NERD ALERT - new PC built

[turso]

Hey, while we're nerding out... Has anyone used or own a Razer Blackwidow keyboard? On the fence over getting one, I hear a lot of good stuff and (as usual with Razer) I hear a lot of bad stuff. Curious to hear direct feedback.

I have a razer blackwidow, not the ultimate model. It's pretty sweet, so far I have no complaints. Been using it for couple months now. Its buttons are just a fraction farther away from each other which took a bit of getting used to from me, since I've used low profile buttoned keyboards mostly.

Cool. Thinking about picking it up for gaming. I hear the mechanical key's are supposed to make you a better typist and all that jazz so supposedly it's THE keyboard to have. Little nervous about some reviews I've been reading about keys being too close together so that everytime you press the space bar (for example) the alt key comes down with it. Also not a big fan of the lack of indent on the caps lock key, that'll take some getting used to. You do any gaming with it? Curious about ghosting issues, I've heard the WSAD keys can have issues registering when shift+alt are pressed as well.

Also got my eyes on DASKeyboard...

I've had some weird ghosting problems with WASD and shift+alt, but just couple of times on the whole frame of time I've owned the thing, and yes, I do quite bit of gaming with it. The WASD problems went away pretty early after they updated the firmware. I just tried a whole bunch of combinations with ctrl, alt and shift pressed down. They all worked including all kinds of WASD movements plus R and spacebar as well. So no issues for me. I've had no sticking together-problem with alt and spacebar either. I do have the scandinavian layout version of the board though, I have no idea if the ghosting issues are just a USA layout problem.

[Chuck Kennedy]

I'm working on a new build and have had trouble getting a 64GB SSD to remain visible to the system after installing Win7 64. It appears there's a problem with the SSD (CMOS error popped up a few times) and not the MB with latest BIOS but I'll see what MicroCenter says. Once I get the SSD straightened out, I'll have an AMD Phenom II X6 1090T, 4GB 1066, 1TB second drive, Blu-Ray burner, GeForce 560Ti, 24" LED/LCD monitor and 37" LED HDTV for second monitor stacked above and set back a foot from the 24" when needed. Both are 1080p with 37" doubling as TV and Wii monitor. This will become workhorse business system and for HD video editing.

The new system is replacing Win XP, AMD Phenom II X4 940, 3GB 1066, GTX 275, 320GB HD, Dual DVD, stacked 24" LCD & 28" HDTV both 1080p. I'll continue using this system mostly for entertainment software.

[turso]

I'd go for i7 2600k if you're doing lots of video stuff. Not that much more money, it overclocks heavenly well, hyperthreading plus it's AWESOMELY powerful when oc'd.

[Chuck Kennedy]

I've been in the AMD camp for a long time but I recognize the i7 is a hotter processor. I have a good customer service story from Microcenter where I returned the SSD yesterday due to the "disappearing" problem. Turns out that model SSD, private labeled by them, must have had some similar problems in the past year because not only did they replace it with a new model which was made by some other manufacturer, but they gave me store credit for the difference in the current lower price from what I paid over a year ago. So I had a new SSD, $45 store credit and decided to use it to get 4GB of 1600 OC memory to boost the speed a little more. The new SSD seems to be working (fingers crossed). Tip for anyone else planning to install an SSD for boot drive: Disconnect any other hard drives while installing the Op system so the boot manager stays on the SSD. I think that may have been part of the problem.

[Lithicon]

I have two pc's, and I'm going to update soon.

Back up cheap PC
Intel E7400 OC to 3.5ghz with Zalman 9500 Fan, keeps things nice and cool!
Foxxcon G31MV series Mobo LGA775 Only supports up to 1333cpu clock and 800mhz DDR2 ram, but does the job.
Currently 2gb Crucial Ballistix 800mhz, after running overclocked in my main system, the second 2gb died.
Western Digital 320gb Caviar Green drive (Slower but should last a lifetime.)
XFX Geforce 8800GT OC (Shouldn't have gotten XFX) /shrug

My main pc
Kandalf full LCS, front door is a full radiator, with a second Feser One Radiator added inside the back of the case. (This case is considered a "super tower." Lol.)
Two pumps, one for each loop. CPU, and mobo, then one for the graphics card.
Two Acrylic blue clear resivoirs, one for each loop, with Feser one tube, and Feser one cooling fluid. (Non-conductive/Non-Corrosive)
Ek water blocks on CPU, north and south bridge on Mobo, and graphics card, with diamond thermal paste on everything.
Flow meter with built in thermal detection, with tower LCD display, min/max recall.

Hardware
Intel E8500 OC to 4ghz
EVGA nForce 780i 3-way SLI Mobo
4gb of Kingston Hyper X 800mhz Ram. Just to replace the ram Crucial ram that died.
Very good ram, should have purchased to start with. Only problem is they didn't have SLI ready ram, and doesn't work well, as the mobo doesn't like to overclock without SLI ready ram.
Creative SB X-FI "Fatality" Gamer series Sound card
Creative 7.1 surround sound system(No longer available, but pretty good.)
EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX+ Overclocked
Acer 23" Widescreen
I have around 2k+ in this system, majority of it's in the liquid cooling.
---------------------------------------------------------
Soon I'll be selling the back up PC, taking the hardware out of my main pc and putting in another case and using the current liquid cooling blocks, to make it water cooled also. Since my new hardware won't be compatible with the old water blocks, I'll have to buy new ones. Then using my Liquid cooled cased to put a new Intel I5 2600, but haven't settled on a mobo, Ram, or Graphics yet. I'll update after some more research. Just a note, if you've ever thought about liquid cooling, it's phenominal, but pricy. Done correctly it can't be matched by fans, but takes a very well planned system to be effeciently done. This was my first, but researched and made MANY phone calls before I purchased materials, and actually built it. I did buy a case purposly built for liquid cooling, and can't be happier that I did. It has more room than I need for everything, only downfall. This thing right now weighs nearly 82lbs!

[NoLifeLeft]

Just ordered mine.

ASUS mobo
Intel i5 2500K
8gb DDR3 1600
Radeon HD 6850 1GB GDDR5
1TB HD
Thermaltake PSU

[jubuttib]

Baby steps, starting with the GPU since my current one seems to be giving out. Crashes sometimes when watching YouTube and the temps are damn high, even on idle.

So after agonizing between a 6950 2GB with a stock fan and a 6870 1GB OC with a more silent fan for 20 euros less, I opted for peace of mind. Should arrive tomorrow. Next up: Asus mobo, either an i7 2600K or whatever is the fastest Phenom at the time (slower, yeah, but 100e cheaper also...) and some RAM. Better sell some discs...

[Jesse B 707]

just built a new rig the other day.
CPU:I5-2500
MoBo: Asus P8P67 M-pro
GPU: PNY GeForce gtx 560 ti (XLR8 enthusiast edition factory OC)
PSU: PC Power and Cooling Silencer MK 2
CPU cooling: Cooler master hyper 212
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932
RAM: Corsair 4gig (2x2).....plan on getting another 4 at a later date
and whatever good deals i found on an optical drive and solid/fast HDD

this was my first build ever and it was a learning process and adventure but it booted up first try ..........and started putting out no signal a day later lol, ended up having to reset the CMOS jumpers and its been tits ever since, been running RIFT with max settings at a solid 60 fps, if i set it down to ultra i get like 110 lol

[Apothecary]

did you go ghetto and get ddr2?

[NoLifeLeft]

BTW, what the hell is with all of the mATX motherboards these days? I like some space.

[Jesse B 707]

did you go ghetto and get ddr2?

Lol naw, I got some high quality ddr3@1600 mhz, just couldnt remember the model......and yeah this was my first build ever and thats the mobo that some foo recommended, its a little tight but all my crap fit allright as would another gpu if I really feel the need someday

[Lithicon]

MATX are nice if you're not worried about making them perform insane. My back up is a Micro, but it's very nice.
And, with i5 and i7, I think you have to go with DDR3, Apoth.

[turso]

Soo just decided my current pc is crap and had to update, so ordered:

Intel i7 2600K, 4x4gb kingston hyperX matched set 1600mhz DDR3, some asus midrange P67 chipset mobo, Corsair 750AX PSU and a pair for my Club 3D 6850 OC edition, hopefully the credit company approves my payment plan so that the order pulls through =P

That shit should get me through the next 4 or 5 years before I need to update again.

[Jeronimo]

just built a new rig the other day.
CPU:I5-2500
MoBo: Asus P8P67 M-pro
GPU: PNY GeForce gtx 560 ti (XLR8 enthusiast edition factory OC)
PSU: PC Power and Cooling Silencer MK 2
CPU cooling: Cooler master hyper 212
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932
RAM: Corsair 4gig (2x2).....plan on getting another 4 at a later date
and whatever good deals i found on an optical drive and solid/fast HDD

this was my first build ever and it was a learning process and adventure but it booted up first try ..........and started putting out no signal a day later lol, ended up having to reset the CMOS jumpers and its been tits ever since, been running RIFT with max settings at a solid 60 fps, if i set it down to ultra i get like 110 lol

Good on ya Jesse! Self building gives you an appreciation of your rig and an advantage at diagnosing your system. It's fun too!

[jubuttib]

Soo just decided my current pc is crap and had to update, so ordered:

Intel i7 2600K, 4x4gb kingston hyperX matched set 1600mhz DDR3, some asus midrange P67 chipset mobo, Corsair 750AX PSU and a pair for my Club 3D 6850 OC edition, hopefully the credit company approves my payment plan so that the order pulls through =P

That shit should get me through the next 4 or 5 years before I need to update again.

I wussed out and only got the i7 2600K, 2x4gb 1600MHz HyperX XMP kit and an ASUS P8P67 Pro mobo (20€ more than the P8P67 turso got, but I appreciate the power eSATA connections since I tend to use a buttload of external HDs). There's still life in my 700W PSU, I can manage with 8 gigs of RAM (it's a rare program that efficiently utilizes even that, a future upgrade none the less) and since my case doesn't have great noise insulation I'm definitely not buying a second GPU yet.

Meh, it's still going to be around 1000 times more powerful than my current comp (if you pretend I still have my old GPU in there). =)