falling I just went with the 1TB version. By the way, the Samsung F series is very attractive too because they use only 3 platters instead of 4 for this size but the WD runs with a lower rpm, so is quiter ... I think.

6) The power supply ... I was thinking of Corsair HX520W modular, but then changed my mind in the last minute with this one because it is specially made for SFF cases, with short cables = less clutter.

Besides this, the performance / quality is very good too.

7) The graphics card ... I was thinking for a long time between the 8800 GT and the 9600 GT. This one does run very hot, but the performance doesn't leave any space for complaints - so far.

I was playing a few games on my old low spec PC and boy, the difference now is massive. I didn't even know what graphics quality there was sleeping in the games I had, until this card showed features which my old PC was not able to show.

For example the layers of floor, rocks, tanks, cars, water, sky, clouds ... everything looks 100 x better now ... of course while running smooth like silk.

8) The monitor Samsung SM2493 HM really is special.

I couldn't make my mind up before, was thinking between four different brands ... thanks god I went with this one. The Samsung is awesome.

Should have bought it earlier.

9) Yeah, I understand that the black optical drive looks funny in the silver case, but you know what ? ... I don't mind anymore.

10) The keyboard was a surprise ! ... no, not a present. I bought it by the looks of the picture, more or less just out of fun. And good I bought it, this one not only looks awesome, it is the best keyboard I have ever typed on too !!

:wavey:
 
that looks a very tidy little pc mate.I love the dragon ram(didnt know it lit up as well).for your graphics card,is it one of the new style cooler ones?the early gt's had a stupidly low fan setting (29%) which was why they had problems with getting too hot
 
nepas ... not sure, but will change the VGA cooler soon anyway, to the Zalman VF-900 CU. That should make a difference I hope.

And here's a little breakdown:

1.) PSU = £ 58.74 ($117.-)

2.) Motherboard = £ 83.41 ($ 166.-)

3.) HDD = £ 139.81 ($278.-)

4.) Keyboard = £ 22.27 ($ 44.-)

5.) Graphics Card = £ 138.52 ($ 276.-)

6.) CPU = £ 148.99 ($ 297.-)

7.) PC case = 74.35 ($ 148.-)

8.) CPU cooler = £ 18.36 ($ 37.-)

9.) BluRay Player = £ 83.50 ($ 166.-)

10.) Monitor = £ 344.98 ($ 687.-)

11.) Memory = £ 60.51 ($ 121.-)

12.) Mouse = £ 4.95 ($ 10.-)

---------------------------------------------

Together = £ 1178.39 ($ 2348.-)
 
That is a monster!

I personally love it, can we have a pic of the RAM when the PC is on? I want to see the eyes. ;)

Haven't seen naked RAM chips in ages, do they get warm?
 
yours is rev2 model with bigger fan,and the bios should be better with the fan control.have you got rivatuner to check the fan speed
 
The RAM does look better than on this picture, don't know why it looks so strange here. But my mobile phone camera wouldn't allow to make close-up pictures unfortunately.

I checked the RAM modules while they were under full load for a while ... they felt warm but not hot. Don't think there's anything to worry.

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Nice build, I've got the same memory (loved the comment about buying nothing else from there, I'm with you on that!) and it's great. I've got one of those dominator fans over it and it rarely ever even feels warm. I also accidentally left it on a BIOS preset and it ran at just under DDR1000 for a few hours at 1.9v before I noticed. Bloody good memory!
 
It looks good. BTW does the case get hot and also is that case u got designed for that 8800 u got.

Lastly where did u get those ram from?
 
Doddsy ... hahaha. No, I didn't buy the memory from overf*****s.co.uk.

After the horror stories I heard about them I wouldn't even buy from them if they'd give 50% discount.

I bought it from Novatech ... very friendly, very fast & even for a good price !: ---> http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?GEL-BD644G

Thanks for your compliment WC Annihilus & Hassan ... it took me many months researching around for every single component. None of them were easy to decide, and there is no absolute answer to the question what component is the best.

Too often it depends on an individual taste as well as on the purpose ... and on the budget available.

The part I am delighted the most about is the Samsung monitor from eBuyers ... I can only recomment this model with all honesty, as it has the sharpest picture I have ever seen and ZERO dead pixels !! :yumyum:
 
Awesome build mate, I am lookin at gettin a decent backlit keyboard, but can't make up my mind between the Eclipse and the Eclipse II, read some pretty good reviews of both, and the backlight needs to be blue so that puts the G15 out, plus it's pretty pricey and I think the LCD is just a bit gimmicky, i'd probably get headshotted while I was looking down to see my K/D ratio! Can you take any pics of the keyboard at night just to see how bright it actually is? I heard that the Eclipse I can fade over time so not sure atm.
 
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The Keyboard has three modes: bright / half-bright / off

this is bright

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and this is half bright

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Please note that the digital camera from my mobile phone is not able to capture the pictures properly. It does look better in reality than on those pictures.
 
name='nepas' said:
that looks a very tidy little pc mate.I love the dragon ram(didnt know it lit up as well).for your graphics card,is it one of the new style cooler ones?the early gt's had a stupidly low fan setting (29%) which was why they had problems with getting too hot

Heard that b4. They do however idle @ 29%, but as the heat increases, then pulse higher, as opposed to moving up to something like 100% and staying there til cool.

If you take them off automatic, and dont change the %age, it`ll stay on 29% :p (of course)
 
name='Cov(enant)' said:
Doddsy ... hahaha. No, I didn't buy the memory from overf*****s.co.uk.

After the horror stories I heard about them I wouldn't even buy from them if they'd give 50% discount.

Lol, I never knew anyone else done this mem tbh or I would have bought it from them instead. I felt dirty using ocuk.
 
The Eclipse does look good, I guess I'll just have to see what I think when it comes to getting a new keyboard, cheers for takin those pics.
 
Sexy case, I like it :)

Nice little cube you have there. I always wanted a super small, super powerful pc with uber cooling... One day I might.
 
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