Battle Stations.

[Ollieboy]

New toy I picked up for cheap today. Now I don't think there is a thing on my computer that I haven't upgraded in the last 2 months. (Mobo not included, of course).

Oh wait! I could get new RAM since I only have 2x4GB DDR2! DDR3 here I come!

Also for the curious, Razer Lycosa.

[Lim-Dul]

New toy I picked up for cheap today. Now I don't think there is a thing on my computer that I haven't upgraded in the last 2 months. (Mobo not included, of course).

Oh wait! I could get new RAM since I only have 2x4GB DDR2! DDR3 here I come!

Also for the curious, Razer Lycosa.

Never. Ever. Buy. Razer. Products. (I could tell some stories.)

[Ollieboy]

Can you share? I can return it in the next 6 days if its really horrible. Although it IS really damn comfortable, quiet and lights up, which is what I was after.

[Lim-Dul]

OK, so, I had this friend who was a major Razer fan and talked me into buying a Razer Diamondback mouse.

First thing I found out that their wonderful drivers didn't allow to reconfigure where Mouse4 and 5 were (back and forward for browsers, I use them a lot), forcing me to have Mouse5 on the pinkie side. I wrote to Razer support about it and they told me it's a "hardware issue". Weirdly enough through sheer coincidence I installed my old IntelliMouse 3.0 drivers and, lo and behold, Windows recognized the Diamondback as one of THEIR mice and guess what? MOUSE 4 AND 5 WERE UNDER MY THUMB - HARDWARE ISSUES MY ASS, RAZER.

That's the first part. The second part:
The Razer logo on the mouse wore off after around two weeks of usage (high quality there) and the rubber grip inlays started wearing down after around a month of usage, turning into a shredded mess, unpleasant to the touch. Also after around a month of usage, the Mouse 1 button started getting stuck or randomly double-clicking.

And mind you, it was an overpriced product aimed at gamers. At that point I showed Razer the middle finger and returned to the IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 which is the best gaming mouse ever because it doesn't have idiotic bullshit on it like weight, sensitivity switching, millions of buttons or retardedly high dpi sensors that don't do shit because they aren't the bottleneck for mouse precision - it's the USB polling rate that Windows like to lock at low levels.

So anyways - after that shit I swore to never buy a Razer product again - or any other product aimed specifically at gamers, other than video cards of course. =)

[Cartoonman]

sounds like another quality product from Guangdong...

[Ollieboy]

Fair enough. If it makes you feel better about my purchase it was like 40% off. My mate who I was with picked up a mouse though, I'll see how his is going after a while and share his. I didn't get it because it was made for gaming and I probably won't fully utilise its macro ability and stuff, but it was on sale and had pretty lights. :3

[Pemalite]

Eh. I don't Mind the razor gear.
I've got a set of Razer Orca headphones which I got only a few months ago and which have been good to me.
Sure I could have gotten something like the Audio-Technica AD700's which are vastly superior in sound fidelity... But these were bright green and looked cooler. - I hate ear buds, so I use these for all my headphone needs, be it at work or late at night on the Desktop, so aesthetics were part of the buying equation and are bloody comfortable even after hours of use. (And only cost me: $80 at the time.)


I'm going to see how Ollie goes after a few months and see what he thinks of his keyboard, need to replace my cheap shit $10 kmart job.
Been eying off the Razer StarCraft 2 Keyboard and Mouse or the Logitech G19 (It has an LCD screen so I can keep an eye on Voltages, Clock Speeds and Temperatures while gaming.)

[Lim-Dul]

(It has an LCD screen so I can keep an eye on Voltages, Clock Speeds and Temperatures while gaming.)

Yeah, because that's really important. ;-)

I've been OC-ing my PCs since 1998 by now and never needed anything like this.

Keyboards - disposable keyboards for around $5 each, mouse, Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 for life - though it's not what I'm on right now since I'm in Canada. :-P

[Pemalite]

(It has an LCD screen so I can keep an eye on Voltages, Clock Speeds and Temperatures while gaming.)

Yeah, because that's really important.

I've been OC-ing my PCs since 1998 by now and never needed anything like this.

Keyboards - disposable keyboards for around $5 each, mouse, Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 for life - though it's not what I'm on right now since I'm in Canada.

Well I don't "need" it, it's just cool novelty factor, I've also been overclocking since the mid 1990's, but back then you weren't exactly overclocking 1ghz or more above stock speeds not to mention chips back then had low TDP limits.
I've generally used cheap Keyboards and Mice all my life, but I figure that if I can spend upwards of several grand on my system I should at-least spend more than $10-$20 on the devices that I am constantly interacting with.

On that note I did stumble onto the worlds most "Customizable mouse" also known as the Cyborg RAT.
If you want overkill it has 1,344 different physical configurations, mostly just marketing speak but looks cool.

[Ollieboy]

This is just human materialism here. I could achieve what I want with far less money dropped into my system but that's not fun OR pretty.

[Lim-Dul]

I don't know whom you are showing your computers to guys or who you want to impress them with. ^^

If I want to impress anybody with a computer I go for raw power and that's it and the less money I waste into BS like keyboards with LCDs and transformer mice, the more I can put into that. :-P

[Sanjar Khan]

Maybe they like to create a stimulating workspace for themselves

[Hafnium]

I've been using a R.A.T. 5 for quite a while now. I needed to use a gamestop giftcard, and they didn't have anything more interesting. I've actually grown quite fond of it. Its solid and well weighted, the precision button by my thumb has come in handy, and I've actually used the sensitivity switching on occasion, mainly in Ace of Spades. The thumb wheel may as well be a placebo though. Its awkward and useless.

[Pemalite]

Ah thanks for that Hafnium, nice to see some first-hand experience on it. I've gone and ordered the R.A.T 7 mouse.
If anything the sniper button should give me an edge in some FPS games.

Maybe they like to create a stimulating workspace for themselves

That.
I do get allot of comments from people who see my system.

But generally if I don't like the look of something or something is not meeting my needs or it's uncomfortable... Then it goes.
Plus who doesn't like that moment when you unwrap a new toy and you get that "New" smell? It's almost addictive.

[Intertoothh]

Gaming/home use:
Keyboard: Logitech G15 (neat display helps me to show who is chatting on mumble etc, time, mails)
Mouse: Logitech MX518. Never disapointed me.

Work/office use:
Keyboard: Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 Perfect keyboard for somebody who types alot. And doesnt wanna use the mouse. The back/forward button on those easly let me skip between files and/or functions within files. That combined with some custom links (Ctrl->forward is 'goto definition') it works great for programming. Hardly use a mouse.
Mouse: Logitech MX518....

[FatalityReload]

My Laptop:

Motherboard: PLANAR FOR TPM/AMT

CPU: Intel Core2 Duo Centrino vPro processor

GPU: NViadia GeForce 9600GT

RAM: 4GB

PSU: IDK

Case: Factory Case

OS: Windows 7 Professional

WLAN Card: Intel Wireless WiFi link 5300 3x3

Graphics Card: Integrated Intel Gma 4500 mH

ATA HDD: 200GB/7200rpm with Full Disk encryption

Li-ion Battery Life: 9-cell + bay battery: starting at 8.5hr

Display: WXGa W/leD Backlight (1280x800, 129dpi, 200+ nit)
Ports and Slots: 3 USB, ieee 1394a, vGa, microphone/line-in,
Headphone/line-out, DisplayPort and optional Dvi-D
monitor cable

[DreamingInsane]

I'm about finished building my machine, and since it's now my 1k post, might as well post about it.

Casing: Broadway FX
Motherboard:GIGABYTE M68MT-S2P
CPU: AMD Phenom II x4(I didn't buy this off Newegg, Bought it from eBay new, for $95.)
GPU/Graphics Card: At the moment its, NVIDIA nForce 630a/NVIDIA GeForce 7025 (Have a good laugh at the review, I sure did.) It will soon be, ATI Radeon HD6570
RAM: 8GB Patriot Gamer 2 Series
PSU: Pixxo 600W ATX
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
SATA II HDD: 300 GB VelociRaptor 10k RPM(16 MB Cache)
Networking Card: TP-Link 300Mbs Wireless N
Display:N/A Still determining the size. Currently use this though, ASUS 18.5in

This, all together around = $400-$500

Nothing to be proud of, A fair machine if you ask me. Could of done a bit better though.

[Sanjar Khan]

America is so cheap. Can I move in with you?

[DreamingInsane]

Heh, It was indeed cheap. The hard drives aren't so cheap at the moment due to continuous floodings in Thailand, which is why I turned to eBay for the answer and found that sexy beast.

I could of done better since the holiday sales got ridiculously low.

[boblol0909]

Just built my first homebuilt computer!

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3
Processor: AMD Phenom II 980 Black Edition
Ram: 8GB G Skill Ripjaws
Video Card: Radeon HD 6570
HDD: 1TB Seagate 7200RPM

The Windows Experience Index Scores are (out of 7.9):
Processor: 7.4
Memory(RAM): 7.5
Graphics: 6.8
Gaming Graphics: 6.8 (not bad for that tiny video card)
Primary hard disk: 5.9 (lame)

[Ollieboy]

3.7GHz quad! Not bad at all. Coulda shot a bit higher with the graphics card though. With 7000 series around the corner the higher end 6000 series have been going down in price, but alas, if the shoe fits then you've built a fine computer.

[boblol0909]

I cut down on the graphics card to save some money, I'll probably update later. It runs games pretty well though.

[Sanjar Khan]

Hey I tried that Windows Experience thing, it would update and check my hardware but it doesn't give me grades.

[Kevinsweijen]

Hey I tried that Windows Experience thing, it would update and check my hardware but it doesn't give me grades.

Remember how the teachers never gave you something under like a 4 (When you were 9)?
Microsoft is too nice to give you low grades :3

[Ollieboy]

My PSU fan is fried and I have to wait a whole day before I can pick up a new replacement fan. It still like, ventilates, but it's louder than an airport. I even went in and re-greased the bearings and all that to no avail.

Edit: And after my $122 trip to my local PC parts shop, this is in my possession.

[Scrathy]

2.9ghz amd phenom 840T
8g ram
1gig amd radeon 6570

32 inch Monitor

[hylloch]

CPU: Intel i7-2600K 3.40 GHz 8M
Motherboard: GigaByte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3
Memory: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Corsair Vengeance
Video Card: AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB
Power Supply: 750W Corsair CMPSU-750TXV2
Hard Drive: 1TB SATA 3.0 Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

[Flamewarrior199]

Samsung 7 series: I7 quad core, 625gbs! brand new! woot oh and 8gb RAM

[KingCrab]

So, had to revive this old thread in celebration of my new desktop I just ordered the parts for:

AMD Phenom II x6 1045t Processor
8 GB Ram
Radeon 6870 Video Card
ASUS AM3 870 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
1 TB Hard Drive
32" HD monitor


Also, my sexy case:
Here

First desktop I ever built. Not bad for around $675.

Thanks to everyone that helped me in this process.

[DreamingInsane]

Reviving this thread because I can.

Hate wireless.


Love ethernet cables.


Conclusion:
Just recently bought a 100 ft. ethernet cable. I love it.
I'm also pretty far away from where the router is, I'm technically the dead zone of the house. Optimizing the router setting's and getting a new adapter didn't help much. So, cables yo.

Way too much interference in the way.