Nephew Going to College. Recommendations for high end machine.

[ricleo2]

As a reward for going to college I promised my nephew I would build him a high end gaming machine. He says he would stop all his illegal downloading also. I haven't researched anything as I know I will get frustrated with all the choices. So, if yall will save me some time and my sanity, I would like the great Anandtech reader's recommendations.

Machine will be used for playing games, watching Bluray movies (if that is possible yet), watching television, listening to music, downloading camera pics, and surfing the net for porn (just kidding Scott). Hopefully he will surf the net for his classes with a DSL connection. I think I want to spend $4000.00 but that is not etched in stone. I will buy all new parts from the USA. I hope he doesn't over clock and I plan to build by the end of next month. Here's what I want to buy:

30 inch lcd monitor
Motherboard
CPU
Video Card
Sound Card
Headphones
Speakers with a subwoofer
Memory
Bluray burner
Wireless key board and mouse
Combo printer, scanner, and fax
External TV tuner, will be hooked up to an outside antenna
Operating System
Full tower case
Power supply
Hard Drives: total of 1 terabyte
4 RPG and /or FPS games
And anything else you can think of

Thank you, thank you for any advice! Am looking forward to building it. Scott is going to be a Longhorn! Hookum!

 

[VirtualLarry]

$4000 seems a bit high of a budget even for a high-end gaming rig. Then again, I don't know how much of that budget will get eaten up by a 30" monitor. I'll leave the choice of monitor to someone else.

But it sounds like you might want a Core i7-based rig, with SLI or CF of two high-end cards (GTX 275, 4890, etc.). Or possibly a 4870X2 2GB model, there's one in Hot Deals for $350 AR.

 

[ricleo2]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
$4000 seems a bit high of a budget even for a high-end gaming rig. Then again, I don't know how much of that budget will get eaten up by a 30" monitor. I'll leave the choice of monitor to someone else.

But it sounds like you might want a Core i7-based rig, with SLI or CF of two high-end cards (GTX 275, 4890, etc.). Or possibly a 4870X2 2GB model, there's one in Hot Deals for $350 AR.

Thanks Larry. Would a 4870X2 beat one of the other cards you mentioned? And what is Hot Deals?

 

[Eureka]

Hot deals would be one of the lovely subforums here, where of course you can find some of the hot deals.

And what's stopping anyone from doing 4870x2 in crossfire (I think that's possible)?

 

[fffblackmage]

$2k would be pretty high end already. I would probably just recommend what people are already recommending here

Also add a raptor or SSD drive as the primary/OS HD and get a 640GB/1TB WD black hdd for storage needs.

 

[ricleo2]

Originally posted by: fffblackmage
$2k would be pretty high end already. I would probably just recommend what people are already recommending here

Also add a raptor or SSD drive as the primary/OS HD and get a 640GB/1TB WD black hdd for storage needs.

Thanks, nice thread. What is an SSD drive?

 

[Absolution75]

Solid state drive. Flash memory for hard drive basically. Very fast, very expensive (relatively).

Last time I checked, Intel makes the best one. X-25 or something. . .


Monitor? 30" I'd say Dell Ultrasharp 3008WFP. A fast IPS display with no input lag. I have wet dreams about the thing. . . Erm. . . Just kidding . . . but seriously. . .

Here's a pretty good review on it: http://www.prad.de/en/monitore...view-dell-3008wfp.html

It is definitally a monitor in that price range. . .

 

[zerogear]

On a side note, 30" monitors aren't HDCP compatible (resolution is not supported). So if he does play Blu-ray he will watch the monitor with either black bars all around the video or stretched so it fits. I would say a 30" LCD TV would fit the bill better than 30" Monitor

 

[ricleo2]

Originally posted by: zerogear
On a side note, 30" monitors aren't HDCP compatible (resolution is not supported). So if he does play Blu-ray he will watch the monitor with either black bars all around the video or stretched so it fits. I would say a 30" LCD TV would fit the bill better than 30" Monitor

Hmm, I never thought of using a TV as a monitor. What are the advantages and disadvantages?

 

[yh125d]

If he's going to be living in traditional dorms, he would rather have a nice laptop, and you'd be pissed off when some drunk kid stumbles in and spills beer on the $4000 computer you bought, or it gets stolen. I lived in the dorms last year and I'm very glad I had a laptop instead.


However if he's living in suites (private bedroom) or an apartment, go ahead (although $4k imo is very unnecessary, but it's your money)

 

[heyheybooboo]

Build a $1,200 computer, buy a 50-inch plasma and invest $2000 for your nephew.

 

[supertle55]

Originally posted by: yh125d
However if he's living in suites (private bedroom) or an apartment, go ahead (although $4k imo is very unnecessary, but it's your money)

Hey, he stated his budget so why we keep pressing on it and not help him fully utilize that.

I think:

I7 940 $550
ATI 4890 * 2 in CrossFire ($200/ea, $400 total)
SSD Intel X25 harddrives, maybe drop this completely and go with the RAID setup, SSD is still questionable on performance gain, $250?
1000W PSU, $274
Dell 30" LCD sounds good, $1300
ASUS P6T7 WS Supercomputer LGA 1366 Intel X58 CEB Intel Motherboard, $450
24gb RAM, 6gb only cost around ~$100 for quality brand, figure $500 total
Why limit to 1 TB when they are only $75 a pop, get at least 4 x 1 TB, run them in a performance raid (or raid 5), $500
Blu-Ray burner - Get the one on newegg that's been going for $160
Case - $250, plenty of choices

the rest of the budget goes to games, keyboard, mouse, O/S

There, $4k well spent. I would drop the SSD drive thought and go with a RAID setup. Since no overclocking stated, i would go with the I7 940. Its not the best valued system as most builders on here would go by but not everyone wants to maximize performance for the buck bang.

That kind of rig will set him guarantteed through his college years.

 

[California Roll]

This is going to be an awesome rig to download porn at college.

I realize it's your money but this is seriously overkill for anything he's going to need for college. And I totally agree with the poster who mentioned laptops are way more useful.

If I was in your nephew's position and had a cool uncle who was going to spend $4k on a new system, I'd ask for a $2k gaming system and a laptop. If he really wanted to spend another $2k, I'd ask him to buy me another in in 3 years.

4 (college) years is an eternity in the computing world.

 

[fffblackmage]

Originally posted by: yh125d
If he's going to be living in traditional dorms, he would rather have a nice laptop, and you'd be pissed off when some drunk kid stumbles in and spills beer on the $4000 computer you bought, or it gets stolen. I lived in the dorms last year and I'm very glad I had a laptop instead.


However if he's living in suites (private bedroom) or an apartment, go ahead (although $4k imo is very unnecessary, but it's your money)

I personally wouldn't spend $4000 on a computer anyways, but I probably wouldn't worry too much bringing it to the dorms/apartment (assuming there's even space for an uber 30" screen). I took my desktop to the dorms, along with a CRT, which I quickly replaced with an LCD. I was fine with that, probably because I prefer normal keyboard, mouse, and decently sized screen (I used a 17" 5:4 1280x1024 LCD, unlike my laptop's relatively tiny screen).

Spilling things on the desktop shouldn't be much of a problem either, I imagine laptops would be much much more difficult to clean. Rather, I'd be more worried someone spills crap on my 30" LCD or 50" plasma than on my desktop.

Laptops are just easy targets, so I would not recommend getting an uber nice $2000 or $4000 laptop, cuz it's just asking to be stolen.

 

[brblx]

dorms are all about effeciency. my top priority would be buying a monitor/TV that works for him, since he probably won't have room for both. the PC could easily be addressed for a grand and he could have a laptop for class for another $500.

with the premium paid on a top end parts, a 4k pc is not going to really be much better than a 2k PC, assuming we're not talking about running crysis at 2560 or something...

 

[s44]

Definitely go for the largest 1080p that fits (50" TV!)...

 

[jterrell]

I'd have to say go with the plasma that will make him a very liked fellow on campus and then spend 2k on a very good gaming machine.

For 4K I could get a plasma, 800 laptop to take to classes and build a very nice gaming rig.

Its not very easy to get into UT so gratz!

 

[supertle55]

Originally posted by: California Roll
This is going to be an awesome rig to download porn at college.

I realize it's your money but this is seriously overkill for anything he's going to need for college. And I totally agree with the poster who mentioned laptops are way more useful.

If I was in your nephew's position and had a cool uncle who was going to spend $4k on a new system, I'd ask for a $2k gaming system and a laptop. If he really wanted to spend another $2k, I'd ask him to buy me another in in 3 years.

4 (college) years is an eternity in the computing world.

Seriously, I be quite annoyed when I'm at a restaurant and I want a filet mignon for $75 plus a $30 drop of wine with it, someone comes along and tells me their to order the Sirloin b/c its just as good and its half the price. And yeah, you don't need a BMW or a Mercedes, Honda/Hyundais/Toyota's/Ford will get you the best for the bang.

Help the poor guy with some high end dream machine recommendations instead of telling him advice he's not asking for.

Just another idea to throw out there, consider using dual Xeon nehalem processors. Going this route, $4k is just barely enough with your 30" LCD included. This machine then matures from becoming the ultimate gaming machine to a high end work horse.

Just for references:

http://www.gamepc.com/shop/sys...=titan&cookie%5Ftest=1

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/sy...yberPower_Black_Pearl/

Another idea is to find some gaming PC build by other companies to get ideas of the components. Then do it yourself so you truly get the components you want and still save some money in the cost of assembling it but at the value of your time.

 

[California Roll]

Seriously, I be quite annoyed when I'm at a restaurant and I want a filet mignon for $75 plus a $30 drop of wine with it, someone comes along and tells me their to order the Sirloin b/c its just as good and its half the price. And yeah, you don't need a BMW or a Mercedes, Honda/Hyundais/Toyota's/Ford will get you the best for the bang.

Your analogy doesn't really wash but I'll play along. You're mixing subjective taste with objective goals. You're also not asking someone "hey, should I get the filet for $75 or the sirloin for $20?".

OP states purpose of rig is:

Machine will be used for playing games, watching Bluray movies (if that is possible yet), watching television, listening to music, downloading camera pics, and surfing the net for porn (just kidding Scott). Hopefully he will surf the net for his classes with a DSL connection.

He's asking for AT advice. Would you really recommend a $4k system for this? And for the record, I do prefer filet over sirloin. I'm mainly a ribeye man tho.

Just another idea to throw out there, consider using dual Xeon nehalem processors. Going this route, $4k is just barely enough with your 30" LCD included. This machine then matures from becoming the ultimate gaming machine to a high end work horse.

A high end work horse for what? MS Word? Will this help him enroll in classes faster?

If OP *has* to spend $4k on this, by all means go with it. That's cool. OP already said he hasn't done research which is why he's here. Several people have made the recommendation to get a high end rig for about 2k and use the balance for other things like laptop, tv, college fund, lapdances, etc. which is pretty good advice, imo.

Feel free to disregard advice if you like but please don't be irritated if you get it after you ask for it.

 

[VinylxScratches]

If he's dorming, get him a laptop.

 

[mmntech]

Originally posted by: VinylxScratches
If he's dorming, get him a laptop.

QFT. Something durable with high battery life such as a Macbook or Dell Studio. In a college environment, a portable system reaps huge dividends since you can use it in class as well as at home. These systems will fulfil your requirements and are both around $1000. The Dell Studios 15 and up come with a bluray and a 1080p display as an option as well. He won't have much time for gaming anyway.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: California Roll
6 (college) years is an eternity in the computing world.

Fixed.

 

[Eureka]

I know this may seem condescending, but I would recommend not splurging at this point. The main issue isn't money or computer aging, it's him I'm more concerned about. Once you transition into college, your tastes and hobbies tend to change a bit. I know mine did almost as soon as I got into college. Before college, I used to game every single day, every moment I had. Within 2 weeks of entering college, I pretty much stopped gaming. I found that once I got into college, I was much more concerned about my grades and my social life. I took a hiatus from games for pretty much a year and a half. Only earlier this year did I really get back into gaming. So all I'm saying is that tastes can change with environment, and this is one BIG environment change.

So looking back, I'd advise to be careful about putting so much money into something. I'm not saying its a bad thing, and a good computer remains a good computer, but it may not be the right time to be splurging on something.

 

[ricleo2]

What wonderful replies! I really enjoyed reading them. I always marvel at the responses, I get here, about money. I have money that I worked for; I will burn it to light my Cuban cigars if I want to. I realize my nephew won't have a lot of time to game in college, I know I did not. But it was the best time of my life. I am really proud of my nephew in getting accepted to UT. I want to get him something special and I would enjoy building it. He will be living in an apartment and he already has a laptop. This computer will also be his TV for his place, so as stated it will have multiple uses. I am intrigued about using a TV as a monitor. Do modern TVs have a DVI input? Can the picture clarity equal a monitor? Thanks very much for the responses.
By the way, those fixated on the way people spend their own money; take the words of Johnny Carson to heart when he said "The only problems money solve are money problems".

 

[yh125d]

You seem convinced that spending 4k on a computer for a college kid is the right thing to do, so those of us who disagree please exit the thread...