Computer build

[Sharptooh]

Just finished building my first PC and it seems to turn on and work! Just installing Windows as I type this.

Such relief (I was sure I'd messed something up).

Might post updates + pics if I can be bothered.

[Shadow]

Cool! I am going to put one together myself, hopefully this fall. Here is my working parts list:
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/shadowderp/saved/

What parts did you use?

[Durza]

shadowderp brilliant user name

[Firetooth]

He used a bunch of parts we found in a skip, and used a cardboard box as the casing.

[Shadow]

what's a skip?

[Firetooth]

what's a skip?

[Shadow]

we call them dumpsters

[windhound]

They've been more protective of the electronics recycling bin around here lately and they've got a strict no scavenging policy
Makes it harder to rescue hardware...  did manage to pull an old iMac a few years ago though, adorable and works fine.

[Sharptooh]

Very funny Firetooth :P

Contrary to what has been spread around about this, I did actually buy the parts, you can see my build here Shadow (pretty sure everything is right there).

Surprised you chose Intel over AMD, I managed to save a fair amount by opting for them whilst getting comparable performance of an i5 (or similar).

Are you into PC building much Windy?

[Shadow]

Eh, intel seems to be the go-to. Very few applications are optimized for 8 cores, so you can get better performance for most modern games with 4 faster cores over 8 slightly slower ones.

Though that 6-core you got looks rather nice, for the price.

[windhound]

I've built a couple, nothing recently as I've grown fond of OS X and haven't the patience for a hackintosh (works today, update tomorrow breaks everything).

Looks like a nice build, only thing I'd recommend is an SSD (Intel or Samsung) and double the ram.  Your board supports 32GB with 4 slots, so a max of 8GB/slot.  Two 8GB sticks and you have a bunch of room to upgrade later if you want.
Ram was the biggest bottleneck on my box till I gritted my teeth and stuck 20GB of ECC ram in it.  Now I've only seen it swap out once.
The cheap SSDs get really poor reviews for longevity, 's why I specify Intel or Samsung.  Guy I know swears by Kingston so there's that.  Your OS on the SSD and general data storage on your terabyte drive makes for a very fast computer.

I'm shocked, shocked I say that neither of you are running Win8

Oh, and yeah...  I usually default to Intel.  's just what I know.  AMD is cheaper, and years ago they had an advantage over Intel, but that's largely gone.  The benchmarks on their new stuff vs. Intel's offering aren't great, but AMD has always been cheaper.

[Shadow]

You're being sarcastic about Win8, right?

Windows alternates good operating systems with really, really awful ones.

95 was good, ME was bad, XP was good, Vista was bad, 7 is good, 8 is just bad.

So their next addition should be a good one!

How did you get 20GB, out of curiosity? I've never seen it sold in anything other than powers of 2, and mismatched RAM is generally discouraged. I guess 2/8/2/8 is a possibility?

[windhound]

My computer is dumb and runs memory in sets
I have the bank of 4x 1GB sticks it came with and I added 4x 4GB sticks.

Total ram capability is 64GB, but ECC (error correcting, normally just used in servers) is painfully expensive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139151 is what I'm running, but I paid $126 for it -- from Newegg no less...  wonder if memory prices have spiked or if I caught one heck of a sale

On an odd note, I just realized that Win7 only recognises the bank of 4GB sticks...  shows 20GB availible, 16GB usable. 
Then I Googled and Microsoft limits Windows 7 Home to 16GB.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778%28v=vs.85%29.aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_7
Pooheads.  I run Win7 Home Premium.

[windhound]

But yeah...  sarcasm regarding Windows 8, even if I would have installed it anyways. 
At the kernel level its actually an improved OS, its faster and there's a few decent updates.  At the UI level its terrible, but again I just use Win7 for gaming and flee back to OS X when done.

[Shadow]

...I did not know Win7 was limited to 16. I was sure it was 32...