Well, yeah, but I would still need a power supply. That, and I'm sold on the single 12v rail thing, and I want to run crazy lights and fans and shit off it.

I'll never have to replace it either. The day I buy a system combination requiring more than 1200 watts or 90 amps of 12v power is the day I'll have enough money to buy whatever I want anyway.

Like Jiggly.

--Locane

So now my whole set up looks like this: (or, at least, will, next week when the video cards / PSU arrive)

1 AMD X2 6400+ 3.2ghz Black Edition $180
1 Silent Knight solid copper heat sink + fan $70
1 Asus Crosshair Mobo $250
2 gigs Corsair DDR2 800 4/4/4/12 Timings $115
2 Nvidia 7950 GTs, (512 GDDR3 a piece, 560mhz core clock) $435
1 Silverstone OP1200 PSU $380
1 Western Digital SATA 250g $115
1 Hitatchi SATA 80g (system drive) $45
3 Viewsonic VX922 2ms Response time monitors $921
1 Matrox TripleHead2Go monitor splitter $324
1 Saitek Pro Gamer Command Unit $30
1 MERC Gaming Keyboard $50
1 Logitech 2000dpi Cheap-O mouse, $45
1 2.1 speaker set up Free
1 Turtle Beach surround sound headset (broken surround sound) $100
1 PoS CD/DVD rw drive, have to pry it open after hitting eject $30
1 PoS Computer case, complete with duct tape and warped case sidings Free

Total: $3,090

It looks like a lot, but I've spent this amount over the past 3-4 years, slowly putting things together. Hopefully I won't have to spend any money on it for awhile :p

--Locane

Be careful your warped case sides aren't too close to your motherboard. Might be worth the money to get a good case.

Well, that's why I've recently invested in lots of pieces for building my acrylic case. And mostly it's just the opening side that is warped from where I cut into it with a grind wheel.

I never really liked the idea of paying out tons of money for a showy case, but it changes things entirely if I get to build it from scratch. Custom everything AND the tech experience? I'll take it!

--Locane

Man you can buy a few of those things you have listed for a good deal cheaper. The 7950 for example i've seen for closer to 180-200$, 200GB SATA hard drives for around 90$.
Still, its a nice rig.

Like I said, this has been a work in progress. At time of purchase, the 7950s were like $413 together or something, and the hard drive was that much around then too. Also, it's a 250gig not 200.


You're right though, if you were to build that same system today, it would be a little cheaper. That's kind of the theme with computers though.

--Locane

indeed. I've been wanting to build a new one for about 2 years now. But i can never seem find the means to do it. Nowdays it seems like i'm always spending my money on rent, food, girlfriend, and presents for an assortment of holidays. Thus leaving my computer fund dry. I'd really like to build a new machine though, Eve just released a huge expansion which included a complete graphic overhaul of which my computer can't take advantage of. That and starcraft 2 is coming. And a larger hard drive would be nice so i can have all my games installed at one time so i don't have to keep juggling them around.

You buy the case or you building it yourself out of things?

If you're building it yourself, keep in mind that acrylic is a great insulator... meaning it's likely to get a lot of electrons building up on it until the electricity dissipates -- hopefully not on your electronics. (Static electricity.) Something to look out for. For that reason, I'd prefer a metal case.

I considered this, actually, and ultimately decided that motherboard standoffs would work well enough to keep the components from being fried. Also, the cleaner compound I bought has an anti-static formula on it, so it will lessen that.

I suppose if I really wanted toI could put some wire mesh over the large surfaces and ground it. Maybe that would work. Of course, that would kind of defeat the purpose of a clear case. Hrm. I'll think on this.

--Locane

lexan/polycarbonate?

Acrylic, it's an extruded plastic. Lexan is way more expensive and isn't very easy to work with, and I'm pretty sure polycarbonate is a generic term for plastics in general.


--Locane

I thought Lexan was a brand name of polycarbonate.

Polycarbonate is not an umbrella term. The only reason I know this is because polycarbonate is the stuff they use in paintball goggles and shooting glasses.

And racquetball goggles, and so many more things! But indeed, Lexan is just a specific brand of polycarbonate. Good stuff.

lies, school doesn't suck souls.

it makes you spawn new ones to suck other peoples souls. bwahahahahahahahah!

finals in 2 weeks