So, for the past million and a half years, I've been using a completely obsolete, sorry excuse for a computer. It was a 2.4GHZ *Celeron* Dell with 128mb of RAM, 125W PSU, onboard graphics, and so on. Hell, I have a hunch that it even had an onboard motherboard. Even with the upgrades I put into it (GeForce 4 MX440 PCI and a 400W Antec PSU) it was mediocre. Now, though, I saved up some money and got myself a beastly computer. It was like upgrading from a Geo Metro to an Enzo Ferrari. Pics are captioned, enjoy!
PS: I'm installing four games, updating video/audio drivers, listening to music, editing pictures in Photoshop, and talking on AIM. Overall processor usage: 26% Temperatures: CPU: 14*C System: 38*C. As you can tell, I'm really excited. Hopefully you guys enjoy the pics.
PSS: I know I missed a few of the parts in the pics, so here they are: LiteON 20X SATA DVD Writer, 250GB Seagate Barracuda SATA HD.
Both packages. Centurion5 case and assorted goodies.
Inside of the case. Way bigger than my old Dell case.
Antec TruePower Trio 650W PSU.
Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R Mobo. DDR3 + 45nm support = love.
Motherboard with Zalman CNPS9700 CPU fan on it. I assumed it would be big, but I didn't think it would be gargantuan like this. I actually had to take the side vent off of the Centurion case. Underneath that mammoth is an Intel Core 2 Duo E6420, which will be overclocked in two weeks, from 2.13GHZ to an estimated 3.0GHZ. I want the Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste to kick in, as well as the Zalman and case fans, before I do anything risky like that.
Mobo lowered into the case. Originally, I installed the PSU first into the case, but because the fan was so big, I couldn't lower it safely while it was in there, so I had to remove it and put the mobo in first.
nVidia 7300GS! The worst feature, but that's okay. I'm getting an 8800GTS in 3 weeks, so I can live with this for now.
Sexual intercourse?
I couldn't unscrew the old HD, so I had to open both cases, put them side to side, and route the IDE connector + appropriate PSU wire from the new computer to the old one.
Computer up and running! I still needed to hide some of the wires and whatnot, but that's it running. The RAM is hard to see, but it's 2 gigs dual channel Corsair Twin XMS.
Phew, that's about it. What a relief it is to finally be able to play decent game. The step up from that 2.4GHZ Celeron was the most amazing feeling I've ever experienced. I installed Vista Ultimate in 7 minutes and ran a benchmark, scoring roughly ~ 5.8-6.0 on all aspects, minus the graphics, which was rated at 3.1.
While I was posting this, I had installed the following games:
SWAT4 + Expansion pack
HALO: Combat Evolved
Far Cry
Doom3
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
Deus Ex Invisible War
Call of Duty 2
All without a hiccup or a momentary slowdown, even with a point where I was installing four games at once. Man, I'm such a little kid, being all excited over this, but oh well, this is day one of it being up, so I might as well enjoy it
PS: I'm installing four games, updating video/audio drivers, listening to music, editing pictures in Photoshop, and talking on AIM. Overall processor usage: 26% Temperatures: CPU: 14*C System: 38*C. As you can tell, I'm really excited. Hopefully you guys enjoy the pics.
PSS: I know I missed a few of the parts in the pics, so here they are: LiteON 20X SATA DVD Writer, 250GB Seagate Barracuda SATA HD.
Both packages. Centurion5 case and assorted goodies.
Inside of the case. Way bigger than my old Dell case.
Antec TruePower Trio 650W PSU.
Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R Mobo. DDR3 + 45nm support = love.
Motherboard with Zalman CNPS9700 CPU fan on it. I assumed it would be big, but I didn't think it would be gargantuan like this. I actually had to take the side vent off of the Centurion case. Underneath that mammoth is an Intel Core 2 Duo E6420, which will be overclocked in two weeks, from 2.13GHZ to an estimated 3.0GHZ. I want the Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste to kick in, as well as the Zalman and case fans, before I do anything risky like that.
Mobo lowered into the case. Originally, I installed the PSU first into the case, but because the fan was so big, I couldn't lower it safely while it was in there, so I had to remove it and put the mobo in first.
nVidia 7300GS! The worst feature, but that's okay. I'm getting an 8800GTS in 3 weeks, so I can live with this for now.
Sexual intercourse?
I couldn't unscrew the old HD, so I had to open both cases, put them side to side, and route the IDE connector + appropriate PSU wire from the new computer to the old one.
Computer up and running! I still needed to hide some of the wires and whatnot, but that's it running. The RAM is hard to see, but it's 2 gigs dual channel Corsair Twin XMS.
Phew, that's about it. What a relief it is to finally be able to play decent game. The step up from that 2.4GHZ Celeron was the most amazing feeling I've ever experienced. I installed Vista Ultimate in 7 minutes and ran a benchmark, scoring roughly ~ 5.8-6.0 on all aspects, minus the graphics, which was rated at 3.1.
While I was posting this, I had installed the following games:
SWAT4 + Expansion pack
HALO: Combat Evolved
Far Cry
Doom3
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
Deus Ex Invisible War
Call of Duty 2
All without a hiccup or a momentary slowdown, even with a point where I was installing four games at once. Man, I'm such a little kid, being all excited over this, but oh well, this is day one of it being up, so I might as well enjoy it
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