Craig's Build (Revised 12/3/09)

[Craig]

well since you have had some time to play with your new set up is there anything you would change???

i am about to update m system too. i have almost the same OLD setup that you had, and i will be purchasing just about everything you bought and was hoping for your opinion before i purchase the same MB/ CPU.

have you honestly seen any big jump in performance from your old setup?
i tried looking up the onboard sound and could not find the answer, does it have DDL and DTS encoding? or just DD

thanks

I've only had one issue and that is with the HDMI. There is an issue some people are having where when you turn of the TV for about 10 minutes and turn it back on later the HDMI connection is no longer there and the only way to resolve it is to either restart the computer or adjust the resolution to force the HDMI to seek out the HDMI connection. It's a pain in the ass for sure. I've just recently found that they have a work around where you can just disable the ATI External detection utility service (or something like that) and that will take care of the issue temporarily. Supposedly ATI is suppose to address the issue in the New Catalyst Control Center.

I really wasn't looking for a performance boost from the old rig. I just wanted to get a more power efficient rig. Other than my ability to run COD 4 with all extras on this new rig runs extremely well. I can still play COD 4 just with everything turned to low or off.

The onboard sound only has DD and DTS as far as I can tell. It says you can get all the lossless HD Audio from Bluray and HDDVD, but that is only going to come from the S/PDIF connection and even that has some limitations on it I beleive. I'm not a sound expert, so I don't know these things 100%. Definitely not getting the Full lossless Audio on the HDMI, that is for sure. There is a DDL selection in the Realtek Audio manager, but if I turn it on I lose sound. I don't know what the deal is with that. I think I read it might be supported with additional software. Along with the other HD sound stuff.

http://www.gigabyte.fr/FileList/WebPage/mb_080421_amd780g/data/tech_080421_amd780g-overview.htm

What did you do with the old parts? I am about to update an old PC that I turned into a PVR that is four years old. Socket 754 2.0ghz amd, 1gb of ram, and a 6800gt agp card. I am just debating what I should do with the older parts that I take out...

I sold them on craigslist to a local guy.

[Miller]

I also hang on to some old parts becasue you never know when lighting or something else will come along and you'll need to pop in a new videocard or power supply for some reason.

[Craig]

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8401/fan-517/Noiseblocker_NB-Multiframe_M12-S2_120mmx25mm_Ultra_Silent_Fan_-_1250_RPM_-_19_dBA.html?id=39FikRKR&mv_pc=3339
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8399/fan-515/Noiseblocker_NB-Multiframe_M8-S3_80mm_x_25mm_Ultra_Silent_Fan_-_2200_RPM_-_19_dBA.html?id=39FikRKR&mv_pc=3340

I decided to spend some of my tax return on some high-end  fans. I have some Nexus fans which are good, but they don't have a range of operating voltage that allows me to use my fan controller that I bought a long time ago. So basically they are subject to one speed. I decided to try out some of these ridiculously overpriced Noise blocker fans. They have really low starting voltages and a wide operating voltage range,(among some other nice features including chassis design and bearings) so hopefully the work nicely with my fan controller. When they come in and get them set up I'll let everyone know if they are worth it. By the way, I'm going to be fabricating a 120mm fan hole on the lid of my LC17 case for the 120mm fan that I linked above.  I'll be pulling the last 80mm Silverstone stock fan out from the exhaust and blocking off that hole. Then I'll put in the 80mm NB fan that I bought in place of the Nexus fan and switch it to an intake to blow on my Scythe ninja mini since it is fanless. I'll take the NB 120mm fan and put on the lid as an exhaust. That will leave me with the 2 92mm intake fans in the front blowing on the HDD's, the one 80mm NB fan as an intake blowing on the CPU heatsink, and finally the 120mm NB fan as the one exhaust.
It will be a while since it will take me some time to get the hole cut into the case.

[Craig]

I finally got my new fans in. I updated the Original Post with some crappy pics.

[The Dude]

Nice mod that fan actually looks like it belongs there.

[Craig]

I bought a few things and moved my setup around a bit. I added an update to the bottom of the first post with a few pics.

[Craig]

I've updated the first post with a metric-ass-ton (slightly more than an butt load) of build images and screen shots.

[Miller]

Looks real nice. Good pics!