# My two projects



## imperialreign (Feb 23, 2008)

Alright - after much debating, pondering, comparing, sympathizing and banging my head, I finally decided on some new hardware for my primary rig - and once that comes in, I'll have enough to get a secondary up, and near about have a 3rd rig running too (but that's still a bit down the road).  So, I thought I'd go ahead and post what my two rigs will be running, and what all I intend to do with them.  I'm not going super extravagant modding, more of a personalized feel, but I'm trying to keep a very clean, professional look to them.  Here's what I'm planning:


Project Ультрафиолет (Ultraviolet):

CM Stacker 830
Intel Q6600 + Zalman 9700
ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi 
2GB OCZ Platinum DDR3 1600
Crossfire X1950 PRO (until I order a 3870x2; and then a second one later on)
Creative X-Fi XGFP

accents:
Blue LED case fans - 9 in total
purple and UV ccfls
(I plan on attempting to blend the blue and purple almost seamlessly, we'll see how that goes) I'm wanting the case to have a blueish/violet glow around it - not too excessively bright, but noticeable.

mods:
-already modded the case for cable management, so no worries there
interior of the case will remain unpainted, but, I intend to buff and polish the crap out of all the internal aluminum, and possibly the copper heatsinks on all hardware.  I'm wanting the inside to be very metallic looking, and highly reflective.
I might add a thin layer of some invisible UC reactive purple paint to the inside - haven't decided.
exterior - the steel mesh panels will be glassbeaded and coated with some clear lacquer so they will appear a silver color.  The case itself will recieve an automotive quality custom paint job.  It will be a black at the front of the case that will fade through blue to a dark violet color towards the back rear.



Project Инфракрасно (Infrared):

CM Mystique 632S
Intel P4HT (until I snag a mid-range E series) + Zalman 9500
ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe/WiFi
2GB PNY XLR8 DDR2 800
will run an X700 PRO until I replace the Crossfire 1950s in my primary rig
I intend to pick up another X-Fi XGFP for this rig, also

accents:
I'm going to shoot for red LEDs on this one with orange ccfls

mods:
already modded a side panel for this case - but I might replace that with the much larger factory side panel, as the window on Cooler Master panel is about the size of the whole side panel . . .
interior will be painted a yellowish-orange, and then have a thin layer of invisible UV reactive red paint over that.  I intend to completely break this case down and shoot everything individually.
exterior will have an auto grade finish too it, but I intend to leave the front panel and plastic stuffs black - I'm thinking of doing GM's Arctic White with a very thin invisible UV reactive orange or red layer to it (it would make the edges of the case and window glow a bit with the rig on); but I may decide against that super bright white, though . . .
case will be further modded for improved cable management
planning on a custom water cooled setup, too - something that will add to the internal appearance of the rig



So, as I start getting things together over the next few weeks here and there, I'll start posting pics and updates


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## beyond_amusia (Feb 23, 2008)

Sounds nice.


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## -1nf1n1ty- (Feb 23, 2008)

those pc's sound like they're gonna kick ass.....good luck


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## TomFred (Feb 26, 2008)

keeps on dreaming, man


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## imperialreign (Feb 26, 2008)

TomFred said:


> keeps on dreaming, man


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## MKmods (Mar 1, 2008)

I am lazy and always paint the insides of my comps black. I will be looking forward to seeing yours polished.


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## btarunr (Mar 1, 2008)

Hey how about giving the X-Mod / Xtreme Gamer a try on the second rig? 

You could pick up a Pentium DC E2140 + X-Mod for nearly the price of a XG-FP

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116037   --- E2140

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102009   ---XMod

Some folks have OC'ed the E2140 to epic scales of upto 3.00 GHz on dry-cooling, your 9500 should do the job. 10 bucks more and you get the Xtreme Gamer, worth a pick.


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## imperialreign (Mar 2, 2008)

btarunr said:


> Hey how about giving the X-Mod / Xtreme Gamer a try on the second rig?
> 
> You could pick up a Pentium DC E2140 + X-Mod for nearly the price of a XG-FP
> 
> ...



the last week I've actually been considering picking up a much cheaper XG instead of a XGFP; seeing as how my primary rig will be used more often . . . I've even given some serious thought to putting a Prelude in my primary rig and moving the XGFP over to the secondary - I know I'd love the sound of a Prelude, but kida concerned how it would manage the massive number of audio voices I perfer to run in games (esp on games that I can tweak those settings).


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## btarunr (Mar 2, 2008)

imperialreign said:


> I know I'd love the sound of a Prelude, but kida concerned how it would manage the massive number of audio voices I perfer to run in games (esp on games that I can tweak those settings).



Oh it can manage games just as well as an Elite Pro can. Afterall, look at the architectures: 1. Both Elite Pro and X-Fi Prelude have dedicated DAC's per two output channels, dedicated OPAMP's while the XM / XG / XGFP / PFC  have a combined DAC + split OPAMPs. 2. In a way that cuts down latency but then the gap between the two architectures isn't big. 

I'd say: "X-Fi Prelude can run games with ease, there's no issue of "audio voices" that I know of. But I'd still say that your cart should have a XG + E2140


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## imperialreign (Mar 2, 2008)

btarunr said:


> Oh it can manage games just as well as an Elite Pro can. Afterall, look at the architectures: 1. Both Elite Pro and X-Fi Prelude have dedicated DAC's per two output channels, dedicated OPAMP's while the XM / XG / XGFP / PFC  have a combined DAC + split OPAMPs. 2. In a way that cuts down latency but then the gap between the two architectures isn't big.
> 
> I'd say: "X-Fi Prelude can run games with ease, there's no issue of "audio voices" that I know of. But I'd still say that your cart should have a XG + E2140



yeah, I had noticed how the Elite Pro and XGFP are such drastically different architectures - TBH, the EP reminds me more of a dumbed down Prelude . . . although, for the money, I'd buy a Prelude over an EP (I don't have a need for the I/O console).

But, we'll see . . . both these two rigs should be done within the year, and I'll have enough hardware to fire my old eMachines rig back up just for folding and other stoopid stuffs.  I'm defi going to snag a dual core for the 975x board at some point, and bump the P4 back to the Intel mobo I have . . .


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