mick-mick

I finally got all the parts and assembled it tonight.
Tomorrow is initial fire up, install and test drive.

I'm excited.

So.. the EVGA GeForce 9800GTX is a massive card, if you didn't already know. 10 ³/₄ inches long. Make sure your case fits it. I actually bought an Thermaltake Armor Jr. case and had to return is to get the Coolermaster RC-690 like I origanlly wanted. The Armor Jr. had a weird design for my needs. The space where my graphics card(s) go is obstructed by the pull out cage for the side facing hard drives. The clearance was about one inch shorter than I needed. The RC-690 fit perfectly and looks cooler in the end.

I need to get a CD burner, a sound card and a monitor at some point down the road.








The Mellow Side (feat. MCMC) (4:09)

So far I have,

MOBO: ASUS Striker II Formula
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
SDRAM: OCZ Platinum 2GB DDR2 1066 PC2 8500
GPU: EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX
HDD: Two Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives.
PS: Antec NeoPower 650W Modular
Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690

Parts I have my eye on,

Fans: One for every hole on the case.
ROMS: Wanting a new DVD and CD burner but may salvage existing pieces from current tower to lower cost a bit at the expensive of the full potential of the current tower.

Software needed,

An OS, XP or Vista.
A good firewall and anti-virus. Considering alternatives to Norton Internet Security which I've used reliably for years.
I will trust free/opensource for most needs except OS and internet protection. These are likely the only programs I will purchase. Leaning toward XP Pro, which I have a CD of already and will help keep the overall cost down. Wanting Vista strictly for the DX10 and gaming potential. Most likely Vista will be down the road a bit.  

I find myself playing COD4 mostly these days but hating it because of the fact that my current rig is tired. I play with all settings as low as they go and a config file to dumb it down more and get maybe 25FPS in a busy server staring at a wall. I also play Company of Heroes with everything on low and the studder is horrendous. This rig runs CS:s like a champ but no Crysis for me. The PC I am building will run all today's stuff well and leave me room to grow for tomorrow.

I went Dual Core over Quad because I will see the benefits today and in the things I do. My MOBO is Quad ready so when I need to upgrade, when programs I would use utilize Quad Core technology, I will be sitting ready to pounce on the lowered costs of today's current lineup.

I did not go DDR3 with my memory as a cost saver. Maybe when taxes roll in. Only got 2GB memory because the 4GB set would have required me to get a 64bit OS to have it all recognized right. Though a 64bit OS would allow me to max out at 8GB memory should I chose to. Even 32/64bit is a toss up for me still.

Any tips, advice or pointers are greatly appreciated.








The Mellow Side (feat. MCMC) (4:09)