What was the last thing you bought?

[TheElusiveMelon]

GTA 4 and the latests Power Quest album

[Psythik]

Originally posted by SSJ4 Gogitta
Also cashed my $600 economic stimulus check

Damnit, I have yet to get one.

[MidnightViper88]

Mine comes in the 4th of July (How patriotic) since I'm a 400 receiving it through in the mail...I'm already planning a Nikon D40 with $500 of it, so I can't wait Uncle Sam to get rolling with this...

[ScorLibran]

A Smilodon!

I've been eyeing this thing for a while. I've built in many, many boxes, but I'm especially drawn to the looks of this one. Now that it comes with a $25 rebate, I'm putting my next release in it. Buying the rest as shown on Monday or Tuesday, unless I find some place giving away Skulltrails for $99.

C-Tech ASR.4 Assassin
Smilodon Extreme Black
Asus P5N-D nForce 750i
Intel Q9300
2 GB OCZ DDR2 800 C4 1T*
2 x eVGA 9600 GT (SLI)
SB X-Fi Extreme 7.1
XigmaTek 750w modular PSU
1 TB Barracuda 7200 16MB SATA II RAID-0 (2x500)
LG GH20NS10 optical drive
XigmaTek 92mm Rifle Cooler
Scythe Slipstream 120mm x 2
PCI WLAN adapter | 3.5" FDD | All-in-one card reader

...and a couple more Apevia and Zalman green LED fans. I'm sure I'll find a place to stick 'em.

* - I'm not decided on the memory, yet.

[k_rock923]

Interesting choice on the PCI Wireless adapter. I wouldn't normally put that in a desktop, since I believe desktops should always use wired network. (Yes, I know that wireless has almost caught up with wired in terms of bandwidth. . . it's about the latency).

[gaekwad2]

Wireless has a higher bling factor.

(for current games the Q9300 is an interesting choice as well)

[SSJ4 Gogitta]

Originally posted by Psythik
Damnit, I have yet to get one.

http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=180250,00.html

[ScorLibran]

Originally posted by k_rock923
Interesting choice on the PCI Wireless adapter. I wouldn't normally put that in a desktop, since I believe desktops should always use wired network. (Yes, I know that wireless has almost caught up with wired in terms of bandwidth. . . it's about the latency).

I got the WLAN adapter mainly because I need it to do the build. My workbench is four rooms away from my router, and for my purposes 54Mbps is fine for installation/configuration/testing of each machine. I debated simply having one I'd use for each build and not actually sell it at any point. But, it's only $15 or so, it does add some value to the machine, so I said what the heck. Same as with the card reader and floppy drive. For the latter people used to want them for BIOS updates and the like, but now that can be done by practically any media source, including CD-R, flash drive, etc., so floppy drives just aren't as necessary any more even for those specific tasks. But little things like these sub-$10 components are "niceties" that I generally like to add. And I've gotten several comments from customers saying they were glad for little conveniences like those that I include where many builders don't. Because of the tiny cost and effort for such things, it's not a matter of "Why?", but rather "Why not?"

And I've heard a lot of folks question the choice of Q9300. I've worked with that processor before, and I think it'll do quite well considering the cost target of this machine. I can't justify the Q9450, and I want a change from the Q6600. It's a great CPU, but it's just that everybody and his brother is building Q6600 gaming rigs. And indeed, that means it's a good choice - same reason I've shipped a few dozen machines built around it. But I like to experiment. If I were just building one PC for myself it'd be different, but I'm pumping out several of these per month. I have room to experiment. Plus, I assume all the risk if anything doesn't work as well as it should.

Anyway, the last time people bashed a processor choice of mine (the E8400), the build turned out to be a big success with several follow-up orders.

(It's not that I don't trust you guys here, but for some things I just have my own agenda, that's all. )

Overall, I'm really excited about the forthcoming model.

(Also, have you guys seen the numbers on 9600 GT scaling in SLI? Very impressive stuff.)

[k_rock923]

I agree one hundred percent on the floppy drive. One goes in every machine I makes, especially considering they usually go for all of $5.

I wasn't criticizing about the WLAN, so much as curious. Your reasoning makes sense to me - who wants network cables everywhere. (Ok, I do. I like the way it looks)

[gaekwad2]

Originally posted by ScorLibran
And I've heard a lot of folks question the choice of Q9300. I've worked with that processor before, and I think it'll do quite well considering the cost target of this machine. I can't justify the Q9450, and I want a change from the Q6600. It's a great CPU, but it's just that everybody and his brother is building Q6600 gaming rigs. And indeed, that means it's a good choice - same reason I've shipped a few dozen machines built around it. But I like to experiment. If I were just building one PC for myself it'd be different, but I'm pumping out several of these per month. I have room to experiment. Plus, I assume all the risk if anything doesn't work as well as it should.

Anyway, the last time people bashed a processor choice of mine (the E8400), the build turned out to be a big success with several follow-up orders.

The thing is, with current games an E8400 would be faster than both the Q9300 and Q9450 (at stock speed, let alone overclocked since duos oc much better than the 2+2 core models).

Of course it's just a question of time when games will take advantage of four cores, but then "future-proof gaming rig" is kind of an oxymoron, isn't it?

[ScorLibran]

Each machine I sell is meant to be viable in its abilities for at least two to three years. (The longest duration which can be reasonably expected before the customer should feel a need to upgrade something significant.) We're just now getting games and applications written to make the most of 64-bit processing, and full utilization of quad cores is fairly close, as well.

So I have to build not only for what is needed now, but I have to consider whether the machine will still provide good performance and compatibility in 2010 and 2011, by which time there will be many games coded for the more capable system abilities which we're only barely making use of now. (DX10/64-bit processing/4 logical cores/SSE4/etc.)

Originally posted by k_rock923
I wasn't criticizing about the WLAN, so much as curious. Your reasoning makes sense to me - who wants network cables everywhere.

I knew you weren't criticizing. But you're right that most/all serious gamers are going to use gigabit ethernet over WLAN. All I'm providing is an option, a convenience. One that if you never use, will never slow your machine down just sitting there (especially if you disable it in Device Manager, as I do all network connections except the one I need at any given time.)

And, essentially, you wouldn't have even paid anything for it, because I didn't change my final selling price when I decided to add it to the build list. Same thing with the card reader and FDD. $35 worth of extra peripherals, all together. Little conveniences which I'm happy to provide for no extra charge.

Originally posted by k_rock923
(Ok, I do. I like the way it looks)

Ain't it sharp? I've got the case coming a couple of days before the rest of the components. I think I'll just sit it on my coffee table and admire it until I actually have stuff to put into it. It's just too bad I can't plug it in and make it glow until I get the PSU.

[swingdjted]

I went on a weekend vacation to Rapid City, SD (about a 3 & 1/2 hr. drive from here) and got some stuff.

Beer for the bar - a six pack of each:



I have had and enjoyed them all before, except the Red Hook porter. I'll post a review on the "when the juices flow" thread in the bin when I try it.

Wine for the bar - All 5 bottles are made from 100% South Dakota ingredients. The two dry wines (Deadwood and 3 Rednecks) are more my taste. The two sweets (Redass Rhubarb and Rasberry Honeywine) are more along Renee's taste.



Jim Beam special edition bottle from an antique dealer. Already have the Pennsylvania bottle, but this will make a nice addition. It's empty now, but after I give it a quick clean-up, I can fill it if I want.



I'll post more stuff I picked up later. This was just the bar edition of the most recently bought stuff.

[gaekwad2]

Originally posted by ScorLibran
Each machine I sell is meant to be viable in its abilities for at least two to three years. (The longest duration which can be reasonably expected before the customer should feel a need to upgrade something significant.)

Three years? More like six months max.

People who only upgrade their computer every three years need no dual graphics cards or RAID 0 either.

[Widdykats]

^Yeah, dammit!


*You all know what he's talkin' about, don't you?

[swingdjted]

I'm posting from a the basement box I built in 2001 with only minor upgrades. It's not the best box I have, but it works well for everything I do down here.