Time to Splurge.....

[Elocin]

OK a friend of mine has asked me to help him build his "Dream Gaming" machine with the following requirements...

1) Has to be built into a rackmount chassis or your pick
2) 64-bit Vista (preferably I buy the components and assemble myself)
3) Intel or AMD - I would suggest Intel being the fastest right now.
4) I like multiple CPUs
5) 4 gig ram minimum
6) GPU’s sufficient to run two (2) 30 inch LCDs
7) HD space sufficient for normal operations – all big storage stuff goes on my home server (music, movies) - Thinking of a smallish SSD for the main drive for OS and Office software.
8) It’s a game rig, but it will be my working at home PC too
9) Air or liquid cooling - I would say liquid.

Now he has not given me a price tag but I can assume that since he is buying two brand new 30" monitors I would guess the budget he has is around $5000 +/-. Since I would be using this great website to find the best components that you can find I figured I would get the help of the builders on here as well as I know I am not up to date on the latest and greatest.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Burke]

A rackmount chassis?

 

[dhc014]

2xHD4870 in Crossfire is probably the best option for gaming on two 30" LCDs since SLI does not support more than one monitor.

 

[Elocin]

Yea I was wondering myself about a rackmount chassis (probably has some construction idea to be built into his home) but I would just go with a normal full-sized tower for now.

 

[engiNURD]

Does he have a half-cab he wants to slide this thing into? Otherwise, why a rackmount? I wanted one of those half-cabs... but they're too pricey for me, lol.

If all he's doing with this system is gaming, you'll reach the point of diminishing returns after $2k for the tower alone.

 

[dandragonrage]

Definitely don't go with multiple CPUs. Hell, dual core is plenty, but just get a Q9300 or 9450 and that's overkill. Save the extra money for another upgrade when this one eventually ages.

 

[Dangman]

Is the cost of those two 30" monitors part of his $5000 budget? In fact, what is his exact budget? And why does he need rackmount?

And is this a pure gaming rig?

And since I was bored, I whipped up this little setup:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 CPU - $330
Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 Intel X48 Motherboard - $225
2 x G.SKILL F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ 2 x 2GB DDR2 1000 RAM - $170 ($85 each)
2 x VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB PCI-E Video Card - $620 ($310 each)
2 x Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $600 ($300 each)
2 x Samsung SH-203N 20X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner - $60 ($30 each)
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme HSF - $57 & Scythe S-Flex SFF21E 120MM Case Fan - $14
Asus Xonar DX 7.1 Channels PCI-E x1 Sound Card - $100
Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1 OEM - $100
Corsair 750TX 750W PSU - $99
----
Total: $2376 PLus tax and shipping.

Do note that this is only 5 to 10% faster than a $1500 setup.

 

[engiNURD]

...And since I was bored, I whipped up this little setup: ...

What, no summer school?

No storage drives (Samsung F1 1TB or WD6400AAKS)?!?
No Areca or 3ware RAID card?!?
No Noctua instead of the TRUE?!?
No Vista Ultimate?!?
No 1KW Corsair modular?!?

...he does have $5k, supposedly.

 

[Dangman]

What, no summer school?

No storage drives (Samsung F1 1TB or WD6400AAKS)?!?
No Areca or 3ware RAID card?!?
No Noctua instead of the TRUE?!?
No Vista Ultimate?!?
No 1KW Corsair modular?!?

...he does have $5k, supposedly.

OH I have summer school. But it's at night. So got some time to kill

- OP said the guy already had a server
- Read above
- Well the TRUE is more expensive
- Definitely an oversight on my part
- Another oversight