Project "Patience-Game-Ghetto"

[tajoh111]

My goal is to build the fastest bargain gaming rig using water and keeping the price as low as possible. I wanted to splurge on one item. A 4870x2 but everything else was bought at the lowest price possible. I wanted the best 3dmark possible.

The inspiration for building such a machine was looking at gaming rigs for sale and looking at the price and saying what the heck. How the heck can you sell a machine for 1500 and have a 8800 gtx in it and a e6400 in it.

My budget I set at about 1500.
I have converted everything to USD and substracted tax of 5 percent.
components

e8500 $152
Supertalent pc1333 2gb ddr3 8-8-8-18 $51
OCZ HPC pc1333 2gb ddr3 cas6-6-6-18 $ 99
x38 platinum $105
750gb seagate 32mb 7200.11 $75
Lian Li powersupply PC-7077a $90
700w OCZ power supply $40
Sunbeam rheobus $11
LG 22x DVD burner $20
4870 x2 = $415

Watercooled $163(alot of this was used except pump and tubing)
MCP655
PA120.2
Apogee GTX(will change this later)
MCW30
Micro Res
Masterkleer
1/2 Inch barbs
Primochill anti corrosion and anti algae

Fans ($53)
5 120mm sans ace fan
1 Scythe 120mm
1 yate soon 120mm
1 140mm aerocool fan
2 80mm adda fan
2 120mm adda dan

Didn't include shipping. But shipping was about 100 dollars in total(alot of free shipping or included in price).

$1274 spent so far.

Using old xp on a comp that this computer will be replacing.

Plan on getting a thermochill 160, a pump top and possible two vga blocks. AND maybe 1 more mcw320 radiator.

I know this computer is kind of crappy compared to alot of the computers in this log.

I have been getting alot of advice from turtletrax(kind of the opposite goal of yours Turtletraxs:p:) and logic a bit lately.

I hope to get more advice, where to get more deals and improvements in general.

I am tempted to get a WD BLACK 1gb which I can get for 131 tax included. But I don't want to break my budget.

I know I can improve with dual loop but I have seen alot of single loop multi radiators have alot of success on here.

At the end. I want to posts the performance and also a pic of the actual rig. Another thing different about this work log is I am listing the money spent(because that is part of the purpose). I would be scared to look at some of the budgets spent on the rigs here.

[Utnorris]

Well, if you have already bought everything then it looks good. If you haven't then I would say take a look at ebay and see if you can find some of the items and take advantage of the 30% Live.com rebate. Check out the Online Deals section for more information. You can get the 4870x2 for $385 after rebate on Ebay. To save some money here are some suggestions:

Replace Primochill anti corrosion and anti algae with Pentosin G11 Long-life Coolant - Blue
Replace the Apogee GTX(will change this later) with a D-Tek Fuzion V1 w/Pro mount
Replace x38 platinum $105 with the Biostar I45 and then go with 4GB of DDR2 Ram - You don't need a dual x16 PCIe slots if you are doing a single 4870x2
Replace the PA120.2 with 2 MCR220's or 2 MCR320's if you can fit them. If you can only fit one rad, try and do a MCR320. The difference between the TC's and the Swiftech is only a few degrees at most.
Use a Rocketfish (aka Lian Li) instead of the Lian Li powersupply PC-7077a $90. They are usually $45.

Just a few suggestions although what you have set up is a pretty awesome setup. With the money you save from getting the 4870x2 on Ebay you could also get a wb for it. :D

[BlueAqua]

I'm a big fan on performance/dollar systems. These usually don't end up being the ones I build for myself but they're very popular amongst my friends. I'm sure if you put some effort into it it'll hardly look like a "budget" system.

With and E8500 and a 4870x2 I'm sure the performance will be great.

[Utnorris]

Oh yeah, this does not come across as a budget system. In fact, once overclocked, I bet he will be hitting mid 20k's in 3DMark06 and mid to upper teens on Vantage, not exactly "Budget System" performance for sure. I just can't wait to see the build.

[tajoh111]

I could shave off atleast 300 dollars minimum if I could use those live rebates but I live in canada where this offer is not valid. This could be very well a thousand dollar system if I could use those rebates.

Most of this stuff I got in canada, which is really impressive. I might be able to shave off a hundred dollars more if I lived in the states since shipping is typically free and generally the stuff is cheaper.

Some of the stuff from the states I even had to pay duty on, but sad thing is its still cheaper than the Canadian price.

Turtletrax recommended me the same additive but I couldn't find any at ncix. Shipping counts for something so buying just an additive at a unknown place would put a serious dent in the price to performance ratio. I got the additive that I did because I bought the pump, additive, tubing and the drive from there and wanted a single shipping bill.

In the end this is what I am aiming for.

4.4ghz at 1.4 volts.
1.8 ghz 4gb of DDR3(which I know this ram is capable of)
800mhz clock and maybe 1000mhz on the memory.

Although not a budget budget, I can safety call this a gaming rig in my opinion. I am tired of seeing 8800gt and all of a sudden it is a gaming rig. I am looking for something that can play 1900*1200 resolution with some aa and maximum AF and all settings on highest. Something that can play crysis for all its worth and not half assed. For this system to have very good watercooling and good cooling in general with such a moderate budget is what makes this a more intesting project for me and on this site in general. Heck two themochill radiators cost 200 dollars and has no place in a computer this cheap. Now lets start looking at my other components. 4GB of good ddr3 ram costs 300 dollars(not including rebates) and the 4870 x2 goes for 500 dollars. Thats a thousand dollars right there. When you consider that I have a x38 motherboard(one that 250), a lian li full tower case. You realize for the price, this computer almost has no right to have the components it does have. Half the components are near top of the line. Although I could switch to ddr2. I would have something with less resale and salvagability. If I wanted to make this a i7 system. I could replace the MB and processor, and with selling the components that were already in the system, I might be able to do this for 350-400 dollars. Good ddr3 at this calibur and ddr2 would cost atleast a hundred dollars. I paid closer to 140 now that I think about it for 4gb of ddr3. Why not spend 40 dollars and have some ddr3 in your system as well. Infact, for another 15 dollars I could of had ocz flexxlc 1600 with 6-6-6-20 setting(this ram is also water cooled), but I decided against it because I didn't want the voltages since my other ram would have to deal with that heat.

I call it patience because I have to wait for a part to go on sale or scour the for sale ads. These components are rare because they are relatively new or people don't want to upgrade from them. I also have to take shipping into account to make sure the deal is worth it, which makes this systems not only a planning game for layout, but a financial one too. I have literally got stuff shipped from 10 or so places to gather these parts. From Vancouver, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec. From Texas, California and Florida. Its been coming from all corners of North America.

This is not a computer where all the stuff came from one place, so there is so much effort in the shopping part. I almost feel my computer is a national effort(for the deals) with me helming the efforts in putting it together.

I can safety say almost this is the cheapest water rig on here beside those that have a regular day to day computer and slapped on a water cooling kit. UTnorris your case and water cooling stuff looks like they cost as much as my system.

I paid for everything already and looked high and low for better deals on the stuff I got.

[septim]

well then good luck to waiting.
do post more pictures as the parts arrive...

[tajoh111]

well then good luck to waiting.
do post more pictures as the parts arrive...

The memory, HD, pump and tubing should arrive by the end of the week:D(just need the ram to start it up). I have everything else already.

[tajoh111]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=201254

I just bought the above.

[tajoh111]

I got my pump, tubing, fastener, one of my drives and some additive today.

http://d.imagehost.org/t/0248/DSCF0033.jpg (http://d.imagehost.org/view/0248/DSCF0033.jpg)

Here is some of the stuff installed.

Since most of the stuff is here I decided to open my cpu box. Jeeze was I surprised by the intel CPU heatsink. I thought intel was all about forward progress but when I looked at the e8500 heatsink, I didn't know what to say. Now I do, man is it a piece.

http://d.imagehost.org/t/0852/DSCF0034.jpg (http://d.imagehost.org/view/0852/DSCF0034.jpg)

The one on the right is the one came with with the e8500. The one on the left is an older heatsink that came with a e6400.

Notice anything different? The fins are half the size and thus, the surface area is atleast cut in half. Thats not the only difference.

Look at the base.

http://d.imagehost.org/t/0750/DSCF0035.jpg (http://d.imagehost.org/view/0750/DSCF0035.jpg)

The e6400 has a copper core and what to me looks like a tighter fastening system. Look at the e8500 base, its plain as jane and just as cheap. Not only is the base aluminum, its not even polished; its as rough as sandpaper. I know the e8500 runs cooler, but I thought that was even out by the higher clock speed. Atleast keep the heatsink the same and not downgrade it two folds.

I might test both to see which is better before I toss the water block on(I expect the e6400 to win). But seriously, I can't believe people overclock on the stock e8xxx series heatsink.

I would expect this to cool a celeron, not a full blown core 2 duo.

[tajoh111]

I wonder if they are real those from pictures on the net they sure look real.

[MomijiTMO]

Yeah because wolfdales run so cool, Intel made their crappy cooler even more crappy. It's not like we care right :D.

[tajoh111]

Due to the kind efforts of a fellow saskatchewanee, jtf2, I won't have to worry about galvanic corrosion as he has given me a d-tek fusion v1 out of the kindness of his heart. Thanks you bud.

Well I have most of the supplies and for the time being will only have a CPU block only(maybe a southbridge) going as I made a small blunder in buying GPU blocks.

Well here is a picture of most of the water stuff.
http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/8343/dscf0048sl7.th.jpg (http://img259.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf0048sl7.jpg)http://img259.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

[tajoh111]

Finally have some of the water setup. Kind of runs like a dog at the moment those. Max speed I can get so far for 3dmark stable is 4.204 ghz.

On vista, 3dmark06 max score so far is 20124.
3dmark vantage P12430
with a Graphic score of 14885
CPU score of 8315

all under vista.

[tajoh111]

Finally have some of the water setup. Kind of runs like a dog at the moment those.

On vista, 3dmark06 max score so far is 20481 @ 4326mhz
3dmark vantage P12585
with a Graphic score of 14875
CPU score of 8608

all under vista.

Did one last halloween bench. Only got one in, as I didn't want to push it anymore.

http://service.futuremark.com/resultAnalyzer.action?resultId=500059&resultType=19

4508mhz

One last vantage post/

12756P