New gaming rig

[EHM-1997 Alexander]

What's your budget?

[EHM-0005 Maarten]

I was thinking of upgrading my existing i7 system (i7 920 OC'ed, socket 1366) with the Rampage III Extreme and the new 990x, but I decided not do so. I am going to wait for the 2011 (2011 pins, not the year:) ) socket systems that are going to be released later this year or I am going for a Sandybridge system. Sandybridge is far more cheaper and you can achieve the same results in FSX. Instead of triple channel, you'll have dual channel memory, but that's enough for FSX. However, if you plan to have FSX running next to Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro, then I'd go with the 1366 socket

I already have very good framerates with my current rig:
- Intel i7 920 OC'd at 3.8 ghz
- Gigabyte X58-UD4p (the bottle neck )
- 12 gb Corsair Dominator (too much for FSX, but I do some photoshopping)
- Zotac nVidia GT570
- FSX installed on a intel SSD

And of course this great FSX tweak tool to give a couple of more FPS http://www.venetubo.com/fsx.html

[EHM-0654 Murray]

@Alex: As little as I can get away with

@Maarten: Sandybridge you say (1155/1156?) Interesting thoughts... yes...

[EHM-0654 Murray]

Gah! I should have stopped my eBay notification for Striker II's... Another has been listed (complete kit, with the box and software, and a load of additional crap I'll likely end up selling), it's in good order looking at the listing and photos, and it's dirt cheap. I'm asking the seller if there is any damage whatsoever, but this could save me lots of money which I can better use for the WC loops and (more importantly) the GPU.

Sod it, it's bought. Seller says no damage whatsoever; came out of his gaming rig, had some photos taken, and then got boxed. I'd rather spend what little money I have available on a new GPU than a new mobo and CPU.

[EHM-1997 Alexander]

Good luck.

Test it and return if there's anything wrong with it on receipt.

*fingers crossed*

[EHM-0654 Murray]

Now here's funny; I'm finally starting to get my component list together (to put this project to bed), and I'm almost certain I'm going to put an EK 580 GTX block onto a 570 GTX (EK say it'll fit reference 570 GTXs, and I prefer EVGA for their 10+ year warranty on registration and full support for people putting WC blocks on their cards), but because EVGA (and all the other nVidia partners) are moving over from reference design (all the outputs on one slot) to so-called "HD" design cards (DVIs split across two slots), and I can't be sure that the 580 GTX block will fit on the HD design cards, I can't find an EVGA 570 GTX SC for want of looking. Will have to get a plain 570 GTX and OC it to SC levels.

[EHM-0654 Murray]

DAMMIT!!!

Can't test the mobo because the OCZ memory I've got for it doesn't work with it (even though there are people out there that say it does...)

Gotta love the Internets; a third of hits say it works, a third of hits say it doesn't, and a third of hits are totally useless...

[EHM-1997 Alexander]

What memory you got and why wouldn't it work with it? Assuming is not ddr2 vs ddr3 but a voltage issue?

[EHM-0654 Murray]

OCZ Gold DDR3. Going by the various posts I've read about it not working, the BIOS just can't make it sync, so never gets past a very early point in the pre-start sequence (the Striker II comes with an LCD BIOS display, it doesn't get past "CODE INIT"). I had pretty much decided to get some Corsair Dominator any how, but I wasn't intending to start buying it this month...

Addendum but, in a karmic sort of way, I had totally forgotten that the eBay vendor included a CPU with the mobo (and a whole load of other bits and pieces), and said CPU is a little faster than my Q6600. It's a Q8300, so 1,333MHz FSB and 2.5GHz core speed. Here's hoping it'll OC as well as the Q6600 does.

[EHM-1997 Alexander]

...if any of it works...

It may be that RAM does work with that mobo but that mobo doesn't work eh?

Use one stick only to boot with if that doesn't work then surely it's not a sync issue?

[EHM-0654 Murray]

My inclination is to "trust" the half dozen posts I've now read that say keep away from OCZ on the Striker II and get the 4GB of Corsair that both Asus and Corsair (and numerous posters) say works with the Striker II. I sort of knew I had this coming when I chose to buy a Striker II; it's a hardcore tweakers mobo and not for the faint of heart.

[EHM-0654 Murray]

4GB of Dominator bought (still had £5 credit at Aria, and they were cheaper than Scan any way, so #WINNING).

That'll arrive tomorrow and I can test tomorrow evening and finally give the vendor my verdict. Then the real fun can begin (purchasing and installing the WC loops, new GPU, migrating from my Shuttle... you know, the little stuff )

[EHM-1997 Alexander]

by the time you finish, x-plane 10 might be out  

Murray: V. true

[EHM-0654 Murray]

ShittyLink have delivered my new memory to me, looks lovely (but Corsair have made their packaging about as small as they can; saves money, I would hope) so very first thing I'll do once I get home is check this "new" mobo is running, then leave it memtest86+ing for half an hour to give it a very minor stressing (my old 8800 sounds like a jet engine on air cooling, so I don't want to leave it running too long)

[EHM-1997 Alexander]

*crosses fingers, arms, legs and eyelashes*

[EHM-0654 Murray]

Right, time to dig this thread up again.

Second "pre-loved" mobo was also a #FAIL, so I've been scrimping and saving, and making a list of components, and I'm almost ready to order (just waiting for pay day).

Here's my Google Docs spreadsheet with the components list but the highlights for those that can't/won't look at it - separate water cooling loops for CPU and RAM/GPU, Intel Core i7 2600K (which will be 'clocked to 4GHz), Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 mobo and EVGA GeForce GTX 580 SC.

Lots of bits not listed, because lots of bits I already have.

[EHM-1997 Alexander]

You can clock to 4.6 on air.

lower tier mobo (same manufac) pre-clocked air kit.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-072-OE&groupid=43&catid=2053&subcat=2063

[EHM-0654 Murray]

OCUK have way more experience clocking than I do, so if I can get to 4+, I'll be happy. Plus, I want it still running in years ahead...

[EHM-0654 Murray]

*SO* EXCITED!!!!! 

Just spent close to £1,000 ordering most of the stuff on my pick-list (CPU, GPU, Mobo, SSD and part of the WC bits). Will arrive (at work) on Monday, so must remember to take my big rucksack with me.

[EHM-1997 Alexander]

great feeling isn't it  Your rig will rock.

I have a little something in the post for me now too.

Will announce what when I get it.

[EHM-0654 Murray]

Big box waiting for me at work today. No GPU as (it would appear) they received more orders than they had cards. Shipped today though, so will get that tomorrow.

[EHM-1997 Alexander]

nice 

[EHM-0654 Murray]

File under: freaky/annoying

The "Brand New" OCZ PSU I bought before Xmas for gaming rig attempt #1/#2, and which hadn't really received any use before this week, died last night and I can't find where I bought it on any of my preferred supplier "My Account" order histories. Pretty sure it was eBuyer (I had a small refund due from them, and I think I used it for the PSU). Irrespective, will have a slightly larger Corsair PSU arriving at work tomorrow.

[EHM-1997 Alexander]

Don't scrimp on the PSU.

I have a modular corsair and can recommend (I use the mid tier branding I think).

[EHM-0654 Murray]

Anyone buying the Corsair AX series PSUs (I got the AX750), the box it come in is *massive*!

Nice PSU, lots of modular connectors, and very simple/plain design (which I prefer to the flashy nonsense of some PSU manufacturers). More thorough review once I get it tested/installed tonight.