What so you think?

[RangerDanger]

I was jus wondering what you guys would say about my first build:

CASE - Raidmax RX-9
MOBO - Msi NEO Platinum
CPU - 3.2GHz Intel with HT
CPU COOLER - Blue Orb II
RAM - 1GB of PQI turbo DDR2 (667)
VIDEO CARD - X1600PRO 512DDR2...want to get an X1800XT soon
SOUND CARD - CReative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
HD - 80GB Maxtor
PSU - 600W Aspire

Sorry about the horribel image sizing ...i got lazy.:(


http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/Rangerdanger360/rig4.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/Rangerdanger360/rig1.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/Rangerdanger360/rig3.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/Rangerdanger360/rig.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/Rangerdanger360/Station.jpg

[Cevinzol]

Now that we have eye candy - Its a nice rig.
Goes well with the rest of your setup.
Might want to sleeve and organize the cabling a little.

[Elum!nal]

i'd say its a good computer :D

[RangerDanger]

what bout the picture part lol?

[sega01]

pretty nice, although i would recommend an nvidia video card - they tend to be just as powerfull, and have much better drivers.

[RangerDanger]

going dual 7800GT's with my next rig....im thinkin about getting an X1800XT for this.

[archmaille]

going crossfire nvidia with my next rig....im thinkin about getting an X1800XT for this.

no offense but you're going what? Crossfire is ATI and yes, the X1800XT is ATI, guess that was just a typo? lol

Anyways system looks good! I'm not a fan of Intel, but I like ATI and now with the Xpress 3200 chipset crossfire is becoming more worth it!

[jdbnsn]

I like it, looks like you have akickin sound system with that sub!

[Slug Toy]

ok heres what i think.

the blue orb is a good cooler, i like that. the neo platinum is one of MSI's higher end boards, so thats pretty good. too bad for the intel deal, but i get the feeling you'll have a new setup soon and it wont matter. never heard of PAIU, but 1gig of ram is good. video card and PSU are alright. the hard drive is an area of concern, because rumour has it that maxtor hard drives have a habit of kicking out after about a year. my friend had a maxtor drive that did just that. and the sound card is old news now, x-fi is the latest buzz. overall though, its good.

now, the actual appearance is kind of interesting. it reminds me of an alienware case. just get those stickers off the front, they're ugly and they keep making me think about tuner cars and all their decals and stickers and ugliness. the cables are kind of cluttery, but i dont care too much about those, i only really noticed them as an after-effect.

another thing. my god your workspace is cramped.

anyways, good build for a first attempt. dont take the critique the wrong way. im just putting it down as i see it because i cant think of a way to sugar coat it.

[RangerDanger]

lol opps thats suppose to to be PQI wtf how did i type PAIU????? editing time and yea i moved the disc drives down 2 slots the all those wires are hiddn in the top 2 slots....where i sit i was only able to see the wires and it got a bit anooying....btw im only 14:D

[RangerDanger]

btw i have a mod idea for my old compaq...visit it in the Idea Zone and tell what you think ...some tips are always helpful.

[bartvandenberg]

looks pretty good.

my only suggestions is for that wiring. maybe add some uv lights or something to add a bit more flare..

and im gonna second that maxtor problem. ive rma'd 3 in the last 2 years for guys. i suggest uppin to a seagate sata or sata II. my satas are nice, fast and really good price.

and about the video card. you should really look into the performance specs on dual 7800gt's as compared to one kickass 7900 gtx. cost roughly the same, and perform almost the same. then you still have room to sli further down the road......

BUT>>BUT>>BUT.... DO note... SOME GAMES RUN CRAPPIER ON SLI than SINGLE CARD>>>>>>

and also when buyin a new card...just note.. the dif between 512 video card ram compared to 256 is phenominal.

1 512mb card is ALWAYS better than 2 256 ram cards running sli'd or crossfired...

just to show you im not full of ****. here are some doom3 benchmark results. Take a look at the bottom results....

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1930&page=9

[RangerDanger]

yea my hd is sataII and im lovin it. ill get the nvidia card in the future but thanx for those stats changed my mind. and do u think its worth getting an X1800Xt for this rig?

[bartvandenberg]

i cant find out too much about the x1600pro's benchmark results, but with 512 ram on the card, you are doin just dandy for performance.

i personally would not waste the money on upgrading yet. unless of course you have an endless amount of money kcikin around, but in that case, buy an athlon fx-60 first, if gamin is your concern.

they say rule of thumb is dont bother upgrading unless you see about a 50% gain. so. in your case, a 50% gain would only be possible if you went with 2 x1900xtx's 512 ddr3 ram cards crossfired., or (because i support nvidia 100%), 2 7900gtx's with 512 ddr3 sli'd.

bottom line, dont upgrade unless you hvae tons of money to burn. you will only be dissapointed with fps/cost results anyway.

hope i helped save you some money which in turn you can send me in the mail... thanks

[RangerDanger]

awesome dude thanx ill stick with this!....and not not too many 14 yr olds have a grand layin around lol.

[tybrenis]

not too many 14 yr olds have a grand layin around lol.

Roger that!