PC went bust...

[deeaa]

My motherboard said bye bye finally. It's been acting up like 6 months already, and I was gonna upgrade the machine by xmas anyhow, so now it just got a bit earlier.

Here's what I'm putting together probably on Tuesday...not top notch but carefully selected for best bang for buck, and all parts I could find sensibly made by ASUS:

(new stuff)
i5 2500K SandyBridge cpu, 3.3Ghz (should go up to 4Ghz quite easily and challenge even the fastest Extreme i7's, but should be great bang for buck even at default)
Asus 8P67 mobo
Kingston HyperX 1600Mhz 8gb kit (sandy bridge optimized)
Asus DVD-RW 24x
(and the following I already have here, ripped off the old machine carcass)
Asus Nvidia GT450 passive-cooled 1Gb displaycard
Dual PSU's in a CoolerMaster Stacker tower
64GB SSD drive with w/ 64bit Win7
2x Western Digital 1G drives (one internal one external on eSata)
1x Western Digital 2G drive (external USB, for backups)

The new parts cost about 400€. Mastercard to the rescue...will eat macaroni the next few months I fear :-(

The interesting part will be to see if the w7 installation boots up nice with completely new motherboard etc...

 

[Eric]

Looks good. Sorry your old one bit the dust. Have you considered a Z68 motherboard instead of the P67? I haven't read much in-depth stuff on the comparison, but I do know that Z68 is the newest chipset and I don't think it has a lot of negatives when compared against the P67.

 

[Beerman]

I love ASUS MB's and have built many.
I agree with Eric, it may be a bit more costly but the Z68 looks to be 'The One'.

 

[Tig]

That sucks. I might have to go the same route after I lost my hard drive a few weeks ago. The tower PC is about 4+ years old, so a new populated mother board is needed as well.

The good news is I stored most of our important data on a second SATA drive.

 

[Tibernius]

I've been doing a lot of research into PCs recently (building another one myself at the end of the year, hopefully) and I agree with Eric - get a Z68 motherboard. IIRC the CPU can't be overclocked properly unless you're using a Z68 or one of the others...can't remember which one though.

 

[Duffy]

Deeaa, too bad about the computer. Re-using your present hard drive with Windows 7 already on it - is that the way to avoid having to buy a complete new operating system and other programs? Will that copy of Windows 7 automatically run on that motherboard without recognizing it as a new machine and locking you out? Sounds like that should be a nice computer when you are done.

My computers have 500G and above hard drives. I notice you are using a small capacity one but yet are doing some fairly intense tasks with some serious programs. Do you think this is enough hard drive memory?

By the way, I have had no problems using AVG free anti virus. It locks down any potential viruses and such in real time and has been super smooth to use and automatically removes most threats without even having to intervene. I like it better than McAfee or Norton which I think slow my computers down - I dumped them and put AVG on both of my relatively new computers.

Are those other small memory units thumbdrives? I have a thumbdrive I put all my pictures on for archiving and taking to the place to get prints made. I guess you could put recorded music on one as well if it has enough capacity.

Good luck with that build.

 

[bcdon]

I wouldn't bother with the SSD unless it was pretty inexpensive as the performance really isn't worth the premium. Sounds like a nice system.

 

[deeaa]

The p67 & Z67 differ basically in only one aspect - the z67 uses the CPU onboard graphics chip by intel.
It's the best choice for basic use systems since you don't need a graphics adapter with it, but for games and graphics upgrade options the P version is more sensible, as you can use SLI and upgrade the graphics later too. (In my old machine I upgraded the graphics adapter for games three times over its lifespane after all...I intend to use this machine too for years to come).

Had I built an entirely new machine I would have considered getting the z but since I already have a good new graphics card, GT450 passive with 1G of fast RAM, it made more sense to get the P version. H version is a no-no, since it doesn't allow overclocking. But, I think it may be possible to employ the internal GPU of the CPU for calculations in video edit anyhow, even if not used for actual graphics.

Also, the P versions are shipping 3rd revision by now with 'baby bugs' already ironed out, while with Z's you may run into some issues still, it's not quite as tried and tested yet.

I did still think of it much, getting a Z I mean, because right now I'm longing for a 3rd display...I have a 27" main monitor and a 21" on the side but I'd like a third one so I could for instance always keep the mixer & spectrum analyzer in view in it...so I may have to add a secondary display adapter too...any cheap NVidia will do, and some small monitor.

Harddrives, yes, the SSD disk is a small but quick one I got relatively cheaply. It's roughly double the speed of conventional drives, and for instance windows boot is mere couple of seconds with it. But I do have four terabytes of conventional disks too, not gigs... (2x1T and 1x2T WD's...I accidentally put a G there instead of T, LOL...) the 64G is well enough for windows and all applications, but I keep all the actual data and work files on other disks.

Hard to find good& cheap SSD's and many aren't even faster than regular disks...you want something that both loads and writes at well above 200megs at all times for it to be worth it. My normal HD's peak at around 100Mb/s but generally only output ~90.

Used to use RAID arrays and changed the drives every year...now I have this system that I have only 1T internal, which houses all my music etc. work, and all my video stuff and documents I keep on an eSata drive so I can easily grab that with me. And then I back up to a 2Tb USB drive. Next year or so I'm swapping the drives around & sell the oldest ones...the idea is that I always buy and sell one HD a year, and move them up the queue. That way I always have a brand new disk in hardest use, and always have drives still under warranty even as I sell them.

In my PC 'career' I must have built at least 2 dozen systems, and I have suffered a LOT of harddrive failures...whenever a HD gets over 3 years old I do not trust it to hard use or for data safekeeping. It might last much longer but experience has shown that it just makes sense to not keep drives over 3 years old ever, if you want to make sure they won't fail.

RAID arrays help with HD longevity, despite the popular belief...that's because they share the workload and have to work much less hard. They only give a 50% boost in speed but that means that each drive only has to work at 75% of maximum to provide it...I've measured 20 degree celsius differences in operating temp when used for same tasks in RAID and as separate drives. But these days HD's are quick enough anyway and if you change them often, no worries.

Back in the late 90's it was terrible...I used to send 1-2 harddrives back for warranty every year minimum. When I started arranging them to RAID arrays, they suddenly started lasting even in heavy multitracking use. Back then it was not that common to run 40+ multiracks off regular desktop HD's, LOL

 

[deeaa]

The case looks so empty now...it's been getting emptier and emptier year by year really.
Gone are the days of several add-on cards and half a dozen HD's and several optical drives...now it's down to 1 optical 2 internal drives so the huge Stacker case seems like complete overkill. Maybe I should swap it for some smaller case really...but it's a joy to work on with plenty of room every way. BabyATX mobos look like postage stamps in the case though, LOL...

 

[Eric]

The p67 & Z67 differ basically in only one aspect - the z67 uses the CPU onboard graphics chip by intel.
It's the best choice for basic use systems since you don't need a graphics adapter with it, but for games and graphics upgrade options the P version is more sensible, as you can use SLI and upgrade the graphics later too. (In my old machine I upgraded the graphics adapter for games three times over its lifespane after all...I intend to use this machine too for years to come).

Makes sense. I use the onboard GPU in my computer now (similar to yours -- i5 2500k), and it generally works fine. I was thinking more along the lines that P67 doesn't seem to offer a much in the way of features that aren't also available in Z68, Z68 is the more recent chipset, it came out post-recall, etc. I just wasn't sure if P67 offered any real advantage.

Regardless, I hope it works out well for you. What's that box on the top left of your case? I would guess it's a power supply, but I see your power supply is on the lower left.

 

[deeaa]

Nope, no real advantage over z definitely, except price...z is ~100 bux more and I don't have any use for the extra function.

There's two psus, one on top one down below. They're connected, though, so they start and turn off as supposed to in tandem. One of them basically powers the motherboard and the other all the drives.

I've had so many psu's die on me over the years I went for a dual setup for that reason.

 

[deeaa]

Well, everything works smmooooth now...and no more weird problems detecting USB devices etc. it seems.

I decided to re-install everything though, took me a full working day and then some, but at least now things are better than ever.
The most work was in configuring MIDI devices like the Shuttle jog wheel and Korg keyboards to work with Cubase, but that was sorted out well enough.

The ASUS mobo has this automatic overclocking system that runs a few boots and decides upon values that work stable, and it adjusted the system to run at 4.3Ghz and 1648Mhz memory clock in extreme timing mode. Should be speedy enough for a PC now I've let it be on all day and done defragging and tested some 3D games and HD videos and whatnot, and it doesn't seem to heat up or anything at this clock yet, despite the original fan. Pretty impressive - that's likely more oomph than in the $999 i7 extreme@normal clock! Not bad at all for a $200 cpu indeed.

Funny though, there is no big difference to how the core2 worked in regular Windows use...sure it's smooth but it used to be just as smooth. The only real difference I notice is that rendering/exporting songs from Cubase go wayyyy faster, like they should. Probably also HD video renders will be much quicker, and also with 8GB+1GB ram mvideo clips also fit better in main memory which should speed up editing a bit.

 

[deeaa]

Meanwhile, squirrels are having a field day on my balcony:

 

[deeaa]

An update...recycling old parts:

I built this from the old parts to be my 'livingroom media PC'. Got a case and some small stuff needed for free, paid 30€ for a used 1TB drive.
Underclocked the Core 2 to 2.7Ghz and only using 2G of ram now, Xp Pro and the passive ATI 1G HD card I also underclocked some. S/Pdif out to home theatre.

It's now working fine without any extra gear & very silent with just one slow fan in. Good for a media PC....won't install much anything than media player and browser software on it.

Will be using it to download movies etc, Spotify, Youtube etc. for which it's quite powerful enough even underclocked.
It's on the network 24/7 and I adjusted the downloads to 300kb/max which doesn't bother other network use at home, but is enough to even D/L several HD movies overnight still. Much better than using my main PC on so much and transferring films etc. on USB drives to be watched in the livingroom.

I have this crappy MS bluetooth keyboard/mouse for it, but if and when I use this much, methinks I might get some sort of a good keyboard with a trackball on it. And now I can sell my Western Digital HD mediaplayer, this does it all and more!

 

[Tig]

Cool move for the media system.
I was considering the WD HD media player, but since I have only one smart TV, it may not be useful. Then again, my little laptop drive and USB converter is acting up.

 

[deeaa]

Smart TV? What's that? I'm using it with a standard Panasonic plasma.

Come to think of it, I haven't used a TV for anything but a monitor for other devices since 1991...I'm totally out of loop for TV features, it's just a monitor for me and everything comes from various other devices. I don't think I even have the remote for it no more, a Logitech remote is all I need.

 

[Tig]

I should have said "smart monitor". "TV" is a generic term old farts like me still use. It has a direct connection to the internet for downloading movies, etc. It has it's own digital tuner like most new monitors, and I use it for the PC. Also, you can plug a portable USB drive into it and run movies from there.

 

[guitartango]

I have converted an old PC into a media player using the following software http://xbmc.org. Originally made for the xbox but now converted to the pc. You can download a "live" version which will not touch your hard drive, you can even start a film using a web browser. This is one cool piece of software which I would recommend.

 

[deeaa]

Tig - ah yeah, I see what you mean. Then it does all that the WDTV does already

 

[deeaa]

Gt- I've been looking at the xbmc thing and I can't really get the grasp of it. Is it merely an OS kind of, and you have to acquire the media around it somehow, or how do you get the content in it?

It does look very polished, but I'm not a fan of graphical interfaces really...I mean, of course there has to be something, not a fan of command line either, but I don't want pictures, animations, and a neat setup, I just want to be able to simply use torrent clients and a browser and play any file I have on HD. That's why I don't use any players like Mediaplayer or such, I just use a foobar and VLC...whatever gets the job done. For instance I hate the way XBOX works with all kinds of menus, just as the WD player; I'd just prefer a simple list of what it can do and just go straight to content. Even in Windows I keep an empty gray desktop and disable any and all effects and such and 'nice' icons etc...just use a list view because I want to see the suffixes and creation dates etc. of all files at all times, plus a complete path where it is on HD. But yeah, just the content would be good. I can't stand games either that have all kinds of stupid cutscenes and intro videos and whatnot...just give me the beef and skip the damned slow dialogs and videos, LOL...that's why I hardly ever watch DVD's any more, I can't stand looking at all the damned intros and warnings for a minute before I get to selecting (good grief) what I want to watch...and who ever needs any 'extras' on films anyway??? Sheesh. Anyway.

Now, if the xbmc system can do it all within the GUI, then it'd be good, but if it's just for launching media and you have to acquire the media somehow into it around the system, no thanks. It'd just be something to show to friends like 'look how nice' but never really use it.