Are you running a RAID set-up yet or still just the single HDD? Still planning on running the four 320GB in RAID 10?

 

That's the single F4 320gb. Was planning on running 4 total in RAID10, but my buddy who does IT for the CDC is pushing me towards adding a SSD and being done with it. I also went with a more power hungry GPU than originally planned, so I'm leaning towards the SSD route for the power savings.

 

Definitely go for SSD. Much faster than any traditional hard drive, even a 6.0gb/s SATA.

 

Bought the SSD today.
Also picked up a new power supply that was on Newegg shell shocker. 650 watt continuous, 80plus gold certified, modular, blah blah. $80 shipped. Bought this so I could go bigger on the GPU.

 

Now Ben you just need to practice up on your SC2 foo and pwn with us.

 

Still waiting to build mine. Probably will start buying parts in early Feb. I would like to do a $1000 build with the new Intel chipset but I can only really afford a $500 build...

 

Bold move on the PSU. A brand I have never heard of, and one with no reviews. Looks a bit cheaply made in the pictures. Maybe it will be fine. Good move on the SSD, the same one I was considering a while back.

I'm excited to upgrade my machine, to get me by until Bulldozer is released later this year. Going to get the X4 975 BE when it is released either this month or next, 3.6ghz factory, and air overclockable to 4ghz. Along with an Asus 5850 graphics card. Those two paired together should really be an improvement over my overclocked 3.4ghz 940 BE and 4870 card. Only $400 for the two of them, plus another $50 for a better heatsink. I'm stuck with an AM2+/AM3 board that still uses DDR2 ram, but that isn't that big of an issue. The difference between DDR2 and DDR3 isn't enough to really stress over.

 

NZXT's catalog has a lot of gamer oriented products, and reviews around the web say that their new power supplies are ok. It has the major features like jap components, sleeved cables and ball bearing fan (huge 140mm to it should be slow spinning).

I was debating this OCZ SSD or the SATA3 Real 64GB, but the OCZ has better write speeds, includes the 2.5" adapter, and was on sale. When a next gen SSD comes out, I'll move this one to my laptop.


I read somewhere that bulldozer was an AM3+ and not compatible with AM2/3 mobo.

 

That is correct. I will be building a whole new machine when it comes out. I just need to feed my computer tweaking addiction until then, so I will upgrade my existing machine slightly. If I don't build a new machine or upgrade it at least once every year or two I start getting the shakes.

 

After installation of SSD boot drive:

 

Looks like the Antec PSU may have regulated .01V tighter than the new one, but the new one is much quieter. I didn't realize the old one made so much fan noise. Daddy likes.

 

I can hear the spindle drive spin up and shut down now. It's loud, and I don't like it.
SSD is win.

 

I'm going to be picking up one of the same SSD's this paycheck for the boot drive, and get a better large capacity HDD for storage. Currently have a 500GB and a 640GB drive, but they are both WD "Blue" drives, I want a higher performance "Black" drive. Two of these as backup/storage.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...20110126043327

 

one year later...
My total investment is up to $500, plus I now have some extra parts I've removed that I don't have current use for (power supply and ram). Big thumbs up to NewEgg for helping me tackle this project on the lowlow.

changes since original build:
-replaced power supply with baller status 650watt 80plus gold modular
-added 60GB SSD for boot only
-removed 4GB kingston hyperx ddr3, replaced with 16GB gskill ripjawsX. The new ram (4x4 gb) cost the same as my original 2x2 gb sticks last year.
-gentle overclock to 3.6GHz; including slight bump to front side bus, slight bump to NB freq and voltage, .025v bump to processor. I actually had it to 3.8, but knocked the multiplier back down a couple settings just to be safe. I started off telling myself that I wouldn't bump voltages up past default, but I ended up pushing NB and Vcore up only 1 level each.
-added GT240 GPU, then gentle overclock @ 655 MHz core, 1800 MHz memory. I forget what the shader went to, but I left it locked to core anyway.

Idles at 31°C and runs along at 34-35° if I can find something for it to constantly run. Highest observed CPU temp 43° when running stability testing. GPU idles at 31°, highest observed 51° when running benchmark.
I was careful with cable routing, fan selection, and fan placement. I used cardboard to build block off plates to make sure fresh air comes in the bottom and is forced through the case to the top exit. I think the extra attention to airflow management paid off.

The SSD did slow down a bit over time. Updating its firmware helped a bit, but it's not as snappy as it was. I've done all the hacks that I've seen on the internet (registry changes, AHCI mode, enabled TRIM, changed a few windows settings, etc). It's still snappy, but not as much.

The only game I play is StarCraftII, which I have all settings maxed at "ultra" and resolution set to my monitor's 1600x900 default. One day I'll get a better monitor.

Overall, I'm pleased with what I was able to do for little investment. Passmark results below. I pwn at everything except GPU. One day something along the lines of a GT560Ti will go on sale, and I'll buy it.