# First time poster.. first time builder



## surfingerman (Jan 1, 2010)

hi everyone i have been reading here a lot before i built my system.. and i have it together now.. i thought i would post the pictures because i love to look at others' pictures... also i have a few minor questions.. and i also have advice for anyone else making a build based on my success

this is my first build i have never even replaced a video card before this i didnt even know how to install ram.. lol looking back i was a total newb.. luckily i learn very fast and i think i can call myself now a semi-expert

but unfortunately im still newb at photo taking
































okay time for system specs (everything i bought i made sure had the highest feedback at newegg.. and that strategy has paid off greatly)

*CPU:* I7 920 D0@3.8 1.15v (shows lower on CPUz ? not sure why) 1.2v QPI, 200 blck 19x multi (ordered at newegg)

(i have made it stable at 4.2 but i don't need so much power and i don't think its worth the CPU strain over the long term, if i need a quick upgrade next year i will just set it higher)

*CPU cooling:* Prolimatech Megalahems with two 1800rpm very very quiet fans Noiseblocker NB-Multiframe M12-S3HS 120mmx25mm Ultra Silent Fan - 1800 RPM - 27 dBA (i cant even hear them with my ear next to them) these are absolutely silent placed vertically.. they make alot noise if you put them horizontal.. don't do that
(ordered at frozencpu, (highly recommended))

Runs idle 32C-40C in ambient 70F

Runs full load Prime 95 1 hour.. 58-64C (max 64C on core 0, all other cores stay under 62C)  ambient 75F

*Case: *Thermaltake VL10001W2Z Element G.. seems kindof cheap looking at the name but.. this is an awsome case with really great airflow and pretty cool lights... ( hint:  at first it appears impossible to have the fan lights different colors.. but if you set the fan color and then unplug and replug in the fans.. they will run at different colors.. so if anyone wants to know how to do that its easy to have different color fans.. lol)  i really love this case cant beat it for 100 dollars and free shipping (bought on amazon)

it came with 4 fans.. although advertised with three... IM NOT COMPLAINING ..LOL... awesome ..want to add dual 40mms to the back

RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) bought for 137.99 at newegg.. wow this is awesome ram.. i tried to overclock it but it got really temperamental when i put my CPU at 4.2 AND RAM AT 1833 MHZ..so i just left it at 1600mhz timed it at 7-8-7-24.. makes overclocking really easy.. highly recommend... fast ram cheap price

*DVD:* DVD BURN SONY|AD-7240S-0B %  	1  	31.99

*Motherboard:*    1 x  ASUS P6T Deluxe v2 Intel X58 Core i7 Socket 1366 PC3-12800 (DDR3-1600) ATX Motherboard Retail @ $279.99
really great board makes overclocking so easy a newb can pwn....
bought at zipzoomfly.. (i heard bad things about these guys.. but they worked great for me)

*PSU:*  1 x  CORSAIR 850TX 850W SLI/CrossFire Active Power Supply Retail @ $127.00
bought at zipzoomfly... this is great once again the cables are awesome.. and there are plenty enough to do anything with..  also the packaging came with an awesome felt bag for the PSU i will be putting my crown royal in lol

*Hard drives: * 2x WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR BLACK 5YR MFG WARRANTY   	$102.59  	2  	$205.18
Subtotal: 	$205.18
Shipping&Handling: 	Free
Grand Total: 	$205.18

bought NextWarehouse.com.. great highly recommend

Awesome hard drives.. totally destroys the hard drives i had in my old system that were raid 0.. these beat the old hard drives even unraided.. awesome.. cant wait to see how they perform raid 5 warranty also is a great thing to have







*VIDEO CARD:* ati 5770.. this is a place holder..i want to get the lightning 5870 2GB or 6 port 2GB 5870 when they come out hopefully soon.. i really need the GB when pushing 7 million pixels on 3x 1920 x 1200 monitors.. i struggle to get past 2xaa in most games currently

*OS:* ohhh also WIN 7 64 got on Ebay for 55 dollars

so if anyone is looking to build a *** A** system for  $1312 
($1367 with WIN 7)  which is exactly what this cost me with shipping and deals.. here is your answer... want to spend more get a 5870.. want to spend less save yourself $120-250  on the cooler / hard drives / PSU... this thing is great and i will be able to upgrade it for the future and it already is amazing.. so that's my advice for the newbs.. build this system you will not be dissapointed and youll have a solid upgrade future.. hope i can help someone

here are my questions i hope the super experts can help me out on..

Question #1...where can i find pair if quit 40mm fans that wil either run on one fan plug on the mother board.. or a plugs from the PSU.. i would like them to be quiet i don't want any noise.. as my computer is already silent..

Question #2.. i am going to get a sound card.. HT OMEGA plus.. what is a really really nice 5.1 or 7.1 sound system for this.. budget is unlimited.. as i have struck it rich in the stock market.. but i still like to save my cash for making it rain so lets say 1000 is a good price.. but if something else justifies the price.. damn the torpedoes full speed ahead!!!!! thanks.. ( i LOVE MUSIC!!!)

ohh also monitors  3x Dell u2410 490 dollars each ebay.. amazing monitors.. but not cheap.. if you dont have balling bank account like me you may want some 200 dollar ones.. lol thanks everyone ahead of time






and in conclusion everything is AWSOME! lol


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## brandonwh64 (Jan 1, 2010)

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php is a great place to get fans


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## Bow (Jan 1, 2010)

Welcome and nice rig.  I came to TPU with a question and never left......No better place on the net


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## surfingerman (Jan 1, 2010)

thanks i will look into it.. but right now its fireworks time happy new year everyone


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## CDdude55 (Jan 1, 2010)

Amazing build for a first time builder, its great to see people really getting into building there systems instead of buying some overpriced off the shelf garbage.

Very nice.


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## 3870x2 (Jan 1, 2010)

Shows lower on CPU-Z because it is the vanilla clocks.  The current clocks are shown below it.


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## Sensi Karate (Jan 1, 2010)

Nice build man! Hope you have a great time with your new PC!


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## hat (Jan 1, 2010)

Damn man, who's credit card did you steal 

nice build


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## mlee49 (Jan 1, 2010)

I call BS on a 1st time builder and these parts.  You must have done some research far beyond anyone I've ever seen.

Answer to questions 1, there are no quite 40mm fans.  It's a myth trust me.

Answer to question 2, there are a ton of great sound cards available pick one.


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## twicksisted (Jan 1, 2010)

well done looks good... 
At the end of your post you were saying something about the performance of your HDD's in Raid 0... and thinking that they will do better in Raid 5... well they wont... raid 5 is slow as hell... its good for redundancy but other than that it sucks balls


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## (FIH) The Don (Jan 1, 2010)

very nice build dude.

to the crappy pics thing : put you camera on something if you dont have a tripod, never hold it in you hands, and especially not at night pictures.

put it on something that is firmly secure, then put the timer to like 2-5 seconds and take the picture, with that you have time to get away from the cam and the pics will be better

hope you understand my english, from denmark

and happy new year


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## blkhogan (Jan 1, 2010)

Welcome to TPU. I came here to look for ideas for a build i was doing, got sucked in and was never able to get out. A lot of very smart people hang here, I'm just not one of them. Nice build for a 1st timer.


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## Marineborn (Jan 1, 2010)

Nice rig Bro and welcome to tpu enjoy your stay


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## Munki (Jan 1, 2010)

Could you repost the CPU-z screen shot with colors that make it where I can see it. I'm 17 and I can't see that period. So, either my eyes are crap, or thats hard to read. 


Nice rig bro. You did your homework, and it shows. Good Job


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## neoreif (Jan 1, 2010)

Welcome to TPU Bro! And a happy new year to you too! For the price that you spent on that build of yours? You sure had a 'bang for your buck' right there! Nice specs for the total price! Nicely done!


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## InnocentCriminal (Jan 1, 2010)

*Welcome to TPU!*

Excellent components you've got there, as it's already been said, you've done your homework - nicely done!

I definitely recommend you fill in your system specifications and check out the Cable Management thread.


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## surfingerman (Jan 1, 2010)

> _CDdude55:
> Amazing build for a first time builder, its great to see people really getting into building there systems instead of buying some overpriced off the shelf garbage._



*thanks.. yeah i don't see the point in wasting money for no reason especially since i have a lot of free time, i might as well use it.. i first thought it would suck..  but i had an awesome time making it, glad i did, and the satisfaction is so much more than buying one*



> _3870x2:
> Shows lower on CPU-Z because it is the vanilla clocks. The current clocks are shown below it._



*i understand that, i wasn't talking about core speed.. i was talking about the volts.. i have it set to 1.15v but it shows 1.136v*



> _Sensi Karate:
> Nice build man! Hope you have a great time with your new PC!_



*Thanks and i am*



> _hat:
> Damn man, who's credit card did you steal nice build_



*i believe interest is the devils work, dont take any credit cards i know many people who's lives are destroyed because of them i wont ever have a credit card.. i use debit*



> _mlee49: I call BS on a 1st time builder and these parts. You must have done some research far beyond anyone I've ever seen._



*i read several review sites on every part i bought.. and believe me there are alot of liars out there clearly taking money under the table.. i can smell their BS.. and checked the feedback on new egg on every part if it didn't have 80% or more 5 star rating i didn't buy.. and no all my other computers i bought from  best buy.. stupid me man i wasted alot of money.. now i know.. my last computer cost me 2000 dollars at best buy and it was junk lol*



> _Answer to questions 1, there are no quite 40mm fans. It's a myth trust me._



*well if that's true too bad.. i guess i didn't really need them anyway i was just really excited to add another part to the computer*



> _Answer to question 2, there are a ton of great sound cards available pick one_



*i already settled on the HT Omega Claro Plus.. based on several reviews plus new egg feed back.. i almost got a new one on ebay for 96 dollars..  but i  mistimed the last bid by a few seconds and missed it .. DANG!!.. i really don't want to pay full retail 174 dollars.. what i dont know about is the receiver and speaker system i need to choose*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9271003&cm_re=ht_omega-_-29-271-003-_-Product





see here.. i refuse to pay the high price i will wait for it to get 155 or less



> _twicksisted:
> well done looks good...
> At the end of your post you were saying something about the performance of your HDD's in Raid 0... and thinking that they will do better in Raid 5... well they wont... raid 5 is slow as hell... its good for redundancy but other than that it sucks balls _



*i dont have any raid at the moment and im satisfied with the speeds.. maybe i will raid 0 them then and just manually put all my important files to two back up hard drives.. i was hoping there would be a better solution.. is raid 5 faster than no raid at all?*



> _(FIH) The Don:
> to the crappy pics thing : put you camera on something if you dont have a tripod, never hold it in you hands, and especially not at night pictures._



*thanks im sure that would help.. but i dont have a tripod yet.. or even a camera... main problem is my crappy camera phone..it just sucks*



> _blkhogan:
> Welcome to TPU. I came here to look for ideas for a build i was doing, got sucked in and was never able to get out. A lot of very smart people hang here, I'm just not one of them. Nice build for a 1st timer._



*thanks alot URAH!.. i was in the army myself.. im not surprised  your not smart marines are dumber than rocks,, LOL*



> _Marineborn:
> Nice rig Bro and welcome to tpu enjoy your stay_



*thanks im sure ill do another post with benches when i get my 5870 lightnings*



> _Munki:
> Could you repost the CPU-z screen shot with colors that make it where I can see it. I'm 17 and I can't see that period. So, either my eyes are crap, or thats hard to read._



*sure thing.. sorry i like to have a black background on everything with green blue and red text.. because with three 24 inch monitors all that white will give me a headache really fast*








> _neoreif:
> Welcome to TPU Bro! And a happy new year to you too! For the price that you spent on that build of yours? You sure had a 'bang for your buck' right there!_



*thanks yeah i planed everything out for about a month.. i used camel camel camel ( an add on for firefox to track prices to buy them at the lowest.. and i used google products to compare the prices from every vendor.. and i always checked ebay and amazon to see if anyone was selling any thing really cheap that was still new.. got lucky a few times.. you can get some amazing deals on ebay if you wait long enough.. im a commodities trader so this just came naturally to me.. if anyone wants to get the camel camel camel.. *

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/14392/

*highly recommended.. turns every purchase into a commodities trade lol*



> _InnocentCriminal:
> Excellent components you've got there, as it's already been said, you've done your homework - nicely done!
> I definitely recommend you fill in your system specifications and check out the Cable Management thread._



*thanks.. yeah  i know the cable management isnt the best.. but i did use alot of zip ties.. and as bad as it looks its really not blocking any airflow the way ythe fans are set up.. and if it is .. i have plenty of extra anyway more than i need.. still would like some quiet 40mm  fans though.. (thier rumored to not exist)*


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## surfingerman (Jan 1, 2010)

Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentFan XM1 40mmx10mm Ultra Quiet Fan - 2800 RPM - 11 dBA

http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...e=product_info&cPath=36_123&products_id=27011

Great news!! i found the same brand 40mm fans that i have for my CPU cooler.. the noiseblockers from Germany.. boy those germans sure do make precision equipment.. hehe.. only 11 decibels!! wow thats quieter than 

11 Decibels is equivalent to the amount of noise breath makes!! or a good recording studio LOL

10 Db = Good Recording Studio Breathing


source www.esoundproof.com/Screens/Basics/Academy/Sound Measurement/Decibels/dBChart.aspx


granted they dont push alot of air.. i could double the airflow to the 3500 rpm version at 14 db.. hm decisions decisions.... 


 i owe "brandonwh64" a huge thank you for helping me find these thanks alot!!!


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## t77snapshot (Jan 1, 2010)

*Welcome to * *TPU!*

That's an impressive first build, just spend some time on cable management and this case will look sick!


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## blkhogan (Jan 2, 2010)

Hahahahaha.... your right my man, you dont have to be very smart to be a bullet magnet.


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## Fourstaff (Jan 2, 2010)

Welcome to TPU and enjoy your time here! 

To be a better cameraman, all you need is to light up your subject (in this case your computer). The more light you have shining on the subject, the easier it is to take a good picture. We can worry about the other details later.


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## Chicken Patty (Jan 2, 2010)

Welcome aboard bro.  For a first build you truly did your homework bro. Congrats and hope to see you around here often.

I think both of your questions have already been answered so I won't bother.


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## surfingerman (Jan 2, 2010)

thanks very much everyone


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## DreamSeller (Jan 2, 2010)

*[ /b] the ram xD

the only thing i dislike are those green leds

everything else looks perfect*


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## brandonwh64 (Jan 3, 2010)

nice build surfingerman! I too was in the army! I was an infantryman my self  10th Mountain Div!


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## surfingerman (Jan 3, 2010)

3rd Army "pattons own" here.. i was an intel geek at camp victory ..lol


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## surfingerman (Jan 3, 2010)

DreamSeller said:


> *[ /b] the ram xD
> 
> the only thing i dislike are those green leds
> 
> everything else looks perfect*


*

well the cool thing about this case.. is you can take your pick blue red or green.. and you can mix and match if you unplug and replug in the fans..*


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## brandonwh64 (Jan 4, 2010)

surfingerman said:


> 3rd Army "pattons own" here.. i was an intel geek at camp victory ..lol
> 
> http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1233/242/28/699936254/n699936254_1798267_2250.jpg



one of my deployments was to camp liberty which was next to victory


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