S
Skybuck Flying
Skybuck's Dream PC design for 2006 (Version 7):
( Version 7 created on 3 January 2006):
( All prices in euro's, tax included, shipping costs included=14 bucks
average, pay on delivery )
*** Components/Overview ***:
LCD Monitor: Hewlett Packard L2335 (native resolution: 1900x1200, response
time: 16 ms, wide screen)
Price indication: 1148
Case: Chieftec, Smart series, SH-01B-B-SL miditower
(silver/black/stylish/modern) (6 harddisk bays, 3 cd rom bays, 1 disk drive
bay)
Price indication: 79
Power supply: Seasonic S12-600 (600 watt, power efficient, low noise)
Price indication: 161
Motherboard: Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe (passive cooling, low noise, 64 bit
ready, good connectivity)
Price indication: 247
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Manchester 3800+ (Boxed) (dual core, power
efficient, suited for running games at 1900x1200 resolution)
Price indication: 355
Memory module1: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Price indication: 255
Memory module2: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Price indication: 255
(memory module 3,4 optional/expansion)
Memory module3: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Price indication: 255
Memory module4: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Price indication: 255
Graphics card1: XFX nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX 512 MB (Occupies two slots
(dual slot), Standard version (non overclocked, for longer life
)
(PV-T70F-YDL) 2DVI/VI, PCI Express x16, Very powerfull )
Price indication: 734
Graphics card2: none, for better air flow, graphics card1 is powerfull
enough to run everything at the present time and the near future, also sli
is not yet supported on windows xp 64 bit drivers and some games.
Price indication: -
Sound card: Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Elite Pro (comes with nice breakout
box and headphone connection, remote control etc)
Price indication: 299
(Note: needs floppy drive power connector)
Network card: not needed, the motherboard was two very fast gigabit network
chips on board
Price indication: -
Harddisk1: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Price indication: 345
Harddisk2: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Price indication: 345
(Hardisk 3,4,5,6 optional/expansion
Harddisk3: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Price indication: 345
Harddisk4: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Price indication: 345
Harddisk5: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Price indication: 345
Harddisk6: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Price indication: 345
Disk drive: OEM 3,5 diskettestation + 7-in-1 Cardreader (Black)
Price indication: 47
CD/DVD burner: BenQ DW1640 16x (Dual Layer, Black)
Price indication: 55
Keyboard: Logitech UltraX, silver.
Price indication: 35
Mouse: Logitech® Click! Optical Mouse
Price indication: 25 (gonna buy it locally)
Speakerset: Creative GigaWorks S750
Price indication: 390
*** Changes compared with previous design(s) ***:
1. CRT Monitor replaced with Widescreen LCD Monitor. Good response time,
good for gaming, clear/sharp graphics ?!
2. Chieftec case changed to a little bit more stylish design to match the
monitor, internals/layout are still the same.
-. Power supply still the same.
3. Motherboard changed to asus an8 sli 32x. No more time to wait for abit
an8 sli 32x.
4. Memory changed to corsair which is supported by the motherboard and can
be maxed out.
5. Graphics cards changed to 512 MB for maximum graphics performance
currently available.
-. Soundcard still the same.
6. Network cards removed. The motherboard's network chips are probably good
enough.
(No need to use extra graphics cards which take up pci slots and pci
bandwidth...
However the network chips are probably connected to the pci bus)
-. Harddisks still the same. Big, Cheap, Fast. SCSI harddisks not worth the
price and speed and are too small.
7. Disk drive changed to black to match the stylish design of the case.
8. CD/DVD burner changed to BenQ Black to match stylish design and is almost
the same drive as the previous plextor, but less expensive
9. Keyboard changed to logitech UlraX silver to match the stylish design. It
has notebook keys and is flatter, hopefully this is comfortable to type on
They say it is but I'll have to find out for myself
10. Mouse changed to logitech Click Optimal mouse to match stylish design
and is a pretty good mouse. Though reflective surfaces can cause the mouse
pointer to jump around... but all mouses nowadays are laser mouses so not
much choice there...
- Speakerset still the same.
*** Basic system price ***:
LCD Monitor: 1148
Case: 79
Power supply: 161
Motherboard: 247
Processor: 355
Memory1: 255
Memory2: 255
Graphics card1: 734
Sound card: 299
Harddisk1: 345
Harddisk2: 345
Disk drive + 7 in 1 card reader: 47
CD/DVD burner: 55
Keyboard: 35
Mouse: 25
Speakerset: 390
Basic total: 4775
*** Extra system price ***:
Memory3: 255
Memory4: 255
Harddisk3: 345
Harddisk4: 345
Harddisk5: 345
Harddisk6: 345
Extra total: 1890
*** Extreme extra system price ***:
Graphics card2: 734 (in case you crazy <- tight fit)
*** Costs ***:
Basic system: 4775
Extra system: 6665
Extreme system: 7399
*** Notes/Comments ***:
1. The sound card needs a floppy drive connector and the disk/floppy drive
also needs a floppy connector.
That means the power supply should have 2 floppy drive connectors. The
seasonic s12 power supply has this
2. The case supports 3 cd rom bays (5.25 inch external), 6 harddisk bays
(3.5 inch internal) and 1 floppy drive bay (3.5 inch external)
3. The case can mount extra fans to cool harddisks etc. Be carefull that the
airflow doesn't cancel each other out.
However cooling the harddisks is probably the most important since they
contain the data/information and you don't want to loose that
4. The power supply has 4 sata connectors and additional molex connectors.
Make sure the last two harddisks have a molex connector.
5. The motherboard can connect 4 ide devices and 4 sata drives and another 2
sata drives on the raid controller.
The last two sata harddisks should be connected to the raid controller to
make a nice raid drive for games. Do not place the pagefile on a raid
drive... because raid is usually slow at writing.
6. The dvd/cd burner is an IDE drive so that more SATA harddisks can be
connected.
7. The memory chips are pretty fast but not the fastest. The fastest chips
only allow 2GB to be mounted if I am not mistaken
2 GB will probably be the minimum memory requirement to run Windows Vista
*smoothly*.
However I like the ability to go to 4 GB just in case.
8. The power supply is efficient, low noise, low heat and still powerfull.
600 watt will probably be enough for average day use
and gaming etc. Only if the system is completely stressed and everything is
running at the same time the power might not be enough.
So the power supply is a bit of a gamble only for the extra or extreme
system but even then I think it could still work ok. In case
it's really not enough one can always change to another power supply. But I
like the reviews so much that I want to give
this power supply a try
9. The motherboard seems to be a quality motherboard with all kinds of nice
features, it even has a parallel port for my old nec p20 printer hehe.
It's passively cooled which is good for low noise, it also has wifi support
if you need it and onboard audio, but no onboard integrated graphics.
It has three pci slots, two 16x pci-express slots and one 4x pci-express
slot and ofcourse the two network chips etc.
10. The cpu is power efficient and still powerfull enough to run games
smoothly at 1900x1200 resolution. It's big brother the X2 4800+ is three
times more expensive but only delivers 20% more performance and also runs
hotter etc. So I like this little brother the X2 3800+ It has two 512 KB
L2 caches which seems to be ok according to the benchmarks
11. The XFX is the normal graphics card version. I don't like the idea of an
overclocked graphics extreme version. So the normal version will probably
last longer The graphics card is quite big and requires one slot to
connect but takes the space of two slots ! It's possibly to add another
graphics card but that might be bad for airflow
12. Here is a possible harddisk layout:
The first harddisk is a low fragmentation harddisk. Software/Data rarely
gets added to it.
The first harddisk will contain the operating system and important
information.
The second harddisk is also a low fragmentation harddisk. Software/Data
rarely gets added to it.
The second harddisk will contain the fixed sized page file and
software/applications.
This allows the operating system to load it's libraries/dll's/executables
etc from one harddisk,
while the software/application libraries/dll's/executables load from the
second harddisk in parallel.
The third harddisk will be a high fragmentation harddisk containing source
codes, download's,
pictures, temporarely files, video's, mp's, everything that's a bit junky.
The fourth harddisk can contain big movies, iso's and everything else that
is large
like games etc.
Finally the 5th and 6th harddisk can be combined into a raid drive to be
used for games
with long load times and few write and few random access operations.
13. The keyboard is flat and has notebook kind of keys. They say it types
comfortably but I am skeptical.
The silverish look does match the rest of the components, so I am willing to
give it a try. I can always
replace it with an office keyboard if I don't like it
14. The cd/dvd burner does not have lightscribe or any other labelling tech
etc. The drives
that do have it are probably a bit old and slow and expensive. I rather have
a fast and good burning quality drive
15. Keyboard and mouse with a wire ofcourse... dead batteries my ass lol
And finally:
16. The LCD monitor adds a HOLYSHIT effect. Such a powerfull computer
deserves a good and
awesome monitor which makes anybody walking into the room go HOLYSHIIITTT
I think it's slighty wider than a typical keyboard. I still have to go look
in a store
to really see it and I also have to check out the dead pixel policy etc. But
I think HP
is a respectable company and will replace any bad samples etc.
*** Links to reviews and suppliers ***
(I am located in the Netherlands/Europe, so if you live else where you'll
have to find your
own suppliers I guess This site is also handy for finding suppliers:
http://www.tweakers.net
A dutch site though.)
**
LCD Monitor: Hewlett Packard L2335 (native resolution: 1900x1200, response
time: 16 ms, wide screen)
Supplier: http://hp.buyitdirect.com
Reason: Buying directly from a HP partner which I trust will deliver a good
product, also has many in store.
Reviews:
http://reviews.cnet.com/HP_L2335/4505-3174_7-30788118.html (video review
!!!)
http://reviews.designtechnica.com/review1695.html
http://www.anandtech.com/displays/showdoc.aspx?i=2467
http://stores.tomshardware.com/rati...duct_id=8222432/id_type=M/ut=d4b696d12a669fbd
(a guy explains the part numbers are the same product but sold differently)
**
Case: Chieftec, Smart series, SH-01B-B-SL miditower
(silver/black/stylish/modern) (6 harddisk bays, 3 cd rom bays, 1 disk drive
bay)
Supplier: http://www.case-world.de/Online-Shop/online-shop.html
Reason: Specialized in Chieftec cases, has all parts and is one of the few
who can deliver/has it.
Reviews: none really, however here you can have a look into the case:
http://www.chieftec.com/products/500A/SH01.htm
There is also a chinese review but I am not certain if the internals are
exactly the same... if not than it will be a close resemblence
http://www.pcgamma.com/showthread.php?t=7276
**
Power supply: Seasonic S12-600 (600 watt, power efficient, low noise)
Supplier:
http://www.icomputers.nl/product_detail.asp?A_ID=3562&SSS_ID=&SS_ID=1286&S_ID=423
Reason: Good website, clear information, deliverable within 5 workdays.
Reviews:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article247-page3.html
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=106&type=expert
http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/200507111/index.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/200507111/stresstest-23.html
**
Motherboard: Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe (passive cooling, low noise, 64 bit
ready, good connectivity)
Supplier: http://www.bytesatwork.be/
Reason: Only supplier that has one (only one available)
Alternative Supplier:
http://www.alternate.nl//html/shop/productDetails.html?artno=GHEA13&
Reason: In case first supplier doesn't have it any more more expensive
though
Reviews:
http://hothardware.com/hothardware.com_non_ssl/viewarticle.aspx (Explains
that two dual slot graphics card might be a tight squeeze, many pictures,
very good review)
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2589&p=1 (In depth look at this
motherboard and comparisions etc)
http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1563_1.html (Lot's of nice
pictures of slots, headers, cables etc, good review)
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/11/29/ati_and_nvidia/page7.html (mentions
the external sata connector, and two dual slot graphics cards ??? is that
wise ??? I dont think so but ok)
**
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Manchester 3800+ (Boxed) (dual core, power
efficient, suited for running games at 1900x1200 resolution)
Supplier:
http://www.icomputers.nl//product_detail.asp?A_ID=2661&S_ID=421&SS_ID=809&SSS_ID=894
Reason: In stock and ordering multiple items from this supplier might safe
shipping costs. (prices are almost the same for different suppliers for this
product)
Reviews:
http://www.amdboard.com/athlon_64_3800_review.html
**
Memory:
Memory module1: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Memory module2: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
(memory module 3,4 optional/expansion)
Memory module3: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Memory module4: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Supplier: http://www.cool-prices.nl/index.php/18,hid--2,sgid--1,artId--2798
Reason: Cheapest and in stock.
Reviews:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/268/1/
http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=printpage&artid=163
**
Graphics card1: XFX nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX 512 MB (Occupies two slots
(dual slot), Standard version (non overclocked, for longer life)
(PV-T70F-YDL) 2DVI/VI, PCI Express x16, Very powerfull )
Supplier: ???? unknown at this point, non in stock ???? no integrated
graphics so I will have to wait for it.
Reviews:
http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/hardware/1560_1.html
http://www.avault.com/hardware/print_review.asp?review=xfx7800512xxx
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/11/14/nvidia/index.html
**
Sound card: Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Elite Pro (comes with nice breakout
box and headphone connection, remote control etc)
Supplier:
http://www.hardwaretotaal.nl/catalo...ro-71&osCsid=98d3e3e66ea43ccc66566ca05aefa0f3
Reason: Cheapest
(Note: needs floppy drive power connector)
Reviews:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1850381,00.asp (Reviewers finds
price too high)
http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/creative_sb_xfi/page_2.shtml (Shows floppy
drive power connector needed)
http://www.anandtech.com/multimedia/showdoc.aspx?i=2518&p=1 (Analysis, etc)
**
Network card: not needed, the motherboard was two very fast gigabit network
chips on board
Review:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/04/30/gigabit_ethernet/page2.html
**
Harddisk1: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Harddisk2: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
(Hardisk 3,4,5,6 optional/expansion
Harddisk3: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Harddisk4: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Harddisk5: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Harddisk6: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Supplier: to be determined.
Reason: non in stock yet, those that have them in stock are way too
expensive like 50 bucks extra.
Review:
Many, I don't really need a review of these harddisks... I trust they good
But here you go anyway:
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200511/HDS725050KLA360_1.html
**
Disk drive: OEM 3,5 diskettestation + 7-in-1 Cardreader (Black)
Supplier: http://www.azerty.nl/default.jsp
In stock: yes
**
CD/DVD combo drive: BenQ DW1640 16x (Dual Layer, Zwart)
Supplier: to be determined
Review:
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=14268
**
Keyboard: Logitech UltraX, silver.
Supplier: to be determined.
Review:
http://www.mrpower.com.tw/product_info.php?products_id=177
**
Mouse: Logitech® Click! Optical Mouse
Supplier: locally
Review:
Myself It's a good mouse.
Mouse pointer can jump around because of laser feedback on reflective
surfaces...
at least that's the theory.
Here is a link to a picture etc. (The mouse looks a bit better in reality
compared to the picture.)
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/US/EN,CRID=2142,CONTENTID=6906
**
Speakerset: Creative GigaWorks S750
Supplier: to be determined.
Review:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/sound/194/3/ (nice photo's etc)
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/multimedia/display/creative-gigaworks-s750.html
http://www.hardwarefusion.net/content/000302.php?page=1 (some nice pictures)
**
*** Links to pictures ***
And finally here are some quick links to all external components to get an
idea
how everything will look together:
LCD Monitor:
http://ai.pricegrabber.com/product_images/8222000-8222999/8222432_640.jpg
http://reviews.designtechnica.com/images/reviews/1695/20040621_2145451.gif
Case:
(Black and silver, selected drives will be black so will probably look good
together)
http://www.chieftec.com/images/500A/SH-01B-B-SL.jpg
Alternative silver more pretty but hard to get:
(Also white, black and silver components/drives might not look good together
)
http://www.chieftec.com/images/500A/AH-01SL-SL-SL.jpg
Watch out there is also an uglier white case: (this is not the same one
as the silver one, I think)
http://www.case-world.de/Online-Shop/media/SH-01W-W-W.jpg
Soundcard BreakOut Box:
Front:
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/11/0,1425,i=112171,00.jpg
(small)
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/10/0,1425,sz=1&i=104727,00.jpg
(large)
Back:
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/11/0,1425,i=112172,00.jpg
(small)
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/10/0,1425,sz=1&i=104728,00.jpg
(large)
Soundcard Remote Control:
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/11/0,1425,i=112173,00.jpg
(small)
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/10/0,1425,sz=1&i=104729,00.jpg
(large)
Disk drive:
http://www.azerty.nl/files/3991.gif (black, as selected, will look good in
the black/silver case)
alternative:
http://www.azerty.nl/files/3895.gif (white, won't look good in the silver
case I think)
CD/DVD combo drive:
(I don't like the benq white logo in general but then again what the hell
it's not that big )
http://www.benq.us/images/image_gallery/products/storage/dw1640/01.jpg (3D
black)
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Articles/Sources/BenQ_DW1640/Images/front.jpg
(2D front)
alternative:
http://www.benq.us/images/image_gallery/products/storage/dw1640/02.jpg (3D
white)
Keyboard:
http://www.mrpower.com.tw/images/Logitech/DSC02733.jpg (3D)
http://www.mrpower.com.tw/images/Logitech/DSC02732.jpg (3D up close)
Mouse:
http://www.logitech.com/lang/images/0/1936.jpg
Speakerset:
http://www.guru3d.com/admin/imageview.php?image=4683
http://www.guru3d.com/admin/imageview.php?image=4693
Well that's it for me. I have done my very best to select good components
which look good together too. At the present time this is simply the best of
the best.
Now I can let it sink in and start comparing this design to other computers
and see if this high price is really worth it etc, etc, etc, etc
Let's sum up the strong points of this computer:
1. Super monitor, games which support wide screen is just awesome. Lot's of
space on desktop in reality and virtually hehe probably much lighter than
a big heavy 21 inch crt monitor too
2. Super graphics, excellent for games.
3. Super processor, excellent for applications and games and responsiveness
of web browsers.
4. Super harddisk, excellent for loading applications and games and working
fast with data.
5. Super memory. excellent for performance in general.
6. Super sound, excellent for music, video's and games.
7. Stylish, modern, nothing over the top, it's not a christmas tree
8. Lot's of room to add extra harddisks for extra storage space !! =D
9. Good keyboard and mouse via wires, no batteries necessary <- no troubles
10. Headphone can be connected to the breakout box.
11. Super network performance.
12. Wifi wireless support.
13. All kinds of other connectivity support. Even an external sata drive
connector ?! wow. Ofcourse most other computers
don't have this kind of connector so don't plan on using an external sata
drive just yet
14. Good/fast cd/dvd burning, ripping, reading etc.
15. 64 Bit ready. Will probably run Windows Vista smoothly... However maybe
Windows Vista requires special DX10 cards... I hope not though I would be
a bit pissed if it did need a new graphics card doh.
16. Even has a floppy drive in case one needs to move little files from/to
older computers or so.
Yup it's expensive all right but look at the strong points. Probably
definetly worth it's money.
Can you spot any weak points except the staggering price tag ?
I can, yup:
1. No printer selected. I don't need it really. I can print at my mom's
place and I rarely print anything. My 10 year old nec P20 is just good
enough to print some crappy information with some crappy text
2. No scanner selected. Again my mom has an all-in-one printer which can
print, scan, copy, etc.
3. No other advanced features selected, like a skype phone etc. Gje.
4. No flash/usb sticks selected.
5. No external harddisk selected.
6. Not sure if it's completely suited for your handy/mobile. I don't have
one, I don't need one and I probably don't want one, me hates distrubing
phone calls argh.
7. Not sure if it's compatible with video devices like camcorders, photo
stuff/devices etc.
8. Not sure if the monitor can function as a TV or HDTV or something like
that... maybe, maybe not... it's not ment for that in the first place I
think
Well most of these things can be added later ofcourse and I think points 1
to 7 are probably possible. Point 8 I don't know
Bye,
Skybuck
( Version 7 created on 3 January 2006):
( All prices in euro's, tax included, shipping costs included=14 bucks
average, pay on delivery )
*** Components/Overview ***:
LCD Monitor: Hewlett Packard L2335 (native resolution: 1900x1200, response
time: 16 ms, wide screen)
Price indication: 1148
Case: Chieftec, Smart series, SH-01B-B-SL miditower
(silver/black/stylish/modern) (6 harddisk bays, 3 cd rom bays, 1 disk drive
bay)
Price indication: 79
Power supply: Seasonic S12-600 (600 watt, power efficient, low noise)
Price indication: 161
Motherboard: Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe (passive cooling, low noise, 64 bit
ready, good connectivity)
Price indication: 247
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Manchester 3800+ (Boxed) (dual core, power
efficient, suited for running games at 1900x1200 resolution)
Price indication: 355
Memory module1: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Price indication: 255
Memory module2: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Price indication: 255
(memory module 3,4 optional/expansion)
Memory module3: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Price indication: 255
Memory module4: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Price indication: 255
Graphics card1: XFX nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX 512 MB (Occupies two slots
(dual slot), Standard version (non overclocked, for longer life
)(PV-T70F-YDL) 2DVI/VI, PCI Express x16, Very powerfull )
Price indication: 734
Graphics card2: none, for better air flow, graphics card1 is powerfull
enough to run everything at the present time and the near future, also sli
is not yet supported on windows xp 64 bit drivers and some games.
Price indication: -
Sound card: Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Elite Pro (comes with nice breakout
box and headphone connection, remote control etc)
Price indication: 299
(Note: needs floppy drive power connector)
Network card: not needed, the motherboard was two very fast gigabit network
chips on board
Price indication: -
Harddisk1: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Price indication: 345
Harddisk2: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Price indication: 345
(Hardisk 3,4,5,6 optional/expansion
Harddisk3: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Price indication: 345
Harddisk4: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Price indication: 345
Harddisk5: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Price indication: 345
Harddisk6: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Price indication: 345
Disk drive: OEM 3,5 diskettestation + 7-in-1 Cardreader (Black)
Price indication: 47
CD/DVD burner: BenQ DW1640 16x (Dual Layer, Black)
Price indication: 55
Keyboard: Logitech UltraX, silver.
Price indication: 35
Mouse: Logitech® Click! Optical Mouse
Price indication: 25 (gonna buy it locally
)Speakerset: Creative GigaWorks S750
Price indication: 390
*** Changes compared with previous design(s) ***:
1. CRT Monitor replaced with Widescreen LCD Monitor. Good response time,
good for gaming, clear/sharp graphics ?!
2. Chieftec case changed to a little bit more stylish design to match the
monitor, internals/layout are still the same.
-. Power supply still the same.
3. Motherboard changed to asus an8 sli 32x. No more time to wait for abit
an8 sli 32x.
4. Memory changed to corsair which is supported by the motherboard and can
be maxed out.
5. Graphics cards changed to 512 MB for maximum graphics performance
currently available.
-. Soundcard still the same.
6. Network cards removed. The motherboard's network chips are probably good
enough.
(No need to use extra graphics cards which take up pci slots and pci
bandwidth...
However the network chips are probably connected to the pci bus)
-. Harddisks still the same. Big, Cheap, Fast. SCSI harddisks not worth the
price and speed and are too small.
7. Disk drive changed to black to match the stylish design of the case.
8. CD/DVD burner changed to BenQ Black to match stylish design and is almost
the same drive as the previous plextor, but less expensive
9. Keyboard changed to logitech UlraX silver to match the stylish design. It
has notebook keys and is flatter, hopefully this is comfortable to type on
They say it is but I'll have to find out for myself 10. Mouse changed to logitech Click Optimal mouse to match stylish design
and is a pretty good mouse. Though reflective surfaces can cause the mouse
pointer to jump around... but all mouses nowadays are laser mouses so not
much choice there...
- Speakerset still the same.
*** Basic system price ***:
LCD Monitor: 1148
Case: 79
Power supply: 161
Motherboard: 247
Processor: 355
Memory1: 255
Memory2: 255
Graphics card1: 734
Sound card: 299
Harddisk1: 345
Harddisk2: 345
Disk drive + 7 in 1 card reader: 47
CD/DVD burner: 55
Keyboard: 35
Mouse: 25
Speakerset: 390
Basic total: 4775
*** Extra system price ***:
Memory3: 255
Memory4: 255
Harddisk3: 345
Harddisk4: 345
Harddisk5: 345
Harddisk6: 345
Extra total: 1890
*** Extreme extra system price ***:
Graphics card2: 734 (in case you crazy
<- tight fit)*** Costs ***:
Basic system: 4775
Extra system: 6665
Extreme system: 7399
*** Notes/Comments ***:
1. The sound card needs a floppy drive connector and the disk/floppy drive
also needs a floppy connector.
That means the power supply should have 2 floppy drive connectors. The
seasonic s12 power supply has this
2. The case supports 3 cd rom bays (5.25 inch external), 6 harddisk bays
(3.5 inch internal) and 1 floppy drive bay (3.5 inch external)
3. The case can mount extra fans to cool harddisks etc. Be carefull that the
airflow doesn't cancel each other out.
However cooling the harddisks is probably the most important since they
contain the data/information and you don't want to loose that
4. The power supply has 4 sata connectors and additional molex connectors.
Make sure the last two harddisks have a molex connector.
5. The motherboard can connect 4 ide devices and 4 sata drives and another 2
sata drives on the raid controller.
The last two sata harddisks should be connected to the raid controller to
make a nice raid drive for games. Do not place the pagefile on a raid
drive... because raid is usually slow at writing.
6. The dvd/cd burner is an IDE drive so that more SATA harddisks can be
connected.
7. The memory chips are pretty fast but not the fastest. The fastest chips
only allow 2GB to be mounted if I am not mistaken
2 GB will probably be the minimum memory requirement to run Windows Vista
*smoothly*.
However I like the ability to go to 4 GB just in case.
8. The power supply is efficient, low noise, low heat and still powerfull.
600 watt will probably be enough for average day use
and gaming etc. Only if the system is completely stressed and everything is
running at the same time the power might not be enough.
So the power supply is a bit of a gamble only for the extra or extreme
system but even then I think it could still work ok. In case
it's really not enough one can always change to another power supply. But I
like the reviews so much that I want to give
this power supply a try
9. The motherboard seems to be a quality motherboard with all kinds of nice
features, it even has a parallel port for my old nec p20 printer hehe.
It's passively cooled which is good for low noise, it also has wifi support
if you need it and onboard audio, but no onboard integrated graphics.
It has three pci slots, two 16x pci-express slots and one 4x pci-express
slot and ofcourse the two network chips etc.
10. The cpu is power efficient and still powerfull enough to run games
smoothly at 1900x1200 resolution. It's big brother the X2 4800+ is three
times more expensive but only delivers 20% more performance and also runs
hotter etc. So I like this little brother the X2 3800+
It has two 512 KBL2 caches which seems to be ok according to the benchmarks
11. The XFX is the normal graphics card version. I don't like the idea of an
overclocked graphics extreme version. So the normal version will probably
last longer
The graphics card is quite big and requires one slot toconnect but takes the space of two slots ! It's possibly to add another
graphics card but that might be bad for airflow
12. Here is a possible harddisk layout:
The first harddisk is a low fragmentation harddisk. Software/Data rarely
gets added to it.
The first harddisk will contain the operating system and important
information.
The second harddisk is also a low fragmentation harddisk. Software/Data
rarely gets added to it.
The second harddisk will contain the fixed sized page file and
software/applications.
This allows the operating system to load it's libraries/dll's/executables
etc from one harddisk,
while the software/application libraries/dll's/executables load from the
second harddisk in parallel.
The third harddisk will be a high fragmentation harddisk containing source
codes, download's,
pictures, temporarely files, video's, mp's, everything that's a bit junky.
The fourth harddisk can contain big movies, iso's and everything else that
is large
like games etc.
Finally the 5th and 6th harddisk can be combined into a raid drive to be
used for games
with long load times and few write and few random access operations.
13. The keyboard is flat and has notebook kind of keys. They say it types
comfortably but I am skeptical.
The silverish look does match the rest of the components, so I am willing to
give it a try. I can always
replace it with an office keyboard if I don't like it
14. The cd/dvd burner does not have lightscribe or any other labelling tech
etc. The drives
that do have it are probably a bit old and slow and expensive. I rather have
a fast and good burning quality drive
15. Keyboard and mouse with a wire ofcourse... dead batteries my ass lol
And finally:
16. The LCD monitor adds a HOLYSHIT effect. Such a powerfull computer
deserves a good and
awesome monitor which makes anybody walking into the room go HOLYSHIIITTT
I think it's slighty wider than a typical keyboard. I still have to go look
in a store
to really see it and I also have to check out the dead pixel policy etc. But
I think HP
is a respectable company and will replace any bad samples etc.
*** Links to reviews and suppliers ***
(I am located in the Netherlands/Europe, so if you live else where you'll
have to find your
own suppliers I guess
This site is also handy for finding suppliers:http://www.tweakers.net
A dutch site though.)
**
LCD Monitor: Hewlett Packard L2335 (native resolution: 1900x1200, response
time: 16 ms, wide screen)
Supplier: http://hp.buyitdirect.com
Reason: Buying directly from a HP partner which I trust will deliver a good
product, also has many in store.
Reviews:
http://reviews.cnet.com/HP_L2335/4505-3174_7-30788118.html (video review
!!!)
http://reviews.designtechnica.com/review1695.html
http://www.anandtech.com/displays/showdoc.aspx?i=2467
http://stores.tomshardware.com/rati...duct_id=8222432/id_type=M/ut=d4b696d12a669fbd
(a guy explains the part numbers are the same product but sold differently)
**
Case: Chieftec, Smart series, SH-01B-B-SL miditower
(silver/black/stylish/modern) (6 harddisk bays, 3 cd rom bays, 1 disk drive
bay)
Supplier: http://www.case-world.de/Online-Shop/online-shop.html
Reason: Specialized in Chieftec cases, has all parts and is one of the few
who can deliver/has it.
Reviews: none really, however here you can have a look into the case:
http://www.chieftec.com/products/500A/SH01.htm
There is also a chinese review but I am not certain if the internals are
exactly the same... if not than it will be a close resemblence
http://www.pcgamma.com/showthread.php?t=7276
**
Power supply: Seasonic S12-600 (600 watt, power efficient, low noise)
Supplier:
http://www.icomputers.nl/product_detail.asp?A_ID=3562&SSS_ID=&SS_ID=1286&S_ID=423
Reason: Good website, clear information, deliverable within 5 workdays.
Reviews:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article247-page3.html
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=106&type=expert
http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/200507111/index.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/200507111/stresstest-23.html
**
Motherboard: Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe (passive cooling, low noise, 64 bit
ready, good connectivity)
Supplier: http://www.bytesatwork.be/
Reason: Only supplier that has one (only one available)
Alternative Supplier:
http://www.alternate.nl//html/shop/productDetails.html?artno=GHEA13&
Reason: In case first supplier doesn't have it any more
more expensivethough
Reviews:
http://hothardware.com/hothardware.com_non_ssl/viewarticle.aspx (Explains
that two dual slot graphics card might be a tight squeeze, many pictures,
very good review)
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2589&p=1 (In depth look at this
motherboard and comparisions etc)
http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1563_1.html (Lot's of nice
pictures of slots, headers, cables etc, good review)
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/11/29/ati_and_nvidia/page7.html (mentions
the external sata connector, and two dual slot graphics cards ??? is that
wise ??? I dont think so but ok)
**
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Manchester 3800+ (Boxed) (dual core, power
efficient, suited for running games at 1900x1200 resolution)
Supplier:
http://www.icomputers.nl//product_detail.asp?A_ID=2661&S_ID=421&SS_ID=809&SSS_ID=894
Reason: In stock and ordering multiple items from this supplier might safe
shipping costs. (prices are almost the same for different suppliers for this
product)
Reviews:
http://www.amdboard.com/athlon_64_3800_review.html
**
Memory:
Memory module1: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Memory module2: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
(memory module 3,4 optional/expansion)
Memory module3: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Memory module4: Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR SDRAM, 1 GB, PC3200, 400 MHz
(Double Side, Double Data Rate, Supported by motherboard)
Supplier: http://www.cool-prices.nl/index.php/18,hid--2,sgid--1,artId--2798
Reason: Cheapest and in stock.
Reviews:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/268/1/
http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=printpage&artid=163
**
Graphics card1: XFX nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX 512 MB (Occupies two slots
(dual slot), Standard version (non overclocked, for longer life
)(PV-T70F-YDL) 2DVI/VI, PCI Express x16, Very powerfull )
Supplier: ???? unknown at this point, non in stock ???? no integrated
graphics so I will have to wait for it.
Reviews:
http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/hardware/1560_1.html
http://www.avault.com/hardware/print_review.asp?review=xfx7800512xxx
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/11/14/nvidia/index.html
**
Sound card: Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Elite Pro (comes with nice breakout
box and headphone connection, remote control etc)
Supplier:
http://www.hardwaretotaal.nl/catalo...ro-71&osCsid=98d3e3e66ea43ccc66566ca05aefa0f3
Reason: Cheapest
(Note: needs floppy drive power connector)
Reviews:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1850381,00.asp (Reviewers finds
price too high)
http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/creative_sb_xfi/page_2.shtml (Shows floppy
drive power connector needed)
http://www.anandtech.com/multimedia/showdoc.aspx?i=2518&p=1 (Analysis, etc)
**
Network card: not needed, the motherboard was two very fast gigabit network
chips on board
Review:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/04/30/gigabit_ethernet/page2.html
**
Harddisk1: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Harddisk2: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
(Hardisk 3,4,5,6 optional/expansion
Harddisk3: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Harddisk4: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Harddisk5: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Harddisk6: Hitachi Desktstar 7K500 500 GB, 7.200 rpm, 16 MB, SATA II
(HDS725050KLA360 )
Supplier: to be determined.
Reason: non in stock yet, those that have them in stock are way too
expensive like 50 bucks extra.
Review:
Many, I don't really need a review of these harddisks... I trust they good
But here you go anyway:
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200511/HDS725050KLA360_1.html
**
Disk drive: OEM 3,5 diskettestation + 7-in-1 Cardreader (Black)
Supplier: http://www.azerty.nl/default.jsp
In stock: yes
**
CD/DVD combo drive: BenQ DW1640 16x (Dual Layer, Zwart)
Supplier: to be determined
Review:
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=14268
**
Keyboard: Logitech UltraX, silver.
Supplier: to be determined.
Review:
http://www.mrpower.com.tw/product_info.php?products_id=177
**
Mouse: Logitech® Click! Optical Mouse
Supplier: locally
Review:
Myself
It's a good mouse.Mouse pointer can jump around because of laser feedback on reflective
surfaces...
at least that's the theory.
Here is a link to a picture etc. (The mouse looks a bit better in reality
compared to the picture.)
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/US/EN,CRID=2142,CONTENTID=6906
**
Speakerset: Creative GigaWorks S750
Supplier: to be determined.
Review:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/sound/194/3/ (nice photo's etc)
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/multimedia/display/creative-gigaworks-s750.html
http://www.hardwarefusion.net/content/000302.php?page=1 (some nice pictures)
**
*** Links to pictures ***
And finally here are some quick links to all external components to get an
idea
how everything will look together:
LCD Monitor:
http://ai.pricegrabber.com/product_images/8222000-8222999/8222432_640.jpg
http://reviews.designtechnica.com/images/reviews/1695/20040621_2145451.gif
Case:
(Black and silver, selected drives will be black so will probably look good
together)
http://www.chieftec.com/images/500A/SH-01B-B-SL.jpg
Alternative silver more pretty but hard to get:
(Also white, black and silver components/drives might not look good together
)http://www.chieftec.com/images/500A/AH-01SL-SL-SL.jpg
Watch out there is also an uglier white case:
(this is not the same oneas the silver one, I think
)http://www.case-world.de/Online-Shop/media/SH-01W-W-W.jpg
Soundcard BreakOut Box:
Front:
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/11/0,1425,i=112171,00.jpg
(small)
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/10/0,1425,sz=1&i=104727,00.jpg
(large)
Back:
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/11/0,1425,i=112172,00.jpg
(small)
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/10/0,1425,sz=1&i=104728,00.jpg
(large)
Soundcard Remote Control:
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/11/0,1425,i=112173,00.jpg
(small)
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/10/0,1425,sz=1&i=104729,00.jpg
(large)
Disk drive:
http://www.azerty.nl/files/3991.gif (black, as selected, will look good in
the black/silver case)
alternative:
http://www.azerty.nl/files/3895.gif (white, won't look good in the silver
case I think)
CD/DVD combo drive:
(I don't like the benq white logo in general but then again what the hell
it's not that big
)http://www.benq.us/images/image_gallery/products/storage/dw1640/01.jpg (3D
black)
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Articles/Sources/BenQ_DW1640/Images/front.jpg
(2D front)
alternative:
http://www.benq.us/images/image_gallery/products/storage/dw1640/02.jpg (3D
white)
Keyboard:
http://www.mrpower.com.tw/images/Logitech/DSC02733.jpg (3D)
http://www.mrpower.com.tw/images/Logitech/DSC02732.jpg (3D up close)
Mouse:
http://www.logitech.com/lang/images/0/1936.jpg
Speakerset:
http://www.guru3d.com/admin/imageview.php?image=4683
http://www.guru3d.com/admin/imageview.php?image=4693
Well that's it for me. I have done my very best to select good components
which look good together too. At the present time this is simply the best of
the best.
Now I can let it sink in and start comparing this design to other computers
and see if this high price is really worth it etc, etc, etc, etc
Let's sum up the strong points of this computer:
1. Super monitor, games which support wide screen is just awesome. Lot's of
space on desktop in reality and virtually hehe
probably much lighter thana big heavy 21 inch crt monitor too
2. Super graphics, excellent for games.
3. Super processor, excellent for applications and games and responsiveness
of web browsers.
4. Super harddisk, excellent for loading applications and games and working
fast with data.
5. Super memory. excellent for performance in general.
6. Super sound, excellent for music, video's and games.
7. Stylish, modern, nothing over the top, it's not a christmas tree
8. Lot's of room to add extra harddisks for extra storage space !! =D
9. Good keyboard and mouse via wires, no batteries necessary <- no troubles
10. Headphone can be connected to the breakout box.
11. Super network performance.
12. Wifi wireless support.
13. All kinds of other connectivity support. Even an external sata drive
connector ?! wow. Ofcourse most other computers
don't have this kind of connector so don't plan on using an external sata
drive just yet
14. Good/fast cd/dvd burning, ripping, reading etc.
15. 64 Bit ready. Will probably run Windows Vista smoothly... However maybe
Windows Vista requires special DX10 cards... I hope not though
I would bea bit pissed if it did need a new graphics card doh.
16. Even has a floppy drive in case one needs to move little files from/to
older computers or so.
Yup it's expensive all right but look at the strong points. Probably
definetly worth it's money.
Can you spot any weak points except the staggering price tag ?
I can, yup:
1. No printer selected. I don't need it really. I can print at my mom's
place and I rarely print anything. My 10 year old nec P20 is just good
enough to print some crappy information with some crappy text
2. No scanner selected. Again my mom has an all-in-one printer which can
print, scan, copy, etc.
3. No other advanced features selected, like a skype phone etc. Gje.
4. No flash/usb sticks selected.
5. No external harddisk selected.
6. Not sure if it's completely suited for your handy/mobile. I don't have
one, I don't need one and I probably don't want one, me hates distrubing
phone calls argh.
7. Not sure if it's compatible with video devices like camcorders, photo
stuff/devices etc.
8. Not sure if the monitor can function as a TV or HDTV or something like
that... maybe, maybe not... it's not ment for that in the first place I
think
Well most of these things can be added later ofcourse and I think points 1
to 7 are probably possible. Point 8 I don't know
Bye,
Skybuck