Friend wants a system.

[hat]

Ok so a friend of mine wants to upgrade from a shitty Dell to a custom PC.
He said he had 7K to spend on a Dell XPS... but he said he wanted a custom PC.
Now 7K is quite a lot of money, but I want to keep this under 2K. He already has a 30" monitor so he will be gaming at extreme resolutions. Here's my list:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136012
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146118
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136014
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103773
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143080

He says he already has a 5.25" drive. Here's my list. Comes to $1479.11 shipped. Much better than $7K on a Dell XPS that gives 1/2 the performance right?

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

Don't skimp on the case.

Get a sexy Lian-Li or something. Also look into an Antec case, because that drive will be very loud in a cheapo raidmax case that mounts directly to the metal brackets... rubber mounting is awesome.

Your cut fingers will thank you for getting a better made case instead, too.

I personally love my PCP&C 610w silencer, its roughly the same price and specced for higher standards..

Other than that, not bad. Many are going to say go with a C2d though.

With the raptor, I would push for a 400-500gb data drive, and the raptor for OS+Games, rather.

(I personally would mirror 2x 400gb drives for a reliable backup, and use the raptor for the stuff you need quickly, and can afford to format and restore, because everyone knows windows likes to be formatted frequently.)

The DFI may be a bit over.. "enthusiast" for one that would buy a dell. If it starts to misbehave you could be in for a headache or two on the phone.

 

[TXcharger]

have him wait and get the penryn processor and the bonetrail mobo and u should be set, also might look at sli and faster memory... possibly ddr3? raptor x aint much more and its cooler looking maybe 2 of those total. o and like he said a lianli case or a CM stacker 630 evo would be nice

 

[Darknova]

7K and you are going for an AMD system? Not to mention an 8800GTX will be bottlenecked by it.

Firstly, if he wants to spend 7K then that's his problem. So make a PC as good as you can with the 7K. Although you could make a damn find Intel system for less than 3K.

Change the motherboard and CPU and go for Intel not AMD.

 

[V lyx]

Wow 7k, could get almost anything with that since he already has a 30inch monitor.

Go for raptors in raid, a qx6850, sli'd ultra's if he dosn't want to o/c, a good 680 board and watercooling. Also get some better ram.

If you want to keep it under 2k don't buy any of what I listed and get what the others have said.

 

[d44ve]

buy my system =)

 

[hat]

Someone post a link to a good case??

 

[vega22]

7k hhmmm.

qx6850
t t 120 or thermalright 120 ultra for air or a good w c setup
2 x 150gb raptors
pk5 premium
88 ultra (cant sli these anyway)
enermax 1000w psu
nice tooless case with some sflex 1600 rpm fans

if he wants sli get 2 8800gtx's in an evga 680i and some ddr2 with micron chips.

 

[Chewy]

7k usd! you should see if he'll buy daves pwnage custom pc, man that thing rocks wish I lived in the usa so I could get it off him (Canadian duty taxes would suck on all his stuff).

as for a case you could look at lil-lans top end or something.. I dont know much about high end cases since I have limited funds that should go towards performance upgrades.

 

[hat]

I said he was going to spend 7K... I told him it would be under 2K. Case anyone?

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129026

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129017

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129025




http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

 

[Darknova]

I said he was going to spend 7K... I told him it would be under 2K. Case anyone?

So tell him that it'll cost a bit more to get a PC that will last longer...

At the moment it is a very stupid idea to go AMD if you are not on a budget. If however he is prepared to wait he can see how the new AMDs do, and then make a decision. If not and he has that amount to spend (I know you told him it would cost under that, but he is still WILLING to spend that amount) then go for a decent Intel system.

Even an Intel system won't cost over 3K, that still leaves him 4K to spend on other stuff.

Not a wise investment to go AMD IMO.

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

Not a wise investment to go AMD IMO.

It does always leave the option of K10 in the future.

Of which the good and bad is yet to be seen.

Its not like he'd be disappointed by an AMD or intel system at this point.

 

[Darknova]

It does always leave the option of K10 in the future.

Of which the good and bad is yet to be seen.

Its not like he'd be disappointed by an AMD or intel system at this point.

Except that the bottleneck on the 8800GTX only really starts to disappear at 3.2Ghz on an AMD system...

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

Except that the bottleneck on the 8800GTX only really starts to disappear at 3.2Ghz on an AMD system...

Because people that buy dells understand 1.) bottlenecks, 2.) know how bottlenecks are seen, 3.) like it matters? its playable.


I really doubt he's a penny-pinching frame maniac like most people here.

Not to mention you conveniently left out the whole "k10" thing...

Quite changes the bottleneck when upgraded... assuming a 3.2ghz k8 is enough like you stated.

When it comes to not drooling over that extra 2 frames per second, my core 2 duo really is no more impressive than my AMD system.

 

[Darknova]

Because people that buy dells understand 1.) bottlenecks, 2.) know how bottlenecks are seen, 3.) like it matters? its playable.


I really doubt he's a penny-pinching frame maniac like most people here.

LOL true. Meh, it's just my opinion at the end of the day, but I still say go with an Intel system with that amount of money.

 

[Chewy]

that amd 6000 cpu is comparable to an c2d of the same price range.

Nice case choices Dippy.. gotta like that stainless steel, they have a hard time selling it though cause of its price, seen that one on a nice sale before.

Will he be overclocking? well if the budget was there I would take advantage of it and get the best ddr2 for the system (amd systems like tighest timmings right?).. nice build though I just looked trough the parts you picked out. RAPTORS! yeah you should get an antec 180 series case for that system keep the noise in.


you saved his life from getting dell lol, he was gona get jacked~! by dell.. 7k :O

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

that amd 6000 cpu is comparable to an c2d at the same price range.

Nice case choices Dippy.. gotta like that stainless steel, they have a hard time selling it though cause of its price seen that one on a nice sale before.

The Lian-Li PC7a is a nice choice if you want a brushed aluminum.

Not as roomy as some cases, but roomier than others. I like it. It looks really nice and is super light.

 

[hat]

updated with antec 900

 

[vega22]

p182 case in gun metal grey.


go the intel route, yea yea k10 but what will it perform like with 66% of its ht? to get the benefits of these chips you will also need a new mobo (am3) which means more to spend again. get a p35 or nf600i and it will take the penryns which will keep pace with the k10 (if benches are to be belived) and if the k10 does stomp all over the c2d the outlay will still be the same as you would still need to get mobo and cpu for both.

amd is only ruling in the single core and low end department right now and anyone looking for the best they can afford should be going c2d if they can afford it.

edit

if he was happy to pay dell 7k he would be more than happy to spend 3.5k on one that is much more upgradeable and ultimatly future proof.

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

go the intel route, yea yea k10 but what will it perform like with 66% of its ht? to get the benefits of these chips you will also need a new mobo (am3) which means more to spend again. .

HTT has more bandwidth than pci-e 16x.

It takes dual 16x pci-e to make HTT capable of even theoretically being a bottleneck. (In its current state. 3.0 is a whole nother ball game)

HTT speed has no impact!

 

[Chewy]

updated with antec 900

Nice choice doors do suck, thier pointless and just in the way. to bad they didnt wire the speed controls into the i/o section.. I use theses antec fans I just wired the speed switch out under my psu, you could prob stick it out by the fan itself. works nice but I dont like using high speed anyway though I do sometimes.

 

[vega22]

HTT speed has no impact!

so what is the reason behind the new mobos/chipsets with ht3 then?

not doubting your right just wondering why they would bring out the new one (am3) if it offers no gains.

edit

doors are a godsend when you have kids that like to stick toast and crisps (chips 4 those in the states) into dvd draws.

the 900 is nice too but you would need to knock a couple of holes in the mobo tray to make it easier to route your wires.

 

[kwchang007]

I'd say Core 2 and some 1066 mhz ram. It's too bad you said it'd be under 2k, otherwise you could sli 2 8800 gtx's.

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

so what is the reason behind the new mobos/chipsets with ht3 then?

not doubting your right just wondering why they would bring out the new one (am3) if it offers no gains.

16x_+16x pci-e has the potential to see use of some of the bandwidth.

Htt 3.0 has variable lanes, so its power consumption is reduced greatly.

Multi-CPU systems will see improvements because of the added bandwidth.

Laptops and servers are the targets of it, so theres no sense in leaving it out of the desktop.