Buying a new crazy sick PC, opinion required?

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X1950XT

Posts: 10   +0
Hey guys!

I'm buying a new sick rig and i need to know if anything should be replaced in the config or some things taken off or added on. Have a look and criticism is accepted and NEEDED :p


These are the parts and the prices i'm going to pay:


Processor (CPU) [1] Intel Core 2 Duo QUAD CORE Q6600 LGA 775 2.4 GHz, 8MB 1066FSB Boxed Processor (Kentsfield - 65nm)

Motherboard ASUS Striker II Extreme nFORCE 790i Ultra SLI 3-Way SLI S775/ DDR3 / GB LAN/FW/Aud 7.1/ SATA2/ RAID / MAD OC

Memory (RAM) [1] 2x1024MB OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600MHz) EB Dual Channel Platinum XTC - OCZ3P1600EB2GK

Case / Chassis Antec Nine Hundred (900) Ultimate Gaming "Stealth" Tower With Window - Black (No PSU)

Power Supply Cooler Master Real Power Pro 1000W SLI / CrossFire Power Supply

CPU Cooler [1] Zalman CPU Cooler CNPS9700 LED (AM2/775/754/939/940)

Case Front Intake Fan ThermalTake 80mm Highest Performance DC Fans (4 Pack)

Round IDE HD Cable [1] Coolmax 18" SATA Cable 2-Head Model SATA 18" 2H - BLUE

Hard Drive [1] Seagate 750 GB (7200) 32MB Cache Barracuda 7200.11 NCQ SATA2

CD Reader (CDROM/DVD) Lite-On LH20A1L SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe 20X DVD+RW/-RW X48 CDRW - Retail

Video Card (GPU) BFG GeForce 9800 GX2 600MHZ 1GB 2000MHz GDDR3 Dual DVI-I/HDTV/HDMI/DX10 - Retail

Video Card (GPU)[2] BFG GeForce 9800 GX2 600MHZ 1GB 2000MHz GDDR3 Dual DVI-I/HDTV/HDMI/DX10 - Retail

***THE VIDEO CARDS WILL BE IN QUAD SLI***

Sound Card (APU) Sound Blaster X-Fi - Fatal1ty PRO - Retail

Keyboard Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard With Backlit Keys (USB) - Retail

Mouse Logitech MX Air™ Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse - Retail


Network Card On-Board 10/100/1000 Gigabit Integrated Network Card

System Assembly Fee Extreme PC Air-Cooled Hardware Assembly – Testing & Full Warranty – Recommended

Operating System Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (32-bit) - English - Full Licence OEM DVD

Virus Protection Free avast! 4 Home Edition

Warranty Standard 1 Year Parts and 5 Year Labor Warranty Included Free

Subtotal (Without Taxes)

$3,652.70

About 4000$ with taxes and shipping!

Tell me if the price is a rip off!

Thanks!!
 
Buy RAM with a frequency equivalent to the FSB on your CPU. Here, same capacity, just of a lower frequency and $150 cheaper: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231149

I don't believe that setup necessitates a 1,000W PSU. If you feel the need to buy such a large PSU, go for it.

You can buy a better heatsink than the Zalman 9700 as far as cost : performance goes.

Also, it hasn't got anything to do with money, but, personally I don't care for rounded ATA cables. Whilst they may improve airflow, a rounded design has not been approved in the ATA standard as far as I know, and there is some evidence that it can crosstalk. The 80-conductor cable's design is such that a ground wire is between each data wire in the ribbon, and rounding the cable causes some of the data lines to run parallel or adjacent to each other, thereby causing crosstalk and noise and resulting in signal errors. The words of Rahul Sood (chief technology officer of "Voodoo PC"):

“I don’t agree with rounded cables, I never have. SATA cables are great, of course, but rounded [parallel ATA] cables are a different story because there is potential for noise. Any benchmarks that I’ve run on any of the rounded cables that we’ve tested show either errors generating over time or they’re slower than good quality flat IDE cables.”
Click to expand...

Take that how you will, personally, I wouldn't want one in my system.

For everything you have listed, it's about $3,050-$3,100 via Newegg before shipping. If you made the few changes I suggested, it'd be about $2,825ish (rounding everything off by a few dollars because I'm lazy). You could buy the parts via Newegg and assemble it yourself or toss someone $100 that knows enough to assemble a PC and you'd save nearly a thousand bones. Your call...
 
Ok thanks for your opinions but i got a few questions

1: Why is it better if the FSB and the ram frequency is the same?

2: I think the zalman is good enough cuz i don't really care much wich cooler i get as long as its better than the stock one.

3: I need the PSU because first of all its a quad sli and im future proof if i wanna install new hardware.

4: ok ill see about the ATA wire!

5: I'm getting the PC using financing for 200$ a month with extreme PC. Newegg doesnt have that so thats why. The reason im letting them built it for me its because they give me warranty with it. If not i dont get warranty and the building costs 50$ anyways.
 
1. Eh, because data won't be making it to the CPU any faster regardless of the RAM's higher frequency? You're effectively wasting bandwidth. If anything, buy RAM that's just beyond the FSB your CPU supports if you might overclock or something.

2. I'm not suggesting that the Zalman 9700 isn't good enough, I'm saying for the performance, you can spend less. Go hunt around for some heatsink reviews/comparisons.

3. Your call on that PSU, really, but I'd be willing to bet you $1,000 that when you get it, if you test your pull with Kill-a-watt you probably won't come anywhere CLOSE to 1,000W.

4. Meh those components have individual warranties and Newegg does have "Bill Me Later", but again, your call. You asked for an opinion, and, you got one :).

Frankly, you could cut quite a few corners and drop the cost of that rig down to $2,000 pretty easily. There are a lot of uneeded trinkets and bobbles (again, my opinion).
 
Ok can u tell me what i can cut out and if i leave the memory at this frequency will there be any problems? Because im getting that memory for a discount at the same price that i would get the 1333 MHZ one
 
The ASUS Striker II Extreme will run that RAM just fine, it's just a waste.

To be honest you could cut loads out. What are you even going to be doing with this PC? I mean even if you wanted to play the newest games at max settings I wouldn't build this $4k machine.

If I were you, I would be a bit more modest and I'd drop one of the 9800GX2's and the DDR3 RAM among a few other changes which I will outline below. The money you save would easily build you another system in a few years, and the new system would likely significantly out perform the $4k build you're aiming for in the present.

ASUS P5E $224.99
Q6600 $249.99
BFG 9800 GX2 $579.99
Crucial Ballistix 2 x 1024MB DDR2 1066MHz $59.99
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty $85.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 $149.99
SAMSUNG Black 20X $26.99
ELT500AWT $89.99
Antec Nine Hundred $119.99
Vista 32-Bit Ultimate $169.99
Then your choice of input devices...

The total after rebates and before shipping (not including your keyboard/mouse): $1,757.90

If I've forgotten anything :) my apologies, I am sleep deprived.
 
Frankly, you could cut quite a few corners and drop the cost of that rig down to $2,000 pretty easily.
Click to expand...

I agreed. Plus, you can get a top notch cpu if you must spend the money.
 
I'd replace the CPU with a Q9300 instead, and drop the X-Fi and go for a Sound Blaster Audigy instead. Minimal difference in sound quality for a large difference in price. If you really need to go extreme, get two 9800GX2s and at least 5 case fans. The latter should be of good quality such as those from Scythe, Yate Loon or Panaflo, not cheap generic junk. The Scythe SFF21F and Panaflo M1A 120mm are the best choices IMO.
 
There is some very good advice posted here. If you just want a system about which you can brag, you can use your choices, but people who really know will not be impressed with the over-spending.
The enemy of good is better... particularly when it is just perfect in actual performance and reliability.
I might add extra cooling,
and what is that system assembly fee?
Are you certain you need VISTA Ultimate?
 
Zenosincks said:
The ASUS Striker II Extreme will run that RAM just fine, it's just a waste.

To be honest you could cut loads out. What are you even going to be doing with this PC? I mean even if you wanted to play the newest games at max settings I wouldn't build this $4k machine.

If I were you, I would be a bit more modest and I'd drop one of the 9800GX2's and the DDR3 RAM among a few other changes which I will outline below. The money you save would easily build you another system in a few years, and the new system would likely significantly out perform the $4k build you're aiming for in the present.

ASUS P5E $224.99
Q6600 $249.99
BFG 9800 GX2 $579.99
Crucial Ballistix 2 x 1024MB DDR2 1066MHz $59.99
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty $85.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 $149.99
SAMSUNG Black 20X $26.99
ELT500AWT $89.99
Antec Nine Hundred $119.99
Vista 32-Bit Ultimate $169.99
Then your choice of input devices...

The total after rebates and before shipping (not including your keyboard/mouse): $1,757.90

If I've forgotten anything :) my apologies, I am sleep deprived.
Click to expand...


Ok thanks! 1 question, the motherboard you are reffering to is crossfire and the graphic card has 2 GPU's. does'nt that require SLI?

And if it does then is the ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX better??
 
Okay thanks im building that config that u gave me online right now, ill tell u the price when im done :D!!
 
Processor (CPU) [1] Intel Core 2 Duo QUAD CORE Q6600 LGA 775 2.4 GHz, 8MB 1066FSB Boxed Processor (Kentsfield - 65nm)
Motherboard Asus P5E Intel X38 Crossfire Dual X16 PCI-E S775 DDR2/LAN/FW/Aud 7.1/SATA2/RAID/OC
Memory (RAM) [1] 2x1024MB OCZ DDR2 PC2-9600 (1200Mhz) FlexXLC Edition - OCZ2FX12002GK
Case / Chassis Antec Nine Hundred (900) Ultimate Gaming "Stealth" Tower With Window - Black (No PSU)
Power Supply OCZ 780W (SLI Ready) ModXStream Modular Silent Power Supply (AMD/P4) - ATX/BTX/EPS12V
CPU Cooler [1] Zalman CPU Cooler CNPS9700 LED (AM2/775/754/939/940)
Case Front Intake Fan ThermalTake 80mm Highest Performance DC Fans (4 Pack)
Round IDE HD Cable [1] Coolmax 18" SATA Cable 2-Head Model SATA 18" 2H - BLUE
Hard Drive [1] Seagate 1000GB (7200) 32MB Cache - Barracuda 7200.11 - 1 Terabyte SATA2
CD Reader (CDROM/DVD) Lite-On LH20A1L SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe 20X DVD+RW/-RW X48 CDRW - Retail
Video Card (GPU) BFG GeForce 9800 GX2 600MHZ 1GB 2000MHz GDDR3 Dual DVI-I/HDTV/HDMI/DX10 - Retail
Sound Card (APU) Sound Blaster X-Fi - Fatal1ty PRO - Retail
Keyboard Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard With Backlit Keys (USB) - Retail
Mouse Logitech MX Air™ Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse - Retail
Network Card On-Board 10/100/1000 Gigabit Integrated Network Card
System Assembly Fee Extreme PC Air-Cooled Hardware Assembly – Testing & Full Warranty – Recommended
Operating System Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (32-bit) - English - Full Licence OEM DVD
Virus Protection Free avast! 4 Home Edition
Warranty Standard 1 Year Parts and 5 Year Labor Warranty Included Free



Subtotal

$2,739.01


3000$ with taxes and shipping.... I think it's not good enough for this price!
 
Well, you've ignorantly altered the PSU to one that's nearly double the price (you DON'T NEED a 780w PSU), tossed the Zalman 9700 into your cart even though you're buying a "Box Processor" among other additions and alterations. That keyboard and mouse is ridiculously overpriced and you neglected Rage's advice on the sound card. Don't forget the services fees for: "System Assembly Fee Extreme PC Air-Cooled Hardware Assembly – Testing & Full Warranty – Recommended". You're still trying too hard to focus on trinkets and bobbles.

Spend what you care to, it's not my money. Just realize, that I (along with anyone else that's posted in this forum) could probably assemble (or pay a local high school kid with common sense $100 to do it) a system that would eat through modern games and perform just as well with todays software for less than half the price of your $4k build. Then, in two years, we could build another machine that will likely easily top the performance if your $4k build and still cost half the price or less of what you're spending now. We'd have two PC's, one that is plenty good enough for regular gaming and every day tasks, and then another top of the line beast.

If you're okay with being foolish with your money, go for it :).

Stepping out for a bit, need to go print some invoices for a client so, if you post back :) hopefully someone else will tell you what you want to hear. "ZOMG KUL BULD DUD!"
 
id go for the alienware comps i think they just kick the f*** out of anything alothough thats just my opinion. quad core is good although to buy separately it is a bit pricey, i live in spain and my dad got a comp a few months ago, quad core 3ghz 3gb ddr3 ram 500 gb sata drive, hd graphics card and everything else that shoudl come with a comp for 800 euros which is the equivalent to about 750$ and it is amazing,
just thought id say my bit lol
 
Zenosincks said:
Well, you've ignorantly altered the PSU to one that's nearly double the price (you DON'T NEED a 780w PSU), tossed the Zalman 9700 into your cart even though you're buying a "Box Processor" among other additions and alterations. That keyboard and mouse is ridiculously overpriced and you neglected Rage's advice on the sound card. Don't forget the services fees for: "System Assembly Fee Extreme PC Air-Cooled Hardware Assembly – Testing & Full Warranty – Recommended". You're still trying too hard to focus on trinkets and bobbles.

Spend what you care to, it's not my money. Just realize, that I (along with anyone else that's posted in this forum) could probably assemble (or pay a local high school kid with common sense $100 to do it) a system that would eat through modern games and perform just as well with todays software for less than half the price of your $4k build. Then, in two years, we could build another machine that will likely easily top the performance if your $4k build and still cost half the price or less of what you're spending now. We'd have two PC's, one that is plenty good enough for regular gaming and every day tasks, and then another top of the line beast.

If you're okay with being foolish with your money, go for it :).

Stepping out for a bit, need to go print some invoices for a client so, if you post back :) hopefully someone else will tell you what you want to hear. "ZOMG KUL BULD DUD!"
Click to expand...


All that you mentioned there costs 250$ so it wouldnt make a big diff anyway..

So it's either double the performance for 4k$ or just 3/4 of it with 3k$.

Wich one should i take??


Ok look i got a better idea, if you dont mind, can u build me the config here: http://www.extreme-pc.ca/customize.asp?productid=371441

Just save the config and send me the custom number of it :p

Its the system configurator. Thanks!
 
Zenosincks said:
Well, you've ignorantly altered the PSU to one that's nearly double the price (you DON'T NEED a 780w PSU), tossed the Zalman 9700 into your cart even though you're buying a "Box Processor" among other additions and alterations. That keyboard and mouse is ridiculously overpriced and you neglected Rage's advice on the sound card. Don't forget the services fees for: "System Assembly Fee Extreme PC Air-Cooled Hardware Assembly – Testing & Full Warranty – Recommended". You're still trying too hard to focus on trinkets and bobbles.

Spend what you care to, it's not my money. Just realize, that I (along with anyone else that's posted in this forum) could probably assemble (or pay a local high school kid with common sense $100 to do it) a system that would eat through modern games and perform just as well with todays software for less than half the price of your $4k build. Then, in two years, we could build another machine that will likely easily top the performance if your $4k build and still cost half the price or less of what you're spending now. We'd have two PC's, one that is plenty good enough for regular gaming and every day tasks, and then another top of the line beast.

If you're okay with being foolish with your money, go for it :).

Stepping out for a bit, need to go print some invoices for a client so, if you post back :) hopefully someone else will tell you what you want to hear. "ZOMG KUL BULD DUD!"
Click to expand...


I completely agree with Zeno's sentiments here. You're spending an awful lot of money on a brand name and trinkets rather than where the money really matters. You can save yourself a smooth $1000 just be being a bit smarter about the build.
 
Here you go chief, $1,836.73 before shipping/taxes: CUST-38766.

Virtually the same specifications (though, some different components) via Newegg would be around $1,565ish. That's before shipping and what have you.

You seem to be paying around 9-10% for shipping/assembly. So, that $1,836.73 should be around $2,000 in total (I assume). Shipping for Newegg probably wouldn't top $30 (although, I see you're in Canada so perhaps they won't even ship to you, just giving you the numbers to look at) and toss someone a few bucks to assemble it for you.

Rough math and assumptions:

Newegg: $1,700 tops.
Extreme-PC: $2,000ish

It's a shame you weren't close to me because I'd come assemble it for you and install Vista in 2-3 hours and I'd do it for $100 easy rofl.
 
maxglover1989 said:
id go for the alienware comps i think they just kick the f*** out of anything alothough thats just my opinion. quad core is good although to buy separately it is a bit pricey, i live in spain and my dad got a comp a few months ago, quad core 3ghz 3gb ddr3 ram 500 gb sata drive, hd graphics card and everything else that shoudl come with a comp for 800 euros which is the equivalent to about 750$ and it is amazing,
just thought id say my bit lol
Click to expand...
I dont know how you got an ALIEWARE for $750, but maybe thats a lot of money in europe. i dont know. in the states, top of the line ALIENWARE goes for about $4000-$5000. i can build you a cart (and i have done it b4) with exactly the same components for no more than half that price. I personally think that the ALIENWARE case and their waranty doesn't cost $2000 and that is the only thing that separates OUR newegg computers from the ALIENWARE. plus all the parts that you buy from newegg come with manufacturer's warranty
 
soulkolektor said:
oh and round cables? that is just for looks
Click to expand...


Round cables can be justified for airflow in tight cases or in situations where you have a very large number of cables. My file server, which has 20 HDD in it, makes use of rounded IDE and rounded SCSI cables to allow me to push the cables aside so that I can be sure enough air flows over the 10k RPM disks.
 
you definitely have a point there. the one thing that gets me though, is why round a SATA cable? it is already small as it is. but rounding the main power cables, i could see why
 
soulkolektor said:
you definitely have a point there. the one thing that gets me though, is why round a SATA cable? it is already small as it is. but rounding the main power cables, i could see why
Click to expand...

Nobody is talking about rounding a SATA cable. X1950XT had a rounded ATA cable in his first cart, I suggested against using them because their integrity is questionable although they do improve airflow (read above), you said they're just for looks and Soul Harvester said he uses them to improve airflow.
 
Zenosincks said:
Here you go chief, $1,836.73 before shipping/taxes: CUST-38766.

Virtually the same specifications (though, some different components) via Newegg would be around $1,565ish. That's before shipping and what have you.

You seem to be paying around 9-10% for shipping/assembly. So, that $1,836.73 should be around $2,000 in total (I assume). Shipping for Newegg probably wouldn't top $30 (although, I see you're in Canada so perhaps they won't even ship to you, just giving you the numbers to look at) and toss someone a few bucks to assemble it for you.

Rough math and assumptions:

Newegg: $1,700 tops.
Extreme-PC: $2,000ish

It's a shame you weren't close to me because I'd come assemble it for you and install Vista in 2-3 hours and I'd do it for $100 easy rofl.
Click to expand...


Hmmmm idk, you forgot some parts like mouse and stuff but it looks kinda empty for that price..
 
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