# My New Rig



## anth (Sep 20, 2010)

Hello everyone  This is the 2nd thread i have started about my current PC in the build, I did have another one but got an email saying the site crashed and my account was wiped from the database as i recently registered . Anyway, this is the system that is being built by a professional, as i didn't want to deal with the head aches 
Thanks for reading 


Intel i7 950
Sapphire 5870 Vapor X
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7
Corsair 6GB RAM
Seagate 1.5TB HDD
Thermaltake Element V Black Edition
24 Inch LG LED Monitor
Cooling- Additional Thermaltake Fans and a CPU Cooler
Windows 7 Ultimate 64BIT
2x Pioneer DVD-RW

PRICE: $2500 AUD
Future plans include: Getting another 5870 for Crossfire, more RAM, and down the track a SSD HDD.


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## qubit (Sep 20, 2010)

Welcome to TPU - Groundhog Day style!  I remember us talking in your previous thread. Quite a few of my posts, PMs and one thanks got wiped out in today's outage. <unfortunate>

This seems like a decent system to me. I'm curious why you have two optical drives though?

I take it you haven't had much experience building PCs then, as you had someone build it for you? There's a few potential gotchas around the CPU and the motherboard, but otherwise there's nothing to be too afraid of.


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## anth (Sep 20, 2010)

qubit said:


> Welcome to TPU - Groundhog Day style!  I remember us talking in your previous thread. Quite a few of my posts, PMs and one thanks got wiped out in today's outage. <unfortunate>
> 
> This seems like a decent system to me. I'm curious why you have two optical drives though?
> 
> I take it you haven't had much experience building PCs then, as you had someone build it for you? There's a few potential gotchas around the CPU and the motherboard, but otherwise there's nothing to be too afraid of.



Hahah, yeah i remeber you from the other thread, thanks for the 2nd welcome  lol. 
The reason for 2 optical drives is because i do a lot of DVD burning and i find it quicker going disc-to-disc then putting the movie on the HDD and _then_burning. The only experience with building PC's i have is, removing and installing a GPU and installing RAM. As for software, i can handle that lol.

I might strip my current PC at the moment and just put it back together as a learning experience.


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## Bow (Sep 20, 2010)

Welcome Anth


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## anth (Sep 20, 2010)

Bow said:


> Welcome Anth



Thanks


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## wolf (Sep 20, 2010)

anth said:


> ...being built by a professional, as i didn't want to deal with the head aches...



It's really no headache, actually quite fun/easy and there's a lot of piece of mind that goes with building your own system. having said that it seems like a sweet system for sure.



anth said:


> Future plans include: Getting another 5870 for Crossfire, more RAM, and down the track a SSD HDD.



I think you won't need more than 6gb of ram for a loooong time, especially since the immediate upgrade path would be to move from 6gb to 12gb by adding another 3x2gb sticks. SSD and a second 5870 will probably go down really well too, I'd say in the next 3-6 months you'll be able to find a 5870 at a great price as AMD are soon to launch their 6000 series. and SSD's are just getting better and better, and cheaper to boot.



qubit said:


> Quite a few of my posts, PMs and one thanks got wiped out in today's outage. <unfortunate>



tell me about it, I was a bit annoyed really, it was only like 15 posts but still.... 
before I realsed what happened I was about to complain to a mod for deleting them all 

last but not least, anth, welcome to TPU  always good to see another Aussie join (I'm from Perth)


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## mudkip (Sep 20, 2010)

you need a SSD


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## qubit (Sep 20, 2010)

anth said:


> Hahah, yeah i remeber you from the other thread, thanks for the 2nd welcome  lol.
> The reason for 2 optical drives is because i do a lot of DVD burning and i find it quicker going disc-to-disc then putting the movie on the HDD and _then_burning. The only experience with building PC's i have is, removing and installing a GPU and installing RAM. As for software, i can handle that lol.
> 
> I might strip my current PC at the moment and just put it back together as a learning experience.



Ok, I can see the DVD drive requirement.

I think using your old PC to experiment on is a good idea. Before you do that though and potentially wreck it, google for some PC assembly tutorials, which can help you avoid the pitfalls. Go for ones with clear screenshots and perhaps detailed videos of parts of the build process. There are only two main pitfalls really:

*CPU*

Must be handled very carefully in order not to damage the pins or kill it with static. Mobo socket could be damaged too. Good quality thermal paste must be used and applied properly. Heatsink must be mounted very carefully. This is the scariest part of all and I still don't like it, even after having mounted lots of CPUs. The problem is that the heatsink assembly is always under a fair bit of spring pressure, so some force must be used. Mount it wrongly, then apply pressure and something could break (or slip and break). Don't forget to connect the fan.

*Motherboard*

Must be located very carefully on the mounting studs. Make sure that studs are only present under the corresponding holes, as they can short it out otherwise and blow it. Similarly, attaching the ATX faceplate and mounting the mobo up against it is a bit tricky (due to the leaf springs on the ATX faceplate) and cause damage if done incorrectly.

It sounds scarier here than in practice, but you must be aware of it and know how to do this right, or you could end up with a very expensive paperweight and very pissed off.

Doing it yourself will give you a sense of satisfaction and control over your PC, not to mention not paying someone good money to do it for you.



wolf said:


> tell me about it, I was a bit annoyed really, it was only like 15 posts but still....
> before I realsed what happened I was about to complain to a mod for deleting them all :laugh



You know, just between you and me, I don't think it woz wizzy at all. I think erocker's new superpowers went to his head and he just went postal around the forum!  Wizzy must have tamed him, but I have no idea how.

But for god's sake man, don't let erocker find out I said this! You don't know what he'll do!!!


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## anth (Sep 20, 2010)

Yeah, i will get a look at some tutorials and guides. I suppose building a PC is like a jigsaw puzzle.
I heard with the SSD, that if you have windows on it, the computer can boot up withing 20 seconds? true or false? As for the other 5870, if the price on 5970's go down a fair bit, i might consider 2 of them XD


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## mudkip (Sep 20, 2010)

anth said:


> i heard with the SSD, that if you have windows on it, the computer can boot up withing 20 seconds? true or false? As for the other 5870, if the price on 5970's go down a fair bit, i might consider 2 of them XD



very true


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## anth (Sep 20, 2010)

mudkip said:


> very true



Cooool Noob question but- How much GB does Win 7 Ultimate take up?


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## mudkip (Sep 20, 2010)

anth said:


> Cooool Noob question but- How much GB does Win 7 Ultimate take up?



about 15-20GB depends on what you install  I'd recommend the Intel 40GB SSD for you. you can use the 1.5TB drive as your storage disk.


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## anth (Sep 20, 2010)

mudkip said:


> about 15-20GB depends on what you install  I'd recommend the Intel 40GB SSD for you. you can use the 1.5TB drive as your storage disk.



Cool ill look i up


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## qubit (Sep 20, 2010)

anth said:


> Cooool Noob question but- How much GB does Win 7 Ultimate take up?



Yeah, I wuz born knowing everything. 

Here's the Microsoft home page for Windows 7. There's a link on there that shows you the complete system requirements.


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## afw (Sep 20, 2010)

If you are considering to buy an SSD ... get a 80GB at least (or 120GB) ... can be used to install games ...  load time will be faster with the SSD ...  

and BTW whats cooling the CPU ... air .. ?? or water ... ?? 

& update your system specs ...


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## JATownes (Sep 20, 2010)

I understand the headaches involved with building a PC, but it really isn't very tricky.  It it kinda like Legos.  There is only one place things can go.  One thing I have learned is that the people here on TPU are always great with advice and their willingness to help.  I understand if you choose to have a "professional" build it for you, but I personally think you should try it yourself, and use the additional funds for moar parts.    We all have to start somewhere. 

AFW is right, cooling is critical if you plan to overclock, and with a rig like you are planning on building, it would be a shame not to OC it, so be sure and get a good CPU cooler for it.  

Oh and BTW, Welcome to TPU.


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## anth (Sep 20, 2010)

Thanks to all for being so welcoming and friendly! . The SSD for now is a little out of reach (cash wise) but hopefully towards the end of the year ill get get one.

For the cooling i am using air, ill be using the stock fans and additional Thermaltake fans, and a CPU cooler. i will OC it, but i am going to let it *run in* first. I was thinking of building my self but i was scared of wrecking something and for the price i am paying i would be shattered if something went downhill.


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## wolf (Sep 20, 2010)

anth said:


> Thanks to all for being so welcoming and friendly! . The SSD for now is a little out of reach (cash wise) but hopefully towards the end of the year ill get get one.
> 
> For the cooling i am using air, the stock fans and additional Thermaltake fans, and a CPU cooler. i will OC it, but i am going to let it *run in* first. I was thinking of building my self but i was scared of wrecking something and for the price i am paying i would be shattered if something went downhill.



the i7 won't go far on the stock cooler whatsoever, I got mine to about 3.33-3.50ghz before the stock cooler couldn't take it anymore, and that was just gaming, no actual stress testing.

my reccomendation for down the track if you feel like changing the CPU cooler would be a Noctua cooler, pretty much any will allow OC headroom and all while being whisper quiet.


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## qubit (Sep 20, 2010)

anth said:


> Thanks to all for being so welcoming and friendly! . The SSD for now is a little out of reach (cash wise) but hopefully towards the end of the year ill get get one.
> 
> For the cooling i am using air, ill be using the stock fans and additional Thermaltake fans, and a CPU cooler. i will OC it, but i am going to let it *run in* first. I was thinking of building my self but i was scared of wrecking something and for the price i am paying i would be shattered if something went downhill.



We aim to please. 

I agree that you shouldn't take any risks with your new system, if you've never done this before. Better to spend some money and protect against it. 

If you have a friend that's done PC builds before, then see if they'll put it together for you and show you how they do it. It'll be tremendous fun, very rewarding and you'll learn a lot.


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## anth (Sep 20, 2010)

Yeah. As i mentioned, im going to strip the one i have been using for the last 6 years down, and build it back up.

As for CPU Cooling, I was actually looking at the Thermaltake FRIO cooler, But ill check out some of the other brands.


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## anth (Sep 21, 2010)

**UPDATE**

So today i decided to visit the shop where my PC is being built and to see how its going, anyway, i was told that he still hasn't ordered the parts yet because he is struggling the GPU i want, so further delaying it to another 1 - 2 weeks as said by the guy, its been a week since ordered it :S shattered.


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## anth (Oct 21, 2010)

***UPDATE*** 

1 month down the track and still nothing, BUT! i have good new, after the guy building my pc said he can get the graphics card, but its on back order with no set date on arrival i told him ill supply it, and instead of getting one Vapor X 5870, im getting 2 and running crossfire  
one question how good is crossfire with a vapor x 5870?


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## Deleted member 74752 (Oct 21, 2010)

I say dump this "professional" right now and let us help you assemble this pc. There really is no trick to it, and you will save quiet a bit of cash not to mention having to wait on your "professional".


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## afw (Oct 21, 2010)

Its been more than a month and still you havnt got it done ... thats bad .... :shadedshu .... and rickss69 is correct ... building a PC is not a very big deal ... you can do it yourself ... there are plenty here who can help you out ....


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## anth (Oct 21, 2010)

Ive waited nearly 2 months i can wait another week or 2, lets just say it might be the last time i get something major done at this shop. Thanks for your input guys.


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## Deleted member 74752 (Oct 21, 2010)

You are being jerked around Anth and I wish you would reconsider before it's too late. Anyone with minimal experience can assemble your pc in an hour's time and there is nothing in your build that requires waiting for any parts...pc parts are prolific.


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## anth (Oct 21, 2010)

It is already to late, also in australia vapor x is sorta hard to get, next build ill do my self, more of a hassle with shops.


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## qubit (Oct 21, 2010)

You've waited a whole _month?!_  I feel for ya, man. I'd be climbing the walls if this happened to me. Did he even contact you in the meantime, or did you have to chase him?

Also, when he presents it to you in the shop, ask to look inside and check that it looks like it's been put together ok. I'm talking about obvious things such as actually containing the parts you've been billed for, CPU cooler is sitting straight and running quietly, no screws missing, wires hanging out etc.

Then ask to see it working. Only after you're 100% satisfied all is ok should you even consider paying him for it.

And next time, seriously come to us! We like nothing better than helping out fellow enthusiasts build their PC.


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## anth (Oct 22, 2010)

Yeah, will do. yep waited a month :S Ah well :S

Any idea how well this system will run? also- i ended up getting OCZ Platinum 6 GB 1600Mhz RAM


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## anth (Nov 8, 2010)

****UPDATE****** All my parts are here, and guess what, i took some thought into what u guys said, im building the system myself  with the guidance and help from my uncle who is a computer tech (sorta) check specs for final system


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## Hayder_Master (Nov 8, 2010)

very nice built, i advice my friend a pc like this but with nvidia cards in sli, and about your future plans i think to put SSD as first step and 2nd step graphic card and leave memory at alst cuz if play games even 4G is more than enough


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## anth (Nov 8, 2010)

Yeah, future plans have already been fulfilled, system specs under my avatar have what i have 

Thanks for you input  cant wait to get it up and running


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## gumpty (Nov 8, 2010)

hayder.master said:


> about your future plans i think to put SSD as first step and 2nd step graphic card



I'll second this. Of all the upgrade's I've made in the past years - new processors, GPUs, or more RAM, nothing has come close to the effect that switching to a fast SSD boot drive has had.


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## anth (Nov 8, 2010)

gumpty said:


> I'll second this. Of all the upgrade's I've made in the past years - new processors, GPUs, or more RAM, nothing has come close to the effect that switching to a fast SSD boot drive has had.



I already have a ssd lol, not much else i can get


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## anth (Nov 10, 2010)

RIG IS COMPLETE- Although its all done- i have to send in my motherboard for RMA, 2nd ram slot is faulty and doesnt read ANY ram at all :S shattered ! so atm im running 4 gb single channel LOL


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## gumpty (Nov 10, 2010)

anth said:


> RIG IS COMPLETE- Although its all done- i have to send in my motherboard for RMA, 2nd ram slot is faulty and doesnt read ANY ram at all :S shattered ! so atm im running 4 gb single channel LOL



Gutted. Hope they sort it quickly.


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## anth (Nov 10, 2010)

Yeah so do i *fingers crossed*


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