Ultimate Gaming Computer?

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
actually the 150gb raptor should loads games faster than the 750gb. but i guess you think you're right in ever aspect of computer building so its your loss. seems to me like you know everything already, why ask for help if you're not taking any suggestions

i too have to agree with louissssss, why come here and ask when you know everything? besides, the seagate 15k.5 owns all in str and seek times for hdds 🙂 🙂 if you are trying to build the ultimate and want to waste a lot of $$$ and haven't looked into 15k scsi then it is not the ultimate....

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: Merovingian
-150GB Raptors are great for access time useful in running windows and most other applications but not as good as the 750GB in data transfer which would seem to be the reason why the raptor is not as fast at loading games or levels. This is a gaming computer and the 750GB happens to run office and windows just fine and it also runs games slightly faster and carries much more storage. Am I not completely correct? Are there other applications I should consider that are more demanding that would be of use to a standard user? I know that windows won't boot quite as quickly by a sec or two. Perhaps this can be resolved by putting two raptors in raid0? Any benches on that? Just curious but who actually has benches that justify 150GB raptors for a gaming machine? You may be hard pressed to justify such a claim.

Um, are you getting your information from a BestBuy sales guy? And yeah, you are completely incorrect...well you are correct in that the 750GB has more storage space. 😛 Do some reading. The Raptor is faster in all categories. Now whether the performance is worth it to you is another story.

the op sounds like a bestbuy sales guy - think they know everything

 

[LOUISSSSS]

which dell uses the asus motherboard again? and even though the 7200.10 series are great, if you think it faster than a 150gb raptor regardless of us stating otherwise, buy it and dont look back. but have fun loading windows and larger apps.

 

[trOver]

HD: more rpm= better performance and more noise
VIDEO: like someone said, is the part to age the quickest. take your time choosing this part
MOBO: 680i is currently having some problems. either get a 975x now, or wait till 680i is more reliable. i read somewhere you have a 50% chance of getting a good board w/ 680i. (this was the evga brand. Asus is better im sure!! =)

coolermaster= wow...........

 

[LOUISSSSS]

my 150gb raptor doesn't sound louder than my 7200.7 at idle.... (its idle about 95% of the time my pc is on)

 

[JargonGR]

You're right, the HP is the best 30" you can buy right now. Beautiful monitor. However, I'm waiting on the new Dell LCD (3007WFP-HC) because I will probably be able to get it cheaper, I prefer the way it looks (design wise), and it will look great with the secondary 2007FP LCD I'm going to buy with it. I'm going to finally retire my Sony G500 CRT monitor. It still looks great, but I just want something bigger.

I decided to go with the HP since it uses the same panel with the Dell and after seeing a review of the new Dell (don't remember where link at hardforum) there was no reason to wait panle wise.

As for the 3 DVIs yes I will connect a second PC to it for Desktop use only - no games.

Btw, the stacker 810 is for quad cpu socket motherboards. You probably want my case which is the STC-01 stacker which can fit two PSU's if needed and has a removeable tray.

Meerovigian I actually have the STC-01 sorry my mistake and use 2 PSUs too with that.
However compared to the U2-UFO it is small inside here is a pic and link to the U2.

http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2389842560039590762gqoNlh]

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-The case is double width compared to a normal case.
-The top is reversed in the picture the normal is with the fans inside the case but I want to mod it.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: JargonGR

You're right, the HP is the best 30" you can buy right now. Beautiful monitor. However, I'm waiting on the new Dell LCD (3007WFP-HC) because I will probably be able to get it cheaper, I prefer the way it looks (design wise), and it will look great with the secondary 2007FP LCD I'm going to buy with it. I'm going to finally retire my Sony G500 CRT monitor. It still looks great, but I just want something bigger.

I decided to go with the HP since it uses the same panel with the Dell and after seeing a review of the new Dell (don't remember where link at hardforum) there was no reason to wait panle wise.

As for the 3 DVIs yes I will connect a second PC to it for Desktop use only - no games.

You're going to connect another machine that has a dual-link video card? If so, that is great. The HP LCD is definitely the one to go with for you then. However, I'd say 99.999999% of the population has no need for more than 1 DVI connection on that monitor.

 

[Merovingian]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
which dell uses the asus motherboard again?

I could find out for you if you really need to know it's probably about 5-8 years old in a desktop. It also had a foxcon PSU if that makes any difference to you.

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
Personally what you say in the rest of this thread about ASUS motherboards is a crock....

ASUS is the #1 motherbaords company for a reason whether you agree or not does not change that fact!!
As was stated by somebody else -- That mobo has some issues......
"Asus Unreliability"? is this why asus is the #1 selling mb company in the world? or is it because asus mb's have had the least problems as compared to its competition?
I'm a big ASUS fan myself and have been using their boards for years without any problems. I have the 680i P5N32-E SLI board and am quite happy with it.
dell actually makes their own motherboards. and even if other companys like to use asus boards, they chose them for a reason as compared to other companies that are second tier and have problems such as incompatibilities with certain types of ram.
but to eacxh there own...all w can do is say we disagree....

You know what a fanboy is, right? I never said anything about asus except that it my experiance and the experiance of other friends is that asus has been very, very unreliable. What about that is a crock exactly? Also, what fact about asus makes it #1? Does it sell the most units or something? Remember that just because GM sells more cars than honda and porscha does not make GM faster or more reliable.

Originally posted by: JEDIYodaThen as far as memory goes...if your going to over clock the snot out of the 6300, you need some good not average or above average you need some good memory which equates to $$$$$.
If you were just going to do some mild over clcoking you could get away with cheaping out on memory....
Then you talk about gaming..... especially games that rely on fps.....the more ram the better! For some reason which we have not figured out; my friends video card a 7900 over clocked a lot better when he went to 4 gigs of ram in his machine verses 1 gig!!

As far as the overclocking goes, I don't see what ram has to do with overclocking your processor if you are running memory dividers. I tested this on a 1.8Ghz A64@2.6Ghz a few years ago using value ram vs. TCCD, there was no difference and why should there be so long as the motherboard has the right divider settings. I was planning on using 2x1GB which should tide this system over until it is replaced sometime in 2008 when cheap quad core 45nm chips are running on DDR3.

Originally posted by: JEDIYodaAlso don`t be suprised if your temps crap out on you with the coolermaster heatsinks!!
I have a feeling you will be buying an aditional heatsink.
But I don`t feel like duscussiong heatsinks other than to say...there are many top of the line heatsinks!! I personally wouldn`t place the coolerMaster heatsink up there with the best...Ultra120....Tuniq Tower....etc...

Yeah, we'll see how it goes after I go to CES.

Originally posted by: JEDIYodaPlease note many of the things your putting in your machine are not ultimate and will be 2nd or even 3rd teir in a few months........

Well, I don't want to waste money but want a system that will play games at good frame rates on the highest quality settings at full res. Probably means we are going two graphics cards but we will try one first. When a physics card is needed it will be purchased but not until then.

Originally posted by: JEDIYodaThen again I have never seen a Ultimate gaming machine using Coolermaster parts....but since you can get them for free all the more power to you!!🙂

Well, I know that nvidia uses the stacker 830 for it's ultimate gaming machine displays. The orginal stacker stc-01 fits 3x120mm fans in front 80mm fan on top and a 120mm fan in the back. This case also houses a full bank of 12 HDD's with 2x5.25 drive bays to spare and it houses 2xPSU's. I don't see any other cases with those specs on the market.

Originally posted by: JEDIYodaI`m not here to argue so please don`t tell me your reasonings....after all it was you who stated -- ....it wouldn't be right not to run it by the anandtech forums.

Good luck!! 😀

Yeah, I'm sorry if I came off as a know it all on the raptor thing, I just thought I remember a comparo with the 74GB raptor and the 750GB seagate that showed otherwise and need to see some benches before I decided that one was faster than the other. I'm not a know it all, I'm here asking advice for a reason and this thread has already changed my mind about many parts of my build. Thanks for your input.

 

[themisfit610]

The top tier 30" LCDs right now have a much higher resolution than 1920x1200. The HP and Apple monitors are 2560x1600, which is absurdly large. SLI 8800GTX all the way.

Of course, this will set you back $1700 - $2000 for the LCD, and another $1200 or so on video cards 😀 so we're looking at ~$3000 for video!

I would personally go for the E6600, its extra 2 MB of L2 cache will help a bit. Without watercooling you will have a loud setup 🙂

 

[Merovingian]

Originally posted by: themisfit610
The top tier 30" LCDs right now have a much higher resolution than 1920x1200. The HP and Apple monitors are 2560x1600, which is absurdly large. SLI 8800GTX all the way.

Of course, this will set you back $1700 - $2000 for the LCD, and another $1200 or so on video cards 😀 so we're looking at ~$3000 for video!

I would personally go for the E6600, its extra 2 MB of L2 cache will help a bit. Without watercooling you will have a loud setup 🙂

That 30" HP is amazing at 2560x1600 and 8ms response time! The LCD can be had for about $1800 which is pretty crazy expensive but seems to be worth it, I think I'm in with two 8800GTX's with SLI.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

You know what a fanboy is, right? I never said anything about asus except that it my experiance and the experiance of other friends is that asus has been very, very unreliable. What about that is a crock exactly? Also, what fact about asus makes it #1? Does it sell the most units or something? Remember that just because GM sells more cars than honda and porscha does not make GM faster or more reliable.

actually.. the honda accord/toyota camry are the best selling cars in the united states for the past years. and actually... they are the most reliable cards on the market. toyota happens to be the best selling auto company in america, and toyota happens to be known for its best reliability. so asus, is known to be the #1 selling mb company in the unites states because of its reliability.

Well, I know that nvidia uses the stacker 830 for it's ultimate gaming machine displays. The orginal stacker stc-01 fits 3x120mm fans in front 80mm fan on top and a 120mm fan in the back. This case also houses a full bank of 12 HDD's with 2x5.25 drive bays to spare and it houses 2xPSU's. I don't see any other cases with those specs on the market.

the stacker also has about half the quality of lian li/silverstone and uses cooler master fans which aren't known for their quality/quietness.

the lian li v2000 plus has 12x internal 3.5 bays + 7x external 5.25 bays + 3 x 120mm fans with room for 2 more 80 or 92mm fans in the back. which should be more than enough for any system. oh yea, its a lian li.

oh and which parts have u changed from the op that this thread has assisted you with?

 

[Merovingian]

 

[Merovingian]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
so asus, is known to be the #1 selling mb company in the unites states because of its reliability.

lol, really? You work in marketing or something at asus? How would you know how many motherboards are sold relatvie to any other company such as dell or apple, etc. or why they were purchased? Please share with the rest of us where this claim can be verified.

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSSWell, I know that nvidia uses the stacker 830 for it's ultimate gaming machine displays. The orginal stacker stc-01 fits 3x120mm fans in front 80mm fan on top and a 120mm fan in the back. This case also houses a full bank of 12 HDD's with 2x5.25 drive bays to spare and it houses 2xPSU's. I don't see any other cases with those specs on the market.

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSSthe stacker also has about half the quality of lian li/silverstone and uses cooler master fans which aren't known for their quality/quietness.

the lian li v2000 plus has 12x internal 3.5 bays + 7x external 5.25 bays + 3 x 120mm fans with room for 2 more 80 or 92mm fans in the back. which should be more than enough for any system. oh yea, its a lian li.

Is this the right case or this one missing a fan?
http://www.lian-li.com/Product/Chassis/..._Tower/V_Series/S_V_S_PC-V2000plus.htm
It really is a nice case but lianli didn't exactly win case of the year...
http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2006/12/29/bit_tech_awards_2006/5.html

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSSoh and which parts have u changed from the op that this thread has assisted you with?

I'm not certain but I think that I might go with the 30" HP monitor instead of the Dell 24" using not one but two 8800GTX's but I will have to find out the benches on the 8800GTS overclocked before I make the final decision. Also, I need to consider the raptor 150GB drive as loading windows quickly is a value but I'm not sure the performance numbers in the artical posted, while validating it's performance dominance in the app drive market, justify making a decision based upon a noticeable difference.

Anyway, I'll keep looking at the rest of the comments to see what other things I will plan on changing.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

http://www.lian-li.com/Product/Chassis/...ower/V_Series/S_V_S_PC-V2000plus_2.htm
this case will eat the any cooler master case alive. i shouldn't even be comparing the two as they are in completely different quality ranges. no i dont work with asus. a simple search of "asus" "dfi" "msi" etc... in these forums will quickly show that more people are enjoying their asus motherboard over the others.

http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2006/12/29/bit_tech_awards_2006/5.html

they also chose the e6600 over the QX6700. and they also chose the zalman 9550 over the tuniq tower. guess they dont like choosing the best performing parts.

 

[EricMartello]

Just a few touch-ups aside from the discussion going on here already, and I do apologize if it has already been addressed here but I'm too lazy to read tall these posts. 😛

Old WD Raptor vs New Raptor X
These are two different drives, and the newer one is better. As of this date it is pretty much the fastest SATA drive on the market, in all categories. The old raptor did actually have a slower sustained transfer rate than some of the newer 7200 RPM SATA drives which support SATA 3.0 and NCQ. Noise levels with the 10K Raptor X are minimal...to put it in perspective, this drive is much quieter than the 7200 Maxtor MaxLine III which was actually touted as a decent drive. Its an "OK" drive, I didn't care for it much. The Samsung SpinPoint drives are an overlooked contender for speed and very quiet drives, but like most things korean, quality is still unchartered territory so make sure you back up if you opt for these.

OnBoard Sound vs Quality Sound Card
No "ultimate" pc would be caught dead settling for onboard sound. You do realize that onboard sound is essentially emulated in software...there is no real DSP chip to process special effects or 3D sound like most games these days have. I'll recommend a creative Audigy 2. The X-Fi cards look nice on paper, but read up on compatibility issues. You may also want to consider an external solution that plugs in by USB.

Reliability of Motherboards
Each MB manufacturer produces "gold" and "crap"...you really can blanket one manufacturer as consistently producing crap, unless you're talking about SiS from the old days. Oh, and anything based on a VIA chipset would be "crap eligible", but it's really a toss up if you will have random WTF problems or not. Nforce or Intel chipsets are well-suited for speed and stability. If you want reliable overclocking, shell out the extra cash for a MB designed for that purpose.

Cases
I've built several PCs using CoolerMaster cases, and I can't say anything bad about them. For the money you spend, you get excellent bang for the buck. I personally use the original CM Stacker, which is absolutely awesome. The included 120mm fans ARE VERY QUIET and flow plenty of air. You do not need to go crazy with fans like some people do. 120mm in the front at the bottom and an 120mm exhaust in the rear is plenty. My internal case temp rarely exceeds 1-2 degrees C over ambient room temp.

Budget
Maybe you did, but I didn't see you say anything about a budget for this PC. It would probably be helpful if we knew what kind of cash you are willing to dish out.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS

You know what a fanboy is, right? I never said anything about asus except that it my experiance and the experiance of other friends is that asus has been very, very unreliable. What about that is a crock exactly? Also, what fact about asus makes it #1? Does it sell the most units or something? Remember that just because GM sells more cars than honda and porscha does not make GM faster or more reliable.

actually.. the honda accord/toyota camry are the best selling cars in the united states for the past years. and actually... they are the most reliable cards on the market. toyota happens to be the best selling auto company in america, and toyota happens to be known for its best reliability. so asus, is known to be the #1 selling mb company in the unites states because of its reliability.

Well, I know that nvidia uses the stacker 830 for it's ultimate gaming machine displays. The orginal stacker stc-01 fits 3x120mm fans in front 80mm fan on top and a 120mm fan in the back. This case also houses a full bank of 12 HDD's with 2x5.25 drive bays to spare and it houses 2xPSU's. I don't see any other cases with those specs on the market.

the stacker also has about half the quality of lian li/silverstone and uses cooler master fans which aren't known for their quality/quietness.-- thats BS...maybe the fans that come in the case...but I use nothing but CoolerMaster fans in my PC`s.....they are some of the quietest fans on the market!!


the lian li v2000 plus has 12x internal 3.5 bays + 7x external 5.25 bays + 3 x 120mm fans with room for 2 more 80 or 92mm fans in the back. which should be more than enough for any system. oh yea, its a lian li.

oh and which parts have u changed from the op that this thread has assisted you with?

 

[Merovingian]

I decided that a single 8800GTS is the best option right now given that the GTX is $150 for a few extra FPS and two cards give a very limited benefit at this time. Thougths?