Building my own ultimate Rig

re: Monster Dream Machine

Reactor89 — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 15:14:47 GMT

*drool*... Oh! Sorry.

Just 4GBs of ram man come on...;-)

Anyway please benchmark the computer and post the results OK!

Reactor89

re: Monster Dream Machine

cky2k6 — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:43:48 GMT

this is a godly system, and the component choice is impeccable. I just hope you got a 64bit os, cause I dont believe even vista 32bit has solved the 4gb physical memory limitation.

re: Monster Dream Machine

KentuckyRanger — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:34:14 GMT

I got it running, after dealing with Vista X64... After many attempts at installing the O/S I found out that Microsoft in its infinate wisdom forgot to add the drivers to support extended RAM. I had to pull 2 Sticks of RAM before Vista would run. AFter that I had to go here: www.support.microsoft.com/kb/929777/en-us

After downloading and installing the drivers everything went well. It's funny that an O/S that touts support of up to 8 GIG of RAM can't do it out of the Box. It only supports <3GIG...

I'm in the process of O/Cing and will post the Benchmarks when available.

re: Monster Dream Machine

KentuckyRanger — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 12:17:24 GMT

Dang Reactor89! What more do you want. Blood? LOL! I wanted to go with 8GIG and I still might. As fro right now 4 GIG is really working well, especialy with the SLI video Cards.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

Zooch — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:49:54 GMT

That is so sexy....

Can you explain to me a little better what TEC is? I understand it's a cooling thing, but more info would be great. Or a link.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

KentuckyRanger — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 20:10:59 GMT

Hey Zooch! Thanks for the comment.

TEC is an acronym for Thermal Electric Cooling, like the Coolers you can buy to keep drinks cold in the Car, it's the same technology. The way it works in a CPU cooler is they sandwich the TEC Chip between 2 Plates on the Heatsink. This way the unit serves as an air cooler, just like the OEM cooler on most M-Boards. The early models kept the TEC unit on all the Time and that was bad. Why? Because TEC's are so effecient at cooling, they would over cool the CPU during idle. Why that's a bad thing is simple physics. When something is cooled well below Room temprature it causes condensation, just like on the side of your Glass of Iced Tea on a hot summer Day. This would cause Water damage to the M-Board. The early units had to be modified to keep condensation away from the CPU and surrounding components by using Silicone, a messy compramize to say the least.

The new TEC units have a controll unit that keeps track of the CPU Core temp and only comes on when the CPU needs it, around 40-45deg C thus eliminating the condensation problem and making TEC's a viable alteritive to Water cooling.

Here's a Link to a great Video about the Ultra ChillTEC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtjnXUUBIPA

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

BrotherJonathan — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 22:41:43 GMT

Sweet machine. I'm in the same situation as you. Been upgrading my PCs in the past, and have built a few of my own, but have never had the $$$ to truly get one that kicks. Now I'm at that point where I can.

I do have a silly question, which I know I really should know the answer to.

What does it mean to "Burn In"? Is is simply leaving the machine on for a period of time, or is there something that has to run as well to "burn it in"?

Thanks!

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

KentuckyRanger — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 10:57:17 GMT

Not a stupid question at all. Burn in is just Geek speak for running a stress test Program for so many Hours. I use the stability test that's built into nVidias Control Panel. It's free and does a very good job at stressing all the Components i.e. CPU, video Card, RAM etc...

All a burn in does is stress the Components for a set Time to make sure everything is working the way it should. I set the nVidia stress test to 36 Hours. Then checked to make sure all went well. Then set it again for another 36 Hours just to be sure.

This is a must when over Clocking to make sure all is running well and is just a way to make sure a stock Rig is put together properly and that all the Components are working like they should.

This way, if something like a Stick of RAM or a video Card is bad from the Factory, it can easily be diagnosed and sent back for replacement while still under waranty.

When building Rigs for People as a Business, burning in is a must. If one builds Rigs and ships them without knowing it's working properly won't last long in Word of Mouth advertising.

Not to mention the extra cost of shipping the thing back because you didn't take the Time or care to see the thing was working in the first place.

Anyway, that's what burning in means.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

KentuckyRanger — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 12:36:09 GMT

One other thing Jonathan. You don't have to spend the big Bucks like I did to get a really screaming Rig. I did it because I had the oprotunity to afford to. You could make a Rig that runs as well as this one and save allot of Money on all the extra Doo Dads I put in this Rig.

For instance, you could save a Ton of Money and get a really nice 7200rpm H/D with 500GB and in the real World, you'd never be able to notice the difference other than Windows taking 20 extra Seconds to load. You could also save a bunch on just putting 2 GIG of RAM in, instead of 4GIG and unless you where really taxing the system, you'd never know the extra 2 GIG was missing.

Blu-Ray burning is so new, there's no real reason to even have it right now. I got it for the future of my business. A good, low cost DVD burner will do wonders and you can get one for under $50.00.

As for the M-Board, it really wasn't that much more than a good "budget" M-Board. Now if you're talking over extreme like the Asus Striker extreme then you're talking qite a bit of a price Gap between budget and high end M-Boards.

SLI is nice, but it's a technology that hasn't grown up yet. You can get very nice and very impressive Frame rates with a video Card like the GeForce 8800 GTS or even the GeForce 8600 GTS for that matter and the 8600 GTS is under $200.00.

If you want great video performance without going SLI then you can even save more Money if you go with a M-Board that doesn't even support SLI like the Asus P5K series, Very powerful and inexpensive high performance M-Boards.

Another place you can save allot is in buying OEM software like Vista, Microsoft Works etc...

What seperates OEM from full versions is pricey packaging and documentation. OEM software must be purchased from the same vendor and is linked to the Hardware it's going with i.e. the M-Board. The difference between Consumer and OEM software can reach into the Hundreds of Dollars.

OEM Hardware works kind of the same way. You get the same Hardware but in a plain Box and without support documentation and in most cases, driver software. Take for instance the W/D Raptor H/D's I purchased. I saved around $40 per Unit by getting the OEM version. The sacrafice was no SATA Cable, no Owners Manual and no software CD. Plain Box with nothing but the H/D. If you want the Goodies you'll pay for them.

Another instance was the CPU. I saved almost $200.00 by purchasing the OEM version. What did it miss? No CPU cooling Fan and no support documentation other than a little Warranty pamphlet. Plain Box with nothing but the CPU. No cool Stickers, No Cooler either, LOL!

It all comes down to your knowledge on installing Hardware and comfort in dealing with being on your own when building a new Rig. Another issue is CPU choice. You can get awesome performance out of a much less expensive CPU than the QX6800. In fact, the QX6700 is a great CPU and cost around$400.00 less. Now that the new QX6850 is out and you can find it for just under $1k if you look hard enough, will make the others come down in price as well very soon if it hasn't already. Also, AMD still makes some very awesome CPU's, even though they have been out paced by Intel in the last Year. It's another one of those bragging right things. The high priced CPU's do perform better, but if you're just wanting to play Games and do simple multi tasking, you'll never notice the difference.

On the other Hand, if you are like me and do allot of high end video as well as Photo editing, then you will really notice the slow down. Quad Core doesn't help me in Halo 2 or Doom 3, but it sure shines when I'm editing 2 Hours of video Clips with heavy transitions and video effects.

In the future, more and more Game and software manufacturers will be utilizing all this new technology but don't expect it for another 6-12 Months.

I can't even find editing software that runs in 64bit, yet.

As for performance increases in Gaming running 64bit Code, who knows...

I remember the first extreme Rig I worked with. It ran in 8bit and had 6KB of RAM. That's right, less than 1 Gig. It ran well for back then and was cutting Edge technology for the Time.

I also remember the First external H/D I worked on as a Tech. It was a 10 MB Unit made by Star technologies and cost almost $4,000.00

It broke down more often than it worked, LOL! From what I remember, I think it has a 200 Hour service operation life. I can get more Time out of a Light Bulb from Big Lots, LOL!

I guess my Tangent from the subject has to do with what it costs to build a Rig Today, in comparison to say 3-4 Years ago. $3k Today gets you about the same as $5k just 3 Years ago. Just look at LCD Monitors. Just a Year ago the same 20" Monitor you can get at Wal Mart for under $200.00 cost $500.00.

This system was the first Time I rode ahead of the Wave, istead of riding in the middle somewhere.

When you decide to start putting together your List of Goodies, remember what I said here. You don't have to Mortgage the House to have an awesome Rig.

I just went all out on this system because I could, and I wanted to make it as future proof as possible.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

darkhut — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 18:55:15 GMT

ever heard of Linux? it supports 4 or more gigs of ram just like that. it's got less overhead and more features. it's design is smarter, way more efficient than any m$ product will ever be. unless gaming is all you do, I don't see any reason to pay for vista ultimate. in fact, i really think thats throwing money out the window. you think aero looks cool? ever heard of beryl? do a search for beryl vs vista on youtube and you will know you're paying on inferior technology just because you don't care what you do with ur money. you should though, because it's this kind of attitude that hurts everybody else by supporting monopoly and not smart technology and progress.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

Genesis — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 19:02:11 GMT

great rig but what is that in the 3.5 external bay?

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

Eight4 — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 23:56:23 GMT

I like it a lot. Your cable management and color matching are pretty slick.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

KentuckyRanger — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 07:48:42 GMT

Yes, I've heard of Linux and I almost went with it. I e-mailed all the softare vendors who I purchase my editing software through and some do support Linux but not enough to sway me.

I'm thinking about getting another H/D and installing Linux just to see what I can do with it.

I didn't mean to come off as a techno snob. I just had the oprotunity to build this Rig with no restrictions.

Back in the Day I was a die hard OS2 Warp fanatic. In fact, I used it untill about 5-6 Years ago when IBM dropped support. I remember getting the quality Win XP only had in the last Days on that O/S and back when I first got it Win 3.1 was the big Dog on the Block with delay after delay of the Win 95 relese. In fact, I used my Beta Hi-Fi untill it broke, refusing to submit to VHS. When I did, I got a cheap VHS unit because by then DVD was comming into its own. I almost went with Laser Disc when it first came out but let my Friends buy it before I did to see if they where any count. I'm glad I didn't because they had allot of problems out of the first systems. Like I said, sorry if I came off like a Snob.

I have a Fan controller in the 3.5" Drive slot. It really works great. Not real fancy but does just what it's designed to do, control Fans, LOL!

Thanks for the comment on Cable management. I tried to keep everything low profile, no glow in the dark wire wraps, LOL!

I keep hearing such bad revews of the Ultra ChillTEC I almost replaced it with a Water cooler, but the dang thing works so well and as for the temp display not being very good well, I keep going straight into the system monitor and the CPU Core temp is about 2deg C off so I still say it's not a bad Unit. If it can keep this system under 40deg C while under heavy loads then I'm fine with its performance.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

ShadowReeper — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:18:31 GMT

Absolute beauty.. My dream machine in the hands of another man.. LOL! Great build.. No, PERFECT build. If it is alright to ask a huge favor, could you send me a little step-by-step deal on building a PC. I'm only 16 and I am going to build a gaming PC for my senior project. I have the compatible parts really similar to yours so you can just explain how you built yours. I am in need of assistance and I see you know what you are doing, so if you could, please e-mail me at ShadowReeper@aol.com with any details or anything at all to help me. Thank you, and what a great job on your beast-of-a-build!

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

HowardsFamily — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 21:35:02 GMT

I really enjoyed reading your story. I just started my journey into building my ultimate machine. I'm still learning what it takes to make a machine tic but im trying to gather as much knowledge as it takes to build a rig from scratch, this was very informative and encouraging.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

DBCooper — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 00:51:48 GMT

Great job KR, someday in the near future I will venture down this road of building a PC.

I am not the mechanic type and I have big hands. I have added memory to a machine and an

Lan card to my computer.

I have several old machines setting around from the 2000 era that power own but do not show any video. Is that the problem?

I think what I want is to learn how to test the different parts to see if they work.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for a great blog.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

crashoften — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:30:21 GMT

Its interesting to hear about the thought process other builders go through when picking parts. I've got a aging system with a single core Athlon 64 and Ati x800xl that I am going to be upgrading soon (new mobo, mem, cpu) and I really confuse my family when I start talking about pro's and cons of the various chipsets, crossfire vs SLI, dual or single, air coolers, power supply ratings, hard drive speeds, cooling features of newer cases. What computer parts define me as a end user? <joke. I think anytime you make your choices public you are risking the wrath of the self proclaimed geek elite who can be ruthless in assessing your knoledge. Kudos for taking the risk. It's doubtful my new rig will feature any of your parts (cept for my already in place Raptors) With some reasearch with all the reviews out there on parts it doesn't have to be a total c**p shoot, but ya don't know how the parts are gonna work together till you slap it all together. Good job on the wireing, it looks great. Your assessment on the joy of building your own is dead on. My first attempt at a upgrade was scary as hell (my 3 gig hard drive), but it took just over an hour and I felt like the king of the world!

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re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

HOGHAULER — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 23:00:01 GMT

Hello KentuckyRanger and greetings from the HOGHAULER after reading your blog and the reviews by other comp/enthusists such as myself I had to comment as well as ask a few minor ?'s 1st that is an outstanding build you did and I complament you on the procedures you used! Most youngsters today just dive in head first with out thinking things thru. You examined what you wanted from the computer, then what you wanted for yourself, then analized the hardware from the case to the smallest detail. Then you ordered and built 1 terriffic machine. Now to the questions why SLI, why not P38 or P35 MB's, if you plan on doing so much video work why 8800GTX why not HD2600XT or even HD2900XT. Last but not least where did you find the TEC I didnot even know they existed if I had I would have got 1 before buying the air cooler for my HTPC I'm building now.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

Nancy01602 — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 20:10:09 GMT

Just curious - what was the cost of components and how long did the build take.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

KentuckyRanger — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 07:21:37 GMT

Thanks for the Flowers HOGHUALER.

To answer the question about why SLI, I was looking at something simmalar to the HD2900XT but after looking the whole thing over I decided to go with the 8800's for the most future bang for the Buck. Any of the 880 series Cards are so new and have support for so much in the future that's not even close to being out yert I figured that I'd deal with the Headaches that come with new technology becuae I kew that evantualy things would catch up and since this build I've had quite a few Migranes to say the least.

If I'd have ran across your comment when you posted it back in Oct I'd have most likely said I was really regretting my decision on Vista as well as SLI and the 8800 series but in the last few Weeks there have been some very good updates to both that has turned my discontent into relief that things are finnaly catching up to the hardware and O/S I chose.

Since doing some video editing I can tell you that my choice has really paid off in render Times.

Not so much SLI because it would only take 1 8800 to do the job video editing software requires, that was more for my games, LOL!

But as to the 64 bit O/S and CPU, the differance is night and Day as to the speed the software can render changes to Video clips.

My old system took forever and some Days I'd just give up and turn the thing off after it would crash from asking my old rig to do so much at once.

For instance, I'd do a pan and zoom on a short 15 second clip with my old system and it would take almost 5 Min to render.

Now that same clip takes less than 10 Seconds.

I guess my answer to the 8800's in SLI would be they're great for gamming and I wanted something really overboard for once, LOL!

As to the TEC, Newegg and Tiger both have one. I went with the Ultra because it looks nicer with the Ultra logo heatsink shroud.

That was the only thing I had to turn from Newegg and get it from Tiger because the one Newegg offeres doesn't look as cool. It's basicaly the same unit but one is a little more fancy.

I read allot of stuff about the pros and cons of Ultras TEC unit but since I've had my Rig up and running for almost 6 Months I don't regret getting it one bit over Water cooling.

The CPU has never went over 38deg C no matter what I'm doing with it and it idles at 28deg C when I'm just goofing around on the internet like I am now now.

Like I said before, Water cooling just doesn't have the redundancy that the Ultra TEC has and I'll argue that all night long with Water cooling gurus.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

KentuckyRanger — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 07:49:46 GMT

Hey Nancy.

As to the cost, after it was all over and the smoke cleared from my Bank account, LOL!

Total cost was $6200.00

I went all out on this and you could build a Rig now using the newer CPU's and eliminating things like the UPS and come in for about $500.00 less.

You could even save more if you went with one 8800 and a smaller P/S and still have a really screaming Rig.

This was just my chance to build a no holds barred super screamer.

And if you're thinking that a Company built Rig really isn't that much more I'll let you in on some research I did before building this system.

The closest thing I could find to this build was only offered by VooDoo, Alienware came in second. The VooDoo maxed out was $9800.. and the Alienware came in at $8600.00 less the Blu-Ray DVD drive. Niether offered 8800 Ultras, only GTX and this was less the Monitor and UPS!

I figure I got the system I wanted and saved about $3500.00 doing it myself.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

KentuckyRanger — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:11:55 GMT

Sorry all for not getting on here more. I'm glad my story help you all out.

As far as building a Rig yourself it's almost foolproof Today.

DB, as far as what you're going through just keep reading and learning. Computers Today are so forgiving, not like the old Days when I went to Computer School. I remember spending a whole Day trying to install a stupid Modem in a Friends PC. It was a 486 machine and you had to manualy set everything without causing conflicts.

Todays PC's with plug and play standards there really isn't any way of goofing unless you're trying to install a very old piece of hardware in a new machine.

As to your older Computers booting up and not showing up on the screen, that could be anything from a bad Video Card to the lack of compatability with a new Monitor. I'll message you and we can get into it in more depth but thank you for the kind Words,

CrashOften you are dead on about the Tech Geeks who tear apart anything that lands outside what they think to be right. I'd have to defend the real Geeks (I have some as Friends) because they have an actual understanding of Computers and electronics, not info that some pick up out of the PC Mags and think they're all of a sudden Computer Gurus because they've learned some fancy vocabulary that makes them sound smarter than they really are.

Some like SLI, (nVidia), some like Crossfire (Radion). Some People are true Intel fans and some swear by AMD. Some love their PC's and some love their Macs.

They all have their bragging rights and fualts but in the end everyone's happy. (most of the Time) :O)

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

RaoulDukeHsT — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 05:28:15 GMT

I have been around the block with the CPU Cooling game myself, and to no surprise i have ultimately decided to go with the Ultra. The Mobo im using will be a XFX 780i, however the conflict that keeps circling my head and i see you may have addressed is the memory profile height, i see you use dominators with the Fan and just turned the Ultra so that it exhausts upward.

But, did this still clear the northbridge passive cooler on your EVGA 680i Mobo? Cause in the pics on newegg the northbridge passive cooler looks pretty tall and i cant manage to see it in any of your pics.

And how is that Ultra being turned that direction? Any air traps or good overall flow?

BTW Smoking Build, i feel ya on your ideas.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

MusicMan — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 08:55:12 GMT

KR - I not a neophyte when it comes to building machines (7+ years), but I am always looking for advice in selecting the proper components. I am budget conscious and would like build a gaming machine. I have been partial to ASUS boards, however, it looks like there are a number of front runners making mobos (EVGA, Gigabyte, etc.). What are your recommendations for a machine that will kick butt, but within a modest budget, say <$1000?

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

KentuckyRanger — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:05:00 GMT

Hey Raoul, thanks for the Props.

As for the Ultra it's made for such a system. I looked at it before I purchased to make sure I could be creative if need be as to clearance and it fits perfectly on the 680i M/Board.

The Northbridge Fan sits right under and to the outside onthe Shroud of the Ultra.

Another thing I took into concideration was how to get the warm air from the Ultra to ouside the Case. I did it through the Ultra X3 PSU. It has a huge Fan on the Bottom that keeps Air flowing perfectly to the outside of the Case.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

KentuckyRanger — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:59:03 GMT

Hey MusicMan.

if I wanted a good Rig under $1,000.00, let me think...

I went shopping and here's what I'd get, taking into concideratin what you like.

I'd stay away from the newer M/Board that support a Third PCI express Slot because they're the same Board with an extra Slot and if you aren't going to get that crazy it's not worth the extra Money.

If I had a limited budget this is what I'd get, even if I had to save a little extra to do so.

The 2 things I wouldn't compromise anymore would be the M/Board, CPU, GPU and RAM. You'd be shooting yourself in the Foot trying to save a Couple Hundred Dollars with any of the 4 and this setup is very Future proof.

If it where me I'd satrt with 1 good GPU and save up for the second if SLI was where I wanted to go in the future. I wouldn't get anything less than the 8800 series just for the fact they have the best shader tech as well as 320bit DDR3 Mem and if this is going to be a Gamming Rig then it's something I'dreally want.

The Q6600 CPU is one of the most versitile Overclockable and stable units I've read about. I almost went with it on my build but I just went all out. I guarantee if I'd got this CPU I'd be just as happy as I am with the QX6800.

2 GIG of RAM is perfect for starting out with, 4 GIG is overkill. My Rig never uses more than 70% of the Mem so there's 1 GIG that's not even being used. The RAM I chose is very cost effective and has really good Timmings as well as 1066FSB for under $200.00

The PSU is light at 550w but it will handle this Rig well untill it's SLIed.

As for the Case I'd never use a Mid Tower if I was thinking SLI in the Future and even with only 1 8800 Card in there, they're space heaters and need all the breathing room they can take.

The CPU cooler I chose looks to be an exellent choice and is very cost effective.

I don't know if you have a Monitor or O/S so I included that in as well.

Bottom Line:

Full system: $1,731.00

System without Monitor & O/S: $1241.00

I know I went over budget but I just couldn't scrimp anymore where it counted.

I'd think this Rig would put anything Dell or Gateway has out there for $3,000.00 to shame IMHO.

M/Board: Asus Striker extreme

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131074

CPU: Intel Q6600

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

CPU Cooler: Zerotherm Nirvana

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887011

Memory: 2 GIG Corsair XMS PC2 8500

GPU: EVGA 8800 GTS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130082

PSU: Antec Neopower 550w

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103941

Case: Sunbeam Transformer

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811166004

O/S: Vista 64bit OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116215

Monitor: Samsung 22" Wide Screen

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001083

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

KentuckyRanger — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 01:00:18 GMT

I meant to say the 4 Things I wouldn't comprimise on... LOL!

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

KentuckyRanger — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 01:03:30 GMT

Sorry, I missed the link to the RAM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145033

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

MusicMan — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 06:33:52 GMT

KR - Thanks for the info. I already had my eyes on the Striker mobo. The critical thing I am looking for in a mobo is stability. Performance is important, but if the machine isn't stable, then I might as well chuck performance out the window. From what I've read and heard from experts is that Intel tends to be more stable than AMD.

re: Building my own ultimate Rig. And you can too!

KentuckyRanger — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:35:08 GMT

Lord I haven't been on here in a long while, LOL!

The only update I have is that I figured out what was causing the boot up problem.

After dealing with this and trying EVERYTHING, a Firmware update made me aware of the problem.

The Philips 20X DVD burner SATA drive is the culprit.

The original Firmware was causing the problem intermittently so it kind of hid it from me.

After updating the Firmware the system refused to boot with the drive installed and would stall at the initializing drives point.

I think allot of the problems People are having with all this new technology is the simple fact that hardware manufacturers are reluctant to spent the time, effort and money to properly upgrade their Firmware so be careful when putting a new Rig together because I've heard some really bad stories of non-compatibility issues with the newer M/Boards like the 790i.

The only other thing I've done to this Rig is make my own cooling solution for the CPU and the video Cards.

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Wooden Model Ships

Wooden Model Ships — Sat, 02 May 2009 05:19:54 GMT

She was a woman in her sixties who had big blonde hair and would sing“ Good Ship Lollipop” and these sort of naughty songs, like“ I’ m Your Mailman” - I’ ll lift your knockers and ring your bell and you’ ll think I am swell, I’ m your mailman! I can come