DrumnBassBBoy's Official 1st Computer Build Thread

[DrumnBassBBoy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%2050001315&bop=And&CompareItemList=48|14-121-375^14-121-375-TS,14-121-370^14-121-370-TS

Whats the difference between those 2 cards? Not really too keen of the black cover...
Would I be able to take that off, or would that not be a good idea? I think it would look sexier if the heat pipes were exposed and the blue, green, yellow cord were sleeved...

I am assuming since it has 3 different outs that I would need to run 3 different cords to get the eyefinity effect?

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

Using a standard WD Caviar Black (SATA 6gb/s supported) hard drive my OS boots up in a very reasonable amount of time. It isn't instant but the drive is 640GB, 10 times the size of the 64GB SSD you had and around the same price (possibly even less). Dual-booting is when you run two operating systems on the same PC (for instance, Windows 7 and Linux), each operating system needs a considerable chunk of hard drive space so 64GB is very limiting. Also load times in games are much better than on my laptop (used a SATA 3.0gb/s 5400rpm laptop drive), so getting good memory and a fast HDD is plenty for improving load times.

To use Eyefinity you have to have one DisplayPort monitor and two DVI (or HDMI or VGA) monitors. The DVI ports can be adapted to HDMI or VGA, the HDMI port can be adapted to DVI (but not VGA), and DisplayPort can adapt to DVI, HDMI, or VGA but DVI/HDMI mode may not be used if the HDMI and DVI port are both in use with digital monitors (the card has two digital DVI/HDMI outputs that can be mapped to any of the three ports).

 

[Muffin Man]

To use Eyefinity you have to have one DisplayPort monitor and two DVI (or HDMI or VGA) monitors.

no, one of the monitors does not have to have a displayport connection.

in a 3 monitor setup, it is required to use the displayport connection from the gfx card, but you can use an active displayport adapter to use with a monitor that does not have a displayport connection.

 

[DrumnBassBBoy]

Using a standard WD Caviar Black (SATA 6gb/s supported) hard drive my OS boots up in a very reasonable amount of time. It isn't instant but the drive is 640GB, 10 times the size of the 64GB SSD you had and around the same price (possibly even less). Dual-booting is when you run two operating systems on the same PC (for instance, Windows 7 and Linux), each operating system needs a considerable chunk of hard drive space so 64GB is very limiting. Also load times in games are much better than on my laptop (used a SATA 3.0gb/s 5400rpm laptop drive), so getting good memory and a fast HDD is plenty for improving load times.

To use Eyefinity you have to have one DisplayPort monitor and two DVI (or HDMI or VGA) monitors. The DVI ports can be adapted to HDMI or VGA, the HDMI port can be adapted to DVI (but not VGA), and DisplayPort can adapt to DVI, HDMI, or VGA but DVI/HDMI mode may not be used if the HDMI and DVI port are both in use with digital monitors (the card has two digital DVI/HDMI outputs that can be mapped to any of the three ports).

Been researching a bit on the SSD's, looks like I will wait on it. I have been reading to many horror stories on new eggs reviews about them. Them not wanting to register, TRIM not working, RAID problems, and etc. I suppose I am now looking into the WD Black Series. I am also looking at the VelociRaptor Series.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...36-544^22-136-544-TS,22-136-533^22-136-533-TS

What is more important when looking at a boot drive, SATA 6.0Gb/s or 10,000 RPMS?


*EDIT*
Did a google search and answered my own previous question. From another site:

"Faster in what sense?

The RAID 0 setup will probably have a faster transfer rate, but the 10000RPM drives will have a faster access time.

Transfer rates are more important if you do a lot of copying of large files.

Access times are more important to speed up tasks like booting and starting applications.

Note that the difference between SATA 3.0Gbit/sec and 6.0Gbit/sec is completely irrelevant for consumer hard drives because none of them spin fast enough for the sustained transfer rate to exceed more than about 1.5Gbit/sec anyway.

Even most SSDs don't exceed 3.0Gbit/sec speeds - there are only a few of the very high-end ones that really require a 6.0Gbit/sec connection for full performance."

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

no, one of the monitors does not have to have a displayport connection.

in a 3 monitor setup, it is required to use the displayport connection from the gfx card, but you can use an active displayport adapter to use with a monitor that does not have a displayport connection.

True, but active DisplayPort to DVI adapters are more expensive than passive ones, you can't use a passive adapter if you're using 2 DVI or one DVI and one HDMI monitor as there are only two DVI connections internally. Active DisplayPort adapters essentially convert a DVI monitor into a DisplayPort monitor.

As for SATA 6gb/s I think the main reason to have it on HDD's is for loading/writing to cache. Most hard drives designed for speed have a fair amount of cache (the SATA 6gb/s WD Black has 64MB cache) so you can write to the cache at full speed and the drive can take care of the rest. While the platters and drive mechanism are too slow for even SATA 3gb/s speeds, the cache is essentially RAM and thus very fast.

 

[DrumnBassBBoy]

Parts finally started coming in for the build. Today, the Memory & Video Card arrived.
Memory – OCZ Reaper PC3 16000 (12GB)

Video Card – Asus EAH5850 Direct CU

http://www.phobiawebworks.com/personal/P5241161.JPG
http://www.phobiawebworks.com/personal/P5241162.JPG

As far as the look for my build goes, I am trying to go for the “ReNeGaDe” look by exposing a lot of heat pipes. I didn't really like the cover on the GPU Asus provides, so I tried removing it. I got it off, but there was no way to put the fan onto the heat pipes without it directly sitting on it and not mounted. The mounting for the fan resides on the underside of the cover.

http://www.phobiawebworks.com/personal/P5241173.JPG


*EDIT*
2 Questions:
1. When I removed the fan and heat pipes from the GPU circuit board, there was grey goo type stuff on it. I have some Arctic Silver on its way in the mail. Should I just put the 2 piece back together as it is right now or should I wait for the Arctic Silver to come in the mail? If I am to put Arctic Silver on it, what do I use to clean up the current grey stuff on the fan, heat pipes, and circuit board?

2. In order to put the fan and heat pipes back on to the circuit board, you have to screw in 4 screws that have spring on them through the back of the circuit board. What is the proper way to install these correctly? Every time I try, it just seems like its done wrong…
http://www.phobiawebworks.com/personal/P5241181.JPG

*EDIT 2*
Will I run into errors if I run 10GB of DDR3 triple channel memory, or should I run 6GB / 12GB?

 

[Muffin Man]

its impossible to run 10 gigs of ram in tri channel.

if you're asking if you can run 10 gigs of ram using some sticks from a tri channel kit of ram, then yes you can but they will run in either single or dual channel.

 

[DrumnBassBBoy]

its impossible to run 10 gigs of ram in tri channel.

if you're asking if you can run 10 gigs of ram using some sticks from a tri channel kit of ram, then yes you can but they will run in either single or dual channel.

Thanks MM

Problem:
When I open my Rampage III bios, it only shows me SATA headers 1 - 6, which are all SATA 2.0 headers. I have 2 SATA 3.0 headers on my motherboard as well. When I connect anything to it, it can not access it. How do I enable my SATA 3.0 headers? I am trying to connect my 1TB WB Black SATA 3.0 HD to it...

*EDIT*
Final Parts List for the build:
MOTHERBOARD - Asus Rampage III Extreme
PROCESSOR - Intel Core i7-930
GRAPHICS CARD - Asus Radeon HD 5850 (Top)
HARDDRIVE - Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB (SATA 6.0Gb/s)
HARDDRIVE - Western Digital Blue 80GB
MEMORY - OCZ Reaper 12GB (6 x 2GB) PC16000 / 2000MHz
ROM DRIVE - LG DVD Burner / GH24NS50
CPU COOLER - Cooler Master V8
CASE FAN - Cooler Master Excalibur 120mm
CASE FAN - Cooler Master Excalibur 120mm
CASE FAN - Cooler Master Excalibur 120mm
MONITOR - LG W2286 Flatron LED LCD
MONITOR - LG W2286 Flatron LED LCD
MONITOR - LG W2286 Flatron LED LCD
MONITOR CABLE - DisplayPort Male to HDMI Male 28AWG Cable - 10ft - 6012
MONITOR CABLE - High Speed HDMI Cable 28AWG - 10ft - 3993
MONITOR CABLE - HDMI DVI Cable 28AWG - 10ft - 2405
NETWORK CABLE - CAT 6 550MHz UTP - 10FT - 3435

Okay, so I got a tad lazy on the pictures. I was just too excited when all the parts came in. I did more building and not enough picture taking. Here are a few pictures of the build from the bare chassis, to the complete finish product:

 

[james.wired]

Very sweet build so far!

Just lettin' ya know- If you are planning on Eyefinity or running 3 of those monitors at once on the 5850, you need to have a DisplayPort adapter that is active.

 

[DrumnBassBBoy]

Very sweet build so far!

Just lettin' ya know- If you are planning on Eyefinity or running 3 of those monitors at once on the 5850, you need to have a DisplayPort adapter that is active.

Thanks for the heads up! Currently not running 3 monitors for two reason:
1. Monitor number 3 is still in the mail.
2. The desk here at my moms house is much to small to fit all 3 22" monitors.

Currently, the 2 monitors are running off my displayport out and my hdmi out, still have the dvi out free.


*EDIT*

Thanks MM

Problem:
When I open my Rampage III bios, it only shows me SATA headers 1 - 6, which are all SATA 2.0 headers. I have 2 SATA 3.0 headers on my motherboard as well. When I connect anything to it, it can not access it. How do I enable my SATA 3.0 headers? I am trying to connect my 1TB WB Black SATA 3.0 HD to it...

Would have edited this post, but looks as if the edit buttons disappears after so many days. An update on this situation. On the Corsair 800D case, there is a circuit board that handles all of the hot swappable drive bays. This circuit board only handle SATA 3.0Gbs, it does not handle SATA 6.0Gbs. When I tried to run my WD 1TB Black drive as a hot swap drive, it keep throwing blue screen of death. As soon as I removed it from the hot swap bay and connected it to a SATA 6.0Gb cable directly, all was well.

In conclusion, if you are going to use the 800D Corsair case and have a motherboard that supports SATA 6.0Gb, you will only have the lower HDD bay area to install these drives. It can only hold 2.

*EDIT 2*
So... the build itself is done. Later I plan to overclock, the machine, but not right now. What I am wanting to do is upgrade it a bit more as far as looks go. The entire build was suppose to be red and black; as you can see, my power supply threw that goal off. What would be the best method in getting that PSU label redone or remade in red / black scheme?