Lion's Computer Building Project II

2008 - 2011

 

Back in October of 2005 I built my very first gaming computer. It was both successful and very rewarding, and much more economical to build your own as opposed to purchasing a gaming computer from Alienware, Dell, etc. You can read all about my first build HERE. It's still humming along after six years of service, and runs any current game on the market with at least medium settings, and sometimes high. But with a single core processor, it is showing it's age. I use it mainly to update the DEN websites now along with another desktop comp and a laptop computer. Just as I did in my first build, I spent several months leading up to the actual build date researching hardware components. I read many articles, reviews, and spent hours on hardware forums before making any decisions. If YOU decide to build a computer yourself, I DO highly recommend doing as much research as possible. It's just as important as doing the build itself. My first build was on an AMD platform, so I decided to go with an Intel based motherboard this time around. I started my new build on August 27, 2008. Things didn't start off as smooth as I had hoped for. After building the comp and confirming I could boot to the bios, it was time to load up the operating system. I couldn't get the operating system to load however. I was trying out Vista 64, and I thought at first I had a bad disk. About three minutes into the loading process it would give me the dreaded BSOD (blue screen of death). I tried out a Windows XP disk and got the same thing. Eventually I did manage to get Vista 64 loaded, but still had many problems in the windows environment. After during a test of the ram memory, I discovered I had some defective ram. I had to RMA the ram back to Newegg and get them to send me some new, and hopefully good ram. The new ram arrived on September 3, and it tested perfect. The next day I had all the drivers and updates for software up and running. The first game I played was Crysis. My goal for the comp build was to run Crysis on very high settings with decent frame rates. I managed that with flying colors and room to spare. The Red Alert 3 beta also looks great with the graphics maxed out. I'm on a dual boot using Windows XP Pro and Vista 64. Vista 64 allows me to use all of my ram memory, and of course DirectX 10. And IF by chance a game doesn't want to run in Vista 64, I can load it up on XP. I have most of my Command & Conquer games loaded on my first computer build, and when I get the itch to play them, I'm good to go. I am using the Planar 27" Wide Screen Monitor which I purchased in 2011, and Logitech Z-5500 speakers from my first build. I didn't have to replace them as they are working as good as new. That helped to keep my build cost for this project down as well. I set my budget at $2,000 for this build, and I stayed within my budget. I will continue to update this build as needed. For the year 2012 I plan on upgrading the motherboard, cpu, and memory...and perhaps the video card. If anyone has any questions or comments about my build, email me at dalion@comcast.net Below is a listing of the hardware and software I used for this build.