prophetik music Posted November 21, 2008 Author Share Posted November 21, 2008 Looking for a new, preferably smaller form factor (cube, server rack, slim tower) machine as a sample farm. What kinda price can you get me;* 2.4ghz quad core, minimum (45nm preferred, eg. Q9550, but give me a range of prices vs. Q6600, preferably) * 8gb RAM - DDR2 * 500gb hard drive, 640gb is OK if it's only marginally more expensive * Don't care about video at all, but no integrated video * No audio card needed * MOBO needs to support processor NATIVELY!!! With no bios update. Also, needs gigabit lan. * No OS needed, I'll use Windows XP 64bit it's too bad that there aren't any cheaper mobos out that support i7 - the price ranges on them are REALLY good. in that thread, do you REALLY need quad-core for a sample farm, or would a really fast single processor (aka, e8x00) be good enough? don't forget that most rendering outputs are based off of single-thread calculations, and four cores at 2.4 won't be faster than two at 3 or higher. you should look at prices for hard drives before you worry about cost. read this. i'd prefer you give me a price range rather than a size range, with costs being SO low for space nowadays. always better to go more than less. with xp64? i'd go with a mid-level 8-series gpu. probably 8400 or 8500, they're really cheap and do the job for what you'd need. mobo, nowadays it's rare (if you get a good one) to have issues with cpu support, like you had a while back. whatever cpu you'd get would likely be underclocked slightly to allow it to run in a smaller environment without an issue. gigabit lan is pretty much standard nowadays, too - even my atom board came with one, and that's intended for in-car dashboards =) i'll pm you with pricing info based on what you've told me, but more specifics would definitely help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 23, 2008 Author Share Posted November 23, 2008 hey, i updated the front page for the first time in six months. now it doesn't look like i'm some nub anymore =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRedBob Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 This good fellow built me a truly mighty system pretty recently. No game exists at this point in time that can slow my new rig in the slightest. Glory incarnate. Dude knows his stuff. This thread is epic win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 q9550 quad-core cpu @ 3.5ghz (ships at 2.83ghz) gtx 260 core 216 graphics card (oc'd as well) 8gb ocz reaper ram evga 780i ftw mobo velociraptor 150gb hd, samsung 750gb hd cooler master cosmos 1000 case dualbooting vista 64 ultimate (free tshirt!) and xp sp3 32-bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 uh, bump? i've had a few systems to do lately, but not much of anything. been a little quiet, what with the economy being where it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Bump. I'm still trying to reach you to help me fix my audio driver. Its the same as before. Can't do it tonight or tommorrow, but is there any way you can help me Tuesday? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 oh, hey, i keep getting your IMs but you're not around when i am. sure thing, just contact me tuesday night. sorry about the delay, again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Its cool. If we can just fix this, I can create a healthy restart point if a virus tries to get this computer, and it should work ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalcyonSpirit Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 This thread needs a big ol' bump in the form of "All hail prophet, builder of computers!" Been playing around with my new desktop he made for me, and it is niiiiice. Fallout 3 and X3: Terran Conflict play like a dream on it; I expect other games will as well. Naturally, since it's not a top-of-the-line graphics card in here, the highest graphics settings are a bit too much, but I'm not bothered at all by not being able to run on max settings at some absurd resolution. There's also plenty of room for me to keep all my stuff on here without using my slow USB external drive while still leaving room for more stuff and experiments with operating systems. The computer runs great, and I haven't even tested the full extent of its capabilities yet. I got this computer as a quad-core for doing some relatively rough flow analysis and CAD modeling (engineering work), so hopefully I'll be able to test those soon. It should make my design project this year much more manageable. Prophet, you are awesome. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted June 18, 2009 Author Share Posted June 18, 2009 for what it's worth, he got a system based around a q9550, 4 gb of ram, and a 9800gtx+ graphics card. he got two major components used (from me), and it cost around 1100$ or so, right? i don't remember. so, can i throw out the boxes now? =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalcyonSpirit Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 You haven't already? Haha, yeah, you can chuck them. Everything seems to be working great. And yes, the total cost, including the fees, was $1110. The system itself was a little less than $1000, I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted June 18, 2009 Author Share Posted June 18, 2009 yeah, and the rest was shipping, my own fees, and paypal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Hudson Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 If you already have a good case and power supply, you can build some serious guts: Core i7 920 Nehalem 12GB G Skill DDR3 1333mhz ASUS P6T Deluxe Runs around $600 at newegg.com. By end of summer, I imagine it'll be attainable under $500. AAAAAH.....the power of building your own comps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalcyonSpirit Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Yes, well... some of us have been out of the building loop for half a decade and don't feel like trying to figure out power requirements, heating issues, hardware compatibility and other such stuff. Too much work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pezman Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 I definitely want to look into it at some point. Of course, I'll need to save up for a high end HD projector first, since I want the full home theater (and home gaming!) experience. Advice is free, right? P.S. Any news on the oil-cooled fishtank machine? Would probably run less than a tower, too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 projectors are overrated. go with a bigass monitor (newegg sells a 27.5" hanns-g monitor for 350$) and you'll be fine until you've got 3k for the projector and a good screen. the fishtank is cool =) well, not literally, it runs near 90 degrees C - but it doesn't matter, because science says that it's not spiking and so as a result will last forever. seriously, though, a year at 90c and no ill effects on anything? sign me up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajax Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Any news on the oil-cooled fishtank machine? My brother and I recently had a go at making a mineral oil fishtank computer, and the main thing that we learned was that things can quickly become very messy. So if you plan on making one, you have to plan on getting it right the first time, because once a part gets dipped in oil, then it becomes virtually impossible to truely get all the oil off again, so dont even think about being able to switch out parts once you pore the oil in. Upgrades are out of the quiestion too. Also, if you plan on using old parts you have lieing around, then dont be surpised if the mineral oil gets mirky for a while from all the dust that was on them. Additionally, once you fill the tank up with mineral oil, the thing weighs a ton, and while it might sound obvious, it really makes it hard to move, so its probably a good idea to have a place set aside that you want to put it... permanently. Another thing we learned while doing this is that it's definitly not a good idea to immerse the hard drive in oil, because even though the drives apparetly have a way of keeping all dust and foreign airborn stuffs away from the drive heads, apparently it doesant do the same thing for mineral oil. It was interesting to note, however, that the drive worked for maybe a day or so before crashing. It was an old twenty gig harddrive however, so maybe the crash was purely coincidental, or maybe the HD had a leak, and a newer HD would work just fine immersed in oil... haha well i'm not really willing to risk it again just to satisfy my curiosity. Well, even though most of the above remarks were negative, I must admit that the project was quite fun, if exasperatingly messy at times, and I plan on eventually doing it again. So, to sum things up: Only attempt this project if 1)You dont mind getting mineral oil all over the place. or 2)You plan on getting everything right the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 the heads on the hard drive can't spin fast enough with the added resistance caused by the oil. all hard drives have a hole in them to allow pressure to equalize, which is where the oil gets in. SSDs are fine in oil, but optical drives and hard drives - aka anything that moves but isn't a fan - will crap out quickly. i'm surprised yours lasted as long as it did! and you're right, dust will foul the oil quickly and raise the heat index of the oil to a dangerous level. i'd advise against using anything but new components in a system like this unless you're going to filter the oil, which really is a waste of energy unless you're using a radiator that might clog or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarpstarRider Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I might be in the market for a new computer soon. I'll have to keep this in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 hey, man, you just let me know. i thought this thread was purged ages ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted August 20, 2009 Author Share Posted August 20, 2009 no problemo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 You replied to a spam bot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted August 20, 2009 Author Share Posted August 20, 2009 i KNEW it. no info, no posts, no punctuation... grar. and i just wanted to be nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwaltzvald Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 (edited) Hey proph, what is your opinion on the frequency using those compressed air canisters to clear out the dust? I can only imagine how well a PC perpetually active for 3 years with all that dust caked on would perform... Edited August 20, 2009 by Schwaltzvald Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollgagh Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 where do you guys get your air anyway, I've never seen it stocked anywhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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