If you had $50,000 budget for a pc...

[Jadow]

I'd get a $500 dollar PC and use the rest of the money elsewhere

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Pacemaker
PC Magazine tried to spend 50k on a single PC a few years ago (2001 I think). They cheated by gold plating stuff like mad (they even gold plated the keyboard and mouse and fixed it so the keys/buttons would work with the added weight). They also bought a 10k speaker system to hook it up to which is semi-cheating.

The farther you go back the easier it is to spend $50k actually. In 1987, a PS/2 Model 80 in basic config with a 386/16, 4mb ram and 30MB HD and a 14"monitor (VGA) was $11000. When the 25MHz system came out a couple years later, with 8MB, dual 160MB HDs (may have been only one) and Color XGA graphics + 15" monitor was $27000. The 25MHz was actually about 2x as fast as the 20MHz machine it replaced due to more cache and optimizations.

Loading these machines up on RAM/HD space (although 16MB was a limit though with addon cards) pushed the envelope higher. The Model 95 with 486 and later Pentium CPU's were in the near $20k mark as bare systems.

I didn't start the PS/2 FAQ, but I did push it to a full-fledged manual that is still pretty widely used overseas where our 'junk' is still considered better than no computer.

 

[TipsyMcStagger]

I'd spend 2500 and put the rest aside for future computers. That way I won't have blown it on a $50,000 computer that would be outperformed by a $2,500 computer 5 years from now

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Since this is just an exercise, I don't think we have to be so prudent with our fake money...

Whatever I did buy would have a large SAS array and as many 30" LCDs as I could hook up to it. It would be dual quad-core most likely. If I can buy software, I'd have to get a copy of ArcGIS since I work with it. That would cut the money for the computer down nicely.

Edit:

The Core
Case- Codegen S-201 Server Case: $200
Motherboard- Intel S5000XVNSATA Dual Socket 771 Intel 5000X Extended ATX Server Motherboard: $477
CPUs- 2xIntel Xeon X5355 Clovertown 2.66GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache Socket 771 Active : $2400
Memory- 8xKingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR2 FB-DIMM ECC Fully Buffered DDR2 667 (PC2 5300): $8000
Primary Video- EVGA 768-P2-N881-AR GeForce 8800Ultra 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card: $580
Secondary Video- 2xEVGA 256-P2-N761-AR GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card : $330

Porn... err... work storage
SCSI HBA- HP 273914-B21 PCI-X / 133 MHz Ultra320 SCSI Smart Array 6404/256: $1280
Primary Hard Drives- 10x Fujitsu MAX3147NP 147GB 15,000 RPM 8MB Cache SCSI Ultra320 68pin Hard Drive in Raid 5: $4980
Storage Hard Drives- 5x HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000 HDS721010KLA330 (0A34915) 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive in JBOD: $1900
Backup- Quantum BHBAX-BR 320GB Internal Ultra 160 SCSI Interface DLT-V4 Tape Drive : $800
DVD- 2x HP Black 20X DVD+R Burner w/ Lightscribe: $92
Blu-ray- LITE-ON Black Blu-ray Disc Triple Burner: $480

The face

Monitors- 6x 30" (2560x1600) LCDs (Note here that CineMassive doesn't seem to offer that configuration, but they do have 30" monitors and I'm sure they'd be willing to talk. I'm going to figure in the cost of the 6 of the Dell displays plus 25% for customization): $9520

Software

Windows OS- Windows Vista Ultimate: $400
Linux OS- Debian GNU/Linux: $0
Bryce 6.1- $109.95
Adobe Photoshop CS3- $625.99
ArcGIS 9.2 (Mapping software I use at work and would like at home)- $3199
Microsoft Office 2007: $500
Vegas 7 Video Editing Software: $400
Adobe Acrobat Professional: $450
Adobe Audition: $350
3D Studio Max: $3500

Perhipherals

Speakers- Creative P7800 7.1 Speakers: $80
Sound card- Digital Audio Card Deluxe: $400
Mouse- MX Revolution: $75
Keyboard- Dell Compact Keyboard: $15
Printer- brother HL series HL-2700CN 31 ppm Laser Workgroup Color Printer: $500
Joystick- Saitek X52 Pro: $200
Projector: Optoma HD81 1920 x 1080 DLP 1080P HDMI Home Theater Projector With Video Processor 1400 lumens 10000:1: $4300
Scanner: EPSON GT 15000 B11B160011 600 x 600dpi 48bit USB 2.0/1.1, SCSI-2 Interface Flatbed Scanner : $1050

Total: $47193.94

Save the rest for shipping.

That is an embarrassingly bad configuration for $50k.

Agreed.

68pin ultra 320?! What is this...2002?

sata 3.0Gb/s if at all......sas if you must.

and may I say that a fool and his money....



even in dreams, if not especially in dreams, ones true character is defenseless.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
Agreed.

68pin ultra 320?! What is this...2002?

sata 3.0Gb/s if at all......sas if you must.

and may I say that a fool and his money....



even in dreams, if not especially in dreams, ones true character is defenseless.

Ouch, that's pretty harsh!

What would you guys have done? There's nothing wrong with Ultra320 SCSI.

 

[Juno]

um...i'd get myself 8900gtx sli (if it is released) and socket am3. i'll be good after that. that would left me maybe $48,000.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Actually I'd just get myself a $2000 system today. Well maybe it would be closer to $3000 because I would feel free to drop a ton on a nice 30" screen. Other than that, I'd save it.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
Agreed.

68pin ultra 320?! What is this...2002?

sata 3.0Gb/s if at all......sas if you must.

and may I say that a fool and his money....



even in dreams, if not especially in dreams, ones true character is defenseless.

Ouch, that's pretty harsh!

What would you guys have done? There's nothing wrong with Ultra320 SCSI.

10 68pin scsi cables....just picture it...madess...MADNESS!!!!


<--him

pay off electricity bill

10x1TB SATA in a raid with hotswap;

10Gb (only $4000/port) to the switch

1Gb to each client


for starters.....

 

[Kelemvor]

An $800 Dell and lots of other toys.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
10 68pin scsi cables....just picture it...madess...MADNESS!!!!


<--him

pay off electricity bill

10x1TB SATA in a raid with hotswap;

10Gb (only $4000/port) to the switch

1Gb to each client


for starters.....

Ten cables? You'd just need one.

I'm not saying that I've picked the best stuff, but it would suit my needs. Huge datasets, lots of open windows, 3D acceleration to every monitor. It would be more suitable for work (at least what I do) than play (other than the projector ), but it could do both.

 

[habib89]

$50,000 on a computer is the stupidest thing i've ever heard of

 

[her209]

PowerEdge 1950s + EMC FC SAN

 

[yoda291]

Originally posted by: her209
PowerEdge 1950s + EMC FC SAN

The SAN alone would break your budget. not to mention trip your power breakers.

You'd do better with locally attached storage.

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: habib89
$50,000 on a computer is the stupidest thing i've ever heard of

for a PC anyway

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: TallBill
I'd buy about 50 quad core machines and start dominating at distributed computing.

For free easynews access ?

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Since this is just an exercise, I don't think we have to be so prudent with our fake money...

Whatever I did buy would have a large SAS array and as many 30" LCDs as I could hook up to it. It would be dual quad-core most likely. If I can buy software, I'd have to get a copy of ArcGIS since I work with it. That would cut the money for the computer down nicely.

Edit:

The Core
Case- Codegen S-201 Server Case: $200
Motherboard- Intel S5000XVNSATA Dual Socket 771 Intel 5000X Extended ATX Server Motherboard: $477
CPUs- 2xIntel Xeon X5355 Clovertown 2.66GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache Socket 771 Active : $2400
Memory- 8xKingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR2 FB-DIMM ECC Fully Buffered DDR2 667 (PC2 5300): $8000
Primary Video- EVGA 768-P2-N881-AR GeForce 8800Ultra 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card: $580
Secondary Video- 2xEVGA 256-P2-N761-AR GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card : $330

Porn... err... work storage
SCSI HBA- HP 273914-B21 PCI-X / 133 MHz Ultra320 SCSI Smart Array 6404/256: $1280
Primary Hard Drives- 10x Fujitsu MAX3147NP 147GB 15,000 RPM 8MB Cache SCSI Ultra320 68pin Hard Drive in Raid 5: $4980
Storage Hard Drives- 5x HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000 HDS721010KLA330 (0A34915) 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive in JBOD: $1900
Backup- Quantum BHBAX-BR 320GB Internal Ultra 160 SCSI Interface DLT-V4 Tape Drive : $800
DVD- 2x HP Black 20X DVD+R Burner w/ Lightscribe: $92
Blu-ray- LITE-ON Black Blu-ray Disc Triple Burner: $480

The face

Monitors- 6x 30" (2560x1600) LCDs (Note here that CineMassive doesn't seem to offer that configuration, but they do have 30" monitors and I'm sure they'd be willing to talk. I'm going to figure in the cost of the 6 of the Dell displays plus 25% for customization): $9520

Software

Windows OS- Windows Vista Ultimate: $400
Linux OS- Debian GNU/Linux: $0
Bryce 6.1- $109.95
Adobe Photoshop CS3- $625.99
ArcGIS 9.2 (Mapping software I use at work and would like at home)- $3199
Microsoft Office 2007: $500
Vegas 7 Video Editing Software: $400
Adobe Acrobat Professional: $450
Adobe Audition: $350
3D Studio Max: $3500

Perhipherals

Speakers- Creative P7800 7.1 Speakers: $80
Sound card- Digital Audio Card Deluxe: $400
Mouse- MX Revolution: $75
Keyboard- Dell Compact Keyboard: $15
Printer- brother HL series HL-2700CN 31 ppm Laser Workgroup Color Printer: $500
Joystick- Saitek X52 Pro: $200
Projector: Optoma HD81 1920 x 1080 DLP 1080P HDMI Home Theater Projector With Video Processor 1400 lumens 10000:1: $4300
Scanner: EPSON GT 15000 B11B160011 600 x 600dpi 48bit USB 2.0/1.1, SCSI-2 Interface Flatbed Scanner : $1050

Total: $47193.94

Save the rest for shipping.

That is an embarrassingly bad configuration for $50k.

Agreed.

68pin ultra 320?! What is this...2002?

sata 3.0Gb/s if at all......sas if you must.

and may I say that a fool and his money....



even in dreams, if not especially in dreams, ones true character is defenseless.

$80 creative sound system?!?

 

[jackace]

$2k computer and use the rest to start a business or invest.

 

[sdifox]

humm, get a rack, a SAN controller, a few trays (of drives), a blade enclosure, a few blades, fibre drop, fibre link and big honking battery farm.

I think 50K is a bit low.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: sdifox
humm, get a rack, a SAN controller, a few trays, a blade enclosure, a few blades, fibre drop, fibre link and big honking battery farm.

I think 50K is a bit low.

Congratz for sticking with the thread topic.

WTF is with everyone in threads like this changing the 'rules' saying 'umm I'd just take the $50k and buy a car....'

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: sdifox
humm, get a rack, a SAN controller, a few trays, a blade enclosure, a few blades, fibre drop, fibre link and big honking battery farm.

I think 50K is a bit low.

Congratz for sticking with the thread topic.

WTF is with everyone in threads like this changing the 'rules' saying 'umm I'd just take the $50k and buy a car....'

Dude. we rule you.

 

[homercles337]

Your thread gets ZERO stars. What a stupid, outlandish question. $50k? Are you serious or just stupid? There is no way in hell that anyone could spend $50k on ONE rig.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: sdifox
humm, get a rack, a SAN controller, a few trays, a blade enclosure, a few blades, fibre drop, fibre link and big honking battery farm.

I think 50K is a bit low.

Congratz for sticking with the thread topic.

WTF is with everyone in threads like this changing the 'rules' saying 'umm I'd just take the $50k and buy a car....'

I like hardware porn too

For work I got 1 enclosure, 8 blades ( each with 2 quad core cpu), 1 SAN controller, 4 trays of 4.5TB

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion

$80 creative sound system?!?

I thought it was funny that he has a $400 sound card and then $80 speakers.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: sdifox
humm, get a rack, a SAN controller, a few trays, a blade enclosure, a few blades, fibre drop, fibre link and big honking battery farm.

I think 50K is a bit low.

Congratz for sticking with the thread topic.

WTF is with everyone in threads like this changing the 'rules' saying 'umm I'd just take the $50k and buy a car....'

Dude. we rule you.

I thought it was "Dude, you are getting a Dell!".

 

[oogabooga]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
For starters I'd buy a really cool case... I think a BMW 335i would work well for that.

I was thinking the same thing Carputer anyone?

And can you really have an embarrassingly bad configuration for a 50,000 machine you're building with fake money for the purpose of spending 50,000 dollars?

That said I went straight to apple for my embarrassingly bad config! Desktop machine, 3x 30in LCD's (ala al gore!), XServe, and accessories/software worked out to give or take 50k. Wasted a good 30 minutes or so of my time on this...