my new compy needs some suggestions....

[CLONECOMMANDER501]

Rubber bands may due. Atleast your cables work.

[ChAiNz.2da]

quick question about cable routing: is there a better way to route cables aside from using 200 zip ties?? the cables that came with my PSU are *way* too long, and i hate trying to use zip ties all over the place to route the cables effectively.

I use strips of Velcro.

 

You can buy hook-n-loops on rolls that you can cut in to custom sized lengths. Plus when you go to re-route (as it's inevitable.. ) it doesn't require scissors.. yet cursing is still recommended

 

You can buy velcro straps made just for cabling, but since I tend to customize everything, I like buying generic rolls so I can cut it to spec.

[Darth333]

I use strips of Velcro.

Brilliant idea! I,ve never thought of using velcro I guess the next time I upgrade something, this is what I'll use. No more swearing when trying to remove the tape or the zip ties!

[ChAiNz.2da]

No more swearing when trying to remove the tape or the zip ties!

 

hehehe.. but that's half the fun I'm just glad I don't have neighbors that like to complain

 

Yah, after battling with zip ties and suffering multiple cuts and scratches (those things are lethal after snipping the edges) I had had enough. Velcro is great because you can cut the length and width for a complete customizable job.

 

You can also get the sticky back kind if you want to line your component grid or inner case with "convenience" strips for any extra maneuvering to stash away cables. Especially when working on upgrades and you want the cables out of the way but not wanting to disconnect from psu. If you do use sticky back, keep it away from any heat generating source.. it makes the glue less-tacky and is liable to clog a fan if it peels off

 

Best to not use it, use it only when the case is opened.. or if you're determined, superglue it

[stingerhs]

what about cutting the cables to size and reconnecting them via connectors??

 

for the record, this would only be for power cables only and not for data carrying lines.

[Astrotoy7]

you can do the cutting biz if you feel confident to stinger. You can also buy csutom shortform cables, but Im sure you knew that. This is what I really love about the shuttle barebones. each and every cable is measured and cut perfectly and has its own area to be run across.. Amazing cable management... Im really tempted to get rid of my 'skull rig' atm.... I 'll pull all the bits and plonk them into the SN27P2 as I'd originally planned.. Im more financial atm, so I should be able to handle it costwise...

 

smallform rocks yer socks!

 

I also use velcro ties to tie together all the cables at the back of our pcs. When I unplug them, all the plug ends are lumped together, saving me from straining and leaning into the cramped space behind my desk trying to fish things out to plug them back in:D

 

keep us up to date with the rig stinger...always very interesting to read

[Jae Onasi]

Go to the local fabric/sewing shop (wal-mart has a fabric section usually) for velcro. You can get it in strips of whatever size you want (since they sell it by the yard) and different colors, and cut them to the size you need. Might be cheaper than buying it from the catalog, though those look all nice and neat-like.

[ChAiNz.2da]

Go to the local fabric/sewing shop (wal-mart has a fabric section usually) for velcro. You can get it in strips of whatever size you want (since they sell it by the yard) and different colors, and cut them to the size you need. Might be cheaper than buying it from the catalog, though those look all nice and neat-like.

Definitely a good idea!

 

I posted pics mainly to show what the box looks like when you go Wal-Mart'ing... but since I live just down the road from a fabric store (I love living in the middle of the city.. hehehe) I might just take your advice Jae. Would indeed save me a bundle.. and time.

 

Now, as long as they don't make fun of me when I start requesting different colors so I can "pimp" my 'puter

[stingerhs]

well, i changed my mind when it comes to cutting cables thanks to my Dad's advice (he's an electrical engineer). basically, it boils down to the connectors being a point a failure in the system, plus the much, much higher amount of work it would take to get it all done right.

 

so, i've decided to just make use of wire wrap, zip ties (which is actually not so bad to handle with a good pair of wire cutters), and some electrical tape.

 

the wire wrap i got is a fairly hard blue plastic that is akin to the stuff you find in automotive applications. its good stuff that will help prevent EMI, limit some heat transfer, and it will help with airflow.

 

anyways, just some fyi.

[stingerhs]

time for an update:

 

on order:

Athlon X2 4600 (65W version)

Sound Blaster X-Fi Gamer

 

i would've gone for the Athlon 6000, but given that its only advantages are a higher clock speed and an extra 512Mb L2 cache, i figured that i can go ahead and save some money and overclock it to about the same speeds as the 6000+. besides, i have a great CPU cooler, so i'm not concerned with the extra heat. i did end up saving quite a bit of money through Newegg: $223 (6000) vs $113 (4600) plus an extra $35 savings for bundling the CPU with the sound card.

 

besides, the new Phenom processors won't be out till November, so i don't have to worry about upgrading for quite a while to begin with.

 

so, all that's left is the video card and the OS. since i would like to start working with Vista at home, i'll probably go for Vista Ultimate and duel boot with Kubuntu. the video card is likely to be the new Radeon HD2900 XT since it supports more features than the GeForce 8800, and i'm looking for a more long-term graphics solution.

 

quick question, though: is there any major issues or differences with 32-bit vs 64-bit Vista versions at the moment???

[stingerhs]

interesting on how nobody can give me details on the whole 32-bit vs 64-bit versions of Vista....

 

at any rate, i finally made a decision on the video card: MSI GeForce 8600GTS OC

 

got a great deal on that one: $340 (including the mail-in rebate). and, for the record, i would've gotten an XFX or a BFG card, but they were more expensive, and MSI does have a good track record. plus, this MSI card is overclocked to 575Mhz vs 500 stock. a comparable XFX or BFG card would've been an extra $60-70 USD, even with Newegg.

 

i would've gone with the Radeon HD2900XT, but it doesn't offer any huge performance advantage over the slightly cheaper GF8600GTS. not to mention that the 2900XT would've taxed out my 550W PSU even with the low-wattage Athlon. even with the future benefits of using the 2900XT, i am using an SLi board, and that means that upgrading on down the road wouldn't be a huge issue.

 

and one final note of interest: i'm going to sell off the fan controller. its just too much hassle to route all that wiring everywhere when i can route everything much more simply to the motherboard and still control most of the fan speeds via the nice switches on the Antec fans.

 

at any rate, i'll have pics up here soon (as i promised earlier) so you can see how its going. till then....

[Q]

@Stingerhs:

 

If I were buying a new OS, I would at first consider how much memory I was going to have in my machine. If it's 4GB (a realistic possibility given how cheap memory has been as of late) I'd go with 64-bit Vista regardless of any problems it's having right now, as these problems will more than likely be ironed out in time. As for it requiring signed drivers, well I guess you'll just have to be a little bit picky about what hardware/drivers you're going to install on your machine. Apparently the new games are going to take advantage of far more than 2GB (and 2 cores;)).

 

I must admit that I'm rather curious as to why you decided to get 4x512MB chips. 2x1GB kits are cheap as dirt right now (Newegg very recently had the Crucial DDR2-800 CL4 2x1GB kit on sale for $60.00. While I know that Kingston is your brand, Crucial is awesome stuff (Micron D9) and is compatible with the most M/Bs) and you'd still have 2 slots open to expand it in the future. As the glut in the market subsides, we're probably going to see fewer and fewer DDR2 deals, so if you're going to get 64-bit Vista, you may as well grab 4GB while it's so darn cheap.

 

On to the CPU. Since you're going to O/C it anyway, why not save even more money by buying the X2 3600+ Brisbane and O/C it? From what I've read, you should be able to O/C it as high as you would the 4600+ and it's almost $40 less. Just make sure you get the Brisbane core (2x512kb cache) and not the Windsor (2x256kb cache).

 

As far as the 8800GTS goes: yes, I think that you're making the right decision in choosing it over the 2900XT for the very reason you stated (PSU requirements), but I know for a fact that both the Evga and BFG versions of this card have been sold for far cheaper than $440 (>$100) very recently, and this is likely to happen again soon, so you should hold off buying that MSI card for now. Heck, BestBuy.com has the BFG model for cheaper than that right now, and had a deal where it could be pre-ordered for $316 just a couple of weeks ago. If you've already placed an order you should cancel it and wait a week or two for another one of these deals to come down the pike. I'm certain that we'll see more deals like this on this particular card as the price war between it and the 2900XT heats up. Just trying to save you a hundred bucks and get you a better warranty in the process.

[stingerhs]

If I were buying a new OS, I would at first consider how much memory I was going to have in my machine. If it's 4GB (a realistic possibility given how cheap memory has been as of late) I'd go with 64-bit Vista regardless of any problems it's having right now, as these problems will more than likely be ironed out in time. As for it requiring signed drivers, well I guess you'll just have to be a little bit picky about what hardware/drivers you're going to install on your machine. Apparently the new games are going to take advantage of far more than 2GB (and 2 cores;)).

i'm pretty much decided that i'll go with the 64-bit version of Vista since it can handle a lot more memory in addition to several other benefits, but my biggest thing was to see if anybody knew about compatibility/driver issues with 64-bit vs 32-bit.

I must admit that I'm rather curious as to why you decided to get 4x512MB chips. 2x1GB kits are cheap as dirt right now (Newegg very recently had the Crucial DDR2-800 CL4 2x1GB kit on sale for $60.00. While I know that Kingston is your brand, Crucial is awesome stuff (Micron D9) and is compatible with the most M/Bs) and you'd still have 2 slots open to expand it in the future. As the glut in the market subsides, we're probably going to see fewer and fewer DDR2 deals, so if you're going to get 64-bit Vista, you may as well grab 4GB while it's so darn cheap.

i certainly wouldn't mind doing so now, but when i bought the RAM earlier, it was slightly cheaper to get the 4x512MB vs 2x1GB. money has been rather tight from week to week, so that did play a large part in that decision.

 

and don't forget that i am planning on upgrading to a Phenom on down the road. when that happens, my DDR2 memory is going to get sold when i have to flash the BIOS. when that happens, i'll be switching to DDR3 at the same time. believe me, this system is all about mapping out a solid plan. if AMD wasn't so late to the game, it wouldn't be so difficult, but i'm just taking what's given to me at the moment and planning ahead as best as possible.

On to the CPU. Since you're going to O/C it anyway, why not save even more money by buying the X2 3600+ Brisbane and O/C it? From what I've read, you should be able to O/C it as high as you would the 4600+ and it's almost $40 less. Just make sure you get the Brisbane core (2x512kb cache) and not the Windsor (2x256kb cache).

my decision was simply based on the 4600 Windsor being cheaper than an equivalent Brisbane-based processor, and that the 4600 does give me slightly better overclocking headroom. as of now, its rather difficult for me to go back since i already have the processor installed.

As far as the 8800GTS goes: yes, I think that you're making the right decision in choosing it over the 2900XT for the very reason you stated (PSU requirements), but I know for a fact that both the Evga and BFG versions of this card have been sold for far cheaper than $440 (>$100) very recently, and this is likely to happen again soon, so you should hold off buying that MSI card for now. Heck, BestBuy.com has the BFG model for cheaper than that right now, and had a deal where it could be pre-ordered for $316 just a couple of weeks ago. If you've already placed an order you should cancel it and wait a week or two for another one of these deals to come down the pike. I'm certain that we'll see more deals like this on this particular card as the price war between it and the 2900XT heats up. Just trying to save you a hundred bucks and get you a better warranty in the process.

too late. my card has already been charged, and the order cannot be canceled at this point. besides, i did the research in a multitude of locations (ZipZoomFly, NewEgg, Best Buy, CompUSA, Froogle, and TigerDirect), so its not like i didn't shop around for a good deal. again, MSI does have a solid reputation, so i'm not concerned about getting a bad card.

 

i'm also in a bit of a rush to get my new system up and running soon, anyways. my old computer has been effectively "sold", and now i'm just simply waiting on the video card before i exchange the system for the cash. when that video card gets here, i have a lot of work on my hands to get that computer running since i'll have to set up the hard drives and install Kubuntu (that's going in before Windows since i don't have my Vista disc yet). not to mention that i'll have to make sure everything is working properly, and then i'll finally be able to come through on that deal for my old system.

 

i do appreciate the advise, however. thanks to everybody that offered to help.

[stingerhs]

ok, so the computer is finished. final specs:

 

CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 4600 Windsor

Motherboard: Asus M2N-SLI with Nforce 570SLI Northbridge

Video Card: MSI NX8800GTS 640MB

RAM: 4x Kingston HyperX DDR-800 512MB with 4-4-4-12 timings

Sound Card: Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Gamer

Power Supply: Antec Neo HE 550W

Main Hard Drives: 2x Western Digital Raptor SATAII 10000RPM 150GB in RAID 0

Secondary Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SATAII 7200RPM 500GB

DVD-ROM: Lite-On DVD+RW/DVD-RW 20x with Lightscribe

Case: Antec P180 w/ 4x120mm case fans

Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows Vista x64 and Kubuntu Linux x64

 

i'll post some benchmarks later, but i can already tell you that the performance difference is huge. with the CPU bottleneck gone in addition to the more advanced video card, this system is much faster, even on higher graphics settings. i'll officially have to stamp this sytem as "Crysis Ready", and wait till the release.

[stingerhs]

well, i promised some pics, so i finally got my hands on a camera and snapped a few.

 

outside view

outside view 2

case door open

inside teh case

close up of teh hardware

without teh camera flash

 

anyways, the case still isn't quite done. i'm wanting to get the access panel painted with a design, and i have a friend that can do it for me. the problem is that she won't be in town till classes start back at the University; so, that's not going to get done for a while. till then, this compy still rocks.

[Jae Onasi]

That is geeky-cool.

And you're only a super geek? I think you earned a few points with that baby.

[Q]

@stingerhs:

 

Well, I feel stupid. For some reason I thought that you paid $440 for your 8800GTS 640MB. Guess I can't read.