Intel ATX E6600 CORE 2 DUO /2.4GHz/4MB CACHE/1066FSB/LGA775
Asus P5B 775, CORE2EE, P965, 1066FSB, PCIEI6, AUDIO, GbLAN, ATX
DDR2 2Gig(2x1G) PC6400 800Mhz Dual Channel Turbo RAM PQI(Life time warranty
Western Digital 74G SATA Raptor 10000 rpm HDD(16Mb Cache)
Asus EN7600GT-2DHT-256 GF7600GT-256MB HDTV-OUT 2XDVI-I
Samsung 16xDVD -/+R/RW Dual Layer OEM Black with LightScribe
Antec Top Quality Sonata II Quiet Black Case
Microsoft Windows XP PRO (OEM)

That's what I ordered from Umart. I got them to build it too; part of the build process they discovered that the PQI RAM didn't work so well in this motherboard, so they recommended a change to Kingmax (same price, speed, etc) and it worked fine.

Overall I paid around $2200 (sans monitor). This is the first PC I've bought for myself since my trusty old P3 1Ghz, which is faithfully still sitting here chugging along as my Linux router/firewall/test machine, so I decided I'd lash out a bit and get some pricier components than I otherwise would have (mainly the 6600 CPU as opposed to a cheaper one and the Raptor drive).

So far everything is running really sweetly; haven't had any problems yet. Performance is really, really fast - I'm blown away but how much faster things like just browsing websites is. Web pages render so much faster it's like I've gotten a network upgrade - I really can't believe the difference even for things like QGL/AusGamers. General browsing is massively improved - going back results in instantly loading the last page instead of the brief hang I'm used to on my work PC (which is a decent spec AMD machine).

Gameplay wise I've only tried Enemy Territory - in 1024x768 with all the settings maxed out (high texture quality, etc) I seem to flatline at 90fps, which is awesome. No slowdowns in busy scenes with lots of smoke, explosions, etc.

I haven't run any benchmarks because I frankly don't care about numbers (pro tip: cure lag and choke by simply disabling netgraphs!); it feels awesome and so far it's been rock solid in terms of stability (though it's only been online for maybe a total of 12 hours, so that's not saying much).

Very glad I got Umart to build it, I would have cried had I gotten it home and had problems with the RAM and had to take it back. I've lost all passion for messing around with PCs that I had in my youth and now just want the freakin' things to work.

How much do umart charge for build now?

7600gt for the win
bang for buck, cang go wrong

nice..

If your interested in getting a second hdd for storage in the near future Bulkbuyer are about to do a group buy on the 500Gb Seagates for $289

I sure am interested, thanks

How much do umart charge for build now?

Umm, I can't remember - like $60? It was totally worth it though. If you're still in that "I like messing around with PCs and trying to figure out why it's not working" phase you can probably skip it as long as you know you're getting components that will play nice.

Ok sounds cool, I was looking at the 6600 as well. I really want to try some encoding like xvid,divx,wma stuff as well as some premiere rendering too. I've been sitting on a p4 2.26ghz for 4 years now so I am looking forward to the upgrade too. Thanks Trog.

I don't suppose you have steam on it? I'm interested in a new pc but because of my LCD I kinda have to run stuff at 1280x1024 or else it looks retarded so if you have got steam on there and don't mind sticking it on 1280x1024 and seeing what frames you get. Or anyone else with a similar spec machine for that matter.

In what game, CS or CSS? I only have CS installed atm.

Or anyone else with a similar spec machine for that matter

I've ran CSS @ 1280x1024 on Medium detail on a AMD64 3200+, 6600GT, 1GB memory.

Points of interest:

* You'll need a 6800GS minimum for HDR + smooth sniping. 7600GT recommended.
* You need 1GB memory minimum for smooth play
* A CPU slower than around 3200+ will bottleneck the framerate

So thats a 2.4 + 2.4 Duo Core system, right? Arent there 3.2 Duo cores out now as well?

$60 is nothing nowerdays ... it might only fill up the bombadore with dino juice. Sounds like you got a good deal Trog.

sorry did someone say something? all I heard was blah blah bling blah blee bling blah blah

actually, you suck

We've actually had heaps of RAM compatibility issues with that motherboard, we've switched across to a gigabyte board ( can't remember the model # ) and it's much less picky with ram, and even benches a bit faster as it has a better southbridge.

Hey nice rig there trog baby...welcome to the fast lane.

:)

Haha. I love it when admins abuse their powers. Good job trog/jim.

We've actually had heaps of RAM compatibility issues with that motherboard,

what is it with asus and compatibility? My adaptec SCSI card won't enter the setup bios in either of my asus based computers but it was fine in my abit computer until that motherboard died :(

(ps I'm an asus fanboy, compatibility be damned :p)

hey trog u should join my ET clan for some casual ET games!

me and my mates played season 1 2 and 3 and we thought we'd have another season. so we rejoined the ladder... we've had 3 wins from 3 games - now in 16th spot.

xerb council

c'mon you know u wanna ;)

Haha. I love it when admins abuse their powers. Good job trog/jim.

I love it when people f***up on their 12th post.! Yo go girl!

:P

why do we have to buy this s*** for ourselves for our birthdays? dammit - I really gotta reprogram my woman @%#$

^^^be sure to add in a logic engin when you do.

hrmmm

koopz, you have given me an idea!
Mebe instead of everyone buying a birthday present (which is pretty hit n miss in my crowd of friends) for avg of $30 - $50 or above, everyone involved discuss an throw cash at them so they can upgrade a computer part.

Could you imagine if QGL had a nominal $5 fee for birthday cash (kinda like a social club) an whenever a real an valid account holders birthday came round, it would be uber hardware day!!!

Yeah I know, wouldn't work cause too many cheap bastards an selfish people who wanna screw everyone else over etc.
Be more of an opt in thing for a bunch of peeps who are valid characters

this reminds me of that time I joined Amway, and charged customers $25 to goto the meetings instead of the usual $2.50


where am I going with this.. I have no idea! I just wanted to post something so I could sit here looking busy so's I get out of changing that dirty nappy... dammit - she's looking at me... and asking questions. god I hope she doesn't come over here and read this dribble... my cred will be shot!


*ah* saved by the bell. litertally - good ol' microwave saves me again. chalk another one up to koopz aka sir_nappy_dodgalot =D


oops... crabby pregnant woman @ 3 o'clock... gotta bail...

last edited by koopz at 19:54:16 30/Sep/06

Posting to point out I was banned for 3 days for what I said in this thread ;)

^ another reason why breeding is overrated
Nothing wrong with practice runs tho

Yeah, Nats is pretty trigger happy like that. It's probably happened to half this forum population at one point, but what can you do - it's not like it's a democracy around here :/

Course, it's actually probably worse that we can't read what you said - it would be better 'punishment' that we get to decide whether or not we think you're a d******* for saying it than one single person deciding and banning you unnecessarily... course, that might lead to us thinking that mod is more the d******* than the person banned. Seriously, as far as moderation goes, unless the person is breaking some law - don't moderate.

Ahh, politics and corrupt power.

hey trog u should join my ET clan for some casual ET games!

I have no skillz

Yeah, Nats is pretty trigger happy like that. It's probably happened to half this forum population at one point, but what can you do - it's not like it's a democracy around here :/

ahah, its funny that you think Nats would even bother

Seriously, as far as moderation goes, unless the person is breaking some law - don't moderate.

Seriously... that's a stupid thing to say

Not getting banned from places is easy. All you have to do is not be a jerk. It's just like avoiding getting thrown in jail, really.

We've actually had heaps of RAM compatibility issues with that motherboard, we've switched across to a gigabyte board ( can't remember the model # ) and it's much less picky with ram, and even benches a bit faster as it has a better southbridge.

Yeh, I had probs with my last Asus board too, which I blamed on RAM. I was VERY hesitant to get Asus this time but because YOU posted that they worked ok, I bought one. THANKS HEAPS STINKY!@#!@#!

That said mine is rock solid so far. I'm getting some good ET on (right now even, alt-tabbed as I write this letting my team down) and haven't had a single problem. Phew.

Except that you don't usually get thrown in jail for simply disagreeing with the powers and their decisions.

It's not a democracy - I hear it over and over and over again on this and other forums - but free speech is still just common decency if you plan to run a community.

Edit: My cited reason for the banning was "Being a dork"

last edited by Hashy at 21:34:32 30/Sep/06

Great trog, but let us decide who's the jerk, others shouldn't be deciding for us. What's to say the users don't think all or certain mods are jerks? We're all big boys here, noone's going to go postal on anyone because they called them homomofagwhineypants.
Interpretation is BS. Rules are fine. Rules need to be definitive - "don't be a jerk" isn't a rule, since some people will think telling it as it is is being a jerk. Getting thrown in jail requires breaking a clear, distinct law.

But this is for another thread (which would probably get nuked before it takes off :)


Back on topic, what screen you running this system on? I noticed you mentioned 1024, which for most current LCDs isn't native - doesn't bother you at all I guess?

Yeh, I had probs with my last Asus board too, which I blamed on RAM. I was VERY hesitant to get Asus this time but because YOU posted that they worked ok, I bought one. THANKS HEAPS STINKY!@#!@#!

ASUS and ABit tend to have problems with both Kingmax and one other brand of modules (I've forgotten which - could be Kingston but it seems too convenient to have two brands named King*). This seems to be common across almost every platform, and I haven't really been able to isolate why, but it's something about the components these manufacturers use on their combination of motherboards and DIMMs.

I've lost all passion for messing around with PCs that I had in my youth and now just want the freakin' things to work.

I hear you mate - I just want the damn thing to work...

What's to say the users don't think all or certain mods are jerks?

If they did, surely they would have found one of the other one or two forums on the internet with mods that moderate in a manner more suitable to their personal preferences?

It's not a democracy - I hear it over and over and over again on this and other forums - but free speech is still just common decency if you plan to run a community.

It's not really. It would be if "common decency" was the default policy for how people behaved in an Internet community, but it's not. Far, far, far, far from it.

I'll make a deal with you - as soon as 'common decency' becomes a de facto standard for human behaviour, I'll rip out ever piece of code in these forums that allows any sort of moderation whatsoever.

Back on topic, what screen you running this system on? I noticed you mentioned 1024, which for most current LCDs isn't native - doesn't bother you at all I guess?

Atm I'm running a borrewed Samsung 204b from work - I have on one order from Umart which I hope will arrive early next week. It's 1600x1200 - pretty nice monitor. I probably would have been happy with a smaller one but when I remember back when I paid $740 for my 17" Hyundai thinking "wow, I can't believe how cheap this is", I figure it's only fair :)

Nice. Be good to hear whether the 7600GT can handle the native 1600 then. My brother currently runs all his stuff at 1920x1280 on a 7800 (show-off) and it behaves reasonably. GL with that.

There's a big difference in responsibility and expected behavior between people who use the forums and those who run them. Telling people to jump ship is unfair, especially here, where there are little to no alternatives with a similarly geographical placement and the community is old, established and tight.

While you shouldn't assume we don't want these forums moderated at all, common decency by it's very definition is standard for human behaviour, so you can go ahead and overhaul the forums now. Or at least eliminate post limiting because jumping through hoops to even continue a conversation like this is annoying as f***.

I got no problem with the way the admins run QGL. Try thinking about how dumb arse your posts are before you post an you won't have any hassles.

Seems to work for me

The P5B had problems and memory issues if you tried to run 4gig of ram. 2gig of ram is fine and they are uber stable.

Asus for life!!! (unless you want to run 4gb of ram currently :( )

Hermitech speaks truthful stuff
works for me also but im a pretty hot guy so Jim would never bann me

Bollocks Hermitech, you pretty much get a free ride as noone wants to get on your bad side!

so you can go ahead and overhaul the forums now

we'll get right on it

Well I have my fair share of haters on this forum, and have been involved in alot of garbage but I've always respected the rules and as yet, apart from a couple of nukes, havn't been banned. No problems here.

i am in late here

I wouldn't get a samsung burner

that's all

Postlimiters should slowly decay back to their default 30 seconds imo.
They go up but they never get taken back down.

It's a real pain in the ass when someone asks a question (new thread or whatever), and you know the answer/would like to help but you've just posted in another thread.
I can only think of one or two threads whereby I've just closed QGL and not bothered to wait, come back later and the thread still has zero replies.
Not really the limited person who misses out in that instance.

As for moderating, only thing I don't understand is the inconsistency in which threads are deleted with no reasoning given, post something computer related and it gets nuked as. Post about tortoises raping each other [Hilarious vid nonetheless] and it's fine.

Maybe if a thread gets nuked instead of the stupid default 'excuses' that appears on the forum admins could just fire off a quick internal message to that person, that would be decency.