Looking for suggestions on building a 'dream' computer
 

For the computer knowledgable and savvy people.

Looking to get a new system and the company will be paying for it ( or most
of it) so im looking to put together an awesome system that could make me
the king of my block for awhile.....

.....so overkill is encouraged. :)

My current computer cost about $1000 a few years back, so if the 'dream'
system runs up to say $6000, i would like to know about. ( i know one can
assemble a system for $20 K so im trying to keep within reason )

Im asking if some of you hardware informed people may give me your 2 cents
on what I could shop for. Even if the component needs to be specially
ordered from the manufacturer because stores rarely carry it ( perhaps cause
its expensive or not in much demand), I still would like to hear about it. I
have a very good understanding of most components but not as in touch with
the highest-end performance parts

Im thinking something such as:

- Dual ( or even 4 ??) CPU MB
- fast cpu's to fill those multiple slots.
- 1 to 2 gigs ram
- the best gaming video card ( note that I want to support multiple
monitors..2 hopefully 3 and being able to video input cable tv at times)
- hard drive: running 4, 200gb drives in raid or something like that.. or
whatever gets the fastest speed

All ideas are welcome. thank you
Post thoughts here so others amy share in or email bwps (@) shaw.ca

Brad wrote:

For the computer knowledgable and savvy people.

Looking to get a new system and the company will be paying for it ( or most
of it) so im looking to put together an awesome system that could make me
the king of my block for awhile.....

....so overkill is encouraged. :)

My current computer cost about $1000 a few years back, so if the 'dream'
system runs up to say $6000, i would like to know about. ( i know one can
assemble a system for $20 K so im trying to keep within reason )

Im asking if some of you hardware informed people may give me your 2 cents
on what I could shop for. Even if the component needs to be specially
ordered from the manufacturer because stores rarely carry it ( perhaps cause
its expensive or not in much demand), I still would like to hear about it. I
have a very good understanding of most components but not as in touch with
the highest-end performance parts

Im thinking something such as:

- Dual ( or even 4 ??) CPU MB

Dual Opteron 250 processors would be nice.


- fast cpu's to fill those multiple slots.
- 1 to 2 gigs ram

2 gigs would be nice.


- the best gaming video card

A 6800 Ultra card would be nice.

( note that I want to support multiple
monitors..2 hopefully 3 and being able to video input cable tv at times)
- hard drive: running 4, 200gb drives in raid or something like that.. or
whatever gets the fastest speed

Some smaller 10,000 rpm drives for speed, and some 250 gig 7200
rpm drives might be an interesting idea.



All ideas are welcome. thank you
Post thoughts here so others amy share in or email bwps (@) shaw.ca

Brad wrote:

For the computer knowledgable and savvy people.

Looking to get a new system and the company will be paying for it ( or most
of it) so im looking to put together an awesome system that could make me
the king of my block for awhile.....

....so overkill is encouraged. :)

My current computer cost about $1000 a few years back, so if the 'dream'
system runs up to say $6000, i would like to know about. ( i know one can
assemble a system for $20 K so im trying to keep within reason )

Im asking if some of you hardware informed people may give me your 2 cents
on what I could shop for. Even if the component needs to be specially
ordered from the manufacturer because stores rarely carry it ( perhaps cause
its expensive or not in much demand), I still would like to hear about it. I
have a very good understanding of most components but not as in touch with
the highest-end performance parts

Im thinking something such as:

- Dual ( or even 4 ??) CPU MB
- fast cpu's to fill those multiple slots.
- 1 to 2 gigs ram
- the best gaming video card ( note that I want to support multiple
monitors..2 hopefully 3 and being able to video input cable tv at times)
- hard drive: running 4, 200gb drives in raid or something like that.. or
whatever gets the fastest speed

All ideas are welcome. thank you
Post thoughts here so others amy share in or email bwps (@) shaw.ca

My suggestion is don't get a PC, get a server.

Carter

JK wrote:
Brad wrote:

For the computer knowledgable and savvy people.

Looking to get a new system and the company will be paying for it (
or most of it) so im looking to put together an awesome system that
could make me the king of my block for awhile.....

....so overkill is encouraged. :)

My current computer cost about $1000 a few years back, so if the
'dream' system runs up to say $6000, i would like to know about. ( i
know one can assemble a system for $20 K so im trying to keep within
reason )

Im asking if some of you hardware informed people may give me your 2
cents on what I could shop for. Even if the component needs to be
specially ordered from the manufacturer because stores rarely carry
it ( perhaps cause its expensive or not in much demand), I still
would like to hear about it. I have a very good understanding of
most components but not as in touch with the highest-end performance
parts

Im thinking something such as:

- Dual ( or even 4 ??) CPU MB

Dual Opteron 250 processors would be nice.


- fast cpu's to fill those multiple slots.
- 1 to 2 gigs ram

2 gigs would be nice.


- the best gaming video card

A 6800 Ultra card would be nice.


You mad?! The X800XT blows it out of the water!


( note that I want to support multiple
monitors..2 hopefully 3 and being able to video input cable tv at
times) - hard drive: running 4, 200gb drives in raid or something
like that.. or whatever gets the fastest speed

Some smaller 10,000 rpm drives for speed, and some 250 gig 7200
rpm drives might be an interesting idea.



All ideas are welcome. thank you
Post thoughts here so others amy share in or email bwps (@) shaw.ca

Here's the system I've just built

ASUS SK8V Deluxe board
FX-55
2GB PC3200 OCZ
X800 Pro (couldn't get the XT)
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro
2x75GB 10K Raptors
1x250GB Caviar (all SATA obviously)
Plextor DVD burner (though this will be replaced at the beginning of next
year with one of the new 8.5GB units)
Samsung combi (for convenience and when I need to burn a CD in a hurry -
it's twice as fast as the Plextor)
Coolermaster WaveMaster case
Tagan SilentPower 500W PSU (and it *IS* silent!)
Logitech iTouch combi (Bluetooth)
If you're a gamer (which you obviously are) - the you owe it to yourself to
get a MX700 or MX900 (Bluetooth) - they are the most accurate and most
responsive gaming mice currently available. Coupled with a RatpadzGS (Gaming
Surface) - they will (sorry for the advertising cliche) take your gaming
experience to a whole new level.

Whilst I'm not really a gamer (not in the sense of FPS, flight sims, RTS,
etc) I do play (OK, I guess adventures, RPGs and management don't really
count - I can't wait for /Rollercoaster Tycoon 3/ or /The Sims 2/ for
example).

Just my 2p (inc. VAT)'s worth.

--
My great-grandfather was born and raised in Elgin - did he eventually
lose his marbles?

Brad wrote:

For the computer knowledgable and savvy people.

Looking to get a new system and the company will be paying for it ( or
most
of it) so im looking to put together an awesome system that could make me
the king of my block for awhile.....

....so overkill is encouraged. :)

My current computer cost about $1000 a few years back, so if the 'dream'
system runs up to say $6000, i would like to know about. ( i know one can
assemble a system for $20 K so im trying to keep within reason )

Im asking if some of you hardware informed people may give me your 2 cents
on what I could shop for. Even if the component needs to be specially
ordered from the manufacturer because stores rarely carry it ( perhaps
cause its expensive or not in much demand), I still would like to hear
about it. I have a very good understanding of most components but not as
in touch with the highest-end performance parts

Im thinking something such as:

- Dual ( or even 4 ??) CPU MB

Forget the 4 CPU unless you're running Linux--the only Windows versions that
support more than 2 are Advanced Server and above and you're not going to
get those within your $6K budget.

For duals the Opterons are a better deal than Xeons, but you're still
looking at 1500 or so bucks worth of CPUs if you go with the highest clock
speed. Running Windows you won't see a whole lot of difference between
Opteron and Xeon unless you want to try the 64-bit beta (free download from
Microsoft, 1-year time-bomb).

- fast cpu's to fill those multiple slots.
- 1 to 2 gigs ram
- the best gaming video card ( note that I want to support multiple
monitors..2 hopefully 3 and being able to video input cable tv at times)

Not going to get 3 with good performance on all of them until somebody ships
a motherboard with 2 PCI Express 16X slots--the only AGP boards that
support 3 or more monitors are from Matrox and their gaming performance is
marginal at best. Duals with AGP just pick whatever's hot right now. Note
that you can get dual DVI with nvidia boards for a good deal less than with
ATI boards.

- hard drive: running 4, 200gb drives in raid or something like that.. or
whatever gets the fastest speed

Within your budget 15K SCSI drives are probably out--a couple of WD Raptors,
one for boot and one for swap, plus 3 250s RAID-5ed for data would be a
good combo. Hook them all to an Intel or LSI Logic or 3Ware RAID
controller, not a Promise cheapie.

All ideas are welcome. thank you
Post thoughts here so others amy share in or email bwps (@) shaw.ca

--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Here's the system I've just built

ASUS SK8V Deluxe board
FX-55
2GB PC3200 OCZ
X800 Pro (couldn't get the XT)
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro
2x75GB 10K Raptors
1x250GB Caviar (all SATA obviously)
Plextor DVD burner (though this will be replaced at the beginning of next
year with one of the new 8.5GB units)
Samsung combi (for convenience and when I need to burn a CD in a hurry -
it's twice as fast as the Plextor)
Coolermaster WaveMaster case
Tagan SilentPower 500W PSU (and it *IS* silent!)
Logitech iTouch combi (Bluetooth)
If you're a gamer (which you obviously are) - the you owe it to yourself
to get a MX700 or MX900 (Bluetooth) - they are the most accurate and most
responsive gaming mice currently available. Coupled with a RatpadzGS
(Gaming Surface) - they will (sorry for the advertising cliche) take your
gaming experience to a whole new level.

Whilst I'm not really a gamer (not in the sense of FPS, flight sims, RTS,
etc) I do play (OK, I guess adventures, RPGs and management don't really
count - I can't wait for /Rollercoaster Tycoon 3/ or /The Sims 2/ for
example).

Just my 2p (inc. VAT)'s worth.

--
My great-grandfather was born and raised in Elgin - did he eventually
lose his marbles?
WTF Would you want a system like that for if you don't use it for FPS or
Flight Sims/Racing Sims.

What Frame Rate do you get with Solitare ?
Do you suffer from Lag with Internet Hearts.?

Why don't you get an 8 Meg Bonded SDSL connection for your e-mail. ?

Have you got some £2.50 headphones for your soundblaster ?

How's the 14" Monitor running at 640 * 480 ?

What a fookin Tosser you are ?

"liam" wrote in message
...
Here's the system I've just built

ASUS SK8V Deluxe board
FX-55
2GB PC3200 OCZ
X800 Pro (couldn't get the XT)
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro
2x75GB 10K Raptors
1x250GB Caviar (all SATA obviously)
Plextor DVD burner (though this will be replaced at the beginning of
next
year with one of the new 8.5GB units)
Samsung combi (for convenience and when I need to burn a CD in a hurry -
it's twice as fast as the Plextor)
Coolermaster WaveMaster case
Tagan SilentPower 500W PSU (and it *IS* silent!)
Logitech iTouch combi (Bluetooth)
If you're a gamer (which you obviously are) - the you owe it to yourself
to get a MX700 or MX900 (Bluetooth) - they are the most accurate and
most
responsive gaming mice currently available. Coupled with a RatpadzGS
(Gaming Surface) - they will (sorry for the advertising cliche) take
your
gaming experience to a whole new level.

Whilst I'm not really a gamer (not in the sense of FPS, flight sims,
RTS,
etc) I do play (OK, I guess adventures, RPGs and management don't really
count - I can't wait for /Rollercoaster Tycoon 3/ or /The Sims 2/ for
example).

Just my 2p (inc. VAT)'s worth.

--
My great-grandfather was born and raised in Elgin - did he eventually
lose his marbles?
WTF Would you want a system like that for if you don't use it for FPS or
Flight Sims/Racing Sims.

What Frame Rate do you get with Solitare ?
Do you suffer from Lag with Internet Hearts.?

Why don't you get an 8 Meg Bonded SDSL connection for your e-mail. ?

Have you got some £2.50 headphones for your soundblaster ?

How's the 14" Monitor running at 640 * 480 ?

What a fookin Tosser you are ?

Now now keep the claws in girls. :-)

Depends on what you want this system to do.
I'll assume some of the most demanding tasks things like:
(a) 3d gaming
(b) 3d rendering
(c) audio/video editing, encoding, burning
(d) compiling
(e) database searching

Someone here mentioned a board with dual opteron 250's. Yes! I would start
there. I have some experience building high-end PC's (but not with a $6,000
budget! Wow.) so I'll give my two cents.

Dual Opteron 250's - makes for much better multitasking. Try having a single
FX-51 like I do and multitasking sucks.
Not sure what motherboard but I bet some other learned person on here will
recommend a great one.
Four 200 gig SATA drives mirrored and striped so you have performance AND
data safety. OR if you price this thing out and have lots of extra money,
get fastest SCSI instead of SATA.
If you go SATA route, depending on your motherboard, you may need to get a
RAID card.
FOUR gig of fastest dual channel RAM your motherboard supports.
BFG's 6800 Ultra OC - someone here said the XT800 is faster or something.
They are mostly wrong. The XT800 is not much more than a souped up ATi 9800;
The 6800 line is new technology and much more advanced. I won't go into
details but you can research this and find your truth. Most modern cards
will support two monitors simultaneously.
Lian Li case. Get whichever one you want. I just recommend this brand for
cases. Research and see why. They rock.
Antec True power supply. Get a biggy like over 500.
Get a name-brand DVD/CD burner like Sony or something. You usually can't go
wrong with Sony.

Scott
System built January 2004:
FX-51 on MSI K8T800 Master-2 FAR board
Nvidia 5950 Ultra 256meg
1 gig fast DDR ram (two 512MB sticks)
two 160gig SATA drives mirrored
Lian-LI PC70 case
Antec True 480
blah blah blah

"Brad" wrote in message
news:iOlWc.195048$J06.122966@pd7tw2no...
For the computer knowledgable and savvy people.

Looking to get a new system and the company will be paying for it ( or most
of it) so im looking to put together an awesome system that could make me
the king of my block for awhile.....

....so overkill is encouraged. :)

If you wanna see extreme overkill, check these out:

http://www.go-l.com/desktops/index.htm

drool

Well if the system is for fun and work

Get the VapoChill Extreme Edition Case, it will keep your CPU @ -25C
MOBO - ABIT AV8 3rd Eye (should be on the street next week)
Athlon FX-53 939
OCZ 1024MB Kit PC-3200 Dual Channel EL DDR (512 x 2) 2-3-2-6
ATI x800XT PE
WD 740GD 74GB 10K RPM 5.2ms RAPTOR S-ATA (run 2 of these bad boys in RAID 1)

This setup should deliver some EXTREME fun and performance.








"Brad" wrote in message
news:iOlWc.195048$J06.122966@pd7tw2no...
For the computer knowledgable and savvy people.

Looking to get a new system and the company will be paying for it ( or
most
of it) so im looking to put together an awesome system that could make me
the king of my block for awhile.....

....so overkill is encouraged. :)

My current computer cost about $1000 a few years back, so if the 'dream'
system runs up to say $6000, i would like to know about. ( i know one can
assemble a system for $20 K so im trying to keep within reason )

Im asking if some of you hardware informed people may give me your 2 cents
on what I could shop for. Even if the component needs to be specially
ordered from the manufacturer because stores rarely carry it ( perhaps
cause
its expensive or not in much demand), I still would like to hear about it.
I
have a very good understanding of most components but not as in touch with
the highest-end performance parts

Im thinking something such as:

- Dual ( or even 4 ??) CPU MB
- fast cpu's to fill those multiple slots.
- 1 to 2 gigs ram
- the best gaming video card ( note that I want to support multiple
monitors..2 hopefully 3 and being able to video input cable tv at times)
- hard drive: running 4, 200gb drives in raid or something like that.. or
whatever gets the fastest speed

All ideas are welcome. thank you
Post thoughts here so others amy share in or email bwps (@) shaw.ca