The Ultimate Computer
This is a good subject. Not sure what your preferences are. Mine lay with AMD and ATI. Been using them paired together in my own personal systems and recommend them to my customers as well.
The reason for that is that ATI manufactures their own Video cards and AMD Processors have a reputation of being the best most reliable cost efficient processors on the market.
That has not changed. What has changed is the fact that Intel now boasts better performance with their new Quad Core Extreme processors. And they are correct. That performance does not come cheap though. These processors are in the $1000 price range.
I am very interested in seeing what both AMD and ATI have coming later in the year. Since these two great companies have teamed up together and merged the possibilities are quite exciting. AMD is releasing their quad core CPUs later this year. This will affect the market and hopefully drop the prices on Quads. Until then Intel is the the performance king.
My recommendation would be to wait until AMD releases their quads. If you do not want to wait go with the Intel. Another idea would be to build a less powerful system using a Core 2 duo or AMD 64 X2 processor. These are priced very reasonably and will give you enough to do anything you wish until we see what AMD has in store for Intel. AMD still holds the value crown in this area. Your only upgrade would have to be your Main Board and Processor. All the other parts would just fall into place.
Video card. Seems that NVIDIA has the corner on the market here. SLI is a better format for Dual video cards. ATI has fine products and their Crossfire system is much improved from the past.
NVIDIA would be the way to go. Your setup is however missing a card.
Memory. HMMMMM Best and fastest 8 gigs would be plenty.
Main Boards. I like and use DFI boards in my systems and those that I build for customers. I have never had a single problem with a DFI board. ASUS does build a great board as well. There are many models that are available that would meet your needs. I believe that the most important thing you can invest in is a good main board. This piece of equipment will determine what you can do with your system now and in the future. The wrong decision will make you wish you had never even thought about Building your own machine. The most important thing about purchasing the main board is what you want to do with your computer in the future.
Hard Drives. I would go with dual Raptors running Raid 0 if you are looking for speed. and give yourself a nice 500 or 750gb for storage. I like the security of my data so raid in a backup configuration would be a good idea.
Make sure that you have a decent dvd burner. You can find them for under $50 now. I wouldn't recommend dropping the money on a Blue Ray or HD DVD burner or drive as of yet. The market hasn't really decided where it stands on these formats and I would like to see where it heads before dropping this type of money on a drive that May be obsolete in a few months to a year. Not to mention that the availability of these drives is pretty sparce. But if money is no object why not throw one of each at your system. Though the HD DVD is available for the X BOX 360 it will work very fine with the PC.
another very important aspect of your build is the Power Supply. You must make sure that you not only buy a quality PSU But that you buy one that has enough wattage to power up all those drives, video cards, and various other items in your monster rig. No less than 750 watts. Invest in this part make sure that it is top quality.
Your case is what is going to house your monster rig. You want it to match your personality and that of your computers. Pick a quality case. those parts are top of the line and they deserve to be housed in a top of the line case. This case should also afford adequate airflow through every corner of the entire case. You want to make sure that your components stay cool. Too much heat kills computers. If noise from fans is a concern of yours then I would consider water cooling your rig.
It is always fun building monster rigs. I however am not a big proponent of Over clocking. But then again my motto is True Power. That means that all the components that are included in any system I build operate according to the manufacturers advertised and recommended specs.
My new rig as it stands right now If I was home and could build it will consist of not nearly what you are considering. Is much more modest and is in the $1500 price range. It will give me more than enough performance and last for quite sometime. And leave my upgrade options unlimited in the future only bu processor type.
I am not happy about what Microsoft has decided to do with Directx 10 but if you want the top of the line operating system expect to drop a minimum of $400 on Vista Ultimate. My opinion is that I can't wait till the entertainment software industry gets in on the Linux Track. $400 is way too much money for an operating system when there are other options out there for much less. The only reason that I can see for upgrading to Vista is for gamers who want to take advantage of DirectX 10 graphics improvements. Needless to say Vistas bloat will drag your system down. I plan to run all my computers on a dual boot Linux OS as a Primary and Windows for Gaming and very few things that I can not do in Linux. HMMMMMMM Let me think of one, Nope not off the top of my head.
Here is a great config for you to consider. Since price is not an object Lets have some fun.
The following parts are available from
http://www.tigerdirect.com and are in stock as of the 24th.
A107-1082 :: Apevia X-Pleasure Blue Aluminum AXT Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Fron USB and FireWire Ports (30 lbs)
I have used cases from Apevia before though not this particular model. They build quality cases that are sturdy and innovative. Easy to work in and around. This case is all aluminum dissipates heat better and is much sturdier than many of the steel cases available.
$139.99 $139.99
C13-2020 :: Corsair Dual Channel TWINX 2048MB PC8500 DDR2 1066MHz E.P.P. Memory (2 x 1024MB) (0.2 lbs)
The best memory is expensive. This is the fastest memory on the market right now. I use Corsair memory in most of the machines that I build because It is reliable and outperforms most other memory on the market. They also have a Variety of memory available for all levels of users.
$375.99 $751.98
S203-2406 :: Samsung 244T / 24" / 6ms / 1000:1 / WUXGA 1920 x 1200 / DVI · VGA / Black / Widescreen LCD Monitor (30 lbs)
Samsung is known for its quality and its performance when it comes to electronics. These are some of the best monitors available. You better have a big desk because we might as well grab two of these bad boys. Dual monitors for Dual video cards. We also can run two more for a quad monitor system. Think of it this way. NO more ALT Tabbing or having to save and exit your game because you forgot where that hidden door was and you need to look it up in your online Game guide. Besides Dual monitors is just cool.
$699.99 each total $1,399.98
O261-2007 :: OCZ / ProXStream / 1000-Watt / ATX / 80mm Fan / PCI-E-Ready / SATA-Ready / Active PFC / Power Supply (6 lbs)
We want to make sure that all those power hungry components in our Monster rig are fully fueled. We also want to make sure that we have enough power for future upgrades to our system. So here we go 1000 watts of pure electric bliss should more than cover our needs.
$329.99 $329.99
GEN-9010 :: PowerUp 3.5-Inch 25-in-1 Memory Card Reader USB 2.0 Port in Black or White (0.7 lbs)
You want to be able to just plug in your memory media and grab your stuff of of them. Pictures, video, songs, whatever. So I threw in an all in one reader so that we wouldn't have to mess with cables for our various components. Though you still have to plug your IPOD in you have front USB ports on the case for that too. But when your friend wants to share those photos of your last wild party or road trip, No need to worry about having the cable. Just pop the media right into the card reader.
$14.99 $14.99
M17-2512 :: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate - DVD (0.45 lbs)
This is an End User copy of the operating system. OEM versions are available for less but are only legal for computer manufacturers and are to only be included with the original equipment the operating system is installed on. As a manufacturer / builder I can not recommend that you purchase an OEM copy of the software.
$399.99 $399.99
L23-7074 :: Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard (4.45 lbs)
This is my favorite keyboard. I have found it to be awesome in the dark and the programmable keys allow you to customize it to your desire. We are building a gaming rig after all, so a great gaming keyboard is a must have.
$68.99 $68.99
L23-7046 :: Logitech G5 Laser Mouse (Corded) (1.2 lbs)
This is the best mouse I have used in a very long time. I have absolutely no desire to switch. Adjustable sensitivity on the fly and you can weigh it down as you see fit. I like mine heavy You may like yours light. Just add to or take away weight to your preference with the included weights.
$43.99 $43.99
I like wireless Keyboards and mice for home entertainment PCs for the living room / entertainment room for obvious reasons. However For this application you never want to be caught out by low batteries.
C44-3336 :: Creative Labs X-FI Xtreme Gamer Fatality Sound Card (1.4 lbs)
On board sound is getting much better these days and I use it quite often as a matter of fact. But since we are building a monster rig and want to offload processing power wherever we can The best external sound card you can get is better to enjoy your games and movies with.
$139.99 $139.99
L23-6332 :: Logitech Z-5300e THX Certified 5.1 280-watt Speaker System (43.7 lbs)
This should be self explanatory. A great set of surround sound speakers so that you get the most out of your sound hardware and immerse yourself in fragging heaven as well as your movies. You do want to hear if someone or something is sneaking up behind you right?
$144.99 $144.99
E145-8000 :: EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX / 768MB GDDR3 / SLI / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card with FREE Dark Messiah Might & Magic PC Game (2.95 lbs)
It wouldn't be the monster machine without dual video cards running in SLI mode. Gotta be the best out there. You have to be careful though as some main boards may not be able to fit these babies in a SLI configuration. EVGA makes a good video card. I have no problem putting as much into these video cards as some complete systems cost.
$569.99 each total $1,139.98
CP1-DUO-QX6700 :: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 2.66GHz / 8MB Cache / 1066MHz FSB / Kentsfield / Quad-Core / Socket 775 / Processor with Fan (1.6 lbs)
Need I say more this is the best processor out there. It is also the most expensive. However money is no object on this build. Quad core processors are the future.
$1,069.99 $1,069.99
E145-2012 :: EVGA nForce 680i SLI NVIDIA Socket 775 ATX Motherboard (New A1 Version) / Audio / PCI Express / SLI / Dual Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID (5.9 lbs)
Picked the EVGA mainboard because we are running Dual EVGA video cards. Just makes sense for the support and compatibility options available.
$259.99 $259.99
L12-1124 :: Lite-On Super-Multi LH20A1H / 20x DVD±R Burn / 16x DVD±R Read / 8x DVD+RW / 6x DVD-RW / 8x DVD±R DL / 12x DVD-RAM / Internal / Black&Beige / DVD Burner with Lightscribe (2.3 lbs)
Dual DVD / CD Burners for all your DVD and CD burning ripping and copying needs. Also Lightscribe enabled drives allow you to dispense with the sharpie and marking on your discs.
$49.99 $99.98
TOTAL $6,584.80
S&H $ 199.00
TAX 0
TOTAL $6,784.65
Total Cart Weight: 168.3 lbs
Will I ever get to build such a system? I hope so. I love this type of thing. For me though on a personal level I wouldn't go this extreme with a system. That is just a personal preference. I usually build my personal systems a few notches below top of the line offering me the opportunity to take advantage of lower priced high performance parts. And the ability to upgrade at a later date at a lower cost. I find that I can do everything I want to do and then some. FPS is perceptive and beyond a certain level in unnoticeable. But like cars people want to squeeze everything that they can out of a system and bleed it for every bit they can.
That is another thread though.
I hope you found this post enlightning and amusing as well. I am certainly open to differences of opinion and other suggestions. Feel free to throw them out there.
MacPoint_Man
X-Systems Computers built BY MacPoint Technologies
