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little computer i put together over the last couple days

here are the specs and hardware used
MOBO- ASUS sabertooth 990fx
CPU-AMD ZAmbezi 8 core 3.6 GHz with an arctic cooler 7 pro heat sink
Video card-Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 2GB DDR5
Storage-3TB HDD and a 256GB SSD for the boot drive/games
PSU-1100W majesty modular
Memory-16GB G-Skill
Monitors- DUAL 23.6"HDMI LCD widescreen
case- ROsewill THOR white 6 HDD bays with quick release holders(makes adding HDD or SSD ver easy) this case has 2 huge intake fans and 2 giant exhaust fans. so far everything is running mighty cool

here are a few pics

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DSC_0603.jpg

cpufan.jpg

DSC_0604.jpg

IMAG0004.jpg

IMAG0005.jpg
 
nice machine. nothings better than building a new pc after like 3 or 4 years.

i built mine way back when ivb dropped. had to wait like 3 weeks to get a hold of a 680 tho.... damn things were rare as all hell back then.
 
Dang Spongy, are you just having a bit of Internet /game fun or trying to be the first to land in Mars? :)

That's one nice system you have there bro. We have 10 systems in the house, 4 laptops and the rest are towers, the towers are all ones I built but are not latest gen systems. They work fine for the little ones and for email/data/SQL Server server application though. My wife works from home and I had a blast setting up her office for her. Have a blast with it
 
Looks great man. I see you are an ASUS/AMD man, as well. Just built one earlier this year with the Crosshair V and a Phenom 980 BE. Didn't want to step up to the Zambezi just yet, as I'm waiting for Piledriver to come out next month...and the requisite BIOS updates!

Love the double-monitor setup. SSD's scream on start-up, don't they? :party:
 
Nice looking system -- and very good job on the wire management to allow good airflow through the system --- Only thing I see that could be improved is - you put the aftermarket CPU cooler facing the wrong direction -- currently it is either pulling air in the bottom and pushing it to the top of the case (which is good if you had top fans on the case expelling the hot air or it is pulling air from the top f the case and pushing it toward the video card (not sure if it is set up to push or pull air through the heatsink) - Would be better in your case to have it turned 90 degrees so that it is pulling air in from the front of the case across the Heatsink and out the back of the case through the fan at the back of the case - this setup will keep the system cooler since that hot air is being pushed right out the back of the case instead of over the MOBO or to the top of the case where there is currently no output fan so it will recycle back through the case disturbing the airflow.
 
Were you able to build it cheaper than a bought put together one with similar specs? I stopped building 10 years ago, way too easy to buy high end machines for much less. Software and monitors are what kill the savings.

Great looking machine, I used to be all AMD and ASUS when I lived in Austin. I was minutes from AMD.
 
Were you able to build it cheaper than a bought put together one with similar specs? I stopped building 10 years ago, way too easy to buy high end machines for much less. Software and monitors are what kill the savings.

Great looking machine, I used to be all AMD and ASUS when I lived in Austin. I was minutes from AMD.

While that is partially true -- the problem with most prebuilts is they use some cut down lower quality components (ie. the MOBOs will have only 2 instead of 4 RAM modules - etc.) which can limit the upgrade options and things like the memory modules are usually lower quality higher latency parts - HDDs are lower end slower acess smaller cache parts - so the performance and upgrade options suffer for the small savings in bulk manufacturing and they normally come with pretty low end video cards and underpowered Power supplies so trying to increase the video card performance means swapping out the PSU as well. So you really have to shop carefully if going the pre built route to ensure the small savings is actually worth it in the long run !
 
While that is partially true -- the problem with most prebuilts is they use some cut down lower quality components (ie. the MOBOs will have only 2 instead of 4 RAM modules - etc.) which can limit the upgrade options and things like the memory modules are usually lower quality higher latency parts - HDDs are lower end slower acess smaller cache parts - so the performance and upgrade options suffer for the small savings in bulk manufacturing and they normally come with pretty low end video cards and underpowered Power supplies so trying to increase the video card performance means swapping out the PSU as well. So you really have to shop carefully if going the pre built route to ensure the small savings is actually worth it in the long run !
And I agree with what you said, been doing the IT thing since the early 90's. If you know what you are doing you can buy pre-built to meet your needs and allow expansion. Still have 3 servers in the basement I built long ago and they run strong. The cost of software especially the OS usually makes building your own cost more every time. If money is not an object, building is fun and the way to go especially for gaming!

In the end great machine, it is awesome to use something you have built!
 
One of the things that kept me building my own systems is that I hated getting a new computer loaded with ads! Fresh built, fresh OS install, fresh software install for me was the only way to go.
 
so, what OS did you go with?

[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Software and monitors are what kill the savings. [/background]

most modern TV's have a monitor connection of hdmi and VGA so that could offer some savings and there are several free operating systems on the market that operate flawlessly.

i had an older PC with XP on it and once i upgraded my ISP, their security software dogged the machine to useless. 100% CPU usage. it was the kids computer. so i installed dual boot with Ubuntu and with some minor fidgeting the thing ran beautifully. 12% CPU usage, no virus checker required. had to get use to firefox but that was minor. came with an MS Office clone that included their version of Outlook. After we got the kids their own laptops, the machine was freed up and as a test, "how does music effect plant growth", i loaded various music that would play all day to my peppers. i first started with XP and windows player, loaded a play list and let it run. after about an hour the machine would consistently lock up and had to reboot. load Ubuntu with audacity enter a playlist and it ran non stop, day and night.

nice job on building the rocket and with the human interface........"i am borg"!
 
so, what OS did you go with?



most modern TV's have a monitor connection of hdmi and VGA so that could offer some savings and there are several free operating systems on the market that operate flawlessly.
True but if you want a TV that compares to a monitor you are going to pay big bucks if one exists at all! There is a reason monitors still exist especially for gamers, response time for monitors > Tvs. There are several other reasons as well.


Sorry for the threadjack spongey600.

Great build!
 
Nice looking system -- and very good job on the wire management to allow good airflow through the system --- Only thing I see that could be improved is - you put the aftermarket CPU cooler facing the wrong direction -- currently it is either pulling air in the bottom and pushing it to the top of the case (which is good if you had top fans on the case expelling the hot air or it is pulling air from the top f the case and pushing it toward the video card (not sure if it is set up to push or pull air through the heatsink) - Would be better in your case to have it turned 90 degrees so that it is pulling air in from the front of the case across the Heatsink and out the back of the case through the fan at the back of the case - this setup will keep the system cooler since that hot air is being pushed right out the back of the case instead of over the MOBO or to the top of the case where there is currently no output fan so it will recycle back through the case disturbing the airflow.
i checked the airflow direction before i mounted it, it is blowing up through the fins and there is an exhaust fan on the top of the case that is larger than the fan in the back. plus the side intake fan is like 8" diameter so it brings in LOTS of cool air. I am running windows 7 and it was free as my buddy has a corporate account with MIcrosoft so i got office and windows for free.

as far as purchasing a pre made comp, i did not go this route as this is my second build, what i like is researching part and reading reviews and getting the parts, then putting it together, its not really for the money savings. i got a buddy that is a game tester and he told me he is building is dream machine, I am very curious as to what it will contain.
 
Sorry didn't notice the top fan in the pic but it should be fine the way it is in that case ! - Really nice job on the build and it should give you several years of good use.
 
Sorry didn't notice the top fan in the pic but it should be fine the way it is in that case ! - Really nice job on the build and it should give you several years of good use.
thanks, i went into it hoping to build something i wont have to upgrade for a few years except maybe a bigger video card, but this one is the same one my buddy has in his gaming rig and its held to up to anything he throws at it. but hell its only my second comp build so i am pretty happy with the outcome! :dance:
 
Very nice. I built my first two as well and wished I could afford to build a new one as this AMD Athlon 2500+ Barton is getting old and is still a 32 bit machine.
 
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