My new rig for NS2

JAmazon

Ok, mabe its a little overkill to be specifically for NS2, but that was one of my motivations! Ill be able to play NS2 with all its real time lighting goodness :D

<a href="http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=100961219&mpage=1&key=&#100961219" target="_blank">http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=100961...&#100961219</a>

It was my first try at a liquid cooled build, pretty good for a scientist eh? ;)

whoppaXXL

You know all monsters that are created are some day killing there makers. :)

Anyways, Congratulations!

Tekoppen

Minimum requirements for NS2 :P

M00_cow

Holy... Wish I had that much to spend on a new pc.

Can I ask how much it ended up costing? Somewhere between $2000 - $3000?

JAmazon

<!--quoteo(post=1731781:date=Oct 12 2009, 12:07 PM:name=M00_cow)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (M00_cow @ Oct 12 2009, 12:07 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1731781"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Can I ask how much it ended up costing? Somewhere between $2000 - $3000?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Argh I wish! I kinda don't want to think about it. Its paid off...I'm still in the black...that's all I care to say about that :P

I think of it as a once every 5 or 6 year hobby, so I'm not too stingy about dropping on it pretty heavy. The other computer sitting next to it I built in 2004, so its been a good while to this build. Plenty of time for wallet healing. Also I dont own a car :P

RobB

Whats the point of a liquid cooled rig when you put a windmachine on its side to cool the water (or whatever you havein there)?

locallyunscene

<!--quoteo(post=1731784:date=Oct 12 2009, 09:16 AM:name=RobB)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RobB @ Oct 12 2009, 09:16 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1731784"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Whats the point of a liquid cooled rig when you put a windmachine on its side to cool the water (or whatever you havein there)?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Water is a better heat conductor than air so it cools the CPU more more quickly than just air.

RobB

You are actualy cooling the block of copper or aluminium that's resting on the cpu, but I know what you're trying to get at.
Still, with that fans you could cool it with air already.

homicide

$

dux

I'd say that was more money than brains there, but whatever floats your boat haha

Thaldarin

It's definitely pretty though.

locallyunscene

<!--quoteo(post=1731794:date=Oct 12 2009, 10:46 AM:name=RobB)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RobB @ Oct 12 2009, 10:46 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1731794"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You are actualy cooling the block of copper or aluminium that's resting on the cpu, but I know what you're trying to get at.
Still, with that fans you could cool it with air already.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Right, because copper is an excellent conductor of heat(which is why it's used for heatsinks). The water cools the heatsink faster which cools the CPU faster because heat is transferred through the thermal paste connecting the heatsink to the CPU. I skipped a few steps for the sake of simplicity, but the effect is the same.

Slycaster

Christ, that's a grand in video cards alone.

TychoCelchuuu

For that kind of money you could have bought an awesome computer today, an awesome computer 3 years from now when you need to upgrade, and another awesome computer 6 years from now, instead of a machine that's going to be obsolete in about the same amount of time as a reasonable computer.

slayer20

I...I want this...

Can you send one my way?

Pwease :3

ThatGuy67

<!--quoteo(post=1731805:date=Oct 12 2009, 12:35 PM:name=TychoCelchuuu)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (TychoCelchuuu @ Oct 12 2009, 12:35 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1731805"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->For that kind of money you could have bought an awesome computer today, an awesome computer 3 years from now when you need to upgrade, and another awesome computer 6 years from now, instead of a machine that's going to be obsolete in about the same amount of time as a reasonable computer.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

That rig will last for a long time, longer than you might expect.

You probably right that he probably could of spread it out more efficiently, however... there is nothing wrong with over killing. That rig will be overkill for a while, as well.

If you completely backup your opinions, then I would like you to post a picture of you and your moped that you drive around... since anything more than that would be overkill and the extra money could be used for a new moped when that one breaks down in the future. Or, if you need some passenger room, your cheap, old station wagon please.

Nothing wrong with over killing when you enjoy what you are investing in. Also, as though it may seem impossible to "future proof" with computer hardware.... this is a nice attempt and he will enjoy his money for a long time to come.

Rehnquist

Did you ever consider buying a 5800 series Radeon when they're released soon? For $399 you get a next-gen card (DirectX 11, etc) and you could set up multiple monitors and game on all of them at once. (I probably didn't provide a great explanation but >> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujf6P6iGcfc)" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujf6P6iGcfc)</a>

Eddie

<!--quoteo(post=1731805:date=Oct 12 2009, 12:35 PM:name=TychoCelchuuu)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (TychoCelchuuu @ Oct 12 2009, 12:35 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1731805"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->For that kind of money you could have bought an awesome computer today, an awesome computer 3 years from now when you need to upgrade, and another awesome computer 6 years from now, instead of a machine that's going to be obsolete in about the same amount of time as a reasonable computer.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I disagree. He put a lot of money into cooling for a reason. Although there is absolutely no reason for him to do so at the moment, he could if he wanted to, overclock his CPU to over 5ghz x4, and get much more performance out of his stock vid cards...not to mention add another one in there if he ever felt like it. Aside from that, this is about much more then getting your money's worth. It's about being an enthusiast and being able to say that your rig kicks major ass, and not just that it's the best you can get at Best Buy.

Thaldarin

I have enough experience to say Eddie that he could not clock that to 5GhZ without using liquid nitrogen.

monopolowa

my PC should hold me over until graphene processors are out :P (1 terahertz processing, anyone?)



<a href="http://technomindz.blogspot.com/2009/03/graphene-processor-chips-to-reach.html" target="_blank">http://technomindz.blogspot.com/2009/03/gr...s-to-reach.html</a>

corpsman

The requirements for this game could be met on a quake machine.... so I guess you'll be getting around 500fps. nice, and pointless.

Eddie

<!--quoteo(post=1731822:date=Oct 12 2009, 03:05 PM:name=Thaldarin)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Thaldarin @ Oct 12 2009, 03:05 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1731822"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I have enough experience to say Eddie that he could not clock that to 5GhZ without using liquid nitrogen.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Well considering the 920's can hit 4.5 and an engineering sample of the 975 has been 'claimed' to have hit 5.0 on air (http://www.techpowerup.com/92543/Core_i7_975_XE_Breaks_5_GHz_Barrier_With_Air_Cooling.html), I was assuming it could at least get 5.0 on water... but I don't have one personally.

JAmazon

I've heard all the arguments about not going bleeding edge as its not an efficient use of money and will be obsolete in a month...but in my experience that just isn't true. I went bleeding edge with the computer I built in 2004 (first gen SLI :P) and its still a STRONG computer. Works 10x as good as almost any new computer I've used. My main reason for building this rig was to run simulations faster. The 975 give me lots of room to increase core clock, which is one of the biggest limiting factors in computationally intensice simulations. Plus those GPUs can run CUDA which is an awesome new simulation environment.

For those who think water cooling is no better than air, I'd like to point out that the temperatures of my chips at 100% load are comparable to the idle temps of most air cooled rigs. Hell, the CPU idles at lower than room temperature :P Those fans might look loud, but I have them down clocked to something like 500 RPM, so I barely hear them and only turn them up when I'm doing something stressful for the chips. Loudest thing in the computer is the PSU, which unfortunately is VERY loud :P

<!--quoteo(post=1731825:date=Oct 12 2009, 08:21 PM:name=corpsman)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (corpsman @ Oct 12 2009, 08:21 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1731825"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The requirements for this game could be met on a quake machine.... so I guess you'll be getting around 500fps. nice, and pointless.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Don't knock it, 800 fps in far cry, its was glorious D:

homicide

You might as well go with a refrigeration system if you are already spending that much.

JAmazon

<!--quoteo(post=1731879:date=Oct 12 2009, 11:32 PM:name=homicide)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (homicide @ Oct 12 2009, 11:32 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1731879"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You might as well go with a refrigeration system if you are already spending that much.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Crossed my mind, but LC was hard enough to get right. I can't imagine how tough it would be to deal with the insulation and condensation issues with a phase change system. Plus they only make phase change blocks for CPU's. I guess it would be possible to machine up some for a gpu/mobo, but like I said, the work associated with it didn't seem worth it for my end goal. I'm very happy with how this turned out on water.

Eddie

<!--quoteo(post=1731879:date=Oct 12 2009, 06:32 PM:name=homicide)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (homicide @ Oct 12 2009, 06:32 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1731879"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You might as well go with a refrigeration system if you are already spending that much.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

One of my friends once set up a ~25cm wide insulation duct running from inside his pc case to the closest window. The Canadian winter was very effective :)

Kittamaru

I went bleeding edge with the PC I'm using now back when I built it...

AMD Opteron 148 @ 2.2 OC'ed to 2.5ghz (939 pin mind you, and air cooled)
ASRock MXS3L0 939 Dual SATA 2 mobo
2 gig OCZ DDR400 Dual Channel memory
nVidia GeForce 7800 GT 2. 256 meg GDDR3 memory
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS
WD 7200 RPM hd (long since dead thanks to a problem)

Thing is able to JUST squeak out the more modern games, but anything released mid last year onward it can't handle... either at all or playably...

You gotta figure, some parts of this rig are over 7 years old though XD

I'm looking at building a new one, just need the $$$ to do it.

I'm looking to go liquid cooled, any tips?

ctd

All good except for the video cards. You should of just got a 275 or 295 (depending on how big that monitor is) and waited for the gtx300 range. The ATI 5xxx's are already out as well. I know computer tech is always updating so there is never a 'good' time to buy because next week it will be out-dated however 2 or 3 gtx295's still wont do dx11... whenever games start to use it... which could be still a year or so off but you only upgrade twice a decade so you'll miss out on dx11.

JAmazon

<!--quoteo(post=1731924:date=Oct 13 2009, 02:41 AM:name=ctd)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ctd @ Oct 13 2009, 02:41 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1731924"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->All good except for the video cards. You should of just got a 275 or 295 (depending on how big that monitor is) and waited for the gtx300 range. The ATI 5xxx's are already out as well. I know computer tech is always updating so there is never a 'good' time to buy because next week it will be out-dated however 2 or 3 gtx295's still wont do dx11... whenever games start to use it... which could be still a year or so off but you only upgrade twice a decade so you'll miss out on dx11.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Yeah, being on the bleeding edge is always a double edged sword. But honestly, if it bothers someone that their hardware will be second best in a week, then they shouldn't build high end PCs. So it doesn't bother me that I missed GTX300's by a few months or that my cards only go up to dx10, it just comes with the territory. I planned this build for well over 3 months before I bought a single part, so this is actually bleeding edge of like mid April :P

M00_cow

Well, I'll be the first to tell you that your rig has melted my face.

Congrats.

JAmazon

Stumbled across this site. These rigs put mine to absolute shame :P

<a href="http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/" target="_blank">http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/</a>