Topic: Your dream gaming rig (PCers) (Read 12984 times)

Sideways · « **on:** 29 Mar 2006, 10:38 »

Hello all!

In advising JJMitchell on what to get for an upgraded PC, I was thinking about what I would get if I had absolutely no monetary restrictions...

SO I decided to make this thread where we can post what our dream rig would be, and then argue about who's is better!

My dream rig:

Case:

Screwless lightweight aluminum chassis with three temperature display meters, low-noise 1100RPM fans, carrying strap and USB2.0/firewire/audio front-mounted ports. Three fans total (side, top, rear).

Motherboard:

Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe w/ DualDDR400, Audio, Dual Gigabit Lan, 1394, Crossfire Dual PCI-E x16.
Supports dual PCI Express x16 slots to run two video cards together via ATI Crossfire Xpress 3200. Supports AMD Athelon 64FX... which brings me to...

Processor:

AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 Dual-Core w/ 2x1MB Cache.
Frequency: 2.6GHz
HyperTransport™ Technology Speed: 2000MHz
Integrated Memory Controller: 2.6GHz
L1 Cache Size: 2x 128KB (128KB per core)
L2 Cache Size: 2 x 1MB (1MB per core)
L2 Cache Speed: 2.6GHz
Core Voltage: 1.35-1.40 V

Memory:

Corsair 2048MB TwinX PC3200 CAS 2 Dual Channel Kit (2 x 1024MB).

Video Cards:

Two of these badboys.
Chipset: Nvidia GeForce™ 7800 GTX
Interface: PCI Express™x16
Memory: 256MB GDDR3
Memory Inteface: 256-Bit GDDR3
Core Clock: 460MHz (vs. 430MHz standard)
Memory Clock: 1300MHz (vs. 1200MHz standard)
Geometry: 920 million vertices/sec.
Memory Bandwidth: 41.6GB/second
RAMDAC: Dual 400MHz

Hard Drive:

Maxtor 500GB DiamondMax 11 7200RPM SATA II w/ 16MB Cache.

DVD/CD/R/RW/ROM:

Plextor PX-716SA 16x16 Dual Layer CD/DVD+/-RW, Serial ATA.

Power Supply:

Enermax Liberty Modular Power Supply, 620W.

This system would rock your (and your mom's) socks off.

JJMitchell · « **Reply #1 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 10:46 »

Looks good to me.
I'd buy that for a dollar.

jhocking · « **Reply #2 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 10:57 »

duuuude, where did you find that case?

ADDITION: Nevermind, I just figure it out. Although, other people might want to know.

mberan42 · « **Reply #3 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 11:58 »

What's the cost on all that? Not that I have the money, but a guy can wish...

What about a monitor? Should I start the CRT / LCD debate? Would you go single monitor or double or even triple? Or widescreen? What sizes?

My current monitor. I want to have its babies.

ViewSonic VP2030b Black 20.1" 8ms gray-to-gray (avg); 16ms black-white-black (typ) LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 0.255mm Pixel Pitch - Retail

clicky for specs.

Sideways · « **Reply #4 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 12:49 »

BenQ has very reasonably priced 17"LCD monitors with 5ms response (great for gaming) which retail for around $290.00 (CDN). I'd go with a triple-setup, considering how I already have two of em.

That total setup I noted above would cost....

Case: $169.95
Motherboard: $249.95
Processor: $1,229.95
Memory: $309.95
Video Card 1: $559.95
Video Card 2: $559.95
Hard Drive: $359.95
DVDRW/CDRW: $164.95
Power Supply: $184.95

Then add three of these (though with the above setup you could have FOUR!!!):

BenQ FP71V+ 17" Digital LCD (DVI Connect) 5ms response:
$299.95

and the total cost (not including a mouse and keyboard, or speakers) is:

CPU: $3,789.55
Monitors: $899.85

Total:$4,689.40.

Don't forget the fun peripherals too (these are the things I either have or want):

Belkin Nostromo SpeedPad - 'have':

Logitech Cordless diNova Media Desktop - 'want':

Logitech Z-4 2.1 Speaker System - 'have':

(Good GOD the sound that comes out of those two speakers is awesome... better than any 5.1 comp-speaker system I've ever heard!!!)

Incidentally, all of this stuff (prices and availability) is courtesy of Memory Express Computer Products & Electronics Inc. - which is only in Calgary, AB, Canada... sadly.

Switchblade · « **Reply #5 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 13:30 »

There's nothing I can say to improve on that. Nothing.

mberan42 · « **Reply #6 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 13:51 »

Meh, it'll be obsolete in 18 months.

/glass half empty

est · « **Reply #7 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 18:19 »

My ideal pc is somewhat in the vicinity of Sideways's rig there, but with a few little differences. I'm going to lunch right now, but I'll have to remember to post my "perfect rig" once I get back. I'll be scouting about to get pc part prices for a friend at the same time, so this will be a fun addition to that exercise

Mr Putter · « **Reply #8 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 19:27 »

Click for specs

nescience · « **Reply #9 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 19:38 »

YEEE-ah.

Rizzo · « **Reply #10 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 23:59 »

Hey Sideways, my friend Nat just built himself a computer with pretty much those exact specs. HL2 on maximum settings take 1.5 seconds to load... *droool*

Switchblade · « **Reply #11 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 00:47 »

Quote from: mberan42

Meh, it'll be obsolete in 18 months.

/glass half empty

There's a difference between "obsolete", "behind the cutting edge" and "worthless"

mberan42 · « **Reply #12 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 07:35 »

I know, switch, that's why I said "/glass half empty".

Hell, your rig'll be good for at least 4 years. Although you may need to upgrade the DVD burner to either an HDDVD or a blu-ray DVD, whichever eventually wins the war.

(Btw, what the hell freaking company thought that DiVX was a good idea?! ...morons)

est · « **Reply #13 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 22:05 »

Ok, so to get my dream rig take Sideways' example there, replace the motherboard with an ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe (nForce4, dual gigabit lan, etc), the video cards with GeForce 7900 GTXes, up the ram to 4gb (I know I know, but this is a dream rig, remember?). I'd also use a Seagate 500gb 7200rpm SATA II drive.

Not sure about the case, but that doesn't really matter, does it? For the monitor/s I'd go for a couple of 20" NEC Multisync 20WGXs. Widescreen, big enough to be impressive, 6ms grey-to-grey response. Pretty decent monitors for gaming, and as a bonus each of them have 4 USB sockets for convenient plugging.

Noice.

Jenno · « **Reply #14 on:** 31 Mar 2006, 02:11 »

Hell... as long as price is no problem.

This would be nice:

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/plastk/research/quake3/quake_front.jpg">

nihilist · « **Reply #15 on:** 31 Mar 2006, 08:44 »

My shit is pretty much as good as it gets. I would probably switch up from my X2 to an FX 60, but I already have two 7800GTXs and 2GB of PC4000 DDR. Not much more for me to do until Conroe comes out.

Something Witty · « **Reply #16 on:** 31 Mar 2006, 11:51 »

If price was no problem, I'd have that uber-screen build.. without seams between panels.

Rubby · « **Reply #17 on:** 31 Mar 2006, 12:53 »

I want that case in the first post. It's purrdy.

Sideways · « **Reply #18 on:** 31 Mar 2006, 13:08 »

Quote from: Jenno

Hell... as long as price is no problem.

This would be nice:
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/plastk/research/quake3/quake_front.jpg">

I can't help but wonder if this pic was photoshopp'd... how is that kind of setup even possible?!

Rubby · « **Reply #19 on:** 31 Mar 2006, 13:41 »

Sure it's possible, if you're friggen Bill Gates.

Jenno · « **Reply #20 on:** 31 Mar 2006, 21:14 »

It's definately real Sideways. 12 linux servers running a distributed X-Server.

http://www.plastk.net/">Linky.

Luke · « **Reply #21 on:** 01 Apr 2006, 08:42 »

My dream PC is a thin-tower Dell.

Anyway, our MHSS instructor told us the other day he built a PC with one of those AMD64 processors - he said that Windows XP installed in seven minutes.

I think my computer can load Adobe Illustrator CS in seven minutes (maybe a little faster).

est · « **Reply #22 on:** 01 Apr 2006, 17:43 »

Jenno, pity it runs games like shit, though. I read about that. The FPS was so abysmal that it wasn't funny.

Jenno · « **Reply #23 on:** 02 Apr 2006, 03:00 »

It seems pretty playable in the videos on that site. Provided you only want to play Quake 3 of course.

Rizzo · « **Reply #24 on:** 02 Apr 2006, 03:02 »

It's not worth starting a new thread over so I'll derail this one. If I were to buy a new graphics card (geforce 6800gt) in the States and bring it back to NZ it would work in my machine right?

Then my computer would be basically a dream rig. New soundcard maybe but everything else is good as.

Jenno · « **Reply #25 on:** 02 Apr 2006, 23:22 »

Yeah it'll work Rizzo. Computer parts in the USA are exactly the same as everywhere else

Also... I need one of these.

http://images.creative.com/iss/images/products/headers/prod14064_hdr_1_6_1.jpg">

Phrozen · « **Reply #26 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 02:51 »

By the way, Dells Flat panels simply stomp all over every other flat panel I've seen on the market. Price, quality etc... nothing better.

Oh and I ahve an X-Fi Pro, they are VERY worth the money. I upgraded from an Audigy Platinum and the difference is very noticeable. I've got it pushing through a set of Logitch 5.1 speakers, its a truly awesome system.

Mnementh · « **Reply #27 on:** 05 Apr 2006, 20:49 »

I'm going to dump in here, my ultimate gaming rig will be a MacBookPro with Bootcamp.

*that sound you hear is Aspyr's Mac division all getting laid off at once*

est · « **Reply #28 on:** 05 Apr 2006, 22:11 »

I dunno, Mnem. I've been looking at http://forum.osx86project.org/index.php?showtopic=12286">a bunch of 3dMark benchmarks from the new MacBooks & Mac Minis running WinXP using Boot Camp and despite having a decent cpu and graphics card (x1600 is pretty good) they are really lacking.

If I were seriously interested in buying an Intel Mac I'd be waiting until the end of this year when Conroe comes out to see if there is any improvement.

mberan42 · « **Reply #29 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 08:14 »

Ok, est, that is probably the best avatar I have ever seen.

/derail

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #30 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 10:33 »

Quote from: Sideways

Logitech Z-4 2.1 Speaker System - 'have':
[picture of speaker system]
(Good GOD the sound that comes out of those two speakers is awesome... better than any 5.1 comp-speaker system I've ever heard!!!)

Why bother with computer speakers, if money is no object?
Just get a bunch of these:

(Martin Logan Summit)
One of these:

(Martin Logan Cinema i)
One of these:

(Martin Logan Descent)
To decode the signal:

(Mark Levinson Nº 40 Media Console)
Preamp:

(Mark Levinson Nº 32 Reference Pre-Amplifier)
And finally, the amplifiers:

(Nº 33H Monaural Power Amplifier, one for each speaker)

Now, the problem is the sound card (because I would cry if someone put a SoundBlaster output into that setup), but I don't know anything about high-end sound cards.

Rubby · « **Reply #31 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 12:22 »

Holy friggen crap. I think I just came.

mberan42 · « **Reply #32 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 12:54 »

How much for all that, bassist?

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #33 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 13:20 »

Well, assuming we're going for a 7.1 system (in USD)
Full range speakers: 6x$10,000=$60,000
Center channel: 1x$1,295=$1,295
Subwoofer: 1x$2,795=$2,795
Total cost of speakers: $64,090

Now, I just chose a brand that I like and is actually affordable by normal (i.e. not the richest person ever) human beings (i.e. after saving and making a good living, one can afford a pair of them). I didn't go for the uber high-end that stereophile always reviews, just because I'm not as familiar with them. With the signal processing, I kind of did.

Media Console: $30,000=$30,000
Amplifiers: 4x$33,000/pair=$132,000
(pre-amp is included in media console)
Total cost of signal processing: $162,000

Total: $226,090
Would you like to buy a house, or a killer sound system?

mberan42 · « **Reply #34 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 13:37 »

Shit, if I had that kind of money, I'd totally buy the stereo system. My ears would orgasm every time I played music.

(And have you ever seen an ear orgasm? It's like a normal genital orgasm, only through your ears. And with the ears being so close to your brain, not to mention TWO of them, it's like the ultimate orgasm ever.)

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #35 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 13:38 »

We in the music world call it an "eargasm," and yes, I've seen it a bunch.

mberan42 · « **Reply #36 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 13:41 »

EARGASM! HAH! My vocabulary has been increased today! Awesome!

nihilist · « **Reply #37 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 14:37 »

I just use headphones.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #38 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 14:44 »

On purpose? I'm sorry. Headphones are okay, but for really good sound, they just don't cut it.

nihilist · « **Reply #39 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 14:51 »

Ever used Sennheisers?

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #40 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 14:56 »

Yes, I've used their mics and their headphones. Not bad, certainly, but they honestly can't compare to a high-end audio setup. I mean, quality/price is better than the speakers, but the elements are just too small to really get it right.

nihilist · « **Reply #41 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 15:18 »

Big setups are good for big sound. The environment I live in is loud enough that I'd never get any use out of anything that costs more then $2000.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #42 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 15:23 »

Yeah, and unfortunately the apartment where I live has shitty walls, so anything I get sounds pretty poor, no matter how amazingly awesome it may be (not very, as of now due to my status as a pauper).

Rubby · « **Reply #43 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 16:19 »

Quote from: Bastardous Bassist

Now, the problem is the sound card (because I would cry if someone put a SoundBlaster output into that setup), but I don't know anything about high-end sound cards.

I'm gonna have to suggest the sound card I'm running these days. The M-Audio Delta 66. I guess it's more for recording and whatnot, but it just sounds so friggen good.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #44 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 16:21 »

I'm actually running the 66 through an omni-studio break-out-box, and it does sound amazing. However, it only does two-channel stereo.

Rubby · « **Reply #45 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 16:47 »

I know. That kind of sucks, but you can always send a digital signal from the 66 out to something that will make it a surround signal. I think the reason it doesn't have anything more than stereo is that anyone using the omni for recording isn't gonna want to mix with a 5.1 (or whatever) signal pre production. I'm sure they also assume that if you can afford the Delta/omni, you can afford something to split your signal into 5.1, 7.1 or whatever.

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Your dream gaming rig (PCers) (Read 12984 times)

Sideways

JJMitchell

Sideways

Mr Putter

nescience

nihilist

Sideways

Luke

Phrozen

Mnementh

nihilist

nihilist

nihilist