blog.aaziz.org » diy http://blog.aaziz.org ramblings and opinions of a geek Fri, 08 Oct 2010 00:26:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 en hourly 1 Painted computer case http://blog.aaziz.org/painted-computer-case http://blog.aaziz.org/painted-computer-case#comments Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:52:44 +0000 Anthony Aziz http://blog.aaziz.org/?p=77 It still needs a bit of work, but it looks pretty sweet so far. You can’t see all the blemishes though :P. Still not decided if we’re going to be buying a new case or not, but if not, I still want something decent looking! I’ll have to cut some fan holes, and I plan on getting my Citadel paints and doing some finer details, but we’ll see about that.

]]> http://blog.aaziz.org/painted-computer-case/feed 0 The (not so) ultimate gaming machine http://blog.aaziz.org/the-not-so-ultimate-gaming-machine http://blog.aaziz.org/the-not-so-ultimate-gaming-machine#comments Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:37:16 +0000 Anthony Aziz http://blog.aaziz.org/?p=66 So I think I may be building a desktop computer in mid-January, depending how our finances look. It’s going to be mid-high range for gaming, with a budget of about $800 (I have a case and an LCD already). It needs to run Vista and Linux, and be compatible with both (I’m thinking Arch). I’ve posted around a bit, and I’ve put together a build from Newegg (who now ships to Canada, which I didn’t know – sweet).

Here it is:

Motherboard – ASYS P5Q LGA775 (gigabit lan, sound) $122
ASUS P5Q SE PLUS LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU – Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 (2.53GHz, LGA775, 1066, 3MB) Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.0GHz, LGA775, 1333, 6MB) $206; Fan: Rosewill reverse vall beraing CPU cooler (LGA775) $38
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7200
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400
Rosewill RCX-Z2 7 blades 80mm reverse ball bearing fan CPU Cooler – Retail
Power Supply – Raidmax 630W $100
RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-630SS 630W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Modular LED Power Supply
Memory – OCZ 4GB (2×2) DDR2 1066 (PC 8500) $108
OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2G10664GK
HDDs – OS – 250GB 7200 SATA 3.0Gb/s; Data - 1TB 7200 SATA 3.0Gb/s $138
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Optical Drives – SATA DVD Burner $29
LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30
Video – MSI N9800GT (GeForce 9800GT) 512 (PCI-e 2.0 x16) $150
MSI N9800GT 512M OC GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

I don’t know how things are going to be in a month and a half, but so far this looks pretty good to me (I’m not the expert on hardware, though). I’m thinking I’ll need some case fans, and maybe some cooling solution for the RAM (heatsinks, perhaps, if someone can suggest something?).

I mostly went for the products that were reviewed for good stability and Linux support, especially the 9800GT.

That’s $820 without mail-in rebates (which come to about $80 I believe). I welcome suggestions and remarks!

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