Ultimate Game PC? LOTS OF PICS!! [Archive]

JADS

30-06-2001, 15:39

Well you have to start somewhere and possibly the best place to start is the Cyrus HARK stand as this will be a good place to store all components, and hide the wires in the stand. Adaptable, think I will need 6 shelves.

http://www.cyrus.co.uk/Silver_hark_2.jpg
Cyrus Hark Stand

Right now the stand is there, need something to put on it. So how about 4 CoolerMaster ATC-400 rackmount chassis? Good cooling, plenty of space, aluminium and really rather damn cool. The need for 4 will become apparent.

http://www.coolermaster.com/products/atc/atcs/atc400.jpg
CoolerMaster ATC 400

Lets start with the first component, the motherboard. I'm going for the Tyan Thunder K7, first multi processor AMD motherboard and with some features this system really is going to need, such as 64Bit PCI slots. Should fit fine in the CoolerMaster ATC-400!

http://www.socketa.com/reviews/tyan/thunderk7/thunderk7_small.jpg
Tyan Thunder K7

[ 30 June 2001: Message edited by: JStormont ]

JADS

30-06-2001, 15:40

Now processors, going for dual AMD 1.2GHz AthlonMP processors. Validated to work in dual configuration and currently the fastest dual x86 setup out there, killing Intel solutions. Should give some killer Quake 3 scores and with the possibility of cheap MP coming soon games should start being written to take advantage of SMP.

http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/server/athlon/images/mplogo.gif
Athlon 1200MP

1.2GHz is nice, but a bit slow, so taking another ATC-400 it is time to put in some real cooling. Place two Kryotech cooling systems inside the ATC-400 to cool both processors to -40oC and take them to 1.8GHz. That should help the fps no end, :D!

http://www.sys.com/images/cold-fusion_1000.jpg
Kryotech Cooling

Anyway back to the first ATC-400 we now need some memory, so how about 1GB (4 x 256MB) of Mushkin 256MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM ECC Registered? Plenty there for memory hungry games, ;)! System starting to take shape nicely!

http://www.mushkin.com/gif/hiperfDDR736.gif
Mushkin 256MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM ECC Registered

[ 30 June 2001: Message edited by: JStormont ]

JADS

30-06-2001, 15:42

What next? How about a nice GeForce 3 graphics card? The Hercules 3D PROPHET III looks fantastic and goes like anything, so this seems a pretty sensible choice. Blue goes well with silver and black, :)!

http://europe.hercules.com/products/3dp3/images/3DPIIIdiag.jpg
Hercules 3D PROPHET III

Now need a place to store the games. Hard drives, fast hard drives. Going to take up the two remaining ATC-400 chassis for this. Using BiTMicro E-Disk FC235 49152MB HDDs, 1.5" high, so will fit nicely into a 5.25" drive bay. 8 of them in each Chassis, in two RAID 0 arrays. Most likely to generate quite a bit of heat, so put each one in a GlobalWin FBH20 King Kong Cooler (so need 16 of those coolers). So now have two 393216MB well cooled arrays for a total of 786432MB (786GB) of super fast storage.

http://www.bitmicro.com/edisk.jpg
BiTMicro E-Disk FC235 49152MB HDD

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/misccool/kingb.jpg
GlobalWin FBH20 King Kong Cooler

This will need to be controlled by something, so how about the DPT Millennium Fibre Channel? With the expansion module to add another Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop and the cache expanded to the maximum of 256MB this should be a pretty mean controller, :D!

http://graphics.adaptec.com/3755f.jpg
DPT Millennium Fibre Channel

JADS

30-06-2001, 15:43

While we are on the subject of drives, in the first ATC-400 (CPU + Motherboard) it would be a good idea to chuck in some optical storage. :) So lets say the Mirai Technologies CRD-BP5-M 24x10x40 CD-RW (SCSI) for some CD writing action, Pioneer's 16x DVD-105 Black (EIDE) for watching those DVDs, Pioneer's DVR-A03 DVD-RW (SCSI) for creating those DVDs (and CDs) and finally the Panasonic LF-D201U DVD-RAM (SCSI) for a bit of DVD compatibility. The dual channel on board SCSI controller and ATA 100 controller should take care of those, :)! Now for a floppy drive, the Teac 3.5" Black Floppy Disk Drive should do fine, but just to be on the safe side add a Iomega Zip 250MB ATAPI Internal drive.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/mirai_bp1500.jpg
Mirai Technologies CRD-BP5-M 24x10x40 CD-RW

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/black_pioneer_dvd.jpg
Pioneer 16x DVD-105 Black

http://www.pioneer-eur.com/images/DVRA03.jpg
Pioneer DVR-A03 DVD-RW

http://www.prodcat.panasonic.com/assets/product_images/9312.jpg
Panasonic LF-D201U DVD-RAM

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/black_floppy.jpg
Teac 3.5" Black Floppy Disk Drive

http://www.iomega.com/zip/images/revised_products/250atapi.gif
Iomega Zip 250MB ATAPI Internal drive

JADS

30-06-2001, 15:47

What else is needed in such a bad ass game system? Ahh yes a gigabit network NIC and a switch to match, :D Going for the D-Link DGS-3208F 8-Port 1000BaseSX Switch and the D-Link DGE-500SX PCI Gigabit Ethernet NIC to connect it to, should make for some fun LAN gaming when friends come round!!!

http://www.dlink.com/products/switches/dgs3208f/dgs3208fMain.jpg
D-Link DGS-3208F 8-Port 1000BaseSX Switch

http://www.dlink.com/products/adapters/dge500sx/dge500sx.jpg
D-Link DGE-500SX PCI Gigabit Ethernet NIC

Sound, now there is an intesting area. Lets start with the Hercules Game Theatre XP, solid, well rated sound card and the breakout box will look nice with the rest of the system. Have to add another shelf though. The sound generated will have to be sent somewhere, so I suggest feeding it into the Lexicon MC-12 Balanced Surround Sound Processor. Top quality audio for games, DVDs and music, :)! Finally need some speakers and I think I have found the precise ones I am looking for in the ATC Concept 7 5.1 Speaker System (around £40,000), some reviews claim it to be the best speaker system in the world. If that doesn't raise interest, then maybe sustained 118dB from the sub and 112dB from the speakers might!

http://europe.hercules.com/products/gt_xp/images/gt_xp_bigface.gif
http://europe.hercules.com/products/gt_xp/images/pcicard.gif
Hercules Game Theatre XP

http://www.lexicon.com/images/prodimage_mc12.jpg
Lexicon MC-12 Balanced Surround Sound Processor (Left)

http://www.guidetohometheater.com/archivesart/1000atc.2.jpg
ATC Concept 7 5.1 Speaker System

[ 30 June 2001: Message edited by: JStormont ]

JADS

30-06-2001, 15:49

Ok quite a lot is sorted, but there is nothing in the cases to power all this, so as each ATC-400 can take two PSUs. 7 Enermax EG651P-VE 550 Watt PSUs will do the trick. The eighth PSU has to be compatible with the AthlonMP platform and as there are only two currently available I will choose the NMB SD025A460WSW 460 Watt PSU. This gives a staggering 4310 watts of sustained power from all 8 PSUs!

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/psu/enmaxb.jpg
Enermax EG651P-VE 550 Watt PSU

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/chipsets/amd/760mp/psu.jpg
NMB SD025A460WSW 460 Watt PSU

Going back to the first ATC-400, there are 4 unused 5.25" drive bays. So amongst the vast quantities of optical storage (or simply beneath), lets fit a Digi-Doc 5 Thermal Control Unit, a NewQ platinum and two PCMods Rheobuses (for controlling Neons/Fans). So that is all the 5.25" drive bays used.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/digidoc5.jpg
Digi-Doc 5 Thermal Control Unit

http://www.newq.com/images/products/side2.jpg
NewQ Platinum

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/switch/rheob.jpg
PCMods Rheobus Kit

JADS

30-06-2001, 15:51

Ok well need to connect everything up now, so lets say a Black Rounded Floppy Cable , two Black Round UDMA100 Cables (connect zip drive to 1 and the DVD to the other), two Black 50pin Rounded SCSI Cables to connect up the SCSI drives and finally some Fibre Channel cables for the HDDs, :)

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/cable/scsi50b.jpg
50pin Rounded SCSI Cable

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/cable/flopbb.jpg
Rounded Floppy Cable Black

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/cable/ideblackb.jpg
Round UDMA100 Cable Black

http://www.iointerconnect.com/Products/Fibre_Channel/Copper_Cables/Order_Copper/o-db9totds.gif
Fibre Channel Cable

Now we need a monitor that is trully excellent for playing games on, needs to be very large I think. So how about a LG Electronics PD-60X1 60" Plasma? Should be very good for games and DVD, :) Not the highest resolution, but you will be sitting quite far back so you shouldn't notice and it does have a very high contrast ratio, 500:1. So we have the monitor!

http://www.lge.com/product/images/60set.gif
LG Electronics PD-60X1 60" Plasma

[ 30 June 2001: Message edited by: JStormont ]

Dead_One

30-06-2001, 15:53

So, where sells them , do they take visa?

JADS

30-06-2001, 15:54

Right well this casing still looks a bit drab, so how about putting in a PCMods Smoked Black Window Kit into the left and right side of the ATC-400 case? Mount it hoizontally so it fits. That means 8 windows are needed in total. Mind you it would be no good if the cases were not lit up from the inside. So say two PCMods 105 Blue Cold Cathodes mounted either side of the case, just above the window (or just below). With 4 ATC-400s that means 8 cold cathodes will be needed in all! Change all the non blue LEDs to Ultra Bright Blue LEDs and paint any drives that are beige to black, finally finish off the lighting by putting CoolCaseMods Blue Neon String round the base of each ATC-400 and each of the five fans to complete the lighting! Put in any etches you feel like!

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/window/smokeb.jpg
PCMods Smoked Black Window Kit

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/lights/cathbb.jpg
PCMods 105 Blue Cold Cathode

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/lightsm/5mmblueb.jpg
Ultra Bright Blue LED

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/lightsm/ccmsstbb.jpg
CoolCaseMods Blue Neon String

Talking of fans, remove the center blanking plate from the ATC-400 and replace the standard fan guard with the 80mm Aluminium Mesh Filter and the 80mm Biohazard Laser Cut Grill combination for all three fans at the front and the two at the back. That means 20 of each. Should look pretty mean though!

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/grill/alu80b.jpg
Aluminium Mesh Filter 80mm

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/grill/bio80b.jpg
Biohazard 80mm Laser Cut Grill

[ 30 June 2001: Message edited by: JStormont ]

JADS

30-06-2001, 15:56

What else? Ahh yes the Keyboard and Mouse, going for the Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse and the Logitech Cordless iTouch Keyboard... Cordless so you can wander around and they look damn nice to!

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/mouse/logcordopb.jpg
Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/images/keyboard/logcordb.jpg
Logitech Cordless iTouch Keyboard

Finally to relax in for a good gaming session the HealthTec Deluxe Massage Lounger, the black arms should work well as a large mouse pad, the back massager will keep you relaxed during those tense matches and the inbuilt fridge into the arm will keep food and drink cool for breaks, :)

http://www.gadgetmasters.com/shop/acatalog/images/products/enlarged/156_big.jpg
HealthTec Deluxe Massage Lounger

Howwwwwwzzzzzzzzzzatttt?

:D

James

PS - Dead_One, I'm sure if you gave Kustom a blank cheque they would build it for you!

JADS

30-06-2001, 16:01

Dial up users are going to hate this thread, ;)!

James

JADS

30-06-2001, 21:12

And finally a 128MB Floppy Disc...

http://www.smartdisk.co.uk/SCMImages/close_up/B000032.jpg
FlashPath SmartMedia

http://www.simpletech.com/images/sm2.jpg
SimpleTech 128MB SmartMedia Card

James

Dead_One

30-06-2001, 21:22

prefer a laz-e-boy chair, but other than that seems ok, would need more gigabit ports though.
And you didnt mention the inet connection, so have researched some of my own, pipex, 344 meg link, 187,000 per month, plus vat.

plus a couple of games servers, and some decent storage drives, ibm do a nice 32*32 way cluster server, takes 1.7 p4 xeons, few tetrabytes of ram, and some large arrays.

Will just wait for G&T to price it all up for me now, and give me a delivery date!

JADS

30-06-2001, 21:31

I was just creating 1 PC though and the idea was the ultimate game PC. I think I did that quite nicely, :)!

Mind you a few game servers would be nice. As for the gigabit ports, well that was the best switch I could find and I was researching the inet connection, but you beat me to it, :)!

James

Dead_One

30-06-2001, 21:44

or how about we forget a gigabit altogether, and just go fiberoptic?

big speeds then, 1000's of gig

Dead_One

30-06-2001, 21:50

And what about a games controler?

JADS

30-06-2001, 22:38

Gigabit switches/NICs tend to be fibre optic anyway. Mind you if you think you can find a faster NIC and Switch then by all means go ahead, :)!

Games controllers... got a few on my mind, looking for pictures at the moment, :)!

James

JADS

30-06-2001, 23:57

Games Controllers...

To start with lets have a real centerpiece, something to play on when you are on your own and no one is around! Going for a real top end steering wheel...

http://ecci.net/f1_01.jpg
http://ecci.net/ped2_01.jpg
Extreme Competition Controls Inc CDS4000 Monza F1 Wheel/Pedal (Blue)

Now with a 60" screen, 4 way multiplayer should be quite playable. So lets have four of the following controllers for good measure,

http://www.logitech.com/lang/global/images/productov70.gif
WingMan Formula Force GP

http://www.saitek.com/images/product/p2000%20copy.jpg
Saitek P2000 Tilt Pad

http://www.saitek.com/images/product/x36.jpg
Saitek X36 Flight Controller

The first wheel will plug into a game port, but the rest will require 12 USB ports. So to alleviate this problem, take three 7 port USB hubs (1 per type of controller) and plug it all in!

http://www.dabs.com/images/cds/picts/I28657.jpg
D-Link DU-H7 7port USB Hub

Now that is some serious controllers!

:D

James

[ 30 June 2001: Message edited by: JStormont ]

Dai-Bach

01-07-2001, 00:03

Where would I plug in my RAMpack (16k) ?????

LOL

:cool:

Any chance of putting all the pics together??? :D

Cheers

Dai

JADS

01-07-2001, 00:15

I can only put 8 in one post unfortunately, :(! If anyone can put the system together and take a picture that would be even better, :)!!!

James

Dead_One

01-07-2001, 10:51

OK, have found the lan components, the Cisco Catalyst 6000.
Up to 388 gigabit ports, which can be bonded together into one cable, giving 388 gbps.
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/si/casi/ca6000/index.shtml
internet connection running at oc48 via a cisco 8540 catalyst
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/l3sw/8540/rel_12_0/w5_15/mil_post.htm

so thats a 2 gig inet link, and a 388 gig lan, need some nics now.

And as for controllers, i lean more towards the ridge racer idea, get an actual car in your room, wire it up so it moves with the action!
Maybe a different car depending on the games

evo vi for colin mcrae, ferrari for f355, new beetle for midtown madness 2 etc.

[ 01 July 2001: Message edited by: Dead_One ]

GTi

01-07-2001, 13:20

You forgot the kettle again James! ;)

JADS

01-07-2001, 14:22

With the amount of wattage put out by the PSUs you could actually run 2 kettles if they worked together, :D

Dead_One did you mean

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/images/1/90/13790.jpg
Cisco Catalyst 6000 (http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/si/casi/ca6000/index.shtml)

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/illus/3/07/39207.gif
Cisco Catalyst 8540 (http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/l3sw/8540/rel_12_0/w5_15/mil_post.htm)

?

James