Chevron 11 Proposed Specs for Spring/Summer Build:
GPU is Undecided, was looking at 7000 Series. Most Likely on one 23 Inch Screen, So a 7970 might be overboard.
Updated 1/17/2011 (Changed Ram)


Case - DONE, ORDERED, SHIPPED.
(Recommended, Has Alot of Fans, Big 200MM Fan, Ports on the Front, PSU on Bottom, and Space, Dual 120 Top Fan Exhaust)
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel
Item #:N82E16811119197
-$15.00 Instant, $10 off w/ promo code EMCKJKG36, ends 1/9
$104.99 - $10 w/ Promo ($94.99 Shipped, -$15 MIR = $79.99 after MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

Power Supply - DONE, ORDERED, SHIPPED.
(Bought the Same PSU for My brother's system (Chevron10), Performs Nicely, Paid $20 less though!)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817341018
-$40.00 Instant, $15.00 Gift Card, $30 Mail-in Rebate Card
$89.99 Shipped ($59.99 After MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018

MainBoard - Done, Ordered, Shipped
(Have had no Issues with ASRock in the past, only 990FX Board that has all the features I want, DualLAN, Enough Fan PORTs etc etc,)
ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157267
-$10.00 Instant
$189.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157267

CPU - Done, Ordered,
AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8120FRGUBOX
Item #: N82E16819103961
$209.99 $199.99 w/ Promo Code: EMCNJJH36 (ends 1/18)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103961

CPU Cooler - Done, Ordered, Shipped
(Recommended, Will Mount to case roof w/ 120+CFM Fans.)
CORSAIR H100 (CWCH100) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Item #:N82E16835181017
$119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181017
Edit
$99.99 w/ free Shipping from Tiger Direct
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=581556&Sku=C13-2100


RAM - Done, Ordered, Shipped
G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Model: F3-12800CL9Q-16GBSR
Item #:N82E16820103002
$89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231534

Optical Drive - Done, Ordered, Shipped
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Item #: N82E16827135204
$19.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Harddisk - Done, Ordered, Shipped
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1502FAEX 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Drive
Item #: N82E16822136793
-$20.00 Instant
$189.99 $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136793

Graphics Card - Done,
SAPPHIRE 11196-02-40G Radeon HD 7950 3GB (OC Edition, 900Mhz)
Item #: N82E1681514102963
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102963
$479.99


Screen - Done,
ASUS VS248H-P Black 24" 2ms HDMI LED
Item #: N82E16824236153
$199.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236153

Operating System - Done, Transferring License
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
Transferring License from Retiring PC.

Sub Total Cost without GPU/SCREEN: $993.92 + Shipping (Via New Egg/TigerDirect)
(Im actually hoping this number goes down some (to sub $1000) before Spring/Summer.)


Adjustments:
$94.99 (1/09 - HAF 922 Case, Purchased/Shipped via NewEgg)
$89.99 (1/13 - OCZ 700w Modular Power Supply, Purchased/Shipped via NewEgg)
$136.99 (1/13 - Cyber Power UPS Battery Backup (800w), Purchased/Shipped via NewEgg )
$99.99 (1/21 - Corsair H100, Purchased/Shipped via Tiger Direct)
$169.99 (1/21 - Western Digital 1.5 TB, Purchased/Shipped Via Newegg)
$19.99 (1/21 - Asus SATA-II DVDRW, Purchased/Shipped Via NewEgg)
-$15.00 (1/21 - Used $15 NewEgg Gift Card)
$89.99 (1/28 - G.Skill 16GB Ram, Purchased/Shipped Via NewEgg)
$189.99 (2/07 - ASRock 990FX Fatality, Purchased/Shipped Via NewEgg)
$199.99 (2/10 - AMD FX-8120 CPU, Purchased/Shipped Via Newegg)
$199.99 (2/18 - ASUS VS248H-P Black 24" 2ms HDMI LED, Ordered)
$479.99 (2/18 - SAPPHIRE 11196-02-40G Radeon HD 7950 3GB (OC Edition), Ordered)
-$10.00 (2/18 - Used $10 NewEgg Gift Card).



System Cost as of 2/15 (minus S&H): $1746.89


During Assembly, The H100 will be mounted to the Ceiling of the Case in the Dual 120mm Slot,
The 200mm roof Fan will be moved to the side panel to blow on the main board and components

After Assembly,
The 1.5 TB (1396.98GB NTFS) Drive will be Cut into 400GB and 996.98 partitions. (1 for Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit, the Other For Windows Data/Backups.

Then Windows 7 will be installed and updated, Then "XP Mode will be installed"
The 1TB will be Setup as a data/backup partition.

The System will be in Warm weather area, with limited to No Air Conditioning (old house, dont ask).
I wanted to completely build a new box, instead of just getting the guts and upgrading my current system,
That way I'll have a Fall Back system ready to boot.

I'm going to keep my Saitek Eclipse II Keyboard, Mouse, Intensity Pro HDMI/HD Recording Card, Creative Sound Blaster XFi Platinum Fatality, and Saitek X52 for the New System as they can be quickly moved from one box to another if I Need to go back to the old System.

Anyway, Like always, Turning to other Enthusiasts to suggest substitutes. (cheaper, better performance etc)

I Will be however sticking with the AMD Platform (CPU+Chipset+GPU).

Nice system. It all looks good. Still, a few items to consider (no right or wrong):

Case: Look at Coolermaster HAF922 in the same price range. I added a Coolermaster $16 200 mm fan to the side to blow down on the motherboard in my water cooled system. Comes standard with two 200mm fans and a smaller fan. Loads of room where one needs it for large graphics cards and "high" air coolers (I know you're using H2O). Easy tool free assembly/installs.

CPU: Seems like the right choice (price/performance). Thing is, according to AMD, it must be overclocked (and was designed to be overclocked) to compete with Phenom II X6 1100T. I'd think in terms of 4.3GHz or higher (but final OC is always a slight gamble). Turbo mode might actually be enough as this boosts a single double core to 4GHz+ IIRC -- which is fine for most games that only make "good use" of one or two cores. Turbo would not require special cooling.

CPU Cooler: Good cooling is a priority with a high overclock. Water is good. Suggest a cooling solution that has a "double wide" radiator that takes two 120mm fans side by side. Based on my tests that should provide "margin" to get about 10C under the best air cooling solution. FWIW, the 10C did not buy me a higher OC -- just cooler running and more room to work in the case. Otherwise, I don't have any knowledge regarding your specific cooler.

RAM: OK. But, consider GSKILL. Usually one can get it even cheaper on special sale (I think 16GB of 1600 was $50 on sale a couple weeks back). I use it in all my computer builds now -- no problems, yet. If one is using 16GB, the FX8xxx CPU will not run above 1600 -- so choosing 1600 is appropriate. Save some cash.

RAM cooler: Not required with side case fan -- and maybe not even without a side fan (assuming RAM not OC). Save some cash.

GPU: If you go 23" 1920x1080 and don't plan to go Eyefinity, then go HD7950. On the other hand, considering how cheap the monitor you've picked, going Eyefinity would not be that big an "investment". HD7950 might still meet your needs (but, go HD7970 if you ever want to try Eyefinity -- or plan to Crossfire the HD7950 with another one when they get cheaper).

As always, merely opinions. I don't own all the stuff you'll be buying.

I've been doing some research on PSUs myself lately, and everyone seems to prefer Antec (Seasonic and Delta), Corsair (Seasonic and ?) or Seasonic itself. Seasonic and Delta are considered to be quality PSU designers.

While not modular, the Antec Earthwatts 750 Green seems very impressive in terms of the amount of power it supplies (4x 12v rails with 40 amps each).

As for the CPU, looking at benchmarks it is rather slow compared to the 2500K. If you have to OC it so much and spend $60 on a cooler just to obtain speeds similar to a stock 2500K, it seems like the better choice is to get the 2500K. Unless you can see yourself using 8 cores. But how many programs utilize the extra 4 cores?

If your PC still gets hot, I would suggest getting a Evercool Fox-1 (it is called something else on newegg now). It is slightly audible, but its not too loud. It hooks to the back of your case and takes up one slot, and it pulls some hot air from the case. It kept my GTX 260 2-3 degrees C cooler as well as my HDDs. After a little over 2 years the fan started to make a grinding noise though, and I removed it. I would hope 4x 120mm fans is enough to keep your PC cool, but if it isn't this is just one solution to consider.

Screen:
If you do video and photo editing, a IPS LCD might be better choice. Dell Ultrasharp series are good choice.

Harddisk:
HDD price is still a bit high but it has been dropping slowly. Maybe you can get a 128 GB SSD as a system drive for now and wait a bit for a HDD for data, or use old drives from existing system.

Will Look at that case, How'd you mount the fan to the side? does it fit onto the already present holes? or is there a kit i can buy from Coolermaster for that.

main reason i chose that case was the amount of fans/airflow, and the larger fan on top, since my room is near 90+ Degrees F for a few months, I need as much airflow as possible. I was looking at a Full Tower. But prices of those are insane.




Supposedly the PhenomIIx6's will be gone by this summer off Newegg.



I Will look at dual fan radiators, I looked at the Corsair H100, but i dont know if I can fit that in either the HAF case or the Antec.
Edit: Just saw the video from corsair that explains that the dual fan radiator mounts to the Roof of the HAF922, I actually like that, ALOT!



Will Give G.Skill Another Look, Most likely I will see whats on Sale in the Time Frame that I start ordering Parts. AMDs Radeon Series Ram w/4GB Sticks is supposed to be about $24.99/Stick.



If I Get a Side Fan, then I'll Skip it, I know my Ram now in my Current system gets HOT, even with heat Spreaders and airflow, expecially during video editing and recording.

TBH the $24 from skippin it will prolly goto the added $10 for the HAF922 and the H100 Cooler.



As Much as I Love Eyefinity on systems I've built/played it on, I can Justify 3 Screens, and one of them being a $200+ for the Display Port.

I was Looking at a 7950 for now, and Upgrading to a 2nd later on when they go on close out.




This build will be 1/4 the price of my Chevron9 System when I built it in 2005/6.
But then again alot of the hardware that was $300 at the time I'll be transferring over (Intensity Pro Card, Xfi Platinum Card. etc).

But, I Definately Like the Looks of teh HAF922 over the funky front end of the Antec, and the fact that I can Mount the H100 to the Roof of the HAF, and have it exhaust air out, AND cool the CPU. And with the Added 5.25 Bay, I can Put the DVD Drive and XFi Box in the Bottom Bays, and Migrate my KamaBAY 120mm Intake mod from my old case to this one to help with airflow. (takes up 3x 5.25 bays)

Assuming you meant "can't", for Eyefinity you'd only need 1 "mini-DP to DVI" connector, so any HDMI/DVI screen you'd pick (3 times ) would work.

I thought it had to be a native display port screen, ..

Will Update components when I get home from my office, Changed the case to the HAF922, the Cooler to H100, Dropped the RAM Fans, The 200mm top fan on the HAF922 will be moved to the side when I mount the H100 in its spot. Changed the Ram for now to AMD's Entertainment Series, which is DDR3-1600 and $15 cheaper.

New Total is $1098+Shipping, LCD SCREEN(S), GPU.

I wish there was a way to fix the issue with my current screen, it looks nice except the perm. glare on the one side. if I could take pictures I will.

Will also look at LCD Screens that have thinner bezels.

But with 3x HannsSPREE 1080p Screens, and a XFX6970, it comes to $1,897

I also dont think the XFX comes witht he DisplayPort -> DVI Adapter.

If using the Adapter would work, I can drop like 200 from the price, as I can Get 2 more Screens like the one I have now for like 60 a piece.

Just got back. I see you've got a good plan regarding water cooling and the HAF922 side fan. I have 3 HAF922 in the house -- me, my wife, my "spare" computer. I like them a lot. If I ever need a 4th case, it will probably be an HAF922.

Yes, Phenom II is being replaced (but there is a rumor that some Bulldozer models will retain the Phenom name).

Anyhow, FX81xx is now the one to buy. The FX81xx does out perform Phenom when OCd about 10 percent higher than Phenom (as intended). And, Windows 8 will give it up to another 10 percent (depending on application), they say. Microsoft is developing a Windows 7 patch that has the same effect (a beta version worked but was pulled when it caused a different problem). Later this year (maybe late Summer???), an updated FX is rumored ed to be released that adds about 10 percent (but, I'll be surprised if it actually is released in 2012).

First Post Updated (Updates in Red).

For the Case I went with the more Expensive HAF922 RED as it has the MESH Side Panel instead of the Window.
With the mesh Side, I can Re-Locate the Top 200MM Fan to the Side Panel.

If I Order that This Weekend- It will Be $104-$10 Coupon Code, with $15 MIR, so Its technically Cheaper in the End Run.


Changed the CPU Cooler to the Cooler Master H100, Dual 120 Radiator as recommended, Will Mount that to the Dual 120mm slot on the Roof of the Case.
Considering using my Two Scythe DFS123812-3000 "ULTRA KAZE" 120mm Case Fans on the Radiator to see what happens.
(replacing the CM Fans, 133CFMx2 replaces the 92CFMx2 Fans)(not sure if they are compatible with the CM Controller though).

Changed the RAM to the AMD DDR3-1600 Brand, which is Cheaper, and Supported by AMD (Patriot Re-Branded), Will look at other brands when I get closer to purchasing.

Dropped the RAM Cooler and Screen.
(If i mount the 200mm fan to the side, RAM cooler isnt needed, and the Screen I chose is sold out and wont be re-stocked, so I'll make a decision when time comes to purchase.)

Graphics Card Im Considering a 6950/6970 (2+GB Versions), But that decision is pending the 79xx Series prices.


Will Most Likely Order the case this weekend, as the Coupon Code expires on the 9th, and the MIR on the 30th.
And thats 94.99 SHIPPED
Then next Week order the PSU Before the Offer Ends for the $15 Gift Card.

Then when my Tax Return is deposited, I'll use part of that to start the build.
I usually order the parts that dont require a RUNNING system to test first (or items with longer return policy).

Im also gonna look at the "deals" and time out the purchases/groups, as some items come with $15 newEgg Gift Cards, that I can use on the next wave, So After those and the MIR, Im already prolly down to below a Grand.

CASE: $15 MIR, -$10 Code, -$25 (Ends 1/9)
PSU: $15 Gift Card, $30 MIR, -$45 (ends 1/18)

So -$70 on MIR/Codes/Gift Cards.

Cpu had a $15 GiftCard, but that deal expires today.

I can Delay Win7 DVD/License, as I Have 2 extra XP Licenses.

I'll Prolly Email Microsoft and see if I can Purchase a License Cheaper or transfer my current license to a new system, as I Already have 2 or 3 Win7DVDs from previous Builds.

Don't have to contact Microsoft to transfer the license. Just install on the new build and activate normally almost always works. There's a quick, easy fix if for some reason the new install does not activate -- see below. More details:

For cost, one can consider both OEM and Upgrade Windows 7 on a new installation. Also can move copies from one computer to another. I've never tried to run a single copy of Windows 7 on two "in service" computers simultaneously and am not suggesting that (except for a week or so while one makes the transition to a new machine).

However, I've moved Vista and Windows 7 from one computer to a newer one (and sometimes just a different one). One copy I moved twice (again not on two computers at the same time -- not trying to cheat). I usually buy OEM or Upgrade versions (bought one copy of "retail" along the way). The OEM and Upgrade versions both install on clean new computers and also can be moved. Activation was a problem only a couple times. There is a process to follow if the install activation of a moved copy doesn't automatically work -- a "safety valve" Microsoft included so that no one gets "screwed" by a faulty activation.

All that to increase your choices regarding OS.

Having said all that, I think Windows 7 Pro has an advantage as it allows one to log onto one's computer from a remote site and run the applications as though one was sitting in front of the "home computer". I upgraded my wife's copy of Windows 7 HP to Pro so she could use her home computer from her laptop. Thing is the upgrade cost me roughly $70 -- would have been cheaper to just buy Pro from the start (i.e. Pro OEM or Upgrade pack).

Just info FWIW.

My Current System runs Windows 7 Ultimate,
Which was Upgraded By Microsoft as a gift from Home Premium(they Sent me the license code (and another DVD))

Both Systems will Not be on at the same time, once the New one is up and running hardware Wise, the old one will be powered down and unplugged unless I need it, in which case it also runs XP and Ubuntu.

I was looking at transferring my Win7 ULT License to the new system,
As I Can Run XP Mode and allocate 4 Cores and 8 GB ram to the Virtual PC, Which will be quicker and easier than rebooting back and forth between Win7 and XP for some stuff. The only thing about WinXP Mode on Win7 i havent been able to improve is loading Discrete GFX, as It shows up as some generic brand GFX Card w/ like 8MB of ram.

Where as right now, Running the Windows XP Mode gets 1 Core and 1GB of Ram. which also cuts my resources outside of the XP Mode Window.

When I Installed XP Mode, I Used the Same License Code as the Install of XP i Already had on the system and everythign runs fine.


I Predict moving my Zune Marketplace Licenses will be a REAL pain in the....

Now I just have to find my License Code and Anytime Upgrade Code, as those were packed away with other O/S DVDs.

Do you know if the USB2.0, Mic/Headphone and eSATA thing on the top front is a remove-able(cant really tell from pictures),
if i could, I'd put my 3.5 inch whatever-in-1 Card reader in place.

I was gonna Put the DVDRW and My XFi Breakout Box in the Bottom 5.25 Bays, That way the Top 3 5.25 Bays are open for an 120mm intake fan kit.

I already have a list of mods/adjustments for the Case, Moving fans around etc.

once i get it assembled, the 4 heatpipe cooler that comes with the FX-8120 will be given to my brother to replace his stock PhenomIIx2 cooler w/ no heatpipes, we'll also unlock all of his cores again.

Case is Shipping/Intransit.

Adjusted Prices (CPU and DVDRW Dropped $10 Each). (So the 8120 is now cheaper than/The Same price as The PhenomIIx6's)

there's also promo Codes for the HDD, but im not sure if that will last past this weekend or not.

This weekend I'm Ordering the PSU and DVDRW.

Windows 7 License will be transferred to the new system *( the old system will be put in closet as backup)

Then its down to the CPU/RAM/MOBO/HDD/GPU/SCREEN. (Tax Return)

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 Arrived Today, Was kinda pissed when i got home to see it sitting in front of my house, in the RETAIL BOX, in the Rain!.

NewEgg has done this to me too many times... It was sitting at my front door for over 3 hours, my brother tripped over it when he opened the door to check the mail at 3PM EST, it was marked as delivered at 11:30AM EST, no knock on the Door either.

This thing is HUGE, in a Good way, at leat 5 inches taller than my current, and about 3-4 inches Wider. LOTS of room.


Pics of the UnBoxing (I Actually put back in box until I start getting the rest of the parts):

I think this is moreso the fault of the shipper. Whenever I order things from Newegg, they come to the door via Purolator (a Canadian courier), and if they don't talk to someone and get a signature, they don't leave the parcel. On the other hand, whenever I order clothes from Lands End, they come via UPS to the local postal office, and then the mail carrier delivers it to my door. 75% of the time, we never hear/see the carrier drop the parcel off - when I'm leaving the house, I trip over the box containing my two-piece suit or whatever that has been sitting on my front step for who knows how long. Sometimes the carrier will leave a slip in my mailbox advising me to come to the post office and pick up the parcel if it's too big. There really is no rhyme or reason to it.

Nice case though!

Nice case. I like Cooler Master's cases because they build them out of metal that makes them not too flimsy. So many times I've seen those cool cases that are so flimsy.

The leaving in front with no Knock or anything was UPSGround, they do it all the time regardless what i have being shipped.

When I ordered my brother's components that was over $700 worth, I had New Egg put a Signature Required on the Shipping, UPS Still left 3 new egg boxes (1 of them being a Retail Box (LCD Screen), sitting at my front door.

Shipping in a Retail box so the whole world that drives by my house see's what it is was newegg.

they shipped some of my brother's components the same way (usually items that have "free shipping" ) as they just slap the label on the retail box I guess, usually larger Items (Cases, LCDs, etc).

Most of the time they put everything in a box.

not a big deal, as the anger was soon overtaken by joy when I started unboxing the case for a quick look.

Ordered the PSU, and a New UPS battery Backup, as I will give my current one to my brother's system (he always benefits from my hand me down electronics.)

Nice case; I have the CM 690 and am really happy with it (it's on its second round of components), but I wish the USB and earphone plugs were on the front like yours... I have having to fumble around trying to get a peripheral plugged in on the top of the case.

UPS and FedX and others routinely leave stuff on the front porch around here. We get lots of stuff -- probably more than 5 other houses combined in our neighborhood. Sometimes they "ring the bell", usually they don't.

I suppose it depends on the neighborhood regarding theft. Usually, if its raining, the item is in a plastic bag applied by the driver (though we do have a roof over the porch).

So far, nothing stolen or damaged.

Once FedX left a large package a half mile away at the wrong address and claimed it was at my house. Good neighbor (not someone we ever met before) brought the item to our house rather than "stealing it". I complained to FedX and they now seem to take a little more pain with our deliveries.

Yup, I constantly order PC parts as well for friends and family, as well as my own components, plus my hockey gear.

Last summer, They (UPS) delivered my youngest brother's Alienware M17x ($2000+) to my neighbor's house (left on his porch), at least he took it in and gave it to me later that night when I got home.

When I had my Apartment, I had roommates that were ALWAYS home during the day, and they either left the boxes in front of my door.
(for the other tenants to trip over and fall down the stairs, if they didn’t just steal it.). or they allowed random people that answered the door to sign for them.

When I Ordered some HDTV Parts (Chips and a Board), DHL left them at the Main Office of the Apartment Complex and asked the lady to sign for them, they (DHL) then left me a voice mail saying the package was not delivered to my apartment and was delivered to Apartment's Management Office.


I’m thinking that when I order the Mainboard, CPU, RAM, and GPU, I'll have them delivered to my Office.
Then I just have to worry about the other Manager's thinking the Parts are from Staples for their own office Computers. hahaha.

This Friday I'll prolly look at whats on sale, and get the H100 CPU Cooling System, and the DVD-Drive.
And Maybe the Harddisk (which I can test and partition ahead of time and place in back in box until I build).

I might have to wait for the screen until later and use the one I have, I also have a Spare 250GB Seagate HDD if I need it, but its not anything special or fast.


Also,

Changed the RAM to:
G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Model F3-12800CL9Q-16GBSR
ASRock added it to their supported list, its a 16GB Kit so all 4 sticks are "Matched"
(unlike the AMD RAM, which isnt in Kits, but individual Sticks).

if i keep buying the parts in the staggered $200 shipments, by time i get my tax return, All I'll have left is the GPU.

The AMD 7950 is Rumored to be $400-$450 and launches in about 1.5 weeks.

So This weekend, Ordering the H100, HDD, DVD-Drive, Sending out the MIR for the PSU's/Case. ($45ish)
(Got a NavyFederal Visa Gift Card, dunno if New egg will use it or not.)

Next week Buy the Ram, Save the $15 Promo Gift card from the PSU, Then first weekend in Feb. Order Mainboard, Then week later order the CPU. By Then When the 7950s become available I'll have my tax return in the bank, so.... either a 7950 for $450ish, or hopefully newegg has some more 7970s instock (other than the MSI).

Then Wait till after everything is running to order the new screen(s).

H100 Shipped from TigerDirect w. Free Shipping ($20 cheaper than the egg)
HDD and DVD Drive shipped from Newegg.

Funny, the HDD had free shipping, the DVD Drive didnt, and the cheapo 3 day UPS Ground for the DVD Drive was $9
and they were still shipped together in the same box... lol....

Will post pics when I get them and do physical inspection.

PSU arrived, but it went into my brother's system, his is being sent out for RMA to Cali, so 3 weeks at least, i might end up buying another one... and keeping the RMA'd replacement as a spare.

1.5 TB Harddisk and the SATA DVDRW got here yesterday...
Hooked up 1.5 TB drive to my system last night to run the WD tests (the quick ones), passed, sounded fine, no weird chirps or clicks during the tests.
UPS, Just threw the box 2 feet to my front door, instead of placing it... what the eff part of "FRAGILE" did they not understand? big green sticker on the box!

Not to mention no knock or anything, I was sitting right by the window, watched him walk up do like a bowling ball throw and turn around and run back to his truck.

HDD was in its normal box, then the plastic end caps and static bag, DVD RW was in a clear plastic bag just thrown in the box, then a bunch of filler paper thrown in as well... Hrmmm, i need to test that DVD RW tonite...

H100 Cooler arrived today..
Leave it to the U.S.P.S. to be the ones to knock and wait for someone (they were about to put the USPS pink slip in my mailbox to come pick up the box at the post office, but my brother answered the door in time.) ...hint UPS.. hint...


As for the system itself, next week (oops, edit, rather tomorrow), I'll order the 16GB G.Skill Sniper set.
Then Tax return will be used for Mobo/CPU + GPU, then next week or after I’ll get the screen, which is gonna be 24 inches, havent decided which one yet, limit is like $150, so.. when its time I’ll give new egg a look at specials and promo codes listings and check reviews...

Im not installing Windows XP at all on this machine as it’s 32-Bit, and if i go with a 6950 or 7950 GPU, the 32-Bit address will nearly be filled up by the GPU and SPU alone. This would leave me 800MB or less ram to use for the system. The programs I Used in XP so far all worked in the Windows 7 XP Mode,

I'll also look at other VM Software options, as I know some offer configuration on how many cores/ram to use as well as DirectX Acceleration (ie VMWare/Virtual Box) .
Windows XP mode only asked about ram.

XP Mode has the benefit of not having to use another license, as for cores, I'll have to test it first, as I only have 2 cores now, so XP Mode runs on a Single core, Im pretty sure with the new system I can set the max amount of ram for XP Mode if its 32-bit (unless it runs 64-Bit XP Mode, then I'll set 8GB). And if it allows me too, allocate 4 cores (it will be nice having 8 cores… lol..)

i wont be running eyefinity till prolly next year or later this year... as I like it, but cant justify buying 3 screens right now..
I will however be using my old screen to have XP Mode Fullscreen on its own screen when I use it.

Any programs/games I need to run in XP will have the old system, which will still be bootable to XP since I’m not moving that license, minus the XFi Sound Card and the Intensity 10Bit Recording.
So it will run the 8800, and the onboard sound. (Actually I have another Sound Blaster Live 5.1 w/ 5.25 bay drive sitting around in a old retired box somewhere.)

Mainboard is ordered.. (missed the -$25 instant by a few hours, lol).

Will order GPU and CPU when tax return clears direct deposit, then the screen the next week.

i have pics of the parts as they arrive on my facebook, will delete the pics on here and repost the assembly pics when i start to assemble,

other than CPU/GPU im waiting on the PSU, which the one i ordered for my system was installed in my brother's while his was RMA'd and shipped to OCZ, which they've signed for, but I havent received any EMAILs about any form of Processing.. So I have to wait for that to process and return ship.

Everything bu the GFX Card and New Screen are here, System is assembled.

Booted Win7 install from USB Stick, and it went crazy fast.

Allen, your gonna Love the #%&*$# out of this CPU....

At least for me, coming from a Athlon 64 X2 6000+, this thing is effing insane...

For Some reason its Booting at 3.4Ghz instead of teh Default 3.1Ghz, but no argument from Me, I'll have to check the BIOS and Make sure it isnt OC'd there.

gotta love water cooling (FX-8120 Stock Settings):

Beefy system there sir! When I did mine two years ago I had to stagger part orders aswell... All I need now are three 24" screens to replace my three 19" screens.

I just got in yesterday two SATA Lite-On DVD-RW burners to replace my aging IDE ones. $17 each on the Egg. They too came wrapped in a plastic bag with filler paper. Seemed to be fine tho.

I'm already envious -- size matters

Oh well, I have my wife's 4 core FX4100 CPU to play with when it arrives. It will be interesting to see how it works on games that use only one or two cores well -- like Skyrim, some flight sims.

While writing this, I opened another tab to see when her FX4100 might be delivered -- today's the day

Her HD7750 HTPC graphics card won't be here until Monday.

For Fellow Facebook Junkies, I have a Album for this System Here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3030374568181.150472.1527387319&type=3

Im still adding photo's, and I'll be adding more tonight and once the GPU is here.

Also still havent acquired the "hotfix" from MS...

As for GPU & Screen, those will be ordered this weekend/early next week, so next week i'll be updating drivers and starting to transition the Platform Licenses from my old system to the new one.

Nothing against XFX, but I may go for the 900Mhz Sapphire, as it comes with HDMI Cable, HDMI-> DVI Adapter, MiniDP to Full DP.

as for screen, cant decide if i want to drop $280 for a 27 inch screen or just save $80 and go for a 24. (im thinking 24, as it would be easier to acquire more 24's for Eyefinity later on.

looking at a 2ms ASUS for $199.99, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236153

But if the XFX 7950 BE is availible, I'll get it.


Also, Started the AMD Stability test within the AMD overdrive last night but had to stop it as i was leaving and didnt want to leave that running with the case wide open and stuff, not sure what to think about temps, as the UEFI BIOS says its 30^C on boot, in windows AMD Overdrive says the Cores are anywhere between 12^C and 27^C (and it randomly goes up and down.) temps sat at 12^C for 10 minutes of the stability test i was running, with all 8 cores Pegged at 100%,

when the stability test started, all the Cores dropped to the stock 3.1Ghz and appeared to be randomly cycling from 15 ti 17.5 Multiplier Turbo.

CPUID Hardware Monitor says the temps are 10^C lower than AMD Overdrive's.

Agree with you on XFX vs Sapphire... when I was considering a 7970 I was going the same way, the XFX double lifetime warranty I had on my 4870 and 5870s is no longer offered for the XFX 7970 so not worth going with XFX anymore compared to the accessory set that comes with the Sapphire which has a good reputation as well.

Also I would echo the 24" versus 27" monitors if you are thinking about Eyefinity. I have 3x 23" 1920x1080 monitors and it is perfect for Eyefinity IMHO, the larger you go the harder the card will have to work with x3 monitor resolution (5760x1080 for me), also I recommend staying with 1920x1080 native resolution if you plan to use it with consoles, the XBOX and PS3 both do great with my monitors in 1080p mode, but if you go to some other resolutions you will have to deal with the monitor not running in native mode. Also make sure the monitors support native DP mode for maximum Eyefinity options without needing DP->DVI/HDMI active conversion etc.

I can get an adapter later on, i might not run eyefinity for games, but more for Audio/Video Editing.

So Far The Performance is great, boots into windows 7 Quick, and immediately responsive, and its very responsive even when running alot of tasks.

The one thing i need to do is run Prime95, to max out the CPU to see what the temps do,

As this being my first water cooled CPU, i dont know if i should be trusting the CPUID Hardware Monitor/AMD overdrive Core values (which are actually the same and not different like i had said before).

During some of the PC Mark tests last night, my cores went down to 5^C (Yes, FIVE), and Spiked at 30^C max,
But the temps didnt move up/down with the work loads, The Spike to 30 for less than a second was when all cores were idle (but still at the 17.0 Multiplier.)
the 5^C low was when 3 of 8 cores were hovering at around 60% usage.

The core usage is also sporadic, watching the cores when programs are "benchmarking", the loads jump around randomly from one to another, instead of just resting on 1 or 2 cores. Maybe the hotfix will address this if I can find it again.

So it seams that the CPU is sitting at the 3.4GHz Turbo Mode on all cores, even when system is idling. The Only time I've seen it drop to the Default 3.1Ghz was when I was running the AMD Stability Test, and they all dropped to 15x mp and 3.1Ghz, but cycled to 17 2 cores at a time randomly,

I have yet to see it hit the 4.0Ghz 4 core Turbo Turbo, even when I told AMD's Overdrive to Peg 1 Core. which makes me think that AMD's Overdrive test doesn't really stress the cores the way Prime95 does.

they were mainly in the 15^C range, and fluctuated up and down from there. The PUMP is set on HIGH for the H100 Block.

I did run the pump outside of the my old system and listened to the block, and could her the water flowing, so the pump is operating.

I guess Allen would be able to tell me if that kind of fluctuation is normal w/ water,

After about 20 minutes of run time, average temp started to go down
(i guess as the water makes it way through the radiator and back to the CPU Block.).

I'll run Prime95 to see what the temps actually Max out at.

as running AMD's tests, even with all 8 cores pegged, temps were jumping from 7^C to 15, back down to 7 up to 23 back down to 7... etc etc...

I also need to look into why the CPU stays in Turbo 3.4 Ghz mode. when it should be stepping down to 3.1 mode when idling.

OK, even when running Prime95, all 8 cores, temps stay in the teens...

now, if I tell it to run 4 cores, the workload jumps around, and doesnt max out any core at all, Wierd,

also when 8 cores are maxed it drops the multiplier to 15, from the 17 that it's idling at... and Some cores drop to 14x (2.7Ghz.)

I dunno about you, but isnt that backwards?

gonna double check BIOS Options again.

Funny, Prime95 is running 8 workers, and im chillin watching HD Flash Movies on the Internet with no lag at all... and still at 17^C

Seems that the temps are not jumping around anymore, 10 or below idling and 17-20 load (all 8 cores).

the fact that the cores arent utilized correctly is annoying. i installed both updates. and still the same.

Cinebench sees my chip as 4c 8T, with a score of 5.04 (ish).

Accidently changed MP to 18.0x and it didnt bode well, lol.

I just got my wife's HTPC FX4100 up and running yesterday -- still many things to do/try -- these are very preliminary remarks.

So far, I've tried OC in BIOS and also OC using AMD Overdrive. So far, AMD Overdrive is not a bad way to OC this CPU. I have a lot more to do before I report a final opinion.

AMD Overdrive under-reports the CPU core temperatures for some reason -- typically 15C at idle with all my CPUs. I notice on my Phenom II systems and on the FX4100 that the "Board Status" page gives the right CPU temperature -- listed as TMPIN1. I get 30C idle on my water cooled Phenom II X6. I got 33C idle on my aftermarket-air-cooled FX4100 and about 43C at 4.2GHz with the FX4100. I get in the low-mid 50s with good air cooling on the Phenom II X6 at 4.0GHz Prime95 and low-mid 40s with water. The water cooler should circulate the water fairly quickly -- a minute (?). However, the water-cooler system does heat up and the final temperature takes a few minutes to reach. Don't know why yours heats up then cools down over 20 minutes -- except if the CPU workload is changing from higher to lower.

Worth noting that sometimes the thermal grease does not spread correctly and one has to reinstall a cooler to get a consistent good result. Has to be hyper thin and uniform. I have read that some sites that test coolers actually reinstall the cooler two or three times -- testing each time -- to get the best performance -- and they, presumably, know what they are doing. The Arctic Silver site explains the process for achieving a hyper thin uniform coating.

If I retained "turbo" and "cool n quiet", I too got the jumping around (some jumping around is also normal on my Phenom II X6 systems). To me, its the CPU constantly adjusting to do the job with minimum power; so, I'm not concerned, yet. If I used AMD Overdrive to shut off "turbo" and set the CPU to 4.2GHz, I got a constant 4.2 while running Prime95 -- no jumping around -- cool n quiet would drop the GHz when not running Prime95. More to do to decide how I want to set it up. Though for an HTPC, I might just let it "do its thing" -- it will be cooler and quieter

Being that the FX4100 is really a defective FX81xx with 4 bad cores disabled, it is not likely to OC real well -- though some folks have claimed 4.9 stable and 5.0GHz post with their particular FX4100. Of 4 working cores, one seems to be "bad" on my unit -- only goes to 4.2 with some stability, so far. Usefully, the FX cores can be OC separately to separate values -- don't know if that's singly or in pairs. I'll see how that works out -- just for fun as I doubt it matters in an HTPC.

FWIW, got 3.05 in CINEBENCH at 4.0GHz. Oddly, got virtually the same number 2.9x at 3.6GHz -- something for me to ponder. 3 is basically half the value that FX8150 8 core 3.6GHz got in some test reports, so it seems about right.

I think things are "sorting out" with our FX4100. I won't be finalized in my thoughts until late next week -- as I do not have the HTPC HD7750 GPU yet (I'm using the "dinky" on-the-motherboard GPU -- get 2FPS in Heaven 2.5).

I installed Skyrim (actually its still updating via Steam). It will be interesting to see if Skyrim (which only uses 2 cores and is CPU limited) runs about as fast on this very-low-cost HTPC as it does on my main gaming system (once I have the HD7750).

temps stabilized as I ran prime, instead of jumping up and down they idle low and go up about 7-10^C under prime 95.

I turned off cool n quiet right off the bat, I think the idle temps are prolly more than than what the AMD Overdrive is reporting for my cores (10-15^C), as one of the "CPU" values in HWMonitor says I idle at 30 (CPUTIN) .
I googled around and alot of people have issues with throttling at 45^C ceiling.

i accidently moved the multiplier up without the voltage so the multiplier changed but as soon as i hit test in AMD Overdrive the system rebooted.

in the bios I was testing around, I was able to disable 4 cores and "1 core per module" and Overclock to 4.6Ghz no problem using the recommended MP/Voltage/HT Settings.


Seeing as im still waiting for my GFX Card and screen, i havent played games...

But i just find it weird that Prime 95 runs 8 worker threads maxes all 8 of my cores and I can still monkey doodle and open programs and videos on the system with no lag..

one thing i do like:

On my old Old System, 4 minute 720p Xbox 360 compressed to WMV9-VC1 @ 12MBps HP@HL = 1.5-2.0 Hours.
New system, 15 Minutes

In Expression 4 SP1 Ult.

this is what im trying to fix now, while my GFX card is on the way, i should just disable all this crap and OC the CPU to 24/7 stable level..

System specs:
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922
Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply
Mainboard: ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional AM3+ AMD 990FX
CPU: AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor
CPU Cooling: CORSAIR H100 (CWCH100) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Memory: G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 16GB DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Graphics: Sapphire AMD 7950 w/ 3GB GDDR5 Ram (OC Edition)
Audio: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series
HD Recording : Black Magic Intensity Pro 10-Bit HDMI 1080p Capture Card
Harddisk: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1502FAEX 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s
Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
External HDDrive: Seagate External USB 3.0 1 TB HDD
Displays: 3x Asus 24" 2ms 1080p

Ok, Im not sure, but I think something is a bit wonky here:

the Board's Bios is set to Defaults, but I disabled Cool and Quiet.

so, According to AMD, FX8120 boosts to 3.4GHz on all 8 cores, and 4.0 Ghz on 2/4.

So, Heres the issue I have,
When Im Idling its Idling at 3.4Ghz/17.0x Multiplier. (Which is the all 8 core turbo)
When i run Prime95 with 8 workers, I peg all CPUs at 100, it drops all Cores to 15.0x Multiplier and 3.1Ghz, and at some points to 14.0x.

I am under the impression that its supposed to go the other way?.

also when I set workers to say 4 in Prime 95, the workload is thrown all over the place instead of being On only 4 cores and those cores "Turbo'd".

Same when i set it to 1 or 2 cores, the workload is sporadically bounced around.

Even with 1 worker set, it should be pegging 1 core, and I should be seeing the 4.0Ghz Boost on that core right? But its bouncing all over randomly.

also tried toggling the "Boost" in AMD overdrive's program, this had no effect.

Is there a bios setting somewhere causing this issue?
(yes i have both of the FX "hot Fixes" KB2645594 & KB2646060) No improvement.)

CoolNQuiet Off, C6/C1 Power Off, APM Off.


AMD Overdrive at system desktop Idle:


AMD Overdrive w/ all 8 Running Prime95 for 20 minutes:



Edit:
ok, just to check and see if it wasnt something that was changed.

when i first booted the system, i cleared CMOS,

then after i installed / updated windows, i updated the BIOS,

I made sure all the settings stuck,

but just to be on the safe side, I told it to load defaults.

Now, in Prime95, i get more convincing values from CPU-Z
3.9Ghz 20.0x MP, 2 Threads (CPUZ reads 20x, AMDOD reads 17)
3.4Ghz 17.0x MP, 4 Threads (But drops to 15 occasionally).

2.9 to 3.1Ghz on 14-15.5x MP on 8 threads.

so the problem seems to be when using 8 threads.

CPU VCore Voltage also seems to drop really low on 8 threads (.95-1.05 ish)
I dont know if thats normal for a FX-8120 CPU.


It also seems, starting with 8 threads, and stopping them 1 at a time, results in each thread getting their own core to use, where as starting 1 thread, the workload goes back and forth through all the 8 cores randomly.


So Im thinking its a VCore issue.

Funny how AMD's down program dont read the CPU data right.

I still have my launch Xbox 360, so No HDMI,

I do however have it hooked to my Intensity Pro Card (Component Video), which will do up to 1080i, but on my current screen, 1080i looks like crap. (1680x1050).

So if 1080i looks great on my new screen without the interlacing being overly evident, i'll play and record 1080i, if not, 720p, even then it will still look better, as my current screen is 16:10, so 720p is stretched.

I'll prolly mount my current screen in portrait mode on the side to run webpages / pdfs while i play certain sims (F4-BMS, DCS:A10, etc), or to have control panels while I edit video.

I actually finally got the Intensity Pro card and my XFi Platinum Stable, I spend all day Sunday trying to install creatives driver, i dont know how many times i had to boot to the restore option and have it restore an acess point because teh driver would fail during install, reboot, and get stuck on windows logo, reboot, and go into boot restore or whatever, let it scan for a problem, then let it restore everything, then reboot again. The one thing i HATE about creative.

finally i just installed all the drivers manually using my old HDD and copying the files, registering them, and installing the programs/control panel programs. and that took 6 hours sunday.

then i had to play musical slots with the intensity card, as for some reason, it refuses to update the firmware now (it wont even check it.), found out that booting certain programs messes up the Intensity Audio Bridge, so basically i have to reboot if i want to use the intensity pro card, but now i can record 1080i/720p uncompressed (i couldnt do that on my old system).

all in all i got done making everything stable around 1AM this morning...

now the only thing i have to do when the Sapphire card gets here is wipe the nVidia drivers before i install AMDs.

Also came to the conclusion that AMD's Overdrive Application doesnt read the chip's speed correctly.

I've started playing with a serious effort to OC my FX4100 (more of an effort than I normally make). Prime95 does cause it to "act crazy" with clocks jumping around unlike with other applications -- which may lead to premature Prime95 errors. Others have noticed the same thing. Set it aside for today.

Outside Prime95, things are going well with the FX4100 and HD7750 that arrived this afternoon -- game performance is really quite good, so far.

As mentioned previously, I'll post what I find out when the HTPC is completed.

Start Prime with 4 Workers, then Drop 2, and it will keep the load on 2 cores like its supposed too and the other 2 will be free. then you can test turbo turbo.

my cpu drops multipliers in 8 worker prime95, to 15.0 and eventually down to 14.0 (default is 15.5, Turbo 1 is 17.0, Turbo 2 is 20.0)

at the same time when i start prime, it's at the 7.0x Power Saving mode, goes up to 15.5 default, then to 17.0 for a few seconds, back down to 15.5 default then down to 15/14, VCore also drops to 1.05-0.95 (yes less than 1 volt), while in prime, every time i'm looking at it waiting for it to fail/error/crash. Im guessing that's why the CPU is Throttling back though, it detects the voltage dropping.

As Soon as I End 2 or 3 Worker threads, Multiplier goes back up to 15.5 and alternates between 15.5 and 17, once i drop down to 2 threads, and max only those 2 cores, it goes to the 20.0 multi and stays there until i end the last 2 workers.

So 4 or 5 cores wil stable turbo, 6+ will cause VCore to Drop below 1.1v down to .95v if i leave it go, and the CPU will just continue to throttle back.

I'm still trying to figure out of this is a issue i can fix by changing the voltage in the bios. But if other people aren't aware and all the CPU's do this, they may account for a large chunk of the "Performance" missing. I emailed AMD and they said they'll investigate the Vcore Drop and the Throttling at full load. as its clearly not a thermal throttle.

I'll find out in a few days if its a PSU issue, as the 7950 will suck more power than my 8800 GTS currently does, which will make the issue worse.