This is the first pc that Ive ever built from the ground up, and I have to say - I'm pretty surprised w/ how smooth the whole thing went. From getting the parts that I needed, to fiddling w/ the BIOS and installing windows 7 x64, there was really no problems. There was a little bit of an issue when trying to install Dragon Age, but as I was canceling out of the failed install, win7 asked if I'd like to let them do it "their way". Paraphrasing of course.
Next thing I knew, I was running around Ferelden at the highest frames-per-sec Ive seen yet. This thing is amazing.
Quick report on the win7 64bit compatibility, these all work fine:
Dragon Age
Company of Heroes
Warhammer 40k II
Here's my specs, and the final total of the system:
| CASE: ANTEC 900 II | $100.00 |
| MOBO: GIGABYTE P55A-UD4P | $202.00 |
| PSU: ANTEC TRUEPOWER 650W | $108.00 |
| GPU: XFX RADEON HD 5850 'BLACK' | $390.00 |
| CPU: INTEL I7-860 | $329.00 |
| RAM: 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X 1600 | $238.00 |
| HDD: WD BLACK 1TB | $119.00 |
| DVD: HP DVD-RW 1270I | $55.00 |
| OS: WIN7 PRO 64 OEM | $164.00 |
| FINAL COST + TAX= | $1,705.00 |
Here it is w/ both side covers off, ready to get decked out in it's new hardware
The intel I-7860, the brain of the system
I didnt even see the ram before I bought it, we pretty much did everything on a pc there at the store to see what would be the best for my money. Worked out well w/ the color palette, as you'll see later.
Motherboard Phase#1 - install cpu
Motherboard Phase#2 - heat sink & fan
Motherboard Phase#3 - ram installed
Installing the PSU, I dragged the wires thru the holes in the back, but at this point wasnt sure how to run everything. Better put the motherboard in.
Mobo installed, things are looking up now.
I really like this "behind the motherboard" style of wiring, keeps the mess out of the case.
The casual observer would never suspect the mess of wires behind the motherboard...
The absolutely massive Nvidia BFG GTX 260 OC. Yes, it actually fit in the case!
I didnt bother taking pics of the HDD & DVD install, so lets wrap it up!
Loaded w/ LED fans, a huge one up top, two in front of the drive bays, and the standard rear fan. Again, the color palette that just coincidentally happened on this rig is pretty nice!
Time to get some gaming in!
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