Let’s build a RM7k machine… “Part 3″

Currently listening to nothing
Currently using a new machine

Whoa. It’s been a long time i didn’t blog anything again. So yeah, here goes the birth of the 7k machine.

Me, my bro and Thye Shin went to Low Yat Plaza last Saturday ( uh, i mean, last last Saturday on the 15th ). Left Melaka at 10.30am and arrived back at 6.30am. I dun think there’s anything interesting to tell about our visit to Low Yat.

Oh yeah, before i proceed further, here’s the final spec of the machines:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6
Memory: 2 x Corsair XMS2 1GB DDR2 (CMX21024-6400)
GPU: Gigabyte ATI Radeon X1950XTX (GV-RX195X512VB-RH)
HDD1: Seagate 250GB
HDD2: Seagate 200GB ( Salvaged from ‘The Sarabee’ )
SPU: Creative Audigy 2 ZS ( Salvaged from ‘The Sarabee’ )
Keyboard: Logitech G15
Mouse: Logitech Lame Mouse ( Salvaged from ‘The Sarabee’ )
Optical Drive: LG Super-Multi 18x
Chassis: Some lame cheap casing but looks good… to me…
PSU: Tagan 480W

Oh, by da way, overall the total cost is only RM6480. Yeah, it totally surprised me when I actually go under-budget when I totally think that I’m so going overbudget when i do the planing.

Well, thanks the processor and the GPU, i got extra budget. Originally i wanted to buy C2D E6700 but after reviewing the specs again, the clock rate difference is only 0.2Ghz but the price gap is RM1000. So, I saved RM1k there.

About the GPU, i had a hard time deciding actually. It’s hard to decide because all the benchmarks I’ve seen are only based on games, not graphic application ( actually, it doesn’t make sense to do a benchmark on graphic application for gaming GPUs ). So, i had to use my own logic. The really powerful ATI X1950XTX or the also really powerful nVidia 7950GX2 which has 2 Graphics Processor and larger memory. In the end, i go for the cheaper one, which is ATI, again. Me no ATI fan but had to be happy with it coz it’s RM500 bucks cheaper.

With the extra money, i bought fast RAMs. where originally in the budget plan i just wanted to get normal RAMs. So, yeah, the Corsair XMS2 it is.

About the mobo, i BADLY wanted the killer ASUS mobo, but i can’t. They just dun have it. The shop guy suggested me “Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6″ or “DQ6″ for short. The specs sounds good. The board looks good. The price… IS good – RM50 cheaper than actual budget.

Oh yeah. I NEARLY got the 320GB HDD at the price of 250GB HDD because of human error. Salesman error. He took out a 320GB HDD while telling us it’s 250GB HDD. He noticed it when they about to stick a warranty label. Darn, there goes my extra 80GB.

Optical drives. I’m happy with my current LG Super-multi 16x burner so I planned to get the same thing. But, the salesman said the 18x version came out already. Actually, i dun really care about the writing speed since it’s not like i’m going to get those expensive 18x speed DVD+RW anyways. But, the price gap between the 16x and 18x is only.. RM10. Oh, what the hell, just gimme the 18x then. Oh, I nearly bought 2 since I got extra cash. But, since we just entered the age of High-Definition media, i’ll wait for cheap Blu-ray drives to come out. Oh ya, can’t find any Blu-ray drives in Low Yat btw. Of course, i won’t find any Blu-ray media even if I found the drive.

So, what did I do with the extra money? Heh heh heh. Got myself a new killer keyboard.. The Logitech G15. Yep, it’s the killer gaming keyboard with backlit buttons, LED display, 15 extra additional buttons, bla bla bla… Overall, it’s good. The rest of the money, simpan dalam pocket. Who knows, i could spend this money for my future girlfriend ( I said “spend”, not “buy” ).

Ok, pics pics.

He’s holding Intel Core 2 Duo box. The box is blue in colour, bleh. It doesn’t look as kewl as Core 2 Extreme’s box which is black in colour. Why do expensive stuffs comes in black, like iPod nano?

The dual-core processing power is in my hands. Yeah ~ ( trust me, in 6 months, this is nothing to be awed of… )

This is the lame casing. RM120 only. Screwless operations ( uh, except for the power supply ). This casing provides really good air-ventilation.

This… is the motherboard. The heatpipes just makes this motherboard look so kewl. I just loooove those heatpipes. Let’s hope that those pipes won’t melt any nearby wires.

The outrageously huge, heavy and most expensive component: The Radeon X1950XTX. Yes, i know lotsa gamers out there wanted this. Hey, i’m not building a gaming machine okay. It’s a work-station.

Here’s the RAM i bought with the extra money. I should see significant performance improvements in Adobe Premiere Pro with these.

Hardware installation complete. Um, ignore the messy wires for now.

Close up with the final product

So yeah. That’s all for now. I’ll post more later..

Click more if you’re interested to know more technical details. Generated by SiSoft Sandra.

System
Host Name: YURIE
User: Edo
Workgroup: SPR

Processor
Model: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @
2.40GHz
Speed: 2.40GHz
Performance Rating: PR8160 (estimated)
Cores per Processor: 2 Unit(s)
Threads per Core: 1 Unit(s)
Type: Dual-Core
Internal Data Cache: 2x 32kB Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way set,
64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache: 4MB ECC Synchronous, ATC, 16-way set, 64 byte
line size, 2 threads sharing
L3 On-board Cache: 2x 4MB Synchronous, Write-Back, 16-way set,
64 byte line size

Mainboard
Bus(es): PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
MP Support: 1 Processor(s)
MP APIC: Yes
System BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. F3
Mainboard: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. 965P-DQ6
Total Memory: 2GB

Chipset 1
Model: Giga-Byte Technology ??? (29A0)
Front Side Bus Speed: 4x 267MHz (1068MHz data rate)
Memory Bus Speed: 4x 200MHz (800MHz data rate)

Video System
Monitor/Panel: SyncMaster 172X/177X,SyncMaster Magic
CX710X(Digital)
Adapter: Radeon X1950 Series
Adapter: Radeon X1950 Series Secondary

Physical Storage Devices
Removable Drive: Floppy disk drive
Hard Disk: SATA ST 3200827A SCSI Disk Device (186GB)
Hard Disk: SATA ST 3250620A SCSI Disk Device (233GB)
CD-ROM/DVD: HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GSA-H22N SCSI CdRom Device

Logical Storage Devices
Yurie 0 (C:): 98GB (60GB, 62% Free Space) (NTFS)
Yurie 9(I:): 49GB (49GB, 100% Free Space) (NTFS)
Yurie 1 (D:): 86GB (81GB, 94% Free Space) (NTFS)
Sarabee 0 (E:): 68GB (20GB, 29% Free Space) (NTFS)
Sarabee 1 (F:): 118GB (9.9GB, 8% Free Space) (NTFS)
Nokia N90 (G:): 244MB (CDFS)
3.5″ 1.44MB (A:): N/A

Peripherals
Serial/Parallel Port(s): 1 COM / 1 LPT
USB Controller/Hub: Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host
Controller – 2830
USB Controller/Hub: Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host
Controller – 2831
USB Controller/Hub: Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host
Controller – 2832
USB Controller/Hub: Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host
Controller – 2834
USB Controller/Hub: Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host
Controller – 2835
USB Controller/Hub: Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host
Controller – 2836
USB Controller/Hub: Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host
Controller – 283A
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Composite Device
USB Controller/Hub: Generic USB Hub
FireWire/1394 Controller/Hub: Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394
Host Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller/Hub: OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
Keyboard: HID Keyboard Device
Keyboard: HID Keyboard Device
Mouse: Logitech USB Wheel Mouse
Mouse: Wacom Mouse
Human Interface: HID-compliant consumer control device
Human Interface: HID-compliant device
Human Interface: HID-compliant device
Human Interface: Wacom HID Pen
Human Interface: Wacom HID Digitizer
Human Interface: Wacom Virtual Hid Driver
Human Interface: Logitech USB Wheel Mouse
Human Interface: USB Human Interface Device
Human Interface: USB Human Interface Device
Human Interface: USB Human Interface Device

MultiMedia Device(s)
Device: Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS (WDM)
Device: Creative Game Port

Communication Device(s)
Device: Nokia N90 USB Modem

Printers and Faxes
Model: Canon iP4200

Power Management
AC Line Status: On-Line

Operating System(s)
Windows System: Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Professional
5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)

Network Services
Adapter: Marvell Yukon 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet
Controller

PS: What?