Here are some photos of me building the computer. I used my iPhone for convenience at the time so the picture quality isn't the best. I suggest you open the photos in a new window so you can ready the writing I've put in.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Computer Build
Here are some photos of me building the computer. I used my iPhone for convenience at the time so the picture quality isn't the best. I suggest you open the photos in a new window so you can ready the writing I've put in.
The Computer
Just thought I'd better put in information here about the computer (what the specifications are and how it compares to others like it). Here is the list of components, how much they cost and where I bought them from:
CPU: Intel Core i7 930 2.8 Ghz Quad Core LGA1366 $349
GPU: EVGA GTX460 1GB Overclocked External Exhaust $289
GPU: EVGA GTX460 1GB Overclocked External Exhaust $289
MOBO: Intel DX58SO Extreme X58 LGA1366 CrossFireX/SLi $333
RAM: G.Skill 6Gb DDR3 1333Mhz 3x2Gb F3-10666CL9T-6GBNQ $205
PSU: Silverstone ST1000-P Strider 1Kw 80+ $238
HDD: Seagate 500Gb 16Mb Cache $ 75
DVD: LG SATA DVD Burner 22x $ 45
CASE: Antec 902 Black Midi-Tower $208
MONITOR: ASUS MT276 27" LCD $415
KEYBOARD: Logitech G15 LCD Backlit Gaming Keyboard $ 85
MOUSE: Logitech G5 Laser Gaming Mouse $ 95
Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech MK250 Wireless Combo $ 35
COOLER: Zalman CNPS9900A LED $ 75
NETWORK CARD: TP-Link TL-WN851N 300Mbps Wireless PCI $ 35
FANS: Enermax Apollish Twister Blue LED + Arctic F12 $ 30
LIGHTING: Bitspower 30Cm Blue Cold Cathode x2 $ 19
MOUSE MAT: Razer Goliathus Fragged Alpha $ 29
WRIST STRAP: Anti-Static Wrist Strap $ 6
CABLE TIES: 100 White Cable Ties $ 2
___________________________________________
Total: $2857
+ shipping
CPU: pccasegear.com.au
GPU: pccasegear.com.au
GPU: pccasegear.com.au
PSU: megaware.com.au
MOBO: techbuy.com.au
RAM: pcdiy.com.au
MONITOR: pccasegear.com.au
HDD: 9289.com.au
DVD: 9289.com.au
CASE: 9289.com.au
KEYBOARD: 9289.com.au
MOUSE: 9289.com.au
KEYBOARD/MOUSE: pccasegear.com.au
COOLER: pccasegear.com.au
NETWORK CARD: pccasegear.com.au
FANS: pccasegear.com.au
LIGHTING: pccasegear.com.au
MOUSE MAT: pccasegear.com.au
WRIST STRAP: pccasegear.com.au
CABLE TIES: pccasegear.com.au
I did lots of reasearch on how the different parts work and how each component affects performance in games. I then selected which parts I would buy that gave me the best price:performance ratio (I could get the best computer available but $18000 is a bit too much to spend). This computer achieves about 90% of the performance available with current computer technology. To get that extra 10% you have to spend thousands and thousands extra.
In terms of running Crysis, I looked at other computers that people had built (YouTube is really good for this). My computer is similar but not every part is the same, making it unique. For my processor I chose an Intel Core i7 930 which has four cores and a speed of 2.8GHz. This is a relatively common processor to play Crysis on.
For graphics I chose the very new GTX 460 from nVidia which had been branded by EVGA. This card had been out for less than two months when I bought it. It gave the best price:performance ratio of any card available in the mid-high performance area. It has won many awards from online review websites. These cards cost me $289 each, meaning that they are priced as mid-range cards even though they have high-end performance. I went and put two of these in, meaning I spent $578 on graphics cards. By using two cheaper cards instead of one expensive card, I can actually match the highest end cards on the market that cost $620-$800. Because these cards a relatively new, not many people have them yet and even less people have two of them.
My motherboard is one of the rarer components in my computer. It is made by Intel (the same as my processor) and it was the first motherboard to be released for the new i7 architecure back at the end of 2008. New motherboards were quickly released by other companies that offered more features. Not many people have this motherboard because it is older, I just got it because it was cheaper and it had all the features that I needed. I would be one of the only people in the world with this older motherboard and very new processor. Most people who have bought an i7 930 processor would buy a newer motherboard to go with it. The Intel DK58SO motherboard is very stable and causes less problems than other boards.
I have 6Gb of G.Skill DDR3 (double data rate version 3) that runs at 1333MHz. G.Skill is a relatively common brand but is most common in gaming computers.
I have a SilverStone 1000w power supply to power everything which is really good because it is modular. Most power supplies have all the cables coming out of it and are unremovable. This isn't ideal because you'll never end up using all the cables. A modular system lets you plug in or take out cables depending on what you need. This is important because it doesn't fill up your case with unused cables, which impacts airflow (not good for cooling).
There are other minor parts but the last major part is the case. I'm using an Antec 902 which is a very feature-rich well-built case. It is made from steel and small amounts of plastic so it's very strong. It also has lots of features such as dust filters on all the fan intakes to prevent dust build-up inside the case.
While this computer uses many common parts, some of them are not so common and it is highly unlikely that there would be many, if any, computers with its exact specifications anywhere else in the world. This is because there would be very few people with my new processor in my older motherboard with my exact two graphics cards in my case. Then you have my power supply, RAM, DVD drive and hard drive. It is very unlikely that all these parts would make their way into someone else's computer. Even if they did, it would be a very small number of computers.
CPU: Intel Core i7 930 2.8 Ghz Quad Core LGA1366 $349
GPU: EVGA GTX460 1GB Overclocked External Exhaust $289
GPU: EVGA GTX460 1GB Overclocked External Exhaust $289
MOBO: Intel DX58SO Extreme X58 LGA1366 CrossFireX/SLi $333
RAM: G.Skill 6Gb DDR3 1333Mhz 3x2Gb F3-10666CL9T-6GBNQ $205
PSU: Silverstone ST1000-P Strider 1Kw 80+ $238
HDD: Seagate 500Gb 16Mb Cache $ 75
DVD: LG SATA DVD Burner 22x $ 45
CASE: Antec 902 Black Midi-Tower $208
MONITOR: ASUS MT276 27" LCD $415
KEYBOARD: Logitech G15 LCD Backlit Gaming Keyboard $ 85
MOUSE: Logitech G5 Laser Gaming Mouse $ 95
Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech MK250 Wireless Combo $ 35
COOLER: Zalman CNPS9900A LED $ 75
NETWORK CARD: TP-Link TL-WN851N 300Mbps Wireless PCI $ 35
FANS: Enermax Apollish Twister Blue LED + Arctic F12 $ 30
LIGHTING: Bitspower 30Cm Blue Cold Cathode x2 $ 19
MOUSE MAT: Razer Goliathus Fragged Alpha $ 29
WRIST STRAP: Anti-Static Wrist Strap $ 6
CABLE TIES: 100 White Cable Ties $ 2
___________________________________________
Total: $2857
+ shipping
CPU: pccasegear.com.au
GPU: pccasegear.com.au
GPU: pccasegear.com.au
PSU: megaware.com.au
MOBO: techbuy.com.au
RAM: pcdiy.com.au
MONITOR: pccasegear.com.au
HDD: 9289.com.au
DVD: 9289.com.au
CASE: 9289.com.au
KEYBOARD: 9289.com.au
MOUSE: 9289.com.au
KEYBOARD/MOUSE: pccasegear.com.au
COOLER: pccasegear.com.au
NETWORK CARD: pccasegear.com.au
FANS: pccasegear.com.au
LIGHTING: pccasegear.com.au
MOUSE MAT: pccasegear.com.au
WRIST STRAP: pccasegear.com.au
CABLE TIES: pccasegear.com.au
I did lots of reasearch on how the different parts work and how each component affects performance in games. I then selected which parts I would buy that gave me the best price:performance ratio (I could get the best computer available but $18000 is a bit too much to spend). This computer achieves about 90% of the performance available with current computer technology. To get that extra 10% you have to spend thousands and thousands extra.
In terms of running Crysis, I looked at other computers that people had built (YouTube is really good for this). My computer is similar but not every part is the same, making it unique. For my processor I chose an Intel Core i7 930 which has four cores and a speed of 2.8GHz. This is a relatively common processor to play Crysis on.
For graphics I chose the very new GTX 460 from nVidia which had been branded by EVGA. This card had been out for less than two months when I bought it. It gave the best price:performance ratio of any card available in the mid-high performance area. It has won many awards from online review websites. These cards cost me $289 each, meaning that they are priced as mid-range cards even though they have high-end performance. I went and put two of these in, meaning I spent $578 on graphics cards. By using two cheaper cards instead of one expensive card, I can actually match the highest end cards on the market that cost $620-$800. Because these cards a relatively new, not many people have them yet and even less people have two of them.
My motherboard is one of the rarer components in my computer. It is made by Intel (the same as my processor) and it was the first motherboard to be released for the new i7 architecure back at the end of 2008. New motherboards were quickly released by other companies that offered more features. Not many people have this motherboard because it is older, I just got it because it was cheaper and it had all the features that I needed. I would be one of the only people in the world with this older motherboard and very new processor. Most people who have bought an i7 930 processor would buy a newer motherboard to go with it. The Intel DK58SO motherboard is very stable and causes less problems than other boards.
I have 6Gb of G.Skill DDR3 (double data rate version 3) that runs at 1333MHz. G.Skill is a relatively common brand but is most common in gaming computers.
I have a SilverStone 1000w power supply to power everything which is really good because it is modular. Most power supplies have all the cables coming out of it and are unremovable. This isn't ideal because you'll never end up using all the cables. A modular system lets you plug in or take out cables depending on what you need. This is important because it doesn't fill up your case with unused cables, which impacts airflow (not good for cooling).
There are other minor parts but the last major part is the case. I'm using an Antec 902 which is a very feature-rich well-built case. It is made from steel and small amounts of plastic so it's very strong. It also has lots of features such as dust filters on all the fan intakes to prevent dust build-up inside the case.
While this computer uses many common parts, some of them are not so common and it is highly unlikely that there would be many, if any, computers with its exact specifications anywhere else in the world. This is because there would be very few people with my new processor in my older motherboard with my exact two graphics cards in my case. Then you have my power supply, RAM, DVD drive and hard drive. It is very unlikely that all these parts would make their way into someone else's computer. Even if they did, it would be a very small number of computers.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
End of the Year
Well this is my last blog entry. Just finished my proposal but I might run over that again to refine it. Just doing concept mind map, etc now. I'm going to write up the powerpoint presentation to present to the judges panel at my assessment a couple of days before and use lots of photos and video to really show off my Crysis map. I'll hopefully be bringing my new custom-built computer to the presentaion so the judges can see it and I can briefly run through the build process. I'll also kind of need it to show the judges my Crysis map and the way it's meant to run (ie. at maximum settings with a decently high framerate). I've put most of my references (all the ones a took note of/recorded/remebered) into a recent blog post but it's been suggested to me by a teacher and other students to record those in Zotero so I'll be doing that at home today (doesn't work on my computer at school due to a login issue). Just did my last little twitter note aswell. Basically it's just tying together all the loose ends now. See you at my presentation!
James
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