Avian Gamers Network

I've been looking forward to this day since the middle of February. Back then, I tipped the scales at 268 pounds. Even for a 6'2" guy, that's a lot of weight and a very unhealthy bodyfat ratio. So my wife made me a deal: get to 200 pounds and get a new computer - no holds barred.

I'm proud to say that through a lot of hard work, lifestyle changes and the very significant carrot my wife dangled out in front of me, I now weigh 199 pounds! :):) I've lost 69 pounds and will be ordering my computer on Monday.

So, as many others have done because there's a lot of collective computer knowledge in this group, I'm posting the specs of the computer I'll be building and would love some feedback from my fellow Avians.

Case:
Thermaltake Mozart (VW1000SWA)
This bad boy is a monster and has a unique appearance in addition to some very clever and intelligent internal design. It's not very LAN party friendly so that just means I'll need to host the LAN parties at my house.

Motherboard:
eVGA 122 CK-NF68 A1 (680i)

Chip:
Intel Core2 Duo E6850 (3.0 GHz)
I'm still amazed that this much processing power only costs $270!

RAM:
2x CORSAIR 2GB KIT TWIN2X2048-8500C5D (for a total of 4GB)

Video card:
eVGA nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX

Sound card:
Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Gamer

NIC:
Killer NIC
Already have this - will just transplant it.

Hard drive:
2x Western Digital 320GB in RAID 0
The $$$/GB makes me hesitate before going with 10,000 RPM drives. Does anyone know of any limitation a 10k drive does/might have running in RAID 0 configuration?

Keyboard:
Logitech G11

Mouse:
Logitech G9

Speakers:
Logitech Z-5300 5.1 surround

Power Supply
Thermaltake W0131RU ToughPower 850W
Think I can drop this back to a 750W and still be able to upgrade to SLI in the near future?

Monitor:
Samsung 245BW (24" widescreen, 1920x1200, 5ms)

OS:
Vista Ultimate 64-bit
This was a tough one but I'm going with the most future-proof choice. XP is limited for two reasons: 32-bit memory addressing, no DX-10. Vista, or specifically Vista64 addresses both of these things even though it also brings along a few problems. I'm prepared to dual-boot with Vista64 and XP for a while in order to mitigate some of the problems with Vista.

The other stuff (DVD, floppy, etc) will just be whatever stock black component. Mwave has at a good price. I'm buying most of this from Mwave and have looked at TigerDirect and NewEgg, though I find the latter two places consistently more expensive. I'd be glad to hear other places any of you have used online.

_________________
Liro
"The english language is not a wedding gown, it doesn't get better the more lace you add. It is instead a thong. Less is more." From /.
I need to remind myself of this regularly.

You Rock!

And gratz on the PC.

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Dalaran: Arindel - Frost Mage (Mining/Alchemy)
Dalaran: Roran - Paladin (Weaponsmith/Blacksmith)
Dalaran: Baine - Rogue

I have Vista Home Premium, and I have zero complaints...

Thats about all I can chime in on the specs deal...

But super congrats man, I know you have been working hard to get to your goal.. way to go !

Big Congrats Rocky.

If you put the weight back on will you lose computer access

Would love to know some of the things you did to take off that kind of weight.

LOL! Nope! And I agreed to the plan quickly enough she didn't have time to even think of adding a clause like that!

I didn't go to the meetings (they would have annoyed me to no end) but I followed the Weight Watchers point system, cut out diet sodas (all soda actually) and replaced them with water and finally...exercise! For about three months solid, I was at the gym an hour and a half doing cardio (hour) and weights (30 min). A lot of work, yes, but in addition to the sweet computer, I feel great! This NC heat and humidity doesn't bother me as much, I have more energy and I sleep better. It was all very, very worth all that work.

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Liro
"The english language is not a wedding gown, it doesn't get better the more lace you add. It is instead a thong. Less is more." From /.
I need to remind myself of this regularly.

Gratz Rocky, both on the loss and addition

My fiancee used Weight Watchers and has now lost 30lbs. I also knnow a few other peeps here that have used that program with great success.

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"I built me a bomb and dropped it on every MFer who got in my way!"

Congrats again Rocky! Man this is getting old.

My Mrs is a fan of WW too. Helped her a ton after she had the last urchin and she's become basically evangelical about the program. She loves the meetings too and gets all grumpy if she misses any.

That's a sweet deal about the comp and I can't help at all with building it but do recommend the Razer mouses for gaming. I have the Copperhead and LOVE it. It's amazingly sensitive if you FPS and the extra buttons are awesome for WOW or the like.

And I'll throw my 2 cents out there on Vista as I've had it for the past 5 months or so. I use my computer for gaming mostly but also some basic picture and film editing and that's about it, so admittedly it's not much. However, Vista adds nothing as far as I can see. The build in security is pretty much worthless if you use Firefox and common sense. It claims to be backward compatible but is often not. I have spent countless hours getting a home network and MP3 player setup when it was cake on XP.

The only real reason I got it was so I wouldn't have to upgrade later. I made the wrong choice I think.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I'm pretty serious about Vista 64 so my apps can address the entire 4 gig of memory I'm putting in. I think I'm going to dual-boot with Vista and WinXP for a few months just to be sure.

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Liro
"The english language is not a wedding gown, it doesn't get better the more lace you add. It is instead a thong. Less is more." From /.
I need to remind myself of this regularly.

I dual boot on my work desktop and I am glad I did, I have worked out most of the bugs on it but it still has poor performance (more memory and a better video card will help and its on its way). My work laptop runs Vista but I do have a 2nd hard that has my old XP install. I have had some difficulties on the laptop but not alot. Main one is some serious lad issues with WoW after the new build but I am beginning to think is was actually a mod problem now that happened with 2.1 which happened right about the same time I installed vista

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Section 6

As long he doesn't pull a Douglas Adams with a (Part 4 of 3).

Gratz Rocky. Now I don't wanna virtually shake a hand for a week.

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1st Feb 2008

Wow, you're just full of good news! That is really great to hear, Liro! I'm happy you got your new computer but even happier that you've taken off so much weight! Way to go!

You know.... I would LOVE for my husband to take off 15-20 pounds (for his diabetes) His sugar is always good but he also takes medication for it. Even his doctor has said he could reduce if not eliminate the need for meds if he got down to 200 lbs. But, I can only control what he eats (since I'm the cook) and CANNOT get that man to work out with me.. EVER!

I think you, or rather your wife, have given me a fabulous idea! Hehe!

Thanks a bunch and BIG congrats to you, Liro!

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Loi: 70 Druid (375 Enchanter & 375 Tribal LW, also cooking and fishing)

Famke: 70 Hunter (375 Miner & 375 Skinning, also cooking and fishing)

Nightngale: 41 Shadow Priest (300 Alchemy & 300 Herbalism)

Blush: 32 Mage (Miner & Skinner)

That's awesome. Congrats!

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TheMole
Section 5
Section 5
Section 5
Now Playing: WoW
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Congrats Rocky! Way to show that gut who's boss!

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Romsuiag (Brad)
Former and Third President of Avian