[PhoxHound]

Anyone else into custom computers? My beloved custom rig as of now is:

Apevia X-Telstar Jr. Case (Red)
Asus M3A32-MVP Motherboard
AMD Phenom X4 9950 2.6GHz (don't have case room to add better coolers, hence no overclocking)
800 watt PSU
ATI Radeon 4870
2GB OCZ 1066MHz Dual-channel DDR2 RAM
DVD+-RW drive w/ LightScribe
CD+-RW/DVD-ROM drive
500GB Western Digital HDD
Windows Vista Home Premium 32
Samsung SyncMaster 226cw LCD monitor
Logitech G15 keyboard
Saitek Cyborg Mouse
last but not least...
Creative Xmod!

 

[Arainach]

I assemble my own desktops simply to ensure that I always have quality components. However, since I've fallen away from PC gaming, I've moved more towards laptops as my primary machines, which you can't easily custom-build. Also, the need for >500W PSUs for modern gaming rigs is obscene, so I seriously doubt I'll ever upgrade to another gaming desktop past my current one (done from memory; I built it a few years ago, so it may not be totally accurate)

AMD Athlon64 X2 4800+
2GB RAM
Asus SLI motherboard
eVGA 7950GT 512MB
Craploads of Hard Drives (I forget the total capacity - 2 or 3 internal 250GB drives, a 400GB internal, a 250GB external, and a 750GB external)
Antec Sonata II Case
Dell 2001FP 20" 4:3 LCD

I also built the desktops that my parents currently have (an Athlon XP 2800+/2GB RAM rig for my dad, an Athlon64 3500+/2GB RAM rig for my mother).

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Setting up custom computers is a big part of my business. I really love setting up systems that I know will outperform off-the-shelf boxes regardless of the metric. Watching people react when they start up a <20dBA system is quite fun, as many are shocked that a computer doesn't have to be loud.

My current system (which unfortunately, I haven't taken any pictures of in quite a while):

Asus P5K Deluxe Wifi-AP
Intel C2D E8400 @3.6GHz 1.175v
4GB Corsair DDR2-800
Thermalright Ultra-120
ECS 9600GT w/Accelero S2
Asus Quietrack 20X DVD+-R
Samsung HD501LJ
Western Digital WD10EACS
Corsair VX550 (fan swapped to Scythe S-Flex F)
Antec P182 (2x S-Flex E, 1x Slipstream 500RPM)

 

[joshd]

Yeah.

C2D E4300 @ 3.2GHz (Tuniq Tower)
Gigabyte 965P DS3
2GB Geil Ultra (444MHz, 5-5-5-15)
2900Pro (850/999)
Xonar D2
2x250GB, 1x500GB SATAs
Antec 300 case
OCZ GameXStream 600W

EDIT: might as well slam a pic up:

 

[Khanate]

Well I built my own comp a few years ago.. its very loud.. so I'll post the specs of my laptop

2.26ghz dual core intel
4gb ddr3 ram
geforce 9800 GTS
200 gb 7200 rpm hdd

 

[JamesL]

I build my own, but only for the sake of getting what I need. I don't play any computer games, and don't run processor-demanding applications, so I built myself a cheapie.
abit p35e, 2gb crucial 800mhz, hd3850, wd 320gb, lianli case, re-branded psu(solid quality though), with some quiet fans.
Came out to under $1200 with a Dell 2407wfp in '07.

 

[compuryan]

I play games from time to time but when I built this, I really focused on making it quiet so I could use it to keep all my music on.

Intel E7200 (2.53ghz)
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L
2GB GeiL DDR2 1066mhz
ECS 8800GT 512MB
500GB Hitachi hard drive
Creative Audigy 2ZS
OCZ 500w PSU
Lian-Li PC-7b case

 

[Seaside]

Former system build I am, I always biild my own for last 20 years or so. I do not feel like I need better computer for myself since 2004. Thus, mine is quite old, just enough for what I am doing with it.

DFI Lanparty NT4 Ultra, AMD 3000+, 1G DDR, Nvidia 6600, About 1TB of HDDs, DVD-RW, FSP 450W PSU in cooler master case.

 

[david21]

I used to built my own system a few years ago and kept upgrading the parts every 1 1/2 years (mainly for gaming

). But now, since I very rarely play games anymore, I bought a laptop and sold off my beloved custom rig. Oh the good times!

 

[Jubei]

I have built 3 systems so far - can't say I am too fussy or competent at it, but beats buying crappy budget pre-made PCs. A friend once bought an Acer budget desktop and it was a disaster, crashing even on just surfing the web.

I have just fixed a broken PC and installed my first Ubuntu onto it. Beats paying $$ for an OS.

 

[nor_spoon]

I like searching for components of quality and which plays well together. Does not have to be the most fancy. Better off with stability. Building is part of the fun. On my current PC, I focused on it being quiet, and it works like a charm.

Computer specs are:
Asus Commando mainboard
Q6600 (G0) CPU
Corsair 620HX
4x 1024 Crucial Ballistix PC8500
Asus Nvidia 8800Ultra Graphics card
2x Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD
1x Samsung 1Tb F1
Lian Li 6070B-Scand
Nocturnal/Mist fans
Thermaltake Big Typhoon CPU cooler
Sunbeam Rheobus fan-controller

 

[Zodduska]

I've been building my own for almost 15 years now. I was pretty awe struck to find what reading a motherboard manual can do for ones knowledge of assembling a PC.

Im a gamer but I also sacrifice a tiny bit of OC to take the silent route as IMHO it's far more elegant than a pc that sounds like a jet taking off.

currently:
Abit IP35Pro
Q6600 B3 @ 3200MHz 1.37V (TRUE120)
Ballistix 2GB PC2-8500 @ 400MHz 4-4-4-12 1T
EVGA 8800GTS 640MB @ 621 x 1000MHz
Corsair 620HX
500GB WD Caviar SE16 suspended isolation
Scythe S-Flex 120s on a zalman 6 fan controller
Lian-Li PC60 (bought it when it first came out, I've lost track of how many MB have been through this case)
Cherry G84-4100 compact keyboard
Razer DeathAdder
IBM P275 21" Trinitron
Audigy2 ZS - Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 Ultra
Windows Vista Ultimate 64Bit

and I'm a PC.

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Setting up custom computers is a big part of my business. I really love setting up systems that I know will outperform off-the-shelf boxes regardless of the metric. Watching people react when they start up a <20dBA system is quite fun, as many are shocked that a computer doesn't have to be loud.

I enjoy the hardware part, the bios tweaking software part, not to much.

Although I go a little bit further than most with hardware tweaks. My hardware dual booth switch still works perfectly. (after we figured out the SATA mess).

My current workstation specs:
Abit IP35Pro
Intel C2D E8400 @3.6GHz w/ Scythe Mini Ninja Cooler (no fan)
8GB Patriot DDR2-800
PNY GeForce 8600GT modded w/ Aerocool VM-101 passive heatpipe cooler (no fan)
Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB, removed from Icepack base, inside Scythe 2.5" Enclosure, suspended in NoVibes III.
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB
Cheap Laptop DVD Drive
2x S-Flex E 120mm fans
Antec Phantom 350 PSU

Dual Hardware Boot Set Up:
Windows Vista Home Premium x64 (Velociraptor)
Windows Vista Ultimate x86 (WD3200AAKS)
Shared Data Drive (WD6400AAKS)

-Ed

 

[olblueyez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif I enjoy the hardware part, the bios tweaking software part, not to much. Although I go a little bit further than most with hardware tweaks. My hardware dual booth switch still works perfectly. (after we figured out the SATA mess). My current workstation specs: Abit IP35Pro Intel C2D E8400 @3.6GHz w/ Scythe Mini Ninja Cooler (no fan) 8GB Patriot DDR2-800 PNY GeForce 8600GT modded w/ Aerocool VM-101 passive heatpipe cooler (no fan) Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB, removed from Icepack base, inside Scythe 2.5" Enclosure, suspended in NoVibes III. Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB Cheap Laptop DVD Drive 2x S-Flex E 120mm fans Antec Phantom 350 PSU Dual Hardware Boot Set Up: Windows Vista Home Premium x64 (Velociraptor) Windows Vista Ultimate x86 (WD3200AAKS) Shared Data Drive (WD6400AAKS) -Ed

Lucky you, go both ways.

 

[eightbitpotion]

-Q6600 G0 @ 3.8
-2x 1gig Kingston HyperX 6400 OCed to like 930mhz in dual channel
-Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
-Swiftech liquid cooling with one 120mm radiator
-8800GT with a Zalman sink/pipe setup OCed to 760mhz (yeah...that's right) and 1.001ghz at the memory...I need some ramsinks badly.
-Corsair 650w PSU
-swapping between an E-MU 1212m and an Audigy 2...depending on if I'm in a gaming mood or a music mood.
-Samsung F1 750gig HDD
-Razer Boomslang

-Some random, EXTREMELY tiny and VERY shallow laptop-ish keyboard I found from fries for 10 bucks...it wins.


I can hit some extremely hard numbers in synthetics- about 1700 in 3Dmark06, and I can run prime95 all day without a hiccup. My cpu temps idle at 33C and go all the way up to 46C after a few hours in Prime95. I'm planning on getting a northbridge waterblock in the future- should be able to push beyond 4ghz without a problem hopefully.