Project: iSwitched Back

[DavidT]

iSwitched Back

Alrighty, like I said, I'm selling my MacBook and making a comeback into the wonderful world of PC Gaming again. And with that, I'm building my self a somewhat budget'ish gaming system.

Here's what I have planned so far:

- See Post #9 for final parts: http://forum.overclock3d.net/showpost.php?p=253383&postcount=9

Eventualy, when I rack up some extra cash, I'll put in a dual 120mm loop in it for cooling.

Basically, I'll be starting the moment I sell my MacBook, which hopefully, will be soon.

I'd love to hear some feedback/comments

 

[Mr. Smith]

Spend more on the gpu, i'm sure the price of 88GT's has dropped... Ham was selling one iirc..

 

[Socks]

Ai, i think he wanted 150 for it. I was going to get it but got a GTX instead.

Its a good card. Worth investing in

 

[DavidT]

Ham's in the UK though, by the time you're done with shipping costs, it would cost the same as if I bought it new lol.

I might see if I can find a good deal here though, the 9600GT seems ok though, the specs are nearly the same as the 8800GT anyways.

 

[darkorb]

Canada computers has good prics on their cards, but NCIX is better, they are based in BC.

 

[Socks]

Pardon my being rude but how much you got to spend??

If youve got a good budget then shop around. Always good considering to drop something and get something different.

EBAY!!!

 

[Ham]

Tbh your choices are fine bar the CPU.

Replace it with a low end wolfdale and it'll be a fine set up.

 

[DavidT]

Tbh your choices are fine bar the CPU.

Replace it with a low end wolfdale and it'll be a fine set up.

Sadly, Wolfdales aren't in stock anywhere in Canada yet. They're expected in April.

I might wait for these updated B3 stepping Phenoms to come out though, they're fairly aggressively priced, so I'll give them a chance.

Pardon my being rude but how much you got to spend??

If youve got a good budget then shop around. Always good considering to drop something and get something different.

EBAY!!!

I'm expecting that I'll have roughly $1200 CAD to spend once I'm done with selling my MacBook.

 

[DavidT]

Alright, I ordered my system. Wolfdales came in stock so I got me one!

This is what I've ordered:

- Intel Xeon E3110 3.0Ghz Wolfdale 45nm (Exact same chip as the E8400)

- DFI LanParty DK P35-T2RS

- Arctic Freezer 7 Pro HSF

- EVGA 9600GT Superclocked

- 2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800Mhz 4-4-4-12

- 250GB Seagate Barracude 7200.10 16MB Cache

- 650w Antec Trio PSU

- Coolermaster CM690 Case

- 20" Acer Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ 2500:1 Contrast ratio and 5ms response

Comes in about 6 days, I can't wait

 

[ionicle]

looks good

 

[DavidT]

Ok, the parts finally shipped today, so now I should be getting them within 1-6 days *knock on wood*

 

[DavidT]

Woot! Somehow the parts managed to get here over night, I'm guessing I got bumped to Express Air shipping for some reason Anyways, everything BUT the Case and Monitor came in today, but that won't stop me! I grabbed my old LCD monitor, and voila:







I had a bit of a mishap installing the 9600GT, unfortunately there's some capacitors in the way of the card, so one got a bit of a dent on it when I pushed the card in (hadn't noticed the capacitors at that point). I managed to gently nudge it aside though:





Case and Monitor should be in tomorrow, and I'll update with more pics

 

[ionicle]

looking good

glad you made the switch back to the dark side?

 

[DavidT]

looking good

glad you made the switch back to the dark side?

Am I ever! I can feel the copper and silicone running through my blood again. Or I'm having a stroke, either one.

 

[Mr. Smith]

Am I ever! I can feel the copper and silicone running through my blood again. Or I'm having a stroke, either one.

LOL! Nice bit of kit... How does the 9600 perform? Firefly had 88GT's for bargain prices!

 

[Barry]

Nice motherboard indeed.

Mine's here tommorrow

 

[DavidT]

LOL! Nice bit of kit... How does the 9600 perform? Firefly had 88GT's for bargain prices!

Unfortunately I couldn't run any tests yet, I wasn't even able to load Windows on. The DVD drive that I was planning to use apparently borked sometime in the 5 months that I had it stuffed in the dark abyss of old computer parts and boxes that is my bedroom closet.

I just placed the order for a new one and it should be in tomorrow.

 

[Barry]

that 9600 cooler vynal really fits in with the motherboard.

Would look even better with a black PCB on the 9600 tho.

 

[DavidT]

that 9600 cooler vynal really fits in with the motherboard.

Would look even better with a black PCB on the 9600 tho.

Yeah, sadly once it's installed in the case, you can't even see it anymore lol

Bit of a set back in my build now though, seems my Monitor was sent via ground shipping, so it's now scheduled to arrive Monday, and my case is somewhere in North America (They've lost track of it)

So in the mean while, I'm gonna get everything set back up on my desk, yoink the DVD drive out of this compy for now and see what I can do.

 

[DavidT]

Alright, my case has been tracked again and it's in Toronto, so is the Monitor. Both should be here on Monday. My DVD drive came in yesterday as well.

In the meanwhile, I've been tweaking the setup. I've managed to OC my E3110 to 4Ghz.

CPU: 445*9 @ 1.4v

RAM: 891Mhz 333/667 Div Strap, 5-5-5-12 @ 2.1v

NB Core: 1.3v

VTT: 1.3v

Seems to be running stable, and cool