[gradofan1]

  You don't need to run your heat in the winter either, I take it?
I love my Mac Pro 3,1 (2 quad Xeons, 3 SSDs, 2HDDS, 2 optical drives, 16GB RAM...), but boy is it ever unbearable to sit near in the summer months... Thinking I might scale down once this one gives up the ghost... Which is a shame, my computer graveyard is full of Apple towers - G3, G4, and G5. Other than that, I haven't owned a laptop since my first-gen MacBook (Core Duo), and that thing was a piece of crap. I don't think the original Core processors were great, and the transition to Intel and new hardware brought with it some expected snags, but that machine and I had some fights. But I did manage to run both FCP and Avid on it, and it got me through school as my secondary machine, and still technically runs so... Can't complain too much!

Actually my Mac Pro 4,1 doesn't overheat at all... they're not supposed to, your 3,1... maybe your fan is broken, or add cooling agent?
 
And yeah, the tower Mac Pro's are a classic! Glad to find someone here with another one.. I wish I could afford the new one that looks like Darth Vader.. 

 

[gradofan1]

  You don't need to run your heat in the winter either, I take it?
I love my Mac Pro 3,1 (2 quad Xeons, 3 SSDs, 2HDDS, 2 optical drives, 16GB RAM...), but boy is it ever unbearable to sit near in the summer months... Thinking I might scale down once this one gives up the ghost... Which is a shame, my computer graveyard is full of Apple towers - G3, G4, and G5. Other than that, I haven't owned a laptop since my first-gen MacBook (Core Duo), and that thing was a piece of crap. I don't think the original Core processors were great, and the transition to Intel and new hardware brought with it some expected snags, but that machine and I had some fights. But I did manage to run both FCP and Avid on it, and it got me through school as my secondary machine, and still technically runs so... Can't complain too much!

Also, how did you get 3 SSD's and 2 HDD's in? There are only 4 HDD bays... I'm looking to get a 1TB SSD for my 4,1 Mac Pro as soon as it hits below $300... 
 
Btw, b/c this thread was started in 2007, in retrospect, it's hilarious to look at the people talking about their "TOTL" machines at the time. "2GB RAM????" OMGGG!!!
 
But I'm sure it'll be like that in another 7 years. Lol.

 

[brhfl]

  Also, how did you get 3 SSD's and 2 HDD's in? There are only 4 HDD bays... I'm looking to get a 1TB SSD for my 4,1 Mac Pro as soon as it hits below $300... 
 
Btw, b/c this thread was started in 2007, in retrospect, it's hilarious to look at the people talking about their "TOTL" machines at the time. "2GB RAM????" OMGGG!!!
 
But I'm sure it'll be like that in another 7 years. Lol.

4 in bays, 1 in PCI slot. Was meaning to upgrade the SATA backplane, distracted myself with the slotted SSD instead, hah!
 
I'm assuming the 4,1 has an acceptable carrier for the optical drives? And they come SATA? Because the 3,1... well, it's a well-designed case, except for the optical bays. IDE, for one thing, but because of the length of the cable and the way the carrier slides in, the cable is nearly impossible to keep safe, gets chewed up by the carrier. Finally tore the whole thing apart earlier this year and swapped out the IDE cables for SATA (there are unused ports on the motherboard), and that was my best upgrade - for performance? No... for frustration, yes!
 
Anyway, my 3,1 doesn't overheat, it's just an extremely hot-running machine. That is, I haven't had heat-related issues, except sitting near it is miserable. I have heard that the 3,1 was the hottest-running iteration of the machine. The RAM area specifically, for whatever reason. But, no, everything is working as it should, and I tear the thing down every so often and clean all the fans, get the dust out of... everywhere... and so on. Keep tabs on all the fans and such. It's just... a hot one.
 
Edit: Additionally, while I haven't gone this route, you can get sleds that hold 2 SSDs, and run one off of a SATA port on the mobo while the other hits the backplane as normal.

 

[darkswan]

CM Xornet is my budget mouse of choice, was $10 each two days ago. 

X2
I've had mine for 2 years with no issue and works great. I play alot of games too. Paid $15

 

[TomKure]

My main rig, just upgraded it with new CPU, MB, RAM and SSD's about a week ago:
 
MB: Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming GT (great sound from that OPA2134 on the board)
CPU: Core i5 4690K (OC'ed to 4.6GHz on 1.213V, with Thermalright HR-02 Macho cooler)
RAM: 16GB 2400MHz Kingston HyperX Beast (2x8GB)
GPU: MSI nVidia GTX 770 TwinFrozr OC
PSU: Seasonic G-Series 450W (might look weak just 450W but it manages just great)
Windows 8.1 SSD: Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB
Fedora 20 SSD: Crucial MX100 512GB
Data HDD's: 2x Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM HDD (both 2-platter version)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922
Optical drives: 1x Samsung DVD writer, 1x LG DVD-ROM (bought the DVD-ROM because it reads CD's up to 48x, the Samsung just 40x)
Display: 24" fullHD TFT-TN Samsung S24C300
 
 
The on-board audio on the Gigabyte mobo is just great. Not as good as the Schiit stack or the EMU 0404 USB (see my signature), but easily one of the best on-board audio solutions available. The Realtec ALC1150 is mediocre but that OPA2134 OPAMP sure has balls.
Also, the dedicated USB 2.0 ports for DACs are excellent, my Modi now has 10dB higher SNR than with my prevous mobo (as measured by RMAA), and the main thing is that the noise which I was able to hear from the Modi/Magni stack when connected to the old mobo is now gone.
Now I'm just thinking of getting a new PSU, probably a 550W Be quiet! one to get some power headroom and less noise on the 5V rail for the DAC.
 
I recommend the new range of Gigabyte gaming mobos to anyone seeking great sound from the onboard audio or from a USB-powered DAC... just the Gigabyte's UEFI BIOS is not as great as ASUS's or MSI's...

 

[elbastardo]

Built a new one a few months ago. Uncle Sam was generous this year.
 

 
 
 
Asus PB278Q monitor
Fractal Design R4 case
Asus Maximus Hero VI motherboard
GSkill Ripjaw 8GBx2 1866MHZ RAM 
EVGA 780 ti GPU
Intel i7-4770k CPU 
Corsair HX750 PSU
Noctua NH-U14S CPU cooler
Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB SSD
Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB HDD
Filco Majestouch mechanical keyboard
Logitech G500s mouse

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

Being stuck with a Core Quad Q6600 and having intention to return to gaming, I'm starting to feel unhappy looking at all these awesome specs that you posted

 

[OmarCCX]

I've got a 4.5ghz 3570k and I'm already looking forward to upgrading to the 6 core i7 5820k in the future. Nothing's ever good enough ha

 

[whitedragon551]

  Being stuck with a Core Quad Q6600 and having intention to return to gaming, I'm starting to feel unhappy looking at all these awesome specs that you posted

 
Thats a fantastic CPU. Still very capable today. I have one sitting in an auto cad rig right now and I love it.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

 
Thats a fantastic CPU. Still very capable today. I have one sitting in an auto cad rig right now and I love it.

 

Yep quad-core FTW! Why buy a dual core i5 while I've still got a Quad core running in my rig.

I've got a 4.5ghz 3570k and I'm already looking forward to upgrading to the 6 core i7 5820k in the future. Nothing's ever good enough ha

 


Broadwell, right? I remember the huge disappointment when Haswell came out. Not that much about power anymore. It's "mobile first" now.

Anyway I think with limited budget, I'd upgradge my computer 2 or 3 years after each console generation (xbox, ps) come out. My Q6600 and Radeon HD5770 could still drive blockbuster games (like Crysis 3) to acceptable frame-rates until last year, when COD Ghosts quite handily defeated them at Medium settings. I think that most games are developed for console first, so buying a new rig 2 or 3 years after the xbox/playstation come out will maximize my investment.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[wahsmoh]

I got the Intel corei7 2600k and overclocked it to 4.2 ghz on air cooling. It is also stable and doesn't run hot. Sandy Bridge was a groundbreaking chip and Ivy Bridge didn't raise the gap nearly as much as the first gen did.

 

[OmarCCX]

Ghosts was such a lame game. I couldn't even run it on medium settings with a GTX 760 without any tearing. It was painful.

 

[nihilill]

It's a HPdv6 laptop with AMD a6 3410 and 6750m, upgraded to 4gb ram. It's been having heat issues so i'm in the process of some chassis hacks and CPU voltage tweaks. CPU right now seems happy at under a volt with stock clocks, once summer(40C ambient temps) arrive it'll probably need more messing with.
 

 

[boborone]

Pretty stoked about my new laptop I just ordered. ASUS Zenbook UX301la. Got the i7 2x256 GB raid 0 version. It's got onboard graphics and sound. But, it's a pretty stout lil ultrabook. Got a 2560 x 1440 13.3" touch screen and 8 GB RAM. I got it for portability.

My old i5 6 GB RAM HP DV7 weighs about 8 lbs and can't be unplugged anymore. Won't run on battery power. So its relegated to desktop duty. But still runs Elements and AutoCAD 2012 flawlessly.

But I'm about to change careers and get back into IT, so I wanted something I could throw in a bag and go off with ease. Can't wait till it gets here.

 

[darkswan]

  I've got a 4.5ghz 3570k and I'm already looking forward to upgrading to the 6 core i7 5820k in the future. Nothing's ever good enough ha

I'm sticking with my 3570K for the forseeable future
Even today they have yet to really improve on the 2500K even in terms of gaming. And the difference between that and even the Haswell-E chips is so marginal if overclocked a little.