After upgrading to the GTX 260, I let my roommate borrow my old 8600 GT. After just a couple of months, three of the capacitors on that 8600 GT gave up the ghost with one loud bang and left this world through a newly opened “X” mark. With some help from my new friends at BadCaps.net I ordered new Rubycon capacitors and replaced the fautly FZ79 capacitors. With that the 8600 GT is back online and fully operational. Thanks guys!

Got a chance to upgrade a few components. Picked up a used EVGA GTX 260 from a buddy of mine (thanks Ripley!) and a new Corsair H50 CPU water cooling unit from FrozenCPU.com.

The Corsair H50 is actually a pretty sweet system if you want to get into a fairly inexpensive water cooling setup. I opted to get the Triebwerk 120mmx120mmx55mm fan to go with it. This fan is pretty stellar. Since the radiator on the H50 is made for 120mm fans, it presented an interesting dilemma for me as I have only 92mm case fans. This was easily overcome by using a 80/92mm to 120mm Fan Adapter. My radiator setup actually uses a push/pull to get air across it. The 92mm Gelid Solid fan is attached to the case, followed by the fan adapter, then the H50 radiator, and finally the Triebwerk fan.

The EVGA GTX 260 is a pretty great video card too. I upgraded from an 8600 GT and the difference is night and day. Which is a good thing because I’m starting to get quite a few poly to push around in Jax3D.

My average idle temps with the Cooler Master GeminII S  were around 34°C. With the H50 my idle temps average around 20°C, with 33-34°C load.

The old G4 is officially out the door and replaced with a new (to me) G5. Mass quantities of improvement.

As it turns out my old hard drive isn’t dead, it’s mostly dead. Fortunately I’ve been able to recover all my Jacksonville 3D related files. The old drive will function for a while, allowing me to copy files from it, then it stops copying. Unplugging it for a time, then plugging it back in allows this temporary functionality.

I’ve been itching to get back into the swing of things with some much needed updates. Looking at getting LWCAD from Wtools3D.com to increase production as well.

We know where we’re going to make our purchase from so now we have to make our selections.

A Basic Overview of Components
What are the components you need to build a computer? Well first, “building” a computer is a rather loose term, it’s more accurate to say “assemble”, as in a puzzle. You acquire your pieces and put them where they go.

All components go inside of a case. A power supply (PSU) divvies electricity to the components. The motherboard (or mobo) connects to all components and is a sort of traffic coordinator for information. The processor (CPU) is the brain.  The video card (graphics card, GFX) processes video. Memory (RAM) is where the computer looks to process information like loading programs. Hard drives (HD, HDD) are where your data is stored. Optical drives, such as CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-RW, are typically needed to install programs.

Those are the basic components. It can get more involved if you desire, but those are the basics.

What to Pick First
Usually it’s best to start with the CPU. Choosing a CPU will immediately begin to narrow down the motherboards you can choose from, and the RAM that will fit that motherboard, and how large of a power supply you will need to run it. There’s half of your system right there. With our $400 budget we won’t need to be as concerned with this as if we were building a gaming machine though.

AMD vs. Intel
This is an interesting question that you will most likely get a differing answer from whomever you ask. I say go with what you can afford, which will be my answer to most questions regarding brand, or type. At the time of this writing, Intel offers the fastest CPUs, while AMD will be able to offer you something more mindful of your budget. Either will run your system.

From the Newegg home page go to the Computer Hardware menu and select CPUs / Processors. This will bring up that days Featured CPUs / Processors Deals, and another menu on the left. Select Processors – Desktops. We see another menu on the left. Since we are budget minded for this build we will be highly concerned with the price. On the left menu We see a price list for CPUs. The CPU will potentially be the single most espensive component of your computer, so lets pick $75 – $100. You might be thinking, “$100 is one-quarter of my budget!” Yes, but many of the other components can be had for $20-50 each. The more power you have the more you can do. Plus, the longer your computer will remain relevant.

In our $75-100 range we have a few CPUs. Now the hard part: which one? Let’s take a look at the aspects of a CPU and see if that can answer our question.

Sockets
The socket is the name for the pin configuration of the CPU. If you don’t want to get too involved with that information, do know that you will have to match a CPU socket with a like motherboard socket. For example, if you choose an AM2 socket CPU you will NOT be able to install it into an Intel LGA 775 motherboard.

Cores
The number of cores a CPU has affects its cost and performance, and they’re both directly proportional. More cores, more cost. But unless you’re rendering video or 3D models having more cores will not necessarily benefit you quite yet.

Operating Frequency
This is the speed at which the CPU runs. For most purposes the main area to be concerned with is what frequency do your applications need to run efficiently? Applications come with system requirements and will note the minimum needed GHz a CPU needs to be in order to run.

Frontside Bus (FSB) / Hypertransport
These are two different technologies. FSB has to do with Intel CPUs only, and Hypertransport deals with AMD only. These relate to the path the information to/from the CPU travels on and how fast it can travel on that path. The higher this number is the faster information can travel across your mobo.

Cache
This is a smaller and faster RAM that is on the CPU, and is used by the CPU to store frequently used bits of data. Again, larger = better = more $.

Thermal Power
Without getting too technical as that’s not the purpose of this series, this has to do with how much power the CPU draws. This is most important in the motherboard selection as you will have to select a motherboard that can supply the CPU with its requested wattage. A 65W CPU will need to go in at least a 65W motherboard.

Cooling Device
This is the heatsink/fan (HSF). They are either Included or Not Included.  Typically the HSF is included in Retail versions of CPUs, and not in Black Edition (BE), or OEM versions.

The other specs are important, but somewhat beyond getting a basic machine. Next time we’ll begin to look at motherboards.

We’ve looked at a few pro’s and con’s to building a system and buying off-the-shelf, and we’ve decided to build. Okay, the next step is what do you want the system to do? What programs do you want to run on it? Do you need any specific hardware, like a video capture card that has it’s own requirements, scanner, printer? Make a list and keep it handy. These are some of the questions you need to ask yourself before buying the first component. Once those are answered the rest of the process will unfold itself.

Where do you begin?
Your target budget (unless you have an unlimited budget). Decide on a maximum dollar amount you will spend and that will answer all your questions. Whatever dollar amount you choose—you can spend exactly that. The key will be to do your research. For this example we will use a budget of $400 (excluding shipping). This kind of a budget won’t get you the fastest or best quality system, but it will show you that you can get some decent quality components and have an economic system.

Where Do You Purchase Components From?
I will always suggest Newegg.com. They are a reputable online retailer, I’ve purchased several times from them and so have many others. Newegg also has some of the best prices around. I can usually order from Newegg for cheaper than what I can buy local, including shipping.

Since we’re purchasing our components from Newegg I’ll also give this advice; as a general rule stay away from the Combo Deals. The Combo Deals usually have something that’s decent combined with something that’s not so much.

As we continue this series we’ll walk through the entire process of  choosing and purchasing components on Newegg.

Before you can purchase an item on Newegg you’ll have to make an account. Don’t fret, there are some nice benefits to having a Newegg account like Order History and Saved Wish Lists to refer back to later.

The Wish List feature is how we’re going to build our shopping list. It’s not permanent, nor is it anything we’re committed to. What it does is show the list of parts we’re looking at and show us a total for the list.

In the next part we’ll begin looking at individual components and how to select them to fit your budget.

Since I began building custom PCs I’ve begun to pay more attention to what a computer’s specs mean to others. In short, not much.

In this series I’ll discuss some things I’ve learned for selecting components and building your own system. It’s not difficult. There are just things you need to pay attention to and be aware of as you make your purchase list. There are tons of resources of information on this subject. If you don’t agree with me on something, please feel free to leave a constructive comment that can help others and I’ll be glad to post it. If you leave a negative or degrading comment, no one will ever see it because I’ll mark it as spam and you’ll just have wasted time that could have been used getting some headshots in CS:S.

The typical computer user doesn’t require that much as far as power and peripherals are concerned because they don’t require much in the realm of the software they wish to run. Say one day you start learning some new application and you find your current system unable to effectively run it. You need a new computer and you’re faced with two options: buy off the shelf, or build your own.

Each has it’s own list of pro’s and con’s, and I’ll try to outline a few:

Now let’s take a look at building your own system:

*Quality of components you build with are dependent upon you.

Buying Off the Shelf: Warranty
These systems come with a year warranty, and for an additional fee, can usually be extended to 3 years. Sounds great but that can take your $700 computer up to $1,000 with no immediate benefit to you. What can happen is if a component failed it could potentially cost about the same to replace it as the warranty you purchased. Additionally with technology changing so fast after a year your system will be out of date anyway and may not justify the cost of repair. This will depend on how much you need an upgrade.

Buying Off the Shelf: Quality of Parts
Computer manufacturers like Dell and HP make their money by installing the lowest cost components that meet their specifications into their systems. When building a system you get to custom pick where to spend money and where to save.

Buying Off the Shelf: Pre-Installed Software
This is a real performance killer, especially during the computer’s startup. All these applications that you never use still eat up system resources and are factory installed. Not everyone is up to speed on system optimization so these performance killers often just live there eating resources.

Buying Off the Shelf: Case Airflow
Heat is the enemy of computers. So are electrical surges and lighting, but generally you will run into heat more than those issues. Airflow is a big item to consider. As the components in your system generate heat, fans inside cases are used to carry that heat away. Many times off the shelf systems do not really have adequate airflow and which could potentially cause sudden system shutdowns with no apparent explanation. The downside to fans are they produce noise, but having no airflow and an overheated computer isn’t helpful either.

Buying Off the Shelf: Cost of Non-Warranty Repairs
As I mentioned earlier, getting your system repaired (i.e. actually replacing failed hardware) can be more money than it’s worth depending on the age of your system. Many items in a computer can simply be removed with a screwdriver, and replacing a component with one of better quality can be cheaper and work better for you.

All these items carry weight and should be considered. You may find that building a system is not right for you, but now you know and hopefully doing some research on building has given you knowledge about the system you’re going to buy. In part two we’ll look at where to select parts for your new system.

Having moved my computer into its new home I must say that it’s quite an impressive looking piece of hardware.

With increased looks, I need to have the insides to match. I had taken my CPU back to stock clock settings as I had run into some issues in the past. With higher speeds we also have higher heat, so I also decided to update some additional cooling for my system: the Northbridge. For this I picked up the Vantec Iceberq VGA and Chipset Cooling Kit (CCB-A1C). The kit is very economical and was pretty easy to install onto my Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 motherboard.

Here we have the motherboard removed from the case and lying on a work surface. The motherboard is on the anti-static bag it came it (I keep it for reasons such as this), and then on a clean towel. The cooling kit comes with thermal grease… but we’re just going to stay with Arctic Silver 5. My CPU and GPU are both cooled with AS5 and now so will the Northbridge.

The stock heatsink that comes on the GA-MA770-DS3. This will be removed and stored for later use. I don’t typically throw many items like this away, just in case. The Vantec cooling kit is a new product to me and just in case it were to not provide adequate results, I could always reinstall the original heatsink.

On the backside of the stock heatsink we find the plastic push pins holding it in place. I’ve read several comments online where folks have had difficulty removing these pins and wind up destroying them. I found a pretty effective method that I’ll share with you.

This is the tool I used to remove the plastic push pins. What I did was very carefully use them to compress the flared ends of the pins, then gingerly push the pins back through the board. I did this by compressing the pin, then raising the tool slightly above the board, compress, then push through. I slowly repeated this process until the pin came through, intact and in one piece, ready to be used again.

Here we can actually see the patient: the AMD 770 Northbridge. After applied just a smidge of AS5, we then grab the spring-loaded push pins that came with the Vantec cooling kit and use them to secure the new cooler. Gigabyte conveniently included a Northbridge fan jack right near the cooler so we didn’t even need the included 3-pin to 4-pin power adapter.

With additional cooling potential came an additional Northbridge boost. I have been running my 2.2GHz Phenom OC’d to 2.6GHz with HyperTransport Link and Northbridge running at 1800MHz. After installing the cooler I kicked them both up to 2127MHz. So far so good. I’ll do continued testing and hopefully this will hold up solid. Increasing the HT Link and NB cut my system boot time in half, while also increasing my render speed.

While I’ve been looking for new work I’ve also been keeping myself busy by working on a custom case mod for my system. Not only will I have something that is stylish but I’ll be moving into a full tower chassis. For those of you looking for a Jax3D update I don’t have one just yet, sorry.

I got an old Chieftec Dragon case from a friend of mine for cheap, and that’s where it began. The case was gun metal grey. Not terribly interesting, but definitely large enough to space out my components and hold whatever I need in the future. Case mods need a theme, something cohesive to hold everything together. So what better for a theme than the software that’s making Jackconville 3D possible: Lightwave.

I’ve been working on it during the weekends. It’s coming along quite nicely and will make a welcome upgrade from my current mid tower case. Here are a few of the changes:

• Custom side window in the shape of the Lightwave nautilus logo
• 92mm fan supports on front and rear (came stock with 80mm)
• Increased air intake on front bezel by removing fins and replacing with metal mesh
• Lian Li hard drive rack to replace removed caddy shelf

Anyone interested in following the work log for the process can shoot over to The Mod Brothers Web site.

With greater CPU cooling power now, I tried to squeeze a bit more power from the Phenom 9500. Having the CPU multiplier locked, this presents a bit of a challenge to easily overclock very high. Not wanting to press too hard I was able to get some more speed while maintaining acceptable load temperatures.

The Phenom 9500 is a 2.2 GHz processor. With minor tweaking and testing I was able to overclock to 2.497 GHz with load temps holding a steady 50°C, according to CPU-Z, while running a stress test with Prime95. With the thermal compound settled my idle temps are holding at 25°C now.

While a ~300 MHz overclock is not that substantial, it will still provide me with faster rendering times in Lightwave.

In this past week I have seen my CPU idle temps at ~41°C which is pretty high. After defeating the Level 5 Evil Dust Boss inside my case, I got the GeminII S cooler installed this morning and so far the numbers are good.

Installation was pretty straight-forward. The only hiccup I had was from my RAM. I have two sticks of Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 which I had to move to the second two slots because the new cooler angles over the first RAM slot. The heat sink on this RAM is pretty tall.

Like a chef that can’t leave a recipe alone, I made a few mods before installing. I used the lapping kit I purchased from easypckits.com to help smooth out the heatsink surface. I can brush my teeth in the reflection now. Splendid. I also replaced the stock cooler fan with an Evercool 120 MM Spider Filter Fan. The stock fan was rated at 1000-1800 RPM and pushes 69.69 CFM of air. The Evercool was rated at 2000 RPM and pushes 80 CFM of air. The GeminII S comes with a syringe of Cooler Master labeled thermal compound, but I used the Arctic Silver 5 instead.

I also took a moment to clear the dust off of my video card which was pretty thick after six months of use. I got another 9° cooler after this was done, now my load temp on the card is ~61°C.

CPUID Hardware Monitor reports initial numbers of 26°C idle, 39°C load after playing a few minutes of COD4. Temps should be pretty similar when rendering in Lightwave. I’ll keep monitoring for the next day or so but so far I am pleased with the results of this product.

The GeminII S cooler is interesting. On Newegg.com only one person has reviewed it (at the time of this post). In the wake of more popular coolers this one seems to have slipped below the RADAR. I have a mid tower case so my options are limited as to the cooler I can install. This cooler also blows air back down onto the motherboard to cool off surrounding chipsets.