Very nice, I've got very similar build for my pure XP rig.

Xeon x3320 2.50Ghz (pulled from a dead server)
Asus P5N-D (750i chipset)
ASUS GeForce GTX590 in SLI
4GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2 800MHz (with flashy lights!)
X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion
Unsexy HDD's and DVD pulled from work computers.
Corsair Obsidian 800D case with nice simple design like yours.

Yeh SLI isn't efficient but is is sexy, that's why I went for the 4 GPU setup not that XP can even support SLI. I do have a pair of EVGA GeForce 7950 GT2's the last dual GPU card that supports SLI in XP but got used to the performance of the 590 so swapped them back.

This is the most modern PC on my retro lan and also has a gotek floppy. It's definite my most used PC either as a support role for the older machines or playing games with detail turned up as much as possible and still getting great frame rates (GTA SA is probably the most demanding)

I do plan to upgrade to a dual LGA1155 system once prices come down though 😉

chinny22 wrote on 2020-09-04, 09:28:

Very nice, I've got very similar build for my pure XP rig. […]
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Very nice, I've got very similar build for my pure XP rig.

Xeon x3320 2.50Ghz (pulled from a dead server)
Asus P5N-D (750i chipset)
ASUS GeForce GTX590 in SLI
4GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2 800MHz (with flashy lights!)
X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion
Unsexy HDD's and DVD pulled from work computers.
Corsair Obsidian 800D case with nice simple design like yours.

Yeh SLI isn't efficient but is is sexy, that's why I went for the 4 GPU setup not that XP can even support SLI. I do have a pair of EVGA GeForce 7950 GT2's the last dual GPU card that supports SLI in XP but got used to the performance of the 590 so swapped them back.

This is the most modern PC on my retro lan and also has a gotek floppy. It's definite my most used PC either as a support role for the older machines or playing games with detail turned up as much as possible and still getting great frame rates (GTA SA is probably the most demanding)

I do plan to upgrade to a dual LGA1155 system once prices come down though 😉

Very nice rig

I'd never do SLI on a modern rig (entry for SLI on Ampere is a 3090 for crying out loud) but I did it on here because this rig was a rig that I really wanted back in 2008 but couldn't afford.

Ah man, I can't believe this is now considered retro. My first proper build (i.e. the one that I bought new and paid for all components myself) was of this generation. Gigabyte EP45-DS3 motherboard, Q6600 G0 @ 3.2GHz (400x8/1600MHz FSB), 2x2GB DDR2-800 RAM, GeForce 8800GS 384MB (later upgraded to a 9800GTX 1GB), Lian-Li DragonLord K-58 case. Remember rinsing MW2, TF2, Battlefield Heroes, and a few others at LANs. Good times.

RichB93 wrote on 2020-09-04, 20:37:

Ah man, I can't believe this is now considered retro. My first proper build (i.e. the one that I bought new and paid for all components myself) was of this generation. Gigabyte EP45-DS3 motherboard, Q6600 G0 @ 3.2GHz (400x8/1600MHz FSB), 2x2GB DDR2-800 RAM, GeForce 8800GS 384MB (later upgraded to a 9800GTX 1GB), Lian-Li DragonLord K-58 case. Remember rinsing MW2, TF2, Battlefield Heroes, and a few others at LANs. Good times.

Yep 😁

Hmm, seems like quite a lot of people think alike. I've got pretty much the same config set aside, except it's DDR2 and nForce 650. Just need some time to build it. Even 285's are EVGA and the CPU cooler is the same 9900 MAX.

Tali wrote on 2020-09-05, 11:23:

Hmm, seems like quite a lot of people think alike. I've got pretty much the same config set aside, except it's DDR2 and nForce 650. Just need some time to build it. Even 285's are EVGA and the CPU cooler is the same 9900 MAX.

Sounds like it'll be a really nice XP rig.

Why did you choose windows vista as well?

And Both 32-versions installed or 32 bit XP and 64 bit vista.

Robin4 wrote on 2020-09-06, 03:36:

Why did you choose windows vista as well?

And Both 32-versions installed or 32 bit XP and 64 bit vista.

I would like to know too . My guesses would be either nostalgia or masochism, possibly a mixture of both . 😉

Seriously, I don't really know of anything that works under Vista, but not under Windows 7 .

Robin4 wrote on 2020-09-06, 03:36:

Why did you choose windows vista as well?

And Both 32-versions installed or 32 bit XP and 64 bit vista.

Because I wanted to take advantage of some DX10 titles.

As for your second question, XP's 32 bit, Vista's 64 bit.

And Vista runs amazing on it.

darry wrote on 2020-09-06, 04:04:

Robin4 wrote on 2020-09-06, 03:36:

Why did you choose windows vista as well?

And Both 32-versions installed or 32 bit XP and 64 bit vista.

I would like to know too . My guesses would be either nostalgia or masochism, possibly a mixture of both . 😉

Seriously, I don't really know of anything that works under Vista, but not under Windows 7 .

Vista's pretty painful on an HDD but on the second partition on this Intel 730 SSD, it's pretty quick.

Also I got Windows 7/Windows 10 on my Z370 rig I use with my CRT.

mastergamma12 wrote on 2020-09-06, 02:42:

Tali wrote on 2020-09-05, 11:23:

Hmm, seems like quite a lot of people think alike. I've got pretty much the same config set aside, except it's DDR2 and nForce 650. Just need some time to build it. Even 285's are EVGA and the CPU cooler is the same 9900 MAX.

Sounds like it'll be a really nice XP rig.

It might, but I doubt I'll find out, as it will be a Windows 7 rig. For XP I have Barton 3200, 3 Gb RAM and am yet to acquire a video card... but Radeon 9600 will do as a stand in.

Ha, by coincidence I've just set up a crossfire 4890 PC, I reckon it would be a good competitor!

Sadly my drivers are limited to 2013 I think, even in Windows 7. I'm playing (well, benchmarking) GTA V, Crysis 2, ARMA 2, Witcher 2 etc. Where crossfire is supported it's really surprisingly fast.

It's not retro but GTA V is newer than the drivers and it really struggles in crossfire with worse performance than a single card. To be honest I've been impressed by the single card performance even.

This is with a i7 860 OC to 3.4GHz so not much younger than your Q5500

nothing like a pair of gtx 280s to warm up the room.
i hope your 300r can keep up.

wirerogue wrote on 2020-09-06, 15:42:

nothing like a pair of gtx 280s to warm up the room.
i hope your 300r can keep up.

Yeah, these babies do run quiet hot, I got both cards running at 80% fan speed atm.

I got 2 Cougar 140mm fans in the front, I'm also considering maybe adding a side fan.

This case handles it a lot better than the Chief Tech Dragon that I used to have this in before that became my 98 rig.

My XP/Win 10 Machine:

ASUS P6T7 Super Computer MB
Xeon 5690
NVidia 780Ti
Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatality Edition
3/12 GB DDR3 2133
2X 2TB Firecuda HDD (Storage & Games)
2X 120 GB Crucial BX500 (OS Drives)

This machine is a fully capable daily driver and I use it every day during work to do my personal business. I consider this my XP machine even though it is still pretty capable by today's standards. I've got a Xeon 3230 for a Win 98/XP machine also but I only use the XP install when I need to do more modern things than 98 can handle, not for running games. That machine has a 9800 Pro, Voodoo 2, SB PCI (No need for DOS compat I have a P90 for that).

Very nice build. I think the socket 775 era is my favorite so far. I still use both of my nforce 680i systems on an almost daily basis. I'm still trying to find another GTX 470 to setup sli in one of the 680i builds

Shagittarius wrote on 2020-09-06, 17:09:

My XP/Win 10 Machine: […]
Show full quote

My XP/Win 10 Machine:

ASUS P6T7 Super Computer MB
Xeon 5690
NVidia 780Ti
Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatality Edition
3/12 GB DDR3 2133
2X 2TB Firecuda HDD (Storage & Games)
2X 120 GB Crucial BX500 (OS Drives)

This machine is a fully capable daily driver and I use it every day during work to do my personal business. I consider this my XP machine even though it is still pretty capable by today's standards. I've got a Xeon 3230 for a Win 98/XP machine also but I only use the XP install when I need to do more modern things than 98 can handle, not for running games. That machine has a 9800 Pro, Voodoo 2, SB PCI (No need for DOS compat I have a P90 for that).

A part of me was considering using my P6T and W3680 but the board's very wonky, ram slots have issues being detected.

Also I wouldn't be able to space the 280's like they're spaced on this board sadly.

Wouldn't mind finding a DFI X58 Lanparty though.

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2020-09-07, 00:27:

Very nice build. I think the socket 775 era is my favorite so far. I still use both of my nforce 680i systems on an almost daily basis. I'm still trying to find another GTX 470 to setup sli in one of the 680i builds

Thanks 😁

I decided to repurposed my Z370 CRT rig to a Windows 10 only rig and I removed Vista off this rig and replaced it with 7.

Does run quiet a bit better.

I ended up going with the Windows 7 Longhorn theme, looks nice IMO.