Howdy Folks!!!
Welcome back to another session of the perfect machine. This time around we will discuss the limitations I encountered when building this beast. The first thing I learned was to check EFI-X and review their approved parts list. This was crucial as the module was only proven on a growing list of hardware. Second, develop an idea of what kind of machine you want to build. This is important as certain parts are limited in where they can be used. For example, take my motherboard, I wanted a smaller tower and this led me to choose the only MicroATX on the list. The
DFI LP JR P45-T2RS is a good bang for your buck. The board can handle a variety of quad core processors. It can take up to a 16GB of memory, and comes with overclocking software. This is a gaming board built specifically for lan parties, and for my purpose it was more than enough.
Second, the processor was an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz. This part almost ended up being wrong, but luckily I checked DFI’s website and was able to select the correct processor for my board. I wanted the quad core in order to be able to run a virtual machine and give it 2 cores and 4GB of memory. The VM runs as if it was a stand alone PC. Awesome!!!
Memory was not hard too choose, and I basically knew I wanted 8GB. I chose to get 2 G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) as they were affordable and had a good reputation. After this, it gets ridiculously expensive. ***Don’t forget that you need a 64bit operating system to run all 8GB.***
The video card was last, and it had to be decent. I am not a gamer by any means, but do play the occasional shooter. I also knew I wanted a dual monitor set up in order to facilitate working and researching. The candidate came down to XFX GeForce 9800 GT
. The card has 512Mb of memory and can handle 2 DVI monitors.
The setup seemed perfect so far, until I ordered the case… Stay tuned.
Have you built an EFI-X system? What was your experience? Leave a comment, and we’ll share notes.
