Markel
04-27-2009, 11:07 PM
Well, the Athlon 64 3200+ / ASUS K8V Deluxe system that I got in an incredible deal back in August, 2004 (via this thread (http://www.gotapex.com/got-deals/77377-dead-athlon-64-3200-w-asus-k8v-deluxe-179-s-h.html?highlight=athlon)) was getting a bit dated (to say the least). So with a bit of help from nate_el_bueno (who gave me the motherboard and processor for my birthday) I just put together my new system:
AMD Phenom 9950
Gigabyte MMA770-UD3
MSI Radeon 4830 (not a powerhouse, but I don't do much gaming)
4GB Corsair XMS2 1066MHz
700W OCZ MOD X Stream-Pro (modular) PSU
2 750GB WD drives (in Raid 1)
SATA DVD burner (forget what brand I got)
Cooler Master Elite 335 case
I got a number of pretty good deals after rebates ($55 for the video card, $30 for the memory, $45 for the PSU) and decent prices on the hard drives ($60 each) and case ($40 on sale at Fry's).
I started getting things put together late last week and had no end of trouble when I started installing XP - freezes, BSODs, run time errors, etc. I wondered if it was the raid system, so I installed on a single drive - still the same. I was getting really frustrated after the 6th or 7th installation. Then today at work I was thinking about what component(s) were likely to cause system instability (psu, mb, cpu, memory) and I decided to suspect the memory. Since I had 2GB of DDR2 (800MHz) sitting around, I replaced the 4GB with them. Instantly things were working flawlessly - I had XP installed in 15 minutes (but my XP is the original full version that we got in on for $40 back in the day, so I had to install SP2, SP3, and subsequent updates). But now the system is working great (I still have to restore a lot of applications, and I may move the Audigy 2 ZS from my old system). But I should be set for the next few years. :)
AMD Phenom 9950
Gigabyte MMA770-UD3
MSI Radeon 4830 (not a powerhouse, but I don't do much gaming)
4GB Corsair XMS2 1066MHz
700W OCZ MOD X Stream-Pro (modular) PSU
2 750GB WD drives (in Raid 1)
SATA DVD burner (forget what brand I got)
Cooler Master Elite 335 case
I got a number of pretty good deals after rebates ($55 for the video card, $30 for the memory, $45 for the PSU) and decent prices on the hard drives ($60 each) and case ($40 on sale at Fry's).
I started getting things put together late last week and had no end of trouble when I started installing XP - freezes, BSODs, run time errors, etc. I wondered if it was the raid system, so I installed on a single drive - still the same. I was getting really frustrated after the 6th or 7th installation. Then today at work I was thinking about what component(s) were likely to cause system instability (psu, mb, cpu, memory) and I decided to suspect the memory. Since I had 2GB of DDR2 (800MHz) sitting around, I replaced the 4GB with them. Instantly things were working flawlessly - I had XP installed in 15 minutes (but my XP is the original full version that we got in on for $40 back in the day, so I had to install SP2, SP3, and subsequent updates). But now the system is working great (I still have to restore a lot of applications, and I may move the Audigy 2 ZS from my old system). But I should be set for the next few years. :)