- Joined
- May 15, 2006
I've been considering a rebuild of my current system. To push me faster into a new computer, I've been having some stability issues, which has been frustrating to say the least. I've been putting off operating system reinstalls with the idea that I will eventually be upgrading. My current Linux install will start X about one out of ten times, but will boot to a shell prompt without issues. I'm running Fedora 14, which has been EOL for some time. After hours of troubleshooting and head banging, I've given up on the install. My Windows 7 install will randomly drop the network once (and only once!) after booting, within twenty minutes to an hour. Since I've built this system, my focus has changed from pure gaming performance to size, stability, noise. Once built, I slowly stopped following information on new hardware and I'm to a point where I don't know much about current hardware or what is being released. This puts me in a position where I don't know if I should upgrade now or wait. The issue is that I can't rely on my desktop to be fully functional right now, and that is not good. I use my system for most of my school work. While I can (and currently do) use my laptop, I prefer to sit in a chair, let my hands bask in the glory of a mechanical keyboard, and actually be able to read the screen.
This is why I come to my all-time favorite forum and ask for advice! I'm open to pretty much any suggestion. What you see below is going to be an combination of what I'm currently thinking and what I want. It may be confusing in some places, and I apologize in advance if that is the case.
-=-=-=-=-
To start, here is my current hardware list:
Processor: QX9650 @ stock (horrible, I know)
CPU cooler: ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme
Motherboard: Asus P5Q Deluxe
Memory: G.Skill 8gb (4x 2gb sticks) 800 Mhz 5-5-5-15 1.8v
Video card: eVGA GTX 260
Audio: Auzentech Prelude (PCI)
Power supply: Corsair HX650w
Hard drives:
--128gb Kingston something-or-other SSD
--1tb drive for Linux /home folders
--1tb drive for Windows install
Case: Cooler Master 830 Stacker
Monitors: 2x BenQ G2400W
Picture of current setup.
-=-=-=-=-
This computer mainly runs Linux (still deciding what to run, that is another thread), which will house my "day to day" applications, browsing, etc. This will be the lightest load, so having a system that can scale down power and noise wise would be a huge plus. I prefer nVidia cards, but I've heard that ATI/AMD has come a very long way. If anyone has good experience with their cards and can tell me how good/bad it is, that might change my preference as I'm aware that their idle power states can not be beat. Fairly often, I'll restart into Windows 7 for gaming. Right now, I'm playing Rift/Skyrim and I intend to add Diablo 3, maybe WoW for the expansion, and (for sure) Borderlands 2 in the fall. Heck, I may even give up Windows and gaming entirely, I have no idea. My mind changes so often that I have trouble following it most of the time. I just let out the leash and see where it takes me.
What I do in Linux is not stressful at all. I would guess that my most stressful situation is Firefox open with 70+ tabs, Thunderbird, Codeblocks, 10+ terminal sessions, Amarok (music) open and maybe a few other low-load programs. When it comes to loading up the system in Linux, I'm going to mainly leave that to my new server. Being quiet is the main thing I'm after, but having gobs of cores and memory would be pretty nice.
Processor: Considering the price difference between Intel and AMD, and my lack of need for performance, I'm heavily considering AMD. The only thing I'm not sure about is whether there is a new line of processors right around the corner. I'm willing to wait if it will be a month or two and the price/performance is worth it. The same goes for Intel if there is a huge performance difference. It doesn't hurt to have more.
Memory: Not too worried about this since I can slap in 8gb sticks regardless of which format I choose.
Motherboard: I'll be honest, I love ASUS boards. Every one that I have owned has been rock solid stable and well designed. I dislike Gigabyte for their horrible BIOS layouts, but that may have changed since LGA 775 (+/- voltage, what is this?!). Every other company I'm not familiar with. For size, I want to stick with a full ATX board. I dislike small motherboards, for some reason.
Cooler: As stated at the beginning, I'm looking for something quiet. I will be attaching dual 38mm Panaflo (or other high quality fan) for high pressure. I won't keep the processor at stock speed, so a good quality heatsink is worth it to me. I'm not interested in crappy pre-built/AIO "water cooling" kits.
Video card: As previously stated, I'm not sure how well ATI/AMD cards work with Linux, which is my main OS. I prefer nVidia because, honestly, it is as simple as dropping in the binary and restarting. I remember reading about ATI/AMD cards that are able to drop into a very low power state (<20w) when idle, which would be a nice feature.
Hard drives: Staying the same, not interested in changing these.
Solid state drive: I'm interested in upgrading my Kingston something-or-other to a good and reliable drive. I've hard some brands have a nasty habit of suddenly going offline and never returning. While I can understand random failures, I want this to be rock solid stable and very reliable. Size wise, I don't need much. My Linux install takes under 10gb of space and Windows is just over double that. I intend to run my games (if any) off the mechanical drives, so something quick and small is fine.
Audio: I intend to keep my Prelude, unless there is a newer one out there that works much better. There is a bug in the Windows driver where it suddenly dumps static to the speakers for five seconds (and scares the living crap out of me!) and then goes completely silent until I fiddle with the panel -- this is something I would drop the card for if there was an alternative. Again, this has to work with Linux or I'm absolutely not interested.
Power supply: I'll keep my Corsair HX650w.
Case: This is the fun one! I'm currently using my custom painted Cooler Master 830 Stacker (see above). While I adore the looks and layout of the case, I don't think it will fit my new goal of "small and quiet". To get a feel for what I wanted, I started looking around on Newegg and found this Lian Li case. I like everything but the lack of fans -- one seems pretty low flow. I like how small and compact the components are and I've always wanted to own a Lian Li case. While it will be difficult for me to part with my case, if you can find me a good one, I'd most certainly switch. As stated above, it will need to fit an ATX board. I'm open to fun and interesting suggestions.
Overall: Quiet and small are my two main goals, but I would like to be able to play newer/future games should I get the urge to play them. Money is not an issue as long as I can justify the quality or performance. So, I don't really have a budget, within reason.
I hope that is detailed enough to foster suggestions. Enlighten me, Overclockers.
This is why I come to my all-time favorite forum and ask for advice! I'm open to pretty much any suggestion. What you see below is going to be an combination of what I'm currently thinking and what I want. It may be confusing in some places, and I apologize in advance if that is the case.
-=-=-=-=-
To start, here is my current hardware list:
Processor: QX9650 @ stock (horrible, I know)
CPU cooler: ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme
Motherboard: Asus P5Q Deluxe
Memory: G.Skill 8gb (4x 2gb sticks) 800 Mhz 5-5-5-15 1.8v
Video card: eVGA GTX 260
Audio: Auzentech Prelude (PCI)
Power supply: Corsair HX650w
Hard drives:
--128gb Kingston something-or-other SSD
--1tb drive for Linux /home folders
--1tb drive for Windows install
Case: Cooler Master 830 Stacker
Monitors: 2x BenQ G2400W
Picture of current setup.
-=-=-=-=-
This computer mainly runs Linux (still deciding what to run, that is another thread), which will house my "day to day" applications, browsing, etc. This will be the lightest load, so having a system that can scale down power and noise wise would be a huge plus. I prefer nVidia cards, but I've heard that ATI/AMD has come a very long way. If anyone has good experience with their cards and can tell me how good/bad it is, that might change my preference as I'm aware that their idle power states can not be beat. Fairly often, I'll restart into Windows 7 for gaming. Right now, I'm playing Rift/Skyrim and I intend to add Diablo 3, maybe WoW for the expansion, and (for sure) Borderlands 2 in the fall. Heck, I may even give up Windows and gaming entirely, I have no idea. My mind changes so often that I have trouble following it most of the time. I just let out the leash and see where it takes me.
What I do in Linux is not stressful at all. I would guess that my most stressful situation is Firefox open with 70+ tabs, Thunderbird, Codeblocks, 10+ terminal sessions, Amarok (music) open and maybe a few other low-load programs. When it comes to loading up the system in Linux, I'm going to mainly leave that to my new server. Being quiet is the main thing I'm after, but having gobs of cores and memory would be pretty nice.
Processor: Considering the price difference between Intel and AMD, and my lack of need for performance, I'm heavily considering AMD. The only thing I'm not sure about is whether there is a new line of processors right around the corner. I'm willing to wait if it will be a month or two and the price/performance is worth it. The same goes for Intel if there is a huge performance difference. It doesn't hurt to have more.
Memory: Not too worried about this since I can slap in 8gb sticks regardless of which format I choose.
Motherboard: I'll be honest, I love ASUS boards. Every one that I have owned has been rock solid stable and well designed. I dislike Gigabyte for their horrible BIOS layouts, but that may have changed since LGA 775 (+/- voltage, what is this?!). Every other company I'm not familiar with. For size, I want to stick with a full ATX board. I dislike small motherboards, for some reason.
Cooler: As stated at the beginning, I'm looking for something quiet. I will be attaching dual 38mm Panaflo (or other high quality fan) for high pressure. I won't keep the processor at stock speed, so a good quality heatsink is worth it to me. I'm not interested in crappy pre-built/AIO "water cooling" kits.
Video card: As previously stated, I'm not sure how well ATI/AMD cards work with Linux, which is my main OS. I prefer nVidia because, honestly, it is as simple as dropping in the binary and restarting. I remember reading about ATI/AMD cards that are able to drop into a very low power state (<20w) when idle, which would be a nice feature.
Hard drives: Staying the same, not interested in changing these.
Solid state drive: I'm interested in upgrading my Kingston something-or-other to a good and reliable drive. I've hard some brands have a nasty habit of suddenly going offline and never returning. While I can understand random failures, I want this to be rock solid stable and very reliable. Size wise, I don't need much. My Linux install takes under 10gb of space and Windows is just over double that. I intend to run my games (if any) off the mechanical drives, so something quick and small is fine.
Audio: I intend to keep my Prelude, unless there is a newer one out there that works much better. There is a bug in the Windows driver where it suddenly dumps static to the speakers for five seconds (and scares the living crap out of me!) and then goes completely silent until I fiddle with the panel -- this is something I would drop the card for if there was an alternative. Again, this has to work with Linux or I'm absolutely not interested.
Power supply: I'll keep my Corsair HX650w.
Case: This is the fun one! I'm currently using my custom painted Cooler Master 830 Stacker (see above). While I adore the looks and layout of the case, I don't think it will fit my new goal of "small and quiet". To get a feel for what I wanted, I started looking around on Newegg and found this Lian Li case. I like everything but the lack of fans -- one seems pretty low flow. I like how small and compact the components are and I've always wanted to own a Lian Li case. While it will be difficult for me to part with my case, if you can find me a good one, I'd most certainly switch. As stated above, it will need to fit an ATX board. I'm open to fun and interesting suggestions.
Overall: Quiet and small are my two main goals, but I would like to be able to play newer/future games should I get the urge to play them. Money is not an issue as long as I can justify the quality or performance. So, I don't really have a budget, within reason.
I hope that is detailed enough to foster suggestions. Enlighten me, Overclockers.
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