SpaceSimCentral

CPU: Q6600 @ stockRAM: 4GB Corsair DDR2 1066GPU: Sapphire HD5850 1 GBHDD: 160 GB Maxtor SATA, 500GB Seagate SATA, 2 x 74GB WD Raptor 74 GB SATAAudio: Realtek Azalea onboard, Harman/Kardon Soundsticks IIInput: Saitek Eclipse III, Razer Diamondback, X52 ProOS: Windows 7 Professional x64Screens: LG W2286L, Cibox LE2262, Dell U2410What Bullwinkle said about RAID is true - RAID 0 gives excellent performance boosts at the cost of parity, RAID 0+1 (aka RAID 10) gives both but at the cost of additional drives. RAID 5 is an option though if your controller supports it (IIRC Intel ICH9R and ICH10R do, not sure about the AMD chipsets as it's been a while since I used one). Basically get 3 drives the same size, set them up as RAID 5 and you'll have both striping and a degree of mirroring at the cost of one drive's capacity - e.g. 3 x 500 GB in a RAID 5 array gives you 1 TB of storage. 2 stripes of data and 1 for parity/error checking. It's probably the most common enterprise solution and definitely has it's merits.Windows Vista and Windows 7 support a certain degree of flimflammery though - you can have a RAID 0 volume software mirrored to another drive on the system as long as the capacitiy of the 3rd drive exceeds that of the RAID volume. You lose a little performance on write speeds but read speeds and access times are still very responsive. Admittedly, a 10k RPM drive helps on that score but they're seriously LOUD! I love my Raptors but on occasion the incessant chattering gets a lttle bit irritating. The 500 GB I can't hear unless I have everything muted and am listening out for it.RAID, in all it's forms, offers a number of advantages but always at the same disadvantage - cost! SSDs are pretty much the same - the price of the NAND flash memory used to make them has gone through the roof at the moment so they're very much an expensive luxury. The response times are absolutely ludicrous, as are the read and write times but at the cost of a serious dent in the wallet region. A 30GB OCZ Vertex (allegedly a nice drive) runs in at around £110, a 1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 is about £65. For £20 more than the SSD you could have a 2 TB RAID 0 volume, £85 more and you have a RAID 5 array - at 2TB in size as opposed to 30 GB. Speed, safety and storage combined.One thing I will disagre with Bullwinkle on though - you don't have to have Windows installed to create a RAID volume. It's dependant on what your RAID controller supports. If I switch either of my RAID controllers to RAID mode in the BIOS rather than AHCI then I have the option of building a RAID volume before the system even thinks about looking for a boot drive. This is on a motherboard with ICH9R as well as an additional RAID capable controller. Yes, you can definitely build the volumes in Windows (probably easiest) but many chipsets support hardware RAID which is definitely preferable on both ease of setup and speed basis. The speed isn't really that important with today's systems unless you're running software that gives you a CPU bottleneck at which point anything less that your CPU has to deal with is a bonus. Not common nowadays but it used to be very prevalent on the average system that normal people could afford.Please accept my apologies for the wall of text in what is supposed to be a "Post your build" thread, I'm just a hardware geek at heart. I tend to be a touch vociferous when it comes to certain subjects

Yes . . . he waffles on a bit.CPU: Q6600 @ 2.45 GHzRAM: 4GB Corsair DDR2 1066GPU: Nvidia GeForce 8800GTXHDD: 500GB Seagate SATAAudio: Realtek Azalea onboardInput: Logitech MX518, Saitek X52OS: Windows Vista Home Premium x64Screens: LG L1900R LG L227WNot that fastest machine on the planet but it does the job.

I configure all my raids in bios/raid controller and not in windows. I find it a bit easier to work with myself than using all the windows tools. And for todays games if you have a quad, 4gb ram and a DX10 card you can run almost anything on full settings.

Speaking of raiding.. Anyone else ever have problems with OCing anything? Such as, Windows, or windows based applications not registering the OC? Like my CPU is default OC at 2.8. Windows, and other programs like CPUZ, and such only register it as 2.6. BIOS says 2.8, if I up it to 3.0, Bios shows 3.0. Windows and the lot still say 2.6. Anyone know a way to make it register right?

Grimloon wrote:
What Bullwinkle said about RAID is true ..One thing I will disagre with Bullwinkle on though - you don't have to have Windows installed to create a RAID volume.
Thanks, Grimloon. I will add that my discussion with Shant was about adding performance to his existing computer on the cheap... which meant no additional hardware. In that case, Windows must be installed first, obviously. However, if you have a RAID card or your motherboard has a RAID controller then, by all means, use it. As Darkone points out, a RAID controller makes installation simpler (although not necessarily higher performance, regardless of what the RAID vendor claims).I have done a lot of RAIDing... from cheap to million-dollar systems. RAID is great, but the claims of RAID vendors tend to be strong on hype and weak on real-life-performance details. In other words, you will actually get higher performance without a RAID controller on many home systems! This is because your computer's CPU can calculate parity many times faster than a low-cost RAID controller can. In my experience, RAID 5 is mostly good for redundancy (parity). Its theoretical performance advantages tend to be muted by communications issues such as bus saturation. That's why I recommended RAID 0+1 -- the performance increase is huge and instantly noticeable. The reason that RAID 0 is so much faster than RAID 5 is because each drive gets its own i/o bus (usually an SATA bus in home systems). The conventional "wisdom" for RAID 5 is that more drives = more performance. In practice, the opposite is true for most home users. Low-cost RAID controllers have the best chance of creating a high performance system with only three or four drives configured in RAID 5 -- and that will happen only if your motherboard and/or controller card(s) have three or four available independent (non-shared) i/o channels (SATA channels).Since RAID 5 usually requires a RAID controller, and RAID 0+1 requires only four i/o channels, the cost-benefit ratio is superior for RAID 0+1 for the average home computer tinkerer. However, a RAID controller is easier to set up. Given the quality of modern disk drives, and the low cost of a large external drive, I would not be afraid to use RAID 0. Just make sure that you have a good backup strategy, because RAID 0 more than doubles the risk of losing your entire volume. But you really should back up anyway... and RAID 0 is "free" for many folks. I cover SSD elsewhere in this thread, but the short version is that SSDs help some things (SEEK) but are much slower than disk for other things (continuous throughput for READs and, especially, WRITEs). There is little point in investing in an SSD drive if you seek overall performance gains because you just will not get it. However, some specific applications benefit from SSDs, such as Windows. But that has more to do with Windows than it does with SSD drives. Note that I am suggesting installing Windows on the SSD with most programs and data on a hard drive.Note also that there is nothing special about SSD drives except for their i/o controller. The actual memory is the same as high performance flash memory. So a cheap flash drive installed with the proper strategy could produce most of the performance advantage of an SSD without the additional cost of the SSD's controller hardware. The flash memory would be limited by the bandwidth of the USB bus but, for random access of many small files, the SEEK performance boost could be greater than the loss due to bus saturation. Also note that random access of many small files is the only circumstance under which either SSD or flash offers any performance advantage over hard drives.Microsoft's ReadyBoost for Win7 and Vista is designed to take advantage of the high SEEK performance of flash memory without the expense of adding an SSD drive. ReadyBoost is not perfect for all applications, but it is the easiest and most cost-effective way to take advantage flash memory's fast SEEK times without the expense of adding an SSD drive.ReadyBoost tips:[*:bwcep4sy]
Keep Superfetch turned on.[*:bwcep4sy]Use high performance flash memory (usually mail-ordered rather than store-purchased -- it is usually cheaper when mail-ordered, as well).[*:bwcep4sy]Format your flash drive(s) with exFAT (Win7) or NTFS (Vista). (You may have to enable write caching on the flash drive in order to format with NTFS. Note that enabling write caching means that you cannot unplug the flash drive without unmounting the drive first (Safely Remove Hardware).)[*:bwcep4sy]More flash = greater performance (up to 3x the size of your PC's RAM). The ReadyBoost tab in the drive properties dialog only tells part of the story.RAIDing SSD drives helps the overall throughput limitations, but, as you say, the costs quickly exceed most people's home budgets!

Well I bought a 5870 1GB to upgrade my older gamerig. But doesn't work with my AM2 mobo from MSI. Chipset init problem. Bios update didn't work. Bought a mobo mem CPU set to make a major upgrade. Just want to be DX11 ready and play AVP in full fidelity.GA-890A-UD3HPhenom II 965 Black edition.8GB Dominator memory.And it works.And a new Windows 7 Home premium So 3Quater I might buy a GTX480 for Ci7 3D gamerig.Have also a third PS3 on the same monitor.

Bullwinkle wrote:
Thanks, Grimloon. I will add that my discussion with Shant was about adding performance to his existing computer on the cheap... which meant no additional hardware. In that case, Windows must be installed first, obviously.
Ah right, sorry! Wrong end of stick firmly grasped and both feet inserted into gob (again! ) I usually forget that I look at these matters from an enterprise/enthusiast perspective.I tend to buy parts based on what they will still have available in however many years time e.g. P35 chipset with ICH9R controller so up to 6 channel SATA RAID is a given. Add a secondary dual channel SATA controller and I was sold! (GA-P35-DS3P) I also bought the Q6600 G0 on the same approach - I don't need any more oomph now but I can OC the nuts off it if necessary. It's more a case of "What will I have in 2 years time?" rather than "How big is my e-peen now?" The exception to the rule is video cards - 12 to 18 months @ ~£200 a pop.@SuperG - I very much doubt that you're going to have to upgrade from a 5870 any time soon. I'm running a 5850 at 5,040 x 1,050 where supported (gotta love Eyefinity - X3 looks awesome!) and haven't seen a slow down yet at max settings. AvP runs sweet as, you just have to remember to move the chair away from the desk a bit more as it's a touch of overkill in surround unless you're sat far enough back!

I got 3 PC.HD2900XT -> 58701GBGTX285+8600GT -> GTX4?? ( +GTX285 ) PHYSXX1800XTAnd there monitors stand next to each other. The nV rig card can use the D-sub input off the other monitor. The 120hz samsung has just one input. So my 5870 just use one monitor.But first I wait and see what Fermi brings. Not in a hurry.

SuperG wrote:
I got 3 PC.
I have a few more than that in various states of repair :)I no longer have my IBM 8086 XT but I still have a 486 DX2 80 running MSDOS 6.2 for older games - I think I bought it something like 16 years ago? That was the last pre built system I ever bought, self build from there onwards 'cos warranties are for wimps! It has 2 12 MB Voodoo 2 cards in SLI as well as a 4MB VESA card - that was definitely the Mutt's Nuts way back when

I have 5 laptops at the moment. Loaned two, and two are in storage. When I'm really happy, I like to sit back and add the money it took to purchase all five. Brings me back down a notch...Oh.My super computer (for its time.) Was a Gateway FX, which I didn't feel like taking to the desert, so I left it for the fam. Mistake. Currently I'm using a Macbook.CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.26 GHzMemory: 4 GBHDD: 250 GBGfx Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M (PCI, 256MB VRAM)Snd Card: Intel High Definition Audio (??? No idea where to find on my mac. System Profiler is complicated.)Input/Joystick: ..Logitech mouse?Not the most powerful computer ever, but it certainly runs the three games I play on it.

good to see not everybody has a supercomputer OS: MS Windows XP SP3 (still!)CPU: Intel Core 2CPU @ 2,13 GHzMAINBD: Kentsfield?RAM: 2GB DDRRD: SATA 300int & 500ext GB, 2x PCI 250GB both, external USB 250GB, (Rigid Disk )DVD Rom / DVD -, writerGFX: NVIDIA GForce 7600GT PCIESND: Creative SB Live! and a turned off internal, i dont trust soundcards without at least a few discreet components.Input: of course a keyboard (crappy MS) and a mouse (of course logitech), Logitech Dual Action, Logitech WingMan Cordless, Logitech WingMan Formula Force Pro (a Wheel), oh i forgot one MS Sidewinder and another simple Logitech digital Pad. am i a octopus a scanner no two, one very old scsi, but hey res. is still as good as of the new only weight is 4x - full steel chassis, printer(s) and a JVC micro hi-fi attached to SB.and some flat HP 16/9 screen plus a old Sony 4/3, else i would sit in the dark SATA might be fast yes, but the plugs they gave them make it to a cheap crap, it isn't a proper connection! all this flat ass to ass connection, this is not electronic that's rubbish. a plug has to have a propper place to sit in, like male / female and not two female, it won't work! that's no technology it's cheap plastic crap. who ever is responsible for that, should return his title as engineer immidiatly!i mean a plug for a system relevant component that is cheaper as a USB connection? why they don't use simple cables sticked in a hole that's cheaper to. really that is no technology i hate it when i look at it. or even better glued on flat cables, i love them!sometimes i have a I/O error on my Internal SATA due to that!it might be fast but my system runs on trustable "slow" ATA with the good old heavy to plugin / plug out PCI connectiondue to that fact i can use SATA only for storing mediathere was once standarts for computer components and a good plug "cuts in" (even a USB does that) when connected, to grant it's functionality, you have older non system relevant components with far better connectivity, like the std serial, additionally fixed with two screws. but for SATA they forgot all these standarts, they not even cut in and tend to corrode, so it's a professionally weakened part you can say and failure is programmed.some additional RAM would fit i guesstalkin' about bottlenecks, processors the biggest of allisn't the FSB more important anyway?and let's talk about grandpa he's gettin' 60 soon. (x86 CPU)after all moving this large amount of data to a HD, only because of mem limit's of grandpa, it's no rel good solution, it works, but fails often. i repeat myself hm; one for mami one for daddy, one for gran... oh no...... shit start again one for mami, one for ahh damn' again.... one for mami and so onwe could revert to this that works good the same as

It everybody free choice how much they want to spent on there equipment. But with that also set's the limits the hardware can handle.It's a choice a 8600GT was cheap wen it was brand new. And I could play Farcry2 on 1920x1200 on low settings and still look nice. But I like more luxory and it became a GTX285+ 8600GT.And now have a other rig with 5870. I already have played DX11 Games wich use some off those new Testalation feature.Play games on high settings. That a choice of freedom each PC gamer has. But a console not. Spects are fix so most settings to.A Game PC you can make as cheap as you want or very expensive. And still have fun gaming.

At the end of the year I will be spec'ing out another machine, the kids complaining they can't play all the latest games. So now the slowest machine in the house will have a 8800GTS which is still a good card. My current rig will go to the wife which has a single 4890 and I have been thinking about going budget this time but also wanting to get DX11 as well and thought a card like this will be good...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125327 (will buy 2x of these)I know I have a few more months yet and I'm sure prices will drop so quality will rise. Was looking to spend around $300 total on the gfx. I wanted to try out crossfire to see if there is any real improvements.

[jk]I wand to stop this thread!!![/jk]Lol... I just feel bad reading this thread, on the one hand I'm glad you all have nice and shiny stacked boxes with the latest hardware, on the other hand... I'm crying in envy. I bought my PC five years ago, it was on the lower price range, onboard graphic (Radeo Xpress 200), 256 MB system ram (trust me, I feel cheated so I raided my brother's PC and grabbed another piece of 256 MB DDR, his was four years older than mine.)What can I say, it was a $200 deal...

CPU: Intel Core i7 930Memory: 4Gb of ddr3 ramHDD: OCZ Apex 120gb SSDGfx Card: GTX 480 Superclocked :)Snd Card:Integrated High definition Audio.Input/Joystick: Standard cheap Mouse and Keyboard, don't like the "New" mice with all these contours....

My current spec is ............ ferociously retro! They are, starting with my beloved Amiga 500+ with 1 meg RAM expansion and 1.3/2.04 ROM switcher, Amiga A1200 with 80 Meg HD, 68030 (with FPU) accelerator card and 8 Megs of fast ram, a CD32 totally standard except for 2 Competition Pro game pads and my A4000 with 24 Megs of fast ram, 3.1 Roms, a 4 Gig IDE card drive, an Indivision AGA card (for displaying native screen modes on modern monitors), a Cybervision card (for high res screen modes) and a Cyberstorm MkIII 68060.The 4000 though is presently away being repaired and I hope to get it back in fully working order soon. Dying to experience what OS 3.9 is like as it is the most advanced OS for classic Amigas. I also hope I can rescue some files from it's old Hard Drive. I have a very advanced Frontier Commander on there!Oh and last and most definitely least a crap PC, as to it's spec? Um,............it works and its not an Amiga!

I'm on my mom's school laptop, so it's nothing special.It's capable of modest gaming, though nothing worth drooling over.Current:CPU: 2.16ghz Celeron or Genuine Intel(R) CPU 585 @ 2.16GHz (DxDiag)Memory: 2gbHDD: 149gb Gfx Card: 1gb Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family (DxDiag)Snd Card SoundMAX HD AudioInput/Joystick: Small USB mouse + Integrated keyboard & Touch pad thing

17 x desktop 2.4Ghz single core up to core 2 duo 2.46 x laptops 1.4 - 1.6(I do a lot of multi client gaming.. as you might have guessed)Main rig:X1950XTX 512 - Core 2 Duo 2.4 - 3Gb Ram - Xp 32b - 3x 19" LCD - Triple Head 2 Go - TrackiR - SBLive! 1024 (still alive 'n' kicking!)Controllers:Saitek Pro Flight yoke / rudder pedals / throttle quadrant (yeah, am a bit of a flight sim buff also)Logitek G25 racing wheel / pedals / gear stickSaitek X52 Flight control system / throttle advance - MFDSaitek Cyborg 3D GoldMS Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro (for those evenings when I like to arm wrestle the computer)MS Sidewinder Strategic Commander (never could figure out how to use that bloody thing)Saitek MegaGrip VIII (Jeez, I still HAVE that?)Internet:50Mb Cable primary with 8Mb DSL secondaryOh.. and my DL380 server with UPS but that is only for special occasions.Not to mention boxes of sound / graphics / ethernet cards / AT ATX PSUsHEY, PEOPLE.. if you NEED anything.. let me know.. I can probably send it to you for free!!

Workstation:
Code: CPU: 4x Opteron-8354 Memory: 16GB (8x 2GB) HDD: 250GB Gfx Card: 9500GT Snd Card: Audigy Input/Joystick: Mouse/Keyboard Monitor: 2x SyncMaster 204B
Server:
Code: CPU: 2x Opteron 280 Memory: 8GB (8x 1GB) HDD: 4x500GB Gfx Card: FX5500 Snd Card: No sound Input/Joystick: Monitor:

Got some nice rigs there Simbad. I wouldn't mind a server myself to maybe host some games for SSC, but not sure on how much bandwidth that would suck up for my home connection because everyone uses the web here and lots of streaming tv