Project Phaeton

Author: jawapro
Date: Thu 29/11/2007 09:21 AM





Well - I have finally decided to upgrade my PC. So I'm launching Operation Phaeton - to build myself a replacement for the gallant JadesFire.

I could just upgrade parts of JadesFire and do it a little cheaper - but I dont want to end up doing something stupid and ending up with no PC at all - so I plan to build my new PC (Phaeton) as a seperate machine entirely and running both alongside for a while.

Which means a new PC case. And currently I'm planning to use the CoolerMaster Ammo 533 (pictured). I love the chunky sort of rugged look of the case. It's supposed to look like an ammo box from the army. I'm not sure how successful that is - but its still a sweet case. And an extra bonus - if you scratch it, you havent totally runied the look of the case - because it's designed to look a little beaten up already.

Turkeybrain has volunteered to help me sort out the inards for Phaeton. I'm not as up with current hardware as I should be. Apparently there's a heap of new stuff comming out in January - so I'll be doing my shopping around then for the main parts of the system - but for now I can get the case and officially launch the project.

When Phaeton comes online and runs well for a while - the current JadesFire will become my server - in that other case I've been working on. But one step at a time for now....



Comments: 10

 

Comment: 1

Author: LittleSis
Date: Thu 29/11/2007 07:13 PM




Why is it going to be called Phaeton?

 

Comment: 2

Author: Nifen
Date: Thu 29/11/2007 07:55 PM




it sounds cooooool :S

Like Vista. But vista stands for...

 

Comment: 3

Author: jawapro
Date: Fri 30/11/2007 05:49 PM




Accordign to Mum it's the name of a fancy horse-drawn carriage.

But as far as I'm concerned - it's named after a Space Ship from Maelstrom.

 

Comment: 4

Author: turkeybrain
Date: Sat 01/12/2007 12:46 AM




Yes, Vista was not exactly a unique name was it. And I think Nifen is about right...

To update you with what I'm looking at for his specs, we're looking for a 45nm Intel CPU (can't remember the codename, hasn't been released yet either, should be very very fast), an NVIDIA 790i based motherboard (also not released, excellent support for everything and great for future proofing), 8800GT (maybe x2, we will see how the budget stretches), said case, 2 or 3Gb RAM, preferably fast, probably depending on how the budget stretches again, and maybe a nice little 500Gb HDD, possibly x2, depending on what headless wants. He's thinking that's what he wants so that's what he'll probably get. And of course some hugely powerful PSU. And cooling. I'll consider aftermarket, but we will see. I don't really know. I haven't thought too hard, so that's why the specs are so vauge. I will research it more thouroughly and price it too, but not right now. Possibly when everything has been released (January).

Until then, goodnight.

 

Comment: 5

Author: Nifen
Date: Sat 01/12/2007 03:50 PM




I'm Confused why bother getting a 8800 GT? Isn't that kind of crap?
Why not a 8800 GTS?
I have a Asus 8800 GTS, and i do say, it was worth the money, very nice card.
Very quiet as well.

Might be better then doing SLI.
Also Depending on budget, I still recommend AMD. I am running a AMD 4000+ Duel Core and its FAST! There is a new series coming out which should be good.

I know that Intel is faster, when you compare  the same speed of an AMD to an Intel, but and AMD is soo much cheaper that you can get a hell of a lot faster CPU for the same price of a crappy intel chip. For example my AMD 4000+ was about 50 pounds when i bought it, But if i wanted to get a intel duel core basic basic basic model CPU, it was going to cost over 100 pounds.

So in reality i could have got a AMD AM2 Phenom 64 Quad Core 9500 for 150 pounds Or an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.40GHz 1066FSB for 150 pounds.

Personaly I'd choose AMD.

(sorry still working in pounds, I've only been In australia for  about 4 hours and I still can't get over how HUGE a 50 cent coin is!)

But doesn't that sound better?

 

Comment: 6

Author: turkeybrain
Date: Sat 01/12/2007 06:50 PM




The reason I would go for an 8800GT over the 8800GTS (320) is the fact that it performs better. The 8800GTS has been around for a while, and it runs on the G80 processor. From memory it has 96 stream processors or something stupid. The new 8800GT's, running the new GPU, the G92, has 112 shader processors, and in actual fact runs close to the speed of the 8800GTX, for a lower price than the 320Mb 8800GTS. That is why I would buy one of them. It is significantly faster, runs a newer chip, has more shaders, and ITS CHEAP at under AU$300.

As for CPU, the price to performance here doesn't seem the same way. Intel may be ever so slightly more expensive, but not by a huge amount, and then you still get the fastest chips on the market. If you were to compare the top end of both ranges, the Intel C2D stuff is significantly faster, while at a very competitive price versus the AMD offerings. I don't particularly have any brand preference, and I will investigate both before a final recommendation, but at the moment I am definitely considering using an Intel. BTW, the Phenom procs don't actually appear to go that much ahead on the current C2D stuff, while obviously the new 45nm stuff from Intel is faster than their older stuff. So it will be interesting to see what happens.

And I will be recommending an NVIDIA card rather than an ATI. I have several reasons for that, namely I am very happy with my NVIDIA, Rob prefer's NVIDIA, I like Linux immensely, ATI doesn't, NVIDIA does, and that pretty much is the biggest one. NVIDIA releases very good drivers for Linux, while ATi's just don't work right and don't support many of the cool features that can be used. Hence the whole reason for going for an NVIDIA.

50c coins aren't that big, are they?

 

Comment: 7

Author: Nifen
Date: Sun 02/12/2007 08:52 AM




Actually 50 cent coins are huge. Bigger then the 2 pence coins in london which is amazingly huge.

Anyway. As for going ATI or nvidia, Well Nvidia for sure! As for the graphics card. (CRAP! IM ANNOYED NOW) but then again it wasn't out when i bought my 8800 GTS. As for the CPU. It will be interesting to see the difference in speeds.
As for price, I am already finding it hard to work out what is cheap and what is expensive. I think 30 pounds is cheap for a pair of earphones, I think 5 pounds for lunch isn't that bad. Or loosing 10 pounds on the subway is well, oh well. But when you convert that to Australian dollors, I guess thats quite a lot. So it will be interesting to see how the prices compare to the UK.

 

Comment: 8

Author: jawapro
Date: Mon 03/12/2007 10:26 AM




As far as Nvidia/ATI and AMD/Intel - I'm not terribly fussed. I've used Nvidias instead of ATI for most of my PCs - and they've been good. Plus, if I want to use Linux, Nvidia support is better.

As far as AMD vs Intel - I'm pretty easy. I've used AMD in my last 2 machines - and they've been great. But I just want whatever gives me the biggest bang for my buck.

 

Comment: 9

Author: Nifen
Date: Mon 03/12/2007 11:50 AM




Hmmm.. Well Reviews Reviews Reviews. Only real way to determine speed differences. Might be worth checking around to see. I like Intel also, My laptop is intel and its done a very good Job.

But i heard somewhere that for gaming AMD even though its slower at multitasking then the same speed intel, it apparently is faster at gaming.

Has this changed? Or is this still the same case?

 

Comment: 10

Author: jawapro
Date: Mon 03/12/2007 04:20 PM




If there was no other reason to decide anything - I'd probably go for AMD and Nvidia - but as I said, I'm happy to use any of the 4 if they have the best bang for buck at the time.

I havent really looked at hardware much for ages - but Turkey has been telling me about a heap of new stuff comming out in Jan - so I'm hoping he knows what he's on about.