Rob, Confusion!!

[zburns]

Rob, on the: My Super PC -- How to Build a PC - A Computer Building Guide page, dated Nov 13, 2008, that precedes the forum page, your dialogue, preceeding the Chart that shows the individual build components, refers to AMD cpu and compatible mobo, as does the sequential instructions at the bottom.

Yet the chart lists only two Intel CPUs (E7200, Q6600) and one Gigabyte mobo. Seems confusing to a new reader; I'm an old reader and it confuses me. Seems like there is an ommision you are not aware of.

[Rob]

Good catch. You've caught me in the middle of a site update. I'm transitioning to a new My Super PC, so it is a bit confusing. I'll try to get the pages updated quickly.

[The Wise Monkey]

What are the specs of the new MSPC?

[Rob]

Posted! I have a new My Super PC!

There are two or three pictures I need to update, but the main images and text are updated. Here are the specs and where I purchased them.

case: Antec Sonata III 500 (Amazon)
processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 (Newegg)
motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 (Newegg)
ram: 4GB of Crucial PC8500 (Crucial)
video card: GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB (Amazon)
sound card: Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer (Amazon)
hard drive: Western Digital 640GB (Newegg)
OS: Windows XP (Amazon)

The Antec case is a great deal since it includes a quality 500-watt power supply. It does not have a Firewire front port, but I don't use one and it would be easy to add if I did.

The E7200 processor looks in the sweet-spot at the moment, but I'm expecting component prices to drop in the near future and I'll probably upgrade to an E8400 or E8500. I'm using the Zalman CNPS9500 AT cooler.

The motherboard decision was the hardest to make. I've purchased this motherboard about 3 months earlier than I would like. It's been out six months but I'd have rather waited a bit. It came with the version 1 BIOS dated March 2008 - that's what happens with newish motherboards. The latest is version 3 Beta dated September 2008 which is what I flash upgraded to. Not great, but a new version will probably be available soon. Already the motherboard itself is version 1.3. I guess that's not bad - hopefully it's been long enough to shake out any issues and not need another version.

I actually tried an ASUS P5K Pro first, but the one I received had a bad IDE connector. I had to get a refund and choose something else because they've been discontinued.

The GeForce 9800 GTX video card is fast, but what's really striking is that it is so quiet. I mean My Super PC is virtually silent, and that's with the side cover off! I may upgrade to a ATI HD 4870 about the time I upgrade the processor. And the ATI HD 4850 is a really excellent choice, too. I don't know about the noise levels of the ATI video cards.

The Western Digital 640GB hard drive is a great value. I've seen the reports of problems about the read seek time, but I suspect the model I have is ok, which is 00A7B0. I've read a post that indicated this particular model appeared not to have the problem.

I'm using Windows XP because all of my applications were purchased when Windows XP was the only OS choice, so I didn't want any surprises there.

Wow! It's really exciting to have this new silent, speed demon! I'd love to check out the latest top-tier games with it but I have a lot of web-site catching up to do. Still, I'm sure I will try out a game or two with it. After all, I really should just to make sure everything's well, right?

One new twist I came across this time is with the front panel connectors. The Antec Sonta III 500 case has a 3-pin power LED cable, but the Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 motherboard has a 2-pin connector. Apparently both ways are "standard", so they can be out of sync. My brilliant solution was to simply not plug it in since it's just an LED anyway. The 3-pin cable still has just two wired plugs, the two on the ends with the plug in the middle un-wired. So one solution is to move a wire to the middle. This works if the cable can be plugged in with the now unused hole off the edge of the pins. Another solution is to use a sharp knife and split the 3-pin cable into two single-pin cables. It's also possible to buy an adapter for the cable - yes, really! - at least in theory. I never saw one actually in stock. Anyway, I've got it in mind to add something about this to the assembly instructions.

[The Wise Monkey]

Looks good - I think the X48 boards are pretty good now, but I always have reservations about using a beta version of a BIOS.

The 4850 series have issues with the stock coolers in that they run very hot because the fans tend to run at a slower speed. I installed an aftermarket Zalman cooler, and mine never goes above 45C even when overclocked, so this problem is not too bad. Also, the latest version of the ATI Catalyst drivers allow you to control the fan speed, which makes a big difference too, but also increases the noise.

What have you done with your old MSPC?

[Rob]

What have you done with your old MSPC?

Actually, I'm getting quite a collection of PC's. In this one room, I have four fully configured computers. The EPoX 8RDA+ MySuperPC, an Intel motherboard PC (can't recall the make and model off-hand), the ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe MySuperPC, and now this Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 MySuperPC.

Plus I have one more MSI K8N Neo Platinum based PC in another room that the family uses.

The Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 based computer is my own everyday work computer. The ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe based computer is the one I'm using for a wall-to-wall update of the assembly instructions. The other two are not being used. They are rather old so I don't plan to sell them or give them away. I may find a use for them someday.

Right now the clutter is managable because each PC within it's own case. I only have one monitor, keyboard and mouse to share between them.

[The Wise Monkey]

Fair enough. I'm always a bit loathe to throw away old PCs as you can usually get reasonable performance out of them using some flavour of Linux. :)