Well the new PC build is finally complete, and what can I say, I’m very happy with the outcome. My old Athlon XP based machine was getting slightly haggard so I decided to go all out and build the ultimate machine. The specs breifly are as follows
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4ghz OC to 3.2Ghz Stable
- 2gb Dual Channel DDR 800 with Copper heatsinks
- 500gb Sata2 HDD
- Gigabyte 965p-s3 Motherboard
- Evga Nvidia 8800 GTX Directx 10 card
- Zalman CNPS9700 Heatsink
- Aria Darkstar case
What can I say about that spec. I just had to overclock the processor and I have great stability at 3.2ghz with very cool core temps. I managed to hit 3.5ghz but I need a stable machine for work so scaled it back. The build all went well, aside from the PSU which was a cheap and nasty OEM 600 watt job. Surprisingly had no sata power cables so I had to go with adapters. No big deal until I change it. Also the 8800 needed 4 molex just to power it. Also bought a couple of 80mm fans just to keep the airflow nice and flowy 😛
With alot of crimping and clipping I managed to get every cable in the case anchored to keep the airflow completely unrestricted and this has given me an extra 2 or 3 degrees less on the cpu under idle.
The real issues started when trying to install Vista. I got a copy of Vista Ultimate Retail, and the install would go fine. I would get to the initial setup screen post install and setup my desktop wallpapers etc and get into Windows. Windows would run fine until a reboot when the bootloader seemingly disappeared. After about 6 install attempts with the same problem, I stuck Grub on my MBR and all was well.
Next big issue came with the Nvidia Vista drivers, or lack of them. I mean come on. Releasing the worlds DX10 Video card, with the worlds first DX10 capable OS, and only releasing Beta drivers! Tisk Tisk Nvidia. A recent update of the drivers seems to have sorted some things out, and I am very impressed with the new Vista Windows Update. Takes care of drivers as well as software so as soon as Nvidia release a driver, its installed without me needing to lift a finger (not always good, but I’m a busy man of late).
First few weeks with Vista have been positive, and my machine scores an Experience index of 5.7 so its all good. I love the Windows key + tab (alt + tab) replacement. Very OSx, and very sleek.
Anyway, below are some pictures of the build, and the epic Zalman. Let me know what you think.
