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07-29-2003, 10:43 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilsonville, OR
Posts: 2,220
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First system!!! It rocks!
OK, while it isn't fully completed yet (needs RAM), I just built my first PC. It's the first time I have constructed a new one instead of ripping apart my aging Celeron 466/PCI GF2 MX400 combo. The specs, please:
XP 2500+ (Barton/333Mhz FSB)
Will have 512mb RAM for starters
BFG Asylum Ti 4200 128mb
Asus A7N8X Deluxe (Oooohhh yeah.... nForce2)
Maxtor 80GB 7200
XP Pro
LiteOn 40x12x48
Debating on wether to use my Audigy or not
When I first built it, I didn't have my RAM yet, so I yanked 2 128mb sticks of DDR266 out of a freinds PC, set the bus to an ungodly slow 200Mhz (for Durons only, hehe, because I didn't want to OC someone elses memory). My CPU speed then dropped from 1.83Ghz to 1.13Ghz (I think), because of the reduced FSB. All drivers/OS installs were smooth, and my first task was to install Warcraft III. It was beautiful, I could run it with AA on in 1024x768 (1280x1024 looks no different) with a super framerate. Next came Generals, and oh yeah, my freind was amazed because these were both his games that he could barely run. After that came a little Return To Castle Wolfenstien, but not before Counter-Strike with AA on.
What I plan on doing is replacing the VGA cooler on the video card with a Thermaltake CoolMod cooler, and add RAMsinks. Then I can overclock it to near- Ti 4600 levels, and probably get over 10,000 points in 3DMark2001SE up from 8,000 something.
No processor cores were cracked during the shaky installation of my Coolermaster X-Dream HSF, which was my main concern. I used ArcticSilver III of course, and learned just how hard it is to deal with. Especially when there is more on your fingers than the CPU.
I'll post more benchmarks when I get my RAM, so stay tuned!
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07-29-2003, 10:46 PM
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#2 (permalink)
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Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Georgia
Posts: 2,712
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OK, while it isn't fully completed yet (needs RAM), I just built my first PC.
| Feels good, doesn't it?  | |
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07-29-2003, 10:48 PM
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#3 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilsonville, OR
Posts: 2,220
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Totally, I can finally play games again!
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07-29-2003, 10:50 PM
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#4 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Midwest
Posts: 109
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Congrats!  It sounds great, & I'll b staying tuned 4 the RAM.
Phlatline
__________________
"It's not mankind I don't like, it's the people."
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07-30-2003, 07:46 PM
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#5 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilsonville, OR
Posts: 2,220
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OK, now that I bought 512mb of DDR400 from a freind (cheap stuff from TCWO.com), and raised my clock speed from 1.1xGhz something to 1.83Ghz, my 3DMark2001SE score went from 8207 to 8423. My bus also jumped from 200Mhz to 333Mhz, and the difference shows it.
More benchmarks need to be run, but I can tell you at 1152x864 I can run Jedi Outcast with Quincunx AA and get 70-80+ FPS. Counter-Strike (Counter-Suck?) also runs well with AA on, same with Warcraft III and Return To Castle Wolfenstien.
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07-31-2003, 04:56 AM
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#6 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: In the darkness
Posts: 151
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Be careful not to overclock too much, we don't want u burn yer mobo.  That's what happened to one of my friends and he learned a lesson. I never overclock, just too scared to do it!  | |
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08-01-2003, 09:48 PM
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#7 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilsonville, OR
Posts: 2,220
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No, that's the stock speed! Because my XP uses a default 11x multiplier, and I clocked the bus at 100mhz double pumped to 200mhz (for Durons), that equals 1.1Ghz. So when I bumped my FSB to 166mhz double pumped, that equals 333mhz on an 11x multiplier, so 1.83Ghz. Now I'm running 2 256mb sticks of DDR400 for hot dual-channel action curtousy of nForce2. Sweet!
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08-03-2003, 01:38 AM
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#8 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilsonville, OR
Posts: 2,220
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Sorry to double post, but the benchmarks apparently got screwed up, as I assume I had AA on during testing. The true, uncensored numbers are as follows:
Default clocks, default settings 3dmark2001se: 11178
Clock (core/ram) 250/500 (up from 250/444): 11569
Clock 275/500: 11716
Woohoo! 538 more points from a sissy overclock! Please note that the RAM in my vid card runs at 444mhz DDR as it is the 128mb version. The 64mb cards are clocked at 500mhz DDR, so I upped the speed back to where it should be. Then I bumped the core up 25mhz to see what I could do with stock cooling. The numbers show, and my next project will be to add RAMsinks and a replaced VGA cooler so I can safely go past 12000 in 3DMark.
The cooling in my case sucks right now, I have two windows which dissipate heat faster than steel, so that helps a tiny bit. But I lost the molex connectors for my intake fan, and the wire is too short to reach the fan header on my mobo, so I'm stuck with one exaust fan in my case until I replace it with a bouncy new one.
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08-03-2003, 03:03 AM
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#9 (permalink)
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Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 520
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Sweet, i'm hoping to get a new computer sometime in Nov.
Happy gaming .
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08-03-2003, 04:51 PM
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#10 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilsonville, OR
Posts: 2,220
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Right now I'm running at 305/545 and I have a 3DMark2001se score of 12110! That was the mark that I wanted to get over.
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