New System Build

I decided it was about time to upgrade my main PC again. The new system is up an running using:

CPU	AMD Phenom II x4 940 (3.0Ghz x 4, AM2+)
MoBo	Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P (Socket AM2+)
RAM	8GB Generic DDR2 (4x2GB modules)
Video	eVGA GTX285 1GB
Boot HD	2 x WD Raptor X 150GB SATA drives in RAID0
Other HD	3 x 750GB Seagate SATA drives
	LITE-ON 22X SATA DVD Burner with LightScribe (iHAS222-06)
Case	Coolermaster Cosmos 1000

It is definitely not all top-of-the-line hardware (several re-used items to be truthful) but it is a sizable upgrade for me from my prior Intel E8500 and GTX260 system- and I made it fit in my budget. My overall system speed is significantly better than before; a WinRAR extract that took about 5 prior now takes about 4 minutes. My frame rates in Dalaran are much better than before- rarely dropping below 20fps (at 1680x1050 window with effects on ‘ultra’).

Windows 7 indicates my current bottleneck is still my hard drive throughput:

But HD Tach shows me as much better than a u320 SCSI for burst speed:

I believe one of my issues is that the Raptor X is SATA 150; I would need to move up to the VelociRaptor for SATA 300- and two 150B VelociRaptors are a bit our of my budget at $180 each. The next option would be a Corsair SSD drive- but 128GB for $300 is very cost prohibitive at this time.

With my eVGA purchase and registration, I was given a free license for 3DMark Vantage and a $10 discount code on badaboom- nice extras that I wasn’t expecting.

I also picked up a few blue LED 12cm fans- just to add a little glow when the front case door is open.

Here are a few quick shots of the gutty-works of my new system:

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