Resurrection of "The Beast"

[yuejon]

So after gutting out my old case, wiping through 1cm thick of dust (in some corners of the case, I kid you not), throwing out a useless motherboard, and putting in some shiny new components, The Beast is alive again and running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit!!!

I primarily set this machine up for music production, so that the band and I can start recording again. I also intend to use it for photo processing (got to love the 24" screen). I didn't think I'd need an i7 since I don't do any serious gaming, so I settled with the i5. But that didn't stop me from getting the Radeon... in case I decide to squeeze in a game or two . So there's a bit of the old and new in the setup.

Took a bit of wrestling with some of the drivers to get things working properly on Windows 7, but I've got it all sorted out now. Coupla tips for those of you who may have a similar setup - Don't install the RAID drivers if you decide to get the P7P55D motherboard. It conflicts with a number of drivers (unless you intend to use RAID, which I can't help you with). Also, there's also a USB sleep mode by default under the power management section. If you happen to be using a USB soundcard, I recommend you TURN IT OFF as it bugged the hell out of me everytime it took about 5 seconds for my soundcard to respond to anything.

Despite that, I've got to say my Windows 7 experience is a good one and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get rid of Vista. The interface is bloody brilliant. Very responsive and user friendly, although it may not come intuitively to those of you who are coming from XP. Maybe give it a lil more time if you have some old hardware you want to use with it so that manufacturers can come up with Windows 7 compatible drivers.

So here's a breakdown of the specs:

Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate
CPU: Intel Core i5 @ 2.66GHz (Overclocks easily to 3.66Ghz)
RAM: 4GB Corsair DDR3
Motherboard: ASUS P7P55D
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD4870
HDD: Western Digital 1TB SATA + Seagate 300GB SATA
PSU: Gigabyte Superb 720 (610W RMS)
Display Monitor: 24" Samsung SyncMaster P2450
Keyboard & Mouse: Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000
Webcam: LogiTech QuickCam E3500 Plus
Sound Card: Line 6 TonePort UX2
Studio Monitors: KRK Rokit 5

Guts of The Beast. All shiney and blue with a gigantic heatsink on the CPU


The final setup.
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