Project: Hurricane

[Jonny Axehandle]

This is my first time building a PC. I'm a friend of Mitternacht's and he recommended I come here to get some advice. My goal is to build what I've never had the pleasure of owning: a hardcore gaming machine. I'm naming this Project: Hurricane because of the gargantuan fan on the front of the case:

http://icute.com.tw/new/ArticleShow.asp?ArticleID=303

I'm going to use this for games and programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, and 3DStudioMAX. Here's the specs I had in mind:

Motherboard: Intel D975XBX2 Desktop Board
CPU: Pentium D 940
RAM: At least 1GB Dual-Channel DDR2 SDRAM
Hard Drive: Seagate 160GB SATA-300
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon X1900 CrossFire
Monitor: I don't suppose anyone has a 22" Flat Panel they don't want and were probably going to just throw away, huh? =P

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Any involving the RAM would be excellent. I've never shopped for RAM so I have no idea which brand/model would be the best. Also, I've read that a Core 2 Duo is better than a Pentium D. Is this true?

[Mitternacht]

RAM has different frequencies. DDR2 runs at 533, 667 and 800 mhz. Shoot for the fastest speed you can afford. And a company of RAM that seems to be preferred here is Kingston.

Edit: I can't help but to think of putting a subwoofer on the side of cases like that.

[dgrmkrp]

hmm... i see graphics programs.. i must.. help :)

games and graphics.. so, you need a really fast system for this, therefore a core 2 duo... is an excellent choice.. graphics also would benefit from a quad core (wait a month and you'll see them in the 500$ range :)).. with over clocking, this cpus can beat anything.. check the extreme version of the quad core monster intel created on google..
go with at least ddr2 800, and if you wanna over clock, 1000+
if you can afford it, buy a big hdd for storage and a smaller 10krpm for windows and games and.. gfx :)
if u wait a lil' u may find better video boards.. x1950xt maybe? or somthing like a 8800gts or a r600 if it appears?
for a monitor u could get a nice 20"+ flat crt screen.. they support huge resolutions, no blurring like tfts and a nice range of colors.. of course, they are big and heavy.. or a 20" TFT, with 1600x1200 res. (i'm shopping for a nice one now.. tad expensive)
hope i helped..

[slytherock]

Welcome to the forum (+1rep to Mitt ;) )

I always liked the iCute :up: Nice choice!
Will you geet the Window panel or the fan panel?

For the Ram, Corsair and OCZ are always my first choices

[crazybillybob]

Welcome to the Boards Jonny.

Well the other guys have giving you info on memory speeds, I'll give you some help on sizes. The programs you listed benifet from lots of RAM (PhotoShop and 3DSMAX... eat ram for breakfast!) so If you plan to run them allot you want to look at 2Gb min of RAM. The plus side is that allot of games load level maps faster when they have more RAM to work with too.
I do Like Corsair Ram, but it's a bit Pricey.

Also if your going to be doing allot of 3DSMAX work you'll want a good bit of HDD too (like a 350GB SATA their on sale alot for less then $100), Look for a good Brand like Seagate, Why do I say Seagate? well they have a 5yr warranty, We all hate to loss HDD, but we know it happens so why not get it replaced for free when it does fail? Most other HDD co. only have a 1yr warranty (there is a 2yr out there too) They all cost about the same and have compairable transfer speeds. That's just my $0.02 worth on HDD.

For a kicking Gaming Rig you want a good Video card, my advice Pick the best card you can afford, and do some research on them, just because the number is bigger then that one doesn't always mean it's faster or better. Tom's hardware guide, Gruntville and others have good reviews on Video cards that will help you get the most out of your $$$$


Good luck, happy building and Make sure you post pics of your work (we like pics :))

CrazyBillyBob

[OvRiDe]

Its hard to follow CBB, one thing also to consider when buying RAM is the CAS Latency. The lower the better. Cheaper RAM is usually cheaper due to its higher CAS Latency. Here (http://www.sysopt.com/tutorials/article.php/616091) is an article I was able to dig up on it, its abit old (1999) and a bit on the Egghead side, but the principles are all still the same.
Not sure what your budget is, but here is what I did in my situation. The difference between 1GB and 2GB of RAM and the next step up in the videocard was right around $100. What I figured was, you can't add $100 to an existing video card to upgrade it, but I can spend $100 later and add more RAM. So I spent the extra 100 bucks on the video card and then just added another Gig of RAM when I could afford it. Just something to consider, hope it helps. Looking forward to seeing your progress!

[Jonny Axehandle]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'll get some pics of my work as soon as some parts arrive. I got a great deal on a power supply yesterday-680W for just $30. It's shipping from only 2 states away so I might have some pictures of that first.

[Mitternacht]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'll get some pics of my work as soon as some parts arrive. I got a great deal on a power supply yesterday-680W for just $30. It's shipping from only 2 states away so I might have some pictures of that first.

I've GOTTA see that! Newegg?

[Luke122]

I'm wary of deals like that.. learned already this week that you usually get what you pay for with powersupplies. MIOS 500w for $58(CAD).. or OCZ 700w for $165.. *sigh*

And stupid newegg doesnt ship to Canada. Thank God for Memory Express.

[Jonny Axehandle]

I've GOTTA see that! Newegg?

It was a one time deal from http://www.blujay.com/

[Jonny Axehandle]

My motherboard has arrived! Since you guys like pics:

http://www.jonnys-place.com/Personaldocs/PC%20Parts/PDR_0516.JPG
http://www.jonnys-place.com/Personaldocs/PC%20Parts/PDR_0517.JPG
http://www.jonnys-place.com/Personaldocs/PC%20Parts/PDR_0518.JPG
http://www.jonnys-place.com/Personaldocs/PC%20Parts/PDR_0519.JPG

I'll get some more as soon as I get the case. (I don't want to take it out of the static guard just yet).

[Mitternacht]

Nice SATA cables.

[Jonny Axehandle]

Crap, I can't seem to find a place to get an iCute case. Chances are I'll need to get a different one, in which case I'll need to rename this thing. Does anyone know a good place I can find an iCute that's not on backorder or overseas?

BTW-I'll have some pics of the power supply soon.

[armadilloben]

wow those sata cables came from the bad axe??? those are pretty nice

welcome to the forum man good luck on ure build

[Mitternacht]

http://www.xoxide.com/aerocool-extremengine-3t-black.html