- Joined
- Aug 6, 2008
- Location
- Kennesaw, Ga
I went too long without a computer my last rig died after about 2 years.
I put this rig together less than two weeks ago. So far so good.
Some comments about the case:
I really liked the NZXT Tempest as soon as I saw it online. More fans than you can shake a stick at- just what I needed.
The toolless design is fairly handy; not sure if it's what I needed in the long run. There were a few broken pieces inside the case when I opened it up. The harddisk LED housing on the left side of the case had cracked in half, but I fixed it with clear epoxy. I accidentally cracked the front panel trying to remove it. Should have been a little more careful. This is a heavy case btw.
Case came with a few extra things such as zip ties and screws.
Optical drives installed easily.
My M3A78-T sits comfortably on the standoffs included with the case.
PSU sits snug on the bottom of this case.
I was concerned when ordering the CNPS 9700 heatsink and fan that things would get tight, but fits in nice and neat.
Comments about the Motherboard:
This is really a great motherboard it has up to 5200 HT and supports up to 8 GB of RAM
3x PCIe 2.0 x16 slots
88E8056 Gigabit LAN
8 Channel HiDef audio onboard
12x USB 2.0, 5x SATA
It only has 1 IDE connector so your'e out of luck if you want to use more than that. It comes with a IDE cable which is nice though.
I cleaned up the cables with the included zipties from my case.
I bought the RAM only because I trust Corsair for quality products. All I can say at this point - without overclocking - this RAM has run very stable with any game I throw at it. Haven't run Memtest on it yet. I did run Prime95 on torture test for 24 hours with no errors.
Comments about the Cooler:
The Zalman CNPS 9700 is freakin' HUGE. You can't tell from the pictures but if you put your to fists together - just do it - that's about how big it is.
The fins ARE sharp, despite what someone might say. I cut myself twice already.
I had a little trouble putting this heatsink on the CPU. I had the mobo installed in the case first. Didn't have to use the alternate mounting brackets that it came with.
The one annoying thing about the heatsink was that when it arrived it was bent. And you can't remove the fan. I just bent the fan away from the fins. Otherwise the fan would hit the copper fins and stop.
Sweet blue LED fan adds to the effect of the case.
Comments about the 9600 GT Alpha Dog:
Newegg had one sweet deal on this card. I got an instant rebate and a mail-in rebate as well.
Card came with Call of Duty 4, which it will tear apart every time I play.
Not as good as the 8800 GT, but well worth the pricetag after rebates.
Hasn't over heated even after leaving the computer on for 3 days and playing video games.
Comments about the PSU:
This is a great power supply unit made by Corsair. Two fans inside keep it very cool, it's not radiating a great amount of heat into the case.
Haven't done any overclocking yet, so I don't know how reliable it is.
Nice mottled finish feels robust to the touch and very solid. Good addition to the effect of the whole case.
Comes with a cool sticker.
Comments about the Monitor
The Acer 22" widescreen is perfect for me because I do a lot of graphic design work.
Does not "ghost"
Good height and is lightweight.
Looks astonishing when running video games or movies.
Comments about the External Devices
I wasn't too concerned about sound when buying this rig although I'm a little disappointed I didn't buy a 4.1 surround sound system. I just use my iHome as my speakers instead for now.
I went with the Logitech S 510 wireless keyboard and mouse. It is the most comfortable experience with a keyboard and mouse I have ever had. This mouse can even be used all the way across the room!
Notice I use the TrackMan Wheel mouse for graphics more than gaming becuase it is way more precise than the wireless laser mouse.
I don't use the tv for anything except Adult Swim and my two angels are happy they get to see me when I work every day (as shown in the pictures below).
This is Bubbles. She is a female fancy blue rat just like the one in Ratatouille.
And this is Champagne. She is a female fancy rat.
I put this rig together less than two weeks ago. So far so good.
Some comments about the case:
I really liked the NZXT Tempest as soon as I saw it online. More fans than you can shake a stick at- just what I needed.
The toolless design is fairly handy; not sure if it's what I needed in the long run. There were a few broken pieces inside the case when I opened it up. The harddisk LED housing on the left side of the case had cracked in half, but I fixed it with clear epoxy. I accidentally cracked the front panel trying to remove it. Should have been a little more careful. This is a heavy case btw.
Case came with a few extra things such as zip ties and screws.
Optical drives installed easily.
My M3A78-T sits comfortably on the standoffs included with the case.
PSU sits snug on the bottom of this case.
I was concerned when ordering the CNPS 9700 heatsink and fan that things would get tight, but fits in nice and neat.
Comments about the Motherboard:
This is really a great motherboard it has up to 5200 HT and supports up to 8 GB of RAM
3x PCIe 2.0 x16 slots
88E8056 Gigabit LAN
8 Channel HiDef audio onboard
12x USB 2.0, 5x SATA
It only has 1 IDE connector so your'e out of luck if you want to use more than that. It comes with a IDE cable which is nice though.
I cleaned up the cables with the included zipties from my case.
I bought the RAM only because I trust Corsair for quality products. All I can say at this point - without overclocking - this RAM has run very stable with any game I throw at it. Haven't run Memtest on it yet. I did run Prime95 on torture test for 24 hours with no errors.
Comments about the Cooler:
The Zalman CNPS 9700 is freakin' HUGE. You can't tell from the pictures but if you put your to fists together - just do it - that's about how big it is.
The fins ARE sharp, despite what someone might say. I cut myself twice already.
I had a little trouble putting this heatsink on the CPU. I had the mobo installed in the case first. Didn't have to use the alternate mounting brackets that it came with.
The one annoying thing about the heatsink was that when it arrived it was bent. And you can't remove the fan. I just bent the fan away from the fins. Otherwise the fan would hit the copper fins and stop.
Sweet blue LED fan adds to the effect of the case.
Comments about the 9600 GT Alpha Dog:
Newegg had one sweet deal on this card. I got an instant rebate and a mail-in rebate as well.
Card came with Call of Duty 4, which it will tear apart every time I play.
Not as good as the 8800 GT, but well worth the pricetag after rebates.
Hasn't over heated even after leaving the computer on for 3 days and playing video games.
Comments about the PSU:
This is a great power supply unit made by Corsair. Two fans inside keep it very cool, it's not radiating a great amount of heat into the case.
Haven't done any overclocking yet, so I don't know how reliable it is.
Nice mottled finish feels robust to the touch and very solid. Good addition to the effect of the whole case.
Comes with a cool sticker.
Comments about the Monitor
The Acer 22" widescreen is perfect for me because I do a lot of graphic design work.
Does not "ghost"
Good height and is lightweight.
Looks astonishing when running video games or movies.
Comments about the External Devices
I wasn't too concerned about sound when buying this rig although I'm a little disappointed I didn't buy a 4.1 surround sound system. I just use my iHome as my speakers instead for now.
I went with the Logitech S 510 wireless keyboard and mouse. It is the most comfortable experience with a keyboard and mouse I have ever had. This mouse can even be used all the way across the room!
Notice I use the TrackMan Wheel mouse for graphics more than gaming becuase it is way more precise than the wireless laser mouse.
I don't use the tv for anything except Adult Swim and my two angels are happy they get to see me when I work every day (as shown in the pictures below).
This is Bubbles. She is a female fancy blue rat just like the one in Ratatouille.
And this is Champagne. She is a female fancy rat.
