New system, the result of 4 years of hard work.

[vgdarkstar]

I graduated college recently, and got a great job, I'm a network tech for quite a few different hospitals in MI. Anywho, new system.

Core i7 920 @ 3.8GHz (currently, stability not thoroughly tested yet)
ASUS P6T6 Revolution motherboard
12GB G.Skill DDR3 1600
Nvidia GTX295
Silverstone 1000W PSU
Thermaltake Armor case
3x 22" Acer LCDs
Nvidia 8800GT (dedicated PhysX and to enable the 3rd LCD)
Mix 'n matched HDDs totally 2.7TB (will be replaced eventually)


I'll get some pictures up when I get home, I've painted the whole case black, put in a sweet UV/orange reactive, lighting setup, with chrome fans too.

21000 3Dmark06
24000 3Dmark05

I still have to download and run Vantage, I'll be getting another GTX295 in a couple months or so, I'd like the extra performance (this system is a "go big or go home" kinda thing) but I have trouble with the 8800GT + the GTX295 when it comes to SLI mode and the 3 monitors, whenever I reboot it defaults to only 2 monitors, and I have to go back into the settings, disable SLI mode, set the 3rd LCD to attached, then re-enable SLI mode for the GTX295. A minor thing really.

Later on I'm going to buy an Areca RAID controller with the intel IOP348, hook up 8 SSDs, and RAID0 them for the OS and games, 1-1.2GB/s read, and ~800MB/s write speeds.

I hope to set up a decent sized RAID5 array for Movies, TV shows, ISOs, all that stuff, I'm thinking about waiting for the new Seagate 7200.12 1TB drives, get 5 of those for this array.

Lastly, again, later on a decent 42-46" 1080p TV to hang above the whole thing...

It's all named Ulor (mythical winged wolf), or "The command center" as my buddies have affectionately dubbed it.

 

[merlinbadman]

He he nice one. Thats the first thing I did when I left uni, splurge on a new machine!

Does the 8800 actually make any difference? I have a 280GTX and wondered if it was worth getting a lower 2nd card for PhysX.

 

[vgdarkstar]

I haven't really tried, I -just- got everything working saturday (make sure you get the january BIOS revision if you buy the ASUS revolution) I was having all sorts of slowness on the old BIOS.

Not even sure of a good way to benchmark PhysX.

 

[aevm]

You're playing with fire there. nVidia has only certified 3 PSUs so far for GTX 295 SLI, and all of them are 1200W.
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

You're using a 1000W PSU for two GTX 295 cards and an 8800GT and a bunch of hard disks. It might work, but you're pushing it.

 

[shiftstealth]

let him push it he has the money it seems.

 

[vgdarkstar]

I've done the math, once I get the 2nd GTX295, I'm taking out the 8800GT, it'll end up being just under 600W for the graphics, ~130-150 for the cpu, and enough for the rest, not a whole ton of headroom once it's finished, but enough.

 

[aevm]

Yeah, if you take out the 8800GT it's safer. The PSU will work at 80% or more under load, but it's a good PSU and I think it's OK.

 

[vladtepes]

Cheap solution http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153070

 

[aevm]

Do you mean using two PSUs? Yeah, but where do you put the second one...

 

[vladtepes]

Do you mean using two PSUs? Yeah, but where do you put the second one...

Its a PSU for GPUs only, this specific model requires 2 5 1/4 bays. I have the 450w model that works like a charm

 

[aevm]

Cool!!! I thought it was a normal PSU, my bad. Yeah, if that 1000W PSU doesn't do the job he should add this thing.

I wonder if he does have two free bays, what with the 8 SSDs and 5 HDDs

 

[vladtepes]

Cool!!! I thought it was a normal PSU, my bad. Yeah, if that 1000W PSU doesn't do the job he should add this thing.

I wonder if he does have two free bays, what with the 8 SSDs and 5 HDDs

Drive Bays 11
Front Accessible 4 x 5.25",
2 x 3.5"
Internal 5 x3.5"

 

[aevm]

Oops... He's already 2 over the limit. I'd love to see a photo of the inside when this build is put together...

 

[vgdarkstar]

I've got room for 8 HDDs total on the front right now, 10 minus one for the 6 channel fan controller I have, and minus one for the optical drive. I'm not sure how I'll be mounting the SSDs just yet, but I know it won't be 1 per 5.25/3.5 bay, since there are converters out there for 2.5" SSDs.

I already mostly gave up on wire management, it's not bad, but that PSU has so many cables, it's nuts, I'll put up pictures in 2 or so hours.

 

[vgdarkstar]

LCDs

Cable "management"

Before the new hardware went in

CPUZ

 

[vgdarkstar]

Eh, edit didn't work, here's a screenshot (warning: big)
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f339/VGDarkstar/Ulordesktop02.jpg

 

[aevm]

Impressive

 

[foolycooly]

good god...how does it stay stable there on air when all those cables are in the way?

 

[vgdarkstar]

CPU temps are about 68ºC when I'm running SETI@home on all cores, it gets warm, airflow is decent, I have another 120 to put in, just have to spraypaint my second HDD tray and mount it.

On another note, runny Supreme commander FA dual monitor, and crysis, at the same time. (completely pointless, but neat)

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f339/VGDarkstar/supcomcrysis.jpg