First post, by Artex
- Rank
- l33t
As promised, I was able to get this put together between diaper changes, feedings, and other baby duties..
I present to you my latest build... "Always Bet On Black" (aka - the Wesley Snipes build)
For those of you that don't know, "Always Bet On Black" was a quote from a 1992 craptastic movie called Passenger 57, starring Wesley Snipes. Yes, the movie was really not good, but that point is moot. I decided to name this build because it represents the bad-assery that was... Wesley Snipes in the 90s. Before he got in trouble in 2006 for all the tax stuff, Wesley Snipes simply kicked ass no matter what movie he was in - love him or hate him. Passenger 57, Demolation Man, Blade, New Jack City, The Fan, Murder at 1600.. to name a few oldies but goodies (?). 😀
So in sticking to my black-case theme, this build is aptly named for the raw strength, brute force and over-the-top power encapsulated in it's black outer shell.
So if you think this system can't hang...then remember: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTDeOPFr9e4
On with the show!!
The goods...
Black Antec SLK1650B Mid-Tower
Corsair CX430 Power Supply
Asus P4C800-E Deluxe Rev. 2.0 with 1023 Final Beta Bios (2003)
Intel Pentium 4 3.4Ghz Extreme Edition Socket 478 (SL7CH) (2004)
Thermaltake Volcano 7+ CPU Cooler (2002)
Western Digital Raptor 150GB SATA (WD1500ADFD) (2006)
SATA DVD-RW
Gainward Bliss 7800GS+ Golden Sample Special Edition 512MB AGP (G71 Core) (24 pixel pipelines/8 vertex shaders vs 20/7 of late models) (2006)
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS (2003)
Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Case Fan
2 x 1GB Corsair XMS Pro Series PC3500 DIMMS with LED activity indicators
Windows XP SP3
Motherboard and CPU
For this build I chose a part list that spans a time period between 2002-2006, sticking with an AGP-based platform since I feel that PCIe is a little too "new" for my taste. I also stuck with the older socket 478 platform vs a socket 775. The SL7CH Pentium IV 3.4Ghz Extreme Edition on this platform is a complete MONSTER and the Intel 875P-based Asus P4C800-E Deluxe creates a rock-solid setup. To cool this beast down, I added a Thermaltake Volcano 7+ copper cooler and throttle the fan speed with a Zalman fan controller mounted on the inside-top of the case.
Storage
For storage I wanted to use my original 75GB Raptor which was more period correct and so awesome for the time given it's 10,000rpm rotational speed. However, I wanted to really load this up with some popular games for the time (DOOM3, Far Cry, Half Life 2, UT 2004, Chronicles of Riddick, Splinter Cell, Painkiller, etc.) so I threw in the 150GB version that is bigger and quieter. I also threw in a DVD-RW as well and skipped the floppy.
Memory
What's more awesome than PC3500-rated memory? I'll tell you - it's Corsair PC3500 Extreme Performance XMS Pro with Activity LEDS! For this build I went with 2x1GB of the stuff. I forgot how cool those little LEDs look and I remember back in the day this memory was highly sought after. Check this out!! http://1drv.ms/1Oxn1kJ 😎 It's like "KITT" from Knight Rider!!
Sound Card
Nothing less than the amazing Creative Audigy 2 Platinum ZS. Crisp, multichannel output and great compatability.
Video Card
Ahh.. the video card. This one holds a special spot in my collection. I could've really maxed out this build by throwing in an HD3850 (released later) but then I wouldn't get to fire up my beloved Gainward Bliss 7800GS+ freak of nature. Not sure how many of you know about this card, but it was released in 2006 and was not readily available in the US. Back in the day, I was looking to extend the life of my aging AGP system which was using a BFG 6800GT + Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 + Gainward 6800 Ultra flashed BIOS. I heard some rumblings about this card in EU, and I found a single store that was selling it - Overclockers UK. I purchased it July 12th 2006, and paid 234 British Pounds (NOT Including Shipping to the US)!
Now, there's more to this card than meets the eye. One would think it's based on the NVIDIA 7800 (G70) core given it's name. This card, however, is actually running the 7900GT core (G71) but over the AGP bus instead of PCIe. So this card has the full 24 pixel pipelines and 8 vertex shaders enabled. Adding to the confusion, Gainward released at least three variants of the 7800GS. Supposedly there are only 1500 of these "GS+" editions out there - no idea if that's true or not.
Gainward 7685-BLISS 7800GS 256MB TV-DVI AGP
Gainward GeForce BLISS 7800GS
Chip: 7800GT
Memory capacity: 256MB 1,6ns DDR
Clockspeed Core: 375MHZ
Clockspeed Mem: 1200MHZ
Pipes: 20
Gainwards barcode: 471846200-7685
Gainward 7739-BLISS 7800GS Silent 512MB
Gainward GeForce BLISS 7800GS AGP 512MB
Chip: 7800GT
Memory capacity: 512MB 1,4ns GDDR3
Clockspeed Core: 425MHZ
Clockspeed Mem: 1200MHZ
Pipes: 20
Gainwards barcode: 47846200-7739
Gainward 7876-BLISS 7800GS Silent 512MB GS+ 😎 😎 😎
Gainward GeForce BLISS 7800GS GoldenSample AGP 512MB
Chip: 7900GT
Core: 450MHZ
Mem: 1250MHZ
Pipes: 24
Gainwards barcode: 471846200-7876
How about some hardware pr0n?!?! 😊
Case
The Guts
Gainward FTW!
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Screen shots:
Benchmarks (all done using defaults & Forceware 93.71 WHQL Drivers)
AQUAMARK 3
3DMARK 01 SE
3DMARK 03
3DMARK 05
3DMARK 06
HD Tach
Atto
For my next build I'm going back to 2000... stay tuned!
My Retro B:\ytes YouTube Channel & Retro Collection
