Build a Triple-Screen Beast for $983

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bastage said:
Really.. Where do you draw the line.. I mean seriously whats reasonably modern.. thats a matter of perception & my perception is that to be a gaming rig it needs to have a video card that was released new in the last 3 years (which OP's does meet) and that card should be of a gaming class.. Which the 5670 never was. The 56x0 series were upper mainstream where as the 57x0 were low end gaming cards & the 58x0 were full on gaming cards. None of the components in OP's build were made for gaming. So just because you can hodge podge a few components together & play old games on it, that does not make it a gaming rig.
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Honda civics were not "built for racing" but even a stock civic can do 125mph on flat highway (ehh, with a little tailwind maybe)

The 5670 has 1gb DDR5 and 128bit memory interface. It does not require supplemental power. It's your honda civic of GPU's. (minus the loud annoying sound of having no muffler)

bastage said:
the OP calls it a beast and it can take the latest games with ease, at max settings & really good to excellent frame rates the line has to be drawn.
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Yes yes the compaq is not a beast!! it's a human being! lol...

Years ago I had a friend who was a "gamer". I am not, but I know a little about GPU's. When he told me he had an FX5200 in his machine I thought he was crazy, I was like "Did you buy it with food stamps??" But you know what? He was a gamer, and with the FX5200, his PC was a gaming rig. Period. You elitist/beastly gamers that are saying OP's rig is NOT a gaming rig are even more out of control than the OP for saying his rig is a beast lol... but you have made your point that it's not a gaming beast for sure. It's just getting out of control though and some ppl are losing touch with reality, such as BlackMoonWolf. Even though he made some good and valid points, he's also taking cheap shots and being a little too mean/degrading.

I'm wonder if OP's gaming performance reports are based on single screen gaming, not eyefinity. He mentioned gaming at 1600x900, and if I understand correctly, eyefinity w/3 screens should be 4800x900. Correct me if I'm wrong. My gaming PC has a Voodoo2 PCI card with 32mb SDRAM so I really don't know how eyefinity works :p

So again, kudos to you Dario for posting your setup. Even though Compaq is out of place on this forum, you did well to get your hands in there and beef it up with that GPU and the triple monitors.
 
Just for clarification, I'm just trying to say that BUDGET gaming PC's are still gaming PC's.
 
Benny Blanco said:
Just for clarification, I'm just trying to say that BUDGET gaming PC's are still gaming PC's.
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i think this is the entire point. Had the OP titled the post "How to build a triple screen budget gaming pc for $983" i dont think there would be anyone in here giving him any crap. When you come to an enthusiast site and post low end garbage and call it a "beast" really what do you expect?

Try taking your honda civic from your previous post down to the funny car track and say "hai guys look at my beast of a car" and see how fast you get laughed off the track.
 
cicatriz63 said:
Try taking your honda civic from your previous post down to the funny car track and say "hai guys look at my beast of a car" and see how fast you get laughed off the track.
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I don't think anyone is laughing at these guys. A simple youtube search on the words "10 second civic"
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=10+second+civic&aq=f

My point with that analogy: The civic is a phenomenon in budget racing (and beyond).

edit: I take that back, I'm sure some people are still laughing... lol, but they won't be laughing when they're getting smoked by a souped up civic.
 
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Dude.. So I had this 89 ford escort that would do 125 bone stock on the highway as well (I have the ticket to prove it).. But tell me this.. In what all out racing do the speeds not top 125 Mph when the top speed is of real importance.. You mention 10 second civics in a quarter mile, well in drag racing your top speed is pretty much never hit. its all about how fast you start moving, not your top speed.

And to compare OP's compaq to those 10 second civics is completely off base. OP's build is more like a 17 year old boy with a stock civic (not even a type R) with a custom exhaust tip. As you you really aint done much, but your so proud of your car and you want everyone to know about it.
 
Benny Blanco said:
I don't think anyone is laughing at these guys. A simple youtube search on the words "10 second civic"
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=10+second+civic&aq=f

My point with that analogy: The civic is a phenomenon in budget racing (and beyond).

edit: I take that back, I'm sure some people are still laughing... lol, but they won't be laughing when they're getting smoked by a souped up civic.
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sorry i guess you missed my point and i should have been a bit more clear when i said the funny car track. Take your 10s civic down to a pro drag strip with cars running 4s and yes you will indeed get laughed off the track
 
Benny Blanco said:
Just for clarification, I'm just trying to say that BUDGET gaming PC's are still gaming PC's.
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Which is fine. However it is not a "beast" nor will it "take the latest games with ease." It is a budget system that can play new games at a lower resolution and settings on one screen, and happens to have three screens hooked to it. For that matter, it really isn't a triple-screen gaming machine. It has three screens yes, but as setup it uses only one for gaming.

The problem is he is massively overselling it. Nothing wrong with building a budget gaming rig, but call it what it is and be honest about what it can do. When you sell something for what it isn't, you shouldn't be surprised if people react negatively.

Also, I think some people are right to question choices made. Since it does not, in fact, use the three screens for gaming that seems more of a showy thing. Those are extremely low end, cheap screens. For gaming I would think a nice cheap 22-3" screen would be much better if you are only using one monitor for it. You could do that no problem and keep or even reduce the budget (they are $200-250ish for nicer ones) but of course that would mean giving up on have 3 screens for the sake of having 3 screens.

I just don't find it particularly impressive or good choices in terms of hardware as is. I then find things far less impressive when I read his extreme oversell of the thing.
 
Oddly enough I just upgraded to an Eyefinity setup w/HD5670 Flex last week ($85 after rebate from the Egg, no DP/DVI adapter needed). Very happy with two 20" portrait surrounding a 24" landscape. It's no serious gamer box, but I just needed a Linux development / productivity setup that was cheap, well supported, powerful enough for a compositing window manager, and low heat/power. Definitely a Civic.

OP, I don't think it's a winning game to try to convince a skeptical audience that they should be impressed with something when they're just not. You built a perfectly reasonable system that serves your needs and illustrates your Mac article, but you presented it to a crowd accustomed to much more optimized and cutting edge builds. Don't forget that HardOCP comes from Hardware Overclockers Comparison Page!
 
Dario D. said:
UPDATE:There have been a few pages of debate over what kind of computer qualifies as being called a gaming beast. Some people believe that a gaming beast can ONLY be a computer of top, top of the line specs... whereas, from my angle, a beast is any computer that can take the latest games with ease, at max settings/res, with really-good-to-excellent framerate. (in other words, a system you could hand to your average serious gamer, and he'd just be good to go)
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I actually agree, partially, with your definition of a beast. The problem is that you don't have a beast to begin with.

Benny Blanco said:
edit: I do agree of course, the PC in question is not a beast in a gaming aspect.
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I agree with that. But he claiming that he's getting max settings out of low-end and overpriced budget (I'm 100% sure there were faster cards around the $135 and even at the $80 mark even in early 2010) video card and a relatively low-end CPU at 1600x900?. That's sounds way to damn fishy to me.

It's great that the OP has a system that he's happy with. But making outrageous claims about its performance does not sit right with me.
Sycraft said:
W
The problem is he is massively overselling it. Nothing wrong with building a budget gaming rig, but call it what it is and be honest about what it can do. When you sell something for what it isn't, you shouldn't be surprised if people react negatively.
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Exactly.
 
That's is a beastly gaming setup. Gaming across three monitors would put the resolution at 4800x900 and all for under a g? I doubt my 4890's could keep Crysis running smoothly at high detail at that resolution. Time for an upgrade to some 5670's!
 
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... And the majority of the "complaints" are the same as what we've brought up already here.

And...?
 
toddvj ftw. Regardless of what the OP thinks the machine can do, I fail to see what is at all impressive about adding a video card and 3 monitors to an off the shelf machine. Looks like any pre-built machine + any 3-monitor capable card + 3 monitors = GAMING BEAST. Ok, that point has been beaten to death. But how about the real "mission", to out-wow Apple for $1,000? Also fail. If you think anything about that setup even begins to play on the same level of aesthetics and design that Apple does then design is clearly beyond you. Maybe I'll start a thread on timezones telling everyone how I built a Rolex Submariner-killer by buying a $150 Invicta.

It took the Slashdot post to get me here. I initially recoiled in horror when I saw that my once-esteemed [H] could promote such a lousy piece, but then I checked out this thread. It turns out that you have not failed me at all boys. Thanks for staying [H]ard!
 
That 10 second Honda Civic analogy is completely off-base. If we want to make car analogies, then yes, an Athlon II X2 with a HD 5670 is a solid and efficient machine for basic transportation, much like a Honda Civic. And, yes, a Honda Civic can undergo extreme modifications to run a 10 second standing quarter mile. But this computer has no extreme modifications. If OP was using some insane phase change cooler to overclock the Athlon II X2 to 6GHz, and massively overclocked the GPU also, such that it performed as well as a much more expensive computer, then the analogy would be appropriate. But he didn't. While there's certainly nothing wrong with OP's setup (And it outperforms my gaming rig from last year), there's nothing unique or special about it.
 
Benny Blanco said:
Years ago I had a friend who was a "gamer". I am not, but I know a little about GPU's. When he told me he had an FX5200 in his machine I thought he was crazy, I was like "Did you buy it with food stamps??" But you know what? He was a gamer, and with the FX5200, his PC was a gaming rig. Period. You elitist/beastly gamers that are saying OP's rig is NOT a gaming rig are even more out of control than the OP for saying his rig is a beast lol... but you have made your point that it's not a gaming beast for sure. It's just getting out of control though and some ppl are losing touch with reality, such as BlackMoonWolf. Even though he made some good and valid points, he's also taking cheap shots and being a little too mean/degrading.
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I stand by what I said. PERIOD.

I don't know why you're citing my comment. Clearly there have been far worse given... But as you wish.

It is not my intent to be 'mean' but if I end up being as such by way of being blunt... So be it. My fangs are upon the neck and I give no quarter. There is no remorse.

It's a pre-built OEM piece of junk with a few after-market add-ons. The fact that there are now people trying to side with him and justify this kind of heresy is confusing to me.

Like I said... I thought this was an "enthusiast" site. It is not unreasonable to defend that concept on this very site. Don't accuse people of being 'out of touch with reality' when we are clearly within our rite.

Your little formula regarding the total resolution of the monitors is all well and good... But if he can't run a steady 40-60 FPS (average) then what good is having a setup like that? Even if it maintained that kind of FPS (which I doubt it would) then it's STILL max resolution of 1600x900 per screen and is still sub-par quality. As even the OP said... He's running the games on ONE screen and doing other random crap on the other two. So much for Eyefinity.

In total, this machine is still far below the standard...for an ENTHUSIAST SITE. (Last time I checked, that's what HardOCP was...) Hell... This probably wouldn't even be an issue had they not posted this on the front page and tried to tell us that it was a "beast".

Just because it can run a game does NOT make it a 'gaming' machine. It is a machine that can run games. It's a matter of context...and stripping the oft-perceived context from the word and applying the word to something that it would not otherwise apply to does not bring this lesser thing acceptance.

Let's clear the air here:

When we talk about a 'gaming' machine... We think about higher-end hardware. Deny it and you lie to us and yourself.

NO ONE thinks 'Compaq' or the name of any other OEM when we say "gaming". EVER. Well... Except for the delusional among us...

The closest exception would be Dell and it's XPS systems. Even then, those of us who know anything about hardware realize that those machines still have limited capability and upgrade potential...so Dell still rides the fence with it's XPS line. (I'd make concessions for their XPS gaming laptops. It's a laptop. You're limited on options as it is... Unless you want to spend retarded amounts of money on a laptop of course. Alienware (Dell) notwithstanding.)

To be honest... I was giving a strained effort to be nice when I made my comment involving this...'thing' that you are incorrectly defending. It wasn't a cheap shot. It was straight-forward fact in concentrated form. If you need us to water it down for you so you can ingest it, you're in the wrong place.

This machine is no "beast". In any way, shape or form. It is not noteworthy in any way, shape or form. I would give this machine to my mother, little sister or GF...as THAT is it's peak worth.

It appears that the majority of the forum agrees.

The OP disagreed with the guy who spoke about a machine for $1,033. His point of staying below a certain dollar value is impractical at best when you can build a machine with the hardware the other guy mentioned for that completely negligible increase in budget.

Honestly? A system like this has no business being highlighted, shown or otherwise in ANY place. It's in HIS home. If that is where he chooses to keep his pariah of a PC then that is HIS business. We need not be exposed.

This all begins to remind me of that Offspring song; "Pretty Fly for a White Guy".

Like I said... It is not my intention to be a dick. But if my words offend you in such a way that you think of me as such, then that is your problem alone. I tell it like it is and that's that. Like me or hate me... I care not.
 
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Benny Blanco said:
Just for clarification, I'm just trying to say that BUDGET gaming PC's are still gaming PC's.
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Then perhaps THAT is what they should have said.

As I said in the post I just made... Had they correctly labeled this from the beginning, it wouldn't be a subject of controversy. Hell... It would have garnered very little attention to begin with.
 
Neb said:
This "beast" has been slashdotted :eek:

http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/03/05/014252/Budget-Triple-Screen-Gaming
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Even people who are not on this site are taking issue with this machine and it's label.

Also... I got to thinking about what else there is that kind of upsets people about this thread. Here it is...

Correct me if I'm wrong here, folks...but...

Those of us who have REAL 'gaming' systems...feel cheapened by this. We work our asses off. (I worked a second job for several months for example.) We make the money. We give it to someone who is probably asking for more than it's worth...but we give it anyway. (Despite the spouse whom is weary of your spending...)

We spend the DAYS and HOURS of time taking into account what we want it to do and researching what we need to reach that objective. We focus on what is good and what is compatible...which is NOT EASY when you have no way of knowing for sure until you make the build and find out in the process of trial by fire. You spend a lot of time weighing the costs and your budget. You weight the pros and cons of increasing your budget over time by building piece by piece or just blowing what you have NOW and hoping for the best and forcing yourself to settle for those results.

You spend HOURS more doing the actual build, troubleshooting it as you install your OS and all the drivers...

You spend even MORE time squaring your build away. You run the cables wherever you can for a neat build and tie them back. You mod what you have to in order to achieve the affect you're after.

In the long run you just might end up having an awesome piece of hardware that you worked VERY hard for. You stand up from the floor you've sat on for HOURS as you build your machine...look at it and realize, "Damn. That's AWESOME." as you stretch your aching legs that you've ignored for the last two hours. Finally you put the system in it's resting place where it will serve you for as long as the motherboard or power supply holds...or until the next upgrade. Whichever comes first.


But then...

Along comes some random guy who builds this atrocity...and it gets labeled as "a beast" by a prominent enthusiast site.

THAT kind of pisses people off.

I feel confident in this summary... You can choose to disagree with it...but I have my doubt that anyone will.

Here are some REAL machines...that DON'T have OEM logos on them. My server rack and my new gaming rig. BOTH of which I spent plenty of hard-earned cash on, fended off a weary spouse and spent HOURS busting my ass to build....and STILL work to maintain and optimize.

http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff431/cyrylthewolf/

Have a look-see if you're curious. But THIS is "beast" hardware. Hardware that took real effort and gives actual performance accordingly.

After getting my second GTX 570 I'll have spent around $2,400 on my gaming rig. I don't care about how much it took to build it, either. I built it to be a BAD-ASS and to last me a while. I built it to be upgradeable. I built it to look DAMN NICE while performing. It's also pretty cool-looking if I do say so myself.

The server cabinet... I spent about $1,200 on my main server (the 2U with the HDD trays). Spent about $100 on a good deal for my router server. (The 1U that says "Appro" on it.) Then there are all the switches - which I consolidated by building them into a rackmount chassis from an old 3COM 10BaseT managed switch.

I gutted the chassis of the old 3COM switch and cut the front open to fit the Netgear switches. I will be painting the chassis and covering the right open area this summer. All of the power packs are inside plugged into an old power strip - which is soldered directly to the external power port on the left by the toggle switch. (Look at the pic.)

The cabinet itself... It was being thrown away by a local business as I walked by one day. I of course went, "Nooooooooooo!!" and ran over there and asked them what they wanted for it. They told me that if I could wheel it off that I could have it.

I got plenty of odd looks from people as I wheeled that damn thing home for nearly a mile.

I stripped the old rust and paint off of it with a palm sander. Spent 3 days doing that alone. Washed it thoroughly, dried it and spent another 2 days painting it in the hot sun. Multiple coats and then a finishing coat. THEN I had to come up with my own design for the mounting systems as the brackets were not standard 19". I made my own design... One that was even adjustable from front to rear and provides a little bit of flex. I bought an old 19" rack from someone on Craigslist for $20...and proceeded to chop the sides up. I then fitted them into the cabinet which was a painstaking process as they were not made for it. I then mounted my equipment and put a window A/C unit behind it to keep all of the equipment cool. (Yes. I run it even in the winter.)

A lot of text... Sorry. I'm giving some background for emphasis.

My point? Some of us out here WORK our asses off to build what we are then able to proudly, RIGHTFULLY call a "beast"...or something along those lines.

So the very idea that someone can buy a cheap-ass Compuke, toss in a few mid-grade after-market parts, attach a few junk monitors to it...and then be given the same privilege...

IT'S PREPOSTEROUS. I'd even call it offensive.

That's all WE are trying to say.

Sorry for so much text.
 
BlackMoonWolf said:
Along comes some random guy who builds this atrocity...and it gets labeled as "a beast" by a prominent enthusiast site.

THAT kind of pisses people off.


Here are some REAL machines...that DON'T have OEM logos on them.
A lot of text... Sorry. I'm giving some background for emphasis.

My point? Some of us out here WORK our asses off to build what we are then able to proudly, RIGHTFULLY call a "beast"...or something along those lines.

So the very idea that someone can buy a cheap-ass Compuke, toss in a few mid-grade after-market parts, attach a few junk monitors to it...and then be given the same privilege...

IT'S PREPOSTEROUS. I'd even call it offensive.

That's all WE are trying to say.

Sorry for so much text.
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The tldr version that I completely agree with.
 
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