Project Beg, Borrow or Steal

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well my boys purple shirt bought first introduction to pcs has reached the end of its useful life(cant play the latest lego star wars game )So i've decided to cobble him together a new rig primarily for gaming.


currently he has

a pos acer with

a x2 215 amd 2.7ghz
2gig ram
onboard graphics (the problem)
750gig hdd
various gubbins all in a SFF case



parts list
Case- antec sonata
PSU- modular antec thingy
CPU/MOBO -q9450 4gig ddr2 8500
GPU- currently a x1900xtx out my parts
HDD 750gig with a seperate 300 gig additional storage
Optical his old optical
Others


this post is just a start as i'll be updating regularly as decisions get made and parts are bought, robbed or otherwise acquired.

basically its going to be a cheap gaming rig that will hopefully grow with him (he's currently 6 ) over the next few years, ideally with him being involved as much as possible in assisting with the build, hopefully it will give him a better apprecation of what a pc is and how many different parts make it up. he might even learn a few new swear words over the next few weeks

 

[233]

the problem is its a half height case so no way i'm getting a decent gpu in there, i'd also need a new psu so am as well building a whole new rig


possibly update coming over the weekend on this

 

[233]

quick update, my new bits are on route so as of tommorow theres a

9450 and p35ds3r sitting spare to go into this build
got 4 gig of 8500 to replace the 6400 i'm currently using so hopefuly be able to wind the 9450 up a bit from its current 3.5ghz
dug out and tested the 1900xtx which whilst servicable i think i'll be hitting the mm for something with a bit more grunt and an hdmi output.

also got an antec sonata and modular psu from gv of e on here for a bargain price (thanks again m8) arriving any day now. so the project is go

 

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case and psu are in the post(should be here monday/tuesday

9450 and ds3r are sitting here ready to go along with 8gig of xms2 ram

i predict some pictures up early next week

 

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and case arrived today woohoo,


thanks again GV of E for a cracking bargain

build is on


time to assemble the components

 

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looks like we're on for a build this afternoon

live updates as we go methinks

only thing we need is an optical drive and a HDD, hmmm lets have a scrounge about and see what i can find

 

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looks like we have some storage too

bringing the outside "inside"

i'll steal the optical out my rig to install windows later

 

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build seems to be going well would probably be finished by now if i didnt keep stopping to take and upload pics but hey thats half the fun


thinking i'm going to have to hit the mm and pick pu some 120mm fans for this though

think a decent non iphone camera would also be good for these threads


psu fitted into place

more psu action, rather nice power supply this as only teh 4 pin and the 24 are captive.
which allows for a neat build

backplated fitted(always remember to put this in before the motherboard unlike me

mobo with ram, cpu/hsf and gpu installed

 

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and the one part of building pcs thats starting to really pee me off as i get older and my eyesite gets worse connecting up front panels

 

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and done

not perfectly neat, but it will be coming apart next week again to add some 120mm fans when i get some

added some backplates to the empty spaces to keep little fingers and dust out

and going down the same thinking decided thumbscrews were a bad idea and fitted proper screws all round

 

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quick temp overclock for now till i get another few fans

so we have

q9450 @3.2ghz
8gig ddr2 ram
1900xtx gpu

hopefully should be able to play a few games at non bleeding edge settings,


installing windows as we speak, plan being some gaming before bedtime

 

[233]

all taking shape now, all i need now is a decent gpu for some decent gaming for the poor wee soul. a 1900xtx just doesnt cut the mustard.

TO THE MEMBERS MART


already have some zigmatek fans coming this week to add to the case, plan being one intake behind the cooler and 2 exhausts at the front of the case. anyone think i'm on for epic fail with this idea?

 

[233]

wee bit of an update


fired up a few games last night and well it was a epic failure.

SR3 wouldnt load, niether would Arkham city which he's desperate to play.

GTA fell over and died and at that point i admitted failure as a parent and a pc enthusiast. Stupid 1900xtx being all weedy.

So..... today was a fresh day, Started hunting the MM for a new GPU (fingers crossed something shortly on that front before i treat myself to a new ati 7xxx and donate a 6970 to his build

BUT installed Arkham Asylum fired it up on medium settings expecting the worst and surprisingly it ran rather smoothly. quite playable and before i knew it i'd clocked a quick hour of gameplay. Wee man is staying with his gran tonight so managed to get a few less gpu intensive games installed for him so all go for his return after school tommorow.
but tommorow should see the arrival of some decent 120mm fans (bring on the serious overclocking ) and i'll see if i can find a gpu from somewhere

 

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not going too well unfortunately


serious temp problems under load, currently have 2x120mm fans in there one front and one rear(the fronts cable tied into the 5 1/4 bays nice and tight. but core temps are hitting mid 70's after 25 mins of 4xprime95 blend

might have to have a rethink about the sonata and look to rebuild it into the spare antec 300 i have

 

[233]

Well things have taken a turn for the worse recently


his psu went and died so it was time to order a new one and do a quick rebuild



SOOOO

new psu arrived

and I was immediately disappointed by how short the cables are

think i'll need to get some extensions ordered for a neat build


back to stripped again for yet another rebuild

and one of the bestest tools ever for when assembling a PC

bit of a disaster though, it turns out his mobo if also fried

so he's back running on a 945 which doesn't support quads so I dug a 2160 out the spare parts box and clocked it to 2.8ghz for now not great but at least he's gaming for now

got a p35c ds3r coming from the MM and i'm on the hunt for a decent gpu for him.

watch this space for yet another set of build pics

 

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the 945 is a piece of poo. but it does have some redeeming features, its supposed to only support 2 gigs of ram but with 4 gig fitted I've got a usable 3.25gigs even with the x1900xtx which has received a bit of an o/c its certainly providing playable frame rates for lego batman 2

 

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p35c is confirmed and should be here in a few days. now just to find something to replace that god awful 1900xtx. fair play to it though I've clocked it to death and its providing playable frame rates in Arkham City at 1600x900

 

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most excellent. new mobo is out for delivery today

so we'll be back in business with a 3.6/3.8 ghz quadcore and 8 gigs of ram.

 

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and a quick swap out and rebuilt begins.

front fans installed to give some much needed airflow, an Antec 300 isn't exactly the first word in terms of cool as standard.


no pics of during the build but I did break out one my my favourite things in the world.

CABLE TIES !!!!!!!

not exactly the neatest build in the world but in a case with poor cable management and a hyper 7 year old desperate to play lego batman it will suffice for now at least till I get some braided extensions and a new case

 

[233]

excellent,


just picked up a 4870 1gb for £30 quid
should certainly show an improvement over the 1900xtx