I finally did it...

[HTM|Assraker]

I bit the bullet today and ordered the rest of what I need to build my new machine (had a new case & PS for some time just waiting). I was hoping to wait until next year, but with the government further devaluing the dollar with their 700B+ bailout of the rich bankers, I figured I had better buy now before the US dollar will be worth less than Monopoly money in a few days. New tech will not be out for several months, which means that there will be no price drops on the major components out now, if ever (thanks GW, you economy wrecking bastard).

The machine I am using now (the big blue beast that weighs like a Mack truck) was built in October of 2003, so it has given me 6yrs of great service. It cost me about 2500 to build it then, and I can certainly say I have gotten more than my monies worth out of it in that time.

I have had no issues with the old machine, except for 1... It is AGP, and has one of the best AGP cards in it that is available. It will not display graphics to the new games like Bioshock, which I want to be able to play (seen it, liked it). So that is why I am upgrading pretty much.

Case: Thermaltake Armor+ VH6000SWA (Liquid capable, all aluminum -- that's Al-you-min-eum in Lagger speak)
PS: Enermax Infinity 650W (85% Efficency)
MB: Asus Rampage Formula
CPU: Q9550 Quad Core @ 2.83GHz (going to OC the dogshit outta it for it will be cooled by a Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Heatsink)
RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066
HD: 2 500GB Seagate SATA2 drives
VC: Radeon HD 4870X2
Plus all the usual goodies you would expect for normal operations (move DVD, extra HD's, ect. from old machine)

It's all run me far less than my last build total, so I can't complain. Maybe this will last me for another 6yrs. I will for sure not be buying another case, for I like this new one enough to just keep reusing it in the future.

The new one will be running XP-Pro 64 by the end of next weekend. Microsoft couldn't suck me long enough, or hard enough for me to try Vista again... I think I will OC the machine to about 3.6, but it can go to 4.0 easily.

Now, to decide what to do with the old machine...

[HTM~Par]

*drools*
That sounds like a very delicious computer indeed!

[HTM~ZenEye]

Sweet cherry pie.

[HTM~Night_Ranger]

Nice! Let me know how you like the 4870's.

[HTM|Minion]

Very Nice!

I think those dual 4870's will be super sweet.

I'd like to see some benchmarks from that baby too.....

[HTM|Assraker]

That's 1 video card guys, not 2. Although it is like have 2 VC's in one slot.

Two of them would run me over a grand, I'm not going to do that, yet...

The X48 (or X38 for that matter) chipset will let me run crossfire (multiple cards) at full 16X speed, unlike other chipsets which will cut the lanes down to 8X or 4X, killing performance.

If I did drop another 4870X2 in there, I would have better than a 41% performance gain with what I've got.

[HTM|Minion]

doh... I thought it was 4870 x 2

Still, that's a rockin sweet card.

[HTM~.:Q:.]

Very nice indeedie!

[HTM~Night_Ranger]

Yup, 4870 is 2 gpu's per card. Thought you were goin' balls to the wall w/ crossfire. A grand for 2 ain't bad, I've got $1,200.00 in the 1900xtx + 1900 crossfire cards that I'm using now.

I wasn't all that impressed with the specs on the 3700 series, but the 4870 looks like it's gonna be a badass.

[HTM|Assraker]

It's together and I'm loading XP-Pro64 on it right now, so it won't be long.

[Freak]

Is it still a driver & program hassle?

[HTM|Assraker]

I've had no issues at all, yet. This thing SCREAMS.. I'm going to OC it sometime next week. I have to study for an exam Monday, ugh...

[HTM~ZenEye]

I ran into issues with xp 64 and crossfire, the drivers weren't very mature at that time. Though raker shouldn't have that problem as he has two gpu's on one card and he doesn't have an ATI chipset mobo.

That and there isn't much by the way of updates for xp 64, and a lot of software doesn't like it, especially older software. I remember looking at a chart of games that had issues, was broken up like this: Installer program runs?; Installs correctly?; Program runs properly after install?

I switched back to xp 32 and I haven't noticed a speed difference, the only thing I cant do is enumerate all my RAM I actually yanked out 2 of the 4 sticks, running on 2gb ATM.

Keep us posted raker I'm interested in your experiences with pro 64

[HTM~Par]

Well, the games that I play seem to be just dandy on a 64bit os lol (according to the lists ive seen)

[HTM|Assraker]

I've had no issue yet with anything which I normally run. I did over clock it up to 4ghz last night (air cooled, super quiet) and it has been very stable. I think it will go to 4.2 if I pushed it, anything more than that I would have to water cool it. I have just now backed it down to 3.4ghz and will be keeping it there. I'll get more longevity and bang for my buck at that setting I think. Not too shabby for a Q9550 that is 2.83 stock. I think the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme has been worth the extra money, for the temps are super cool, far lower than using the stock cooler.

I am very happy with this build, and it should last me for several more years before I need to upgrade again.