Upgrade/HTPC Build

2 months 1 week ago

"Here in Australia our download quotas are pretty crappy considering the amount we pay.

My connection is 24000/1024 and I get 20GB/40GB (peak/off-peak) downloads for $69.95AUD."
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Upgrade/HTPC Build

2 months 1 week ago

"No need to raid the drives, they're only storage drives. I don't run anything off them. Also have two 1TB drives in my fireproof safe which I keep for backups. Corsair 450 is a nice PSU but I want modular, I'll just pick up an Antec NeoHE 500W for $15AUD more than the 380W.

As for the PSU in the gaming rig, I like my HX-620 and it does a decent job, doubt I'll use more than what it could deliver. Corsair 750W isn't modular either so it's a no from me for it, TT 750W I've had one and found it noisy in comparison to my HX-620 so no to that one too.

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z302/stenchlord/IMG_6082.jpg

That was my PC before I installed the 500GB storage drives.

As you can see I like having a neat case, so modular PSU is always a compulsory item."
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Upgrade/HTPC Build

2 months 1 week ago

"HTPC will only be playing 720p at most which is why there isn't a Blu-Ray drive installed :P

It'll only be playing DVD/TV rips and for watching standard def TV.

Cheers for the advice, keep it coming."
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Upgrade/HTPC Build

2 months 1 week ago

"What performance boosts would I be looking at with Xeon over the Q9450? Remembering that the Xeon would need to be LGA775 socket as I'm not going to buy a new board lol. As for another 8800GT Alpha Dog in SLI they don't sell my particular model anymore. It's black PCB and stock overclocked. I figured I'll wait for the new nVidia or ATi/AMD cards to come out before I upgrade my GPU."
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Upgrade/HTPC Build

2 months 1 week ago

"What PSU would you recommend? I went for the 380W cause I figured it was more than adequate for the HTPC, I've had a 380W running an E6600 and 8800GTX before and power was nice and stable. The NeoHE Range also has modular cabling so figured that would be handy in a small case.

As for installing more HDDs in the HTPC it's more than likely but it will take a while to fill the 320GB and the 640GB. I'm tempted to keep the 320GB as an external HDD though and buying a 80GB/160GB for the HTPC for its system drive.

I could partition the 320GB but I personally like to keep my system drive separate from my storage drives :/

My 160GB atm (149GB usable) still has 142GB usable space left lol. Nothing gets saved on their, only programs/applications/games get installed on it. Music, documents all get saved on the other drives.

Cheers for the ideas :D"
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Upgrade/HTPC Build

2 months 1 week ago

"Yes I do work on the computer which is why I chose the quad.

Majority of work is photoshopping but I tend to multitask a lot. Photoshopping while browsing net, chatting, encoding video files, torrenting, watching a dvd/video file etc."
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Upgrade/HTPC Build

2 months 1 week ago

"I've already got the 8700LED, it's running in my PC now which is why I'm replacing it with a TRU120X. On low settings it should be more than adequate for cooling while still being quiet."
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Upgrade/HTPC Build

2 months 2 weeks ago

"Looking to upgrade my current PC and using leftover parts in an HTPC.

My Current PC

Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 @ 3.0GHz
-Zalman CNPS 8700LED CPU Cooler
Asus Striker II Formula 780i
2GB Kit Crucial Ballistix Lanfest PC6400
Pioneer DVR-215D SATA DL DVDRW
1 x Western Digital 160GB SATA HDD
2 x Western Digital 500GB SATA HDD
XFX 512MB 8800GT Alpha Dog Edition OC
CoolerMaster CM690 Midi-Tower
Corsair HX-620W Modular PSU

Now I'll be looking at purchasing these items and building an HTPC out of them as well as replacing some of my current PC gear.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 (2.66GHz/1333FSB/45nm)
ASUS P5E-VM HDMI (All-In-One-Mainboard)
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator PC8500 1066MHz
3 x Western Digital 640GB SATA II 7200RPM HDD
Pioneer DVR-215D Dual Layer 20x DVDRW
Compro COMP-T750F TV Tuner Card
Antec Mini P180 Midi-Tower Case (no PSU)
Antec NeoHE 380W Modular Power Supply Unit
Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme CPU Cooler
2 x Scythe S-FLEX 120mm 1200RPM Fan (49CFM/20.1dBA)

+ 1 x Western Digital 320GB SATA II 7200RPM HDD which I own and is currently in an external case.

With these parts I'll be reconfiguring my current PC and building the HTPC and this is what it would look like...

My HTPC/Torrent Box
Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 (2.0GHz/800FSB/65nm)
-Zalman CNPS 8700LED 110mm Fan CPU Cooler
ASUS P5E-VM G35 HDMI (All-In-One-Mainboard)
2GB Crucial Ballistix Lanfest PC6400 800Mhz
1 x Seagate Barracuda 320GB SATA II 7200RPM HDD
1 x Western Digital 640GB SATA II 7200RPM HDD
Pioneer DVR-215D Dual Layer 20x DVDRW
Compro COMP-T750F TV Tuner Card
Antec Mini P180 Midi-Tower Case (no PSU)
Antec NeoHE 380W Modular Power Supply Unit


My Gaming Rig
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 (2.66GHz/1333FSB/45nm)
-Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme CPU Cooler
-2 x Scythe S-FLEX 120mm 1200RPM Fan (49CFM/20.1dBA)
ASUS Striker II Formula 780i Tri-SLI Mainboard
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator PC8500 1066MHz
1 x Western Digital 160GB SATA II 7200RPM HDD
2 x Western Digital 500GB SATA II 7200RPM HDD
2 x Western Digital 640GB SATA II 7200RPM HDD
Pioneer DVR-215D Dual Layer 20x DVDRW
XFX 512MB 8800GT Alpha Dog Edition OC (625/1800)
CoolerMaster CM690 Midi-Tower ATX Case
-2 x CoolerMaster Stock 120mm Fans & 3 x Arctic Cooling 12025 PWM 120mm Fans
Corsair HX-620W Modular Power Supply Unit


Can anyone see a problem with either of these setups?"
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How Long Are You In Your Showers?

7 months 4 weeks ago

"Two showers a day, one in the morning/afternoon to wake me up and another at night/morning to clean up before getting into bed.

Without a shower I really can't wake up properly and feel slow and tired and I have to have one before bed because trying to sleep when you feel dirty and covered in sweat is difficult and gross.

Time period in the shower varies but normally it's 15-20 minutes. Depends on whether or not I need to wash my hair as I don't wash it everyday otherwise I'd dry it out, specially since I take two a day. I also shave (facial hair... lol) in the shower and brush my teeth in the shower, both of which need to be done everyday.

I have been known to stay in the shower for very long periods and on a couple of occasions fallen asleep in there too. When very very drunk I have a shower to sober myself up but since I normally end up using hot water, I tend to sit since I'm normally too drunk to stand and then fall asleep like that..."
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My proposed new rig

8 months 3 days ago

"I picked up a second hand PC cheap.

If I was to go out and buy a E6850 and 2GB of RAM I'd be looking at spending $400 ($390 to be exact).

With $400AUD I purchased this...

AMD OPTERON 165 @ stock
-Thermalright XP-120 Heatsink w/ Artic Cooling Fan
DFI NF4 ULTRA-D LANPARTY
OCZ 2gig Platinum edition DDR 400 @ 2-3-2-5
XFX 7900GT @ stock
Western Digital 120GB SATA HDD
Pioneer Dual Layer Burner
Tagan 530w Modular PSU
Antec P160WF Case w/ stock fans replaced with Artic Cooling and Aerocool ones + 2 x temp sensors

I figure I might as well pull my current and this PC apart, rebuild and then sell the lesser of the two PCs.

I'm thinking of keeping this PC for myself...

Opty + Thermalright 120, DFI Ultra-D, OCZ 2GB, XFX 7900GT + Sparkle 7900GT (both stock), Raptor 74GB, 2 x Pioneer DL DVDRW, Corsair HX-520, Antec P160.

Then selling off this one...

X2 3800+ & Thermaltake A1, Asus A8N-SLI, 2GB Corsair Value Select, XFX 8600GT, WD 120GB SATA, 1 x Pioneer DL DVDRW, Tagan 530W, Antec P180B.

I've talked to someone about it and they've offered $500-$600 for the X2 3800+ rig which means I've upgraded and made a profit at the same time.

Just wanted to know though, both 7900GTs are running at stock, will running them in SLi be OK or do they need to be of the same brand etc?"
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Post your sexy self

8 months 1 week ago

"Here's one of me passed out this morning after my work XMAS Party.

"
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Post your sexy self

8 months 1 week ago

"I'm a photographer and have software that enables me to see the EXIF details of a photo that's posted online.

So it shows aperture, shutter speed, ISO, metering mode, flash or not, focal length, etc. It also shows when the photo was taken."
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Please Help my PC!

8 months 1 week ago

"...that's why we've said to put the computer into safe mode?"
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My proposed new rig

8 months 1 week ago

"I'm pretty sure i don't need something that beefy. I've got an AMD X2 s939 3800+ and it suits my requirements already so anything more than a Q6600 will be overkill."
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The ULTIMATE CPU?

8 months 1 week ago

"I was talking to a guy who got his QX9650 up to 5.0GHz on water.

I'll try find the screenshot he sent me of it."
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Please Help my PC!

8 months 1 week ago

"So I take it you don't want to just format your hard drives since there is data you want to retrieve off it?

Firstly *clicks tongue at you* you should always do regular backups.

Secondly, disconnect the computer from the internet.

Thirdly, start the computer up in safe mode and start moving your data over."
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Standard Resolution

8 months 1 week ago

"My LCDs native resolution is 1680x1050 and I think it's great but I would prefer it running at 1920x1200.

If you do a survey though, the majority of people using computers will still be using 1024x768. Monitors last a long long time, especially CRTs and for most people they won't bother upgrading unless it's needed. The standard started to become 1280x1024 but now with widescreens being the cheaper and more readily available screens I think you'll find a lot of people with 1280x1024 and 1440x900 resolutions.

I much prefer the higher resolution screens as you get more definition in objects that appear on your screen, anti-aliasing combined with anisotropic filtering which is supported standard with all modern graphics cards is a wonderful thing. Have someone watch a movie in standard def 4:3 (640x480) and then show them the same movie in 1920x1080 and they will always choose the HD quality. There is far more detail and vibrancy in each frame. LCDs are also now catching up to CRTs in terms of ghosting problems without loss of quality.

End of 2008 I believe we should be seeing some new technology coming out, namely Laser TVs."
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Post your Pets!

8 months 1 week ago

"Lmao if anyone lives in Sydney and would like some pics taken of them with their animals just get in contact with me :D"
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Post your sexy self

8 months 1 week ago

"FlameAlchemist what do you look like now? A lot can happen in a couple years.
Seems the photo was taken 2005-03-10.

Very cute though."
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Opinions

8 months 1 week ago

"Corsair HX-520W
Antec NeoHE 550W

Those would probably be my two choices.

Then again you could always get an Antec Sonata Plus case which comes with the latter PSU installed. I believe it's rather expensive but when you work it out in the end it's rather good value considering the quality of both the case and the PSU.

http://www.ozhardware.com.au/Case-Reviews/Antec-Sonata-Plus-550-Case-Review.html"
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My proposed new rig

8 months 1 week ago

"Looks like I'm only putting in an 8600GT for the time being. Will wait out until the 9800 cores come out and make my decision then."
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Opinions

8 months 1 week ago

"If you're planning to buy new...

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Gigabyte P35-DS3P
2GB DDR2 PC6400 800MHz
8800GT or ATi 3870

Gotta make sure your powersupply will be adequate for the gear too."
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Opinions

8 months 1 week ago

"Again it would help if you posted what your current system is so that we can better recommend stuff."
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Opinions

8 months 1 week ago

"Since the OP is considering the 8500 I don't think the budget is going to be much. Stretching to the 8600GTS might not even be an option. Until we get more information from the OP I don't think it's worth suggesting to get something like the Ultras or GTXs"
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My proposed new rig

8 months 2 weeks ago

"For gloating and gaming lol.

Seriously though, for photo-editing in Photoshop, casual gaming, watching/burning/backing up DVDs.

My needs aren't that great but I wanted to build something like this cause I can really.

My current rig is fine but I'll probably be selling it to replace fund for the new computer."
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