New computer!! Finally..

So, thanks to my parents, I could finally afford getting the computer I've been drooling on for months.. I ordered the parts online and built it myself - great fun! Thanks to turk4n for being my hardware-goto-guy, got lots of great advice from you, mate! Right now I'm just sitting here with my mouth wide open as I tried some old games. They ran a bit faster now, yep :D

Old computer:
- Intel P4, overclocked to 3.4GHz
- 1GB DDR RAM
- Windows XP and Gentoo Linux (:pinguin:)
- Some old MSI MicroATX mobo with integrated graphics :crying:

I eventually "upgraded" this one, giving it a 7300GS for a graphics card. Now, how many can say that they upgraded to a 7300GS!? Wow, that's a bad card. Also the case had no cooling at all, making it a great egg-boiler. And quite noisy.

New computer:
- Intel i7 920 (d0 stepping), currently at stock speed, 2.66GHz
- 6GB DDR3 1600MHz triple channel memory
- Windows 7 (64bit) (I like this one!)
- ASUS P6X58D Premium mobo (with USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s)
- GTX260 Core 216

The new case got 7 fans, 3 of which are 230mm fans, so cooling is not a problem :thumbup1: The video card is not as high-end as the other parts, but I will upgrade it when I can afford it, then dedicating the GTX260 to PhysX. Also, I might install a linux distro when I grow tired of gaming :D I haven't started overclocking yet, and I might actually wait a bit before doing that. The system is already ultra-fast, even with all eye-candy turned on, and all my current games run at frame rates well above 60, even with all settings maxed out! That being said, I won't stick to my old games for too long with a beast like this :D

I just had to make a thread about this, I mean, it's totally mind-blowingly awesome to sit here on a monster like this, coming from a noisy and slow P4.. :w00t:

**UPDATE**

Okay, small update here. Got some pictures for ya ;)

HPIM1208..JPG 1.19MB 49 downloads

Here's a picture of the case:
http://milltek.ca/st...ages/haf932.jpg

So, the cable management could be better... I'll try to improve that for my next build, I promise :D
Currently the computer has 11 fans.

3x230mm case fans
2x140mm case fans
2x120mm case fans
2x120mm CPU fans
1 GPU fan
1 PSU fan

And it's quiet! At least when I tune the fan controller a bit.

OVERCLOCKING:

I'm currently testing the 920 at 4.0GHz, and it looks promising, though I don't really know yet. Actual Vcore is currently 1.280V (slightly higher in BIOS ofc), QPI is at 1.30V (I think..), Vdimm is 1.64V, PLL is 1.86V (?).. Um, that's all I can recall for now. Oh, and HT is on.

RAM is running at 1600MHz, timings are 7-8-7-20.

I overclocked the GTX260 from 576/1242/1000 (core/shader/memory) to 700/1510/1200. It is very stable.

I'll try to get a CPU-Z screenshot up when I'm sure I've got a stable overclock.

TEMPERATURES:

My CPU temps are ca 25*C idle, 50*C load - core temps are ca 30*C idle, 60*C load. Even with all fans "silent" (after fan controller tweaking) the core temps never reached 70*C in prime95. Ambient temp 23*C.

GPU is at 45*C idle, 75*C load.