Greetings,

Since I was 12, I've always had a computer but for the past 6-9 months I've been without. My desktop system then bit the dust at 5 years of age. Now I'm looking to reassert my geekieness with a high performance system budgeted at $4000 (give or take). Below are the spec's I've compiled, but I'd like to hear from those who've been following the tech scene better than I. Am I on par with the current trends in technology or have I overlooked something.... What would you do with $4000.00.

CASE: Lian Li Chassis PC-V1200
PSU: Thermaltake ToughPower 1000W W0132RU
MOBO: Asus Striker Extreme LGA775 nForce 680i
CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700
HSF, CPU: Thermalright IFX-14 or Ultra-120 Extreme
MEMORY: Corsair XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
STORAGE: Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB
VIDEO: EVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB
DEVICES: Plextor DVD+/-Burner PX-760A
DISPLAY: Samsung 226BW 22" LCD
INPUT DEVICES: Logitech Ergonomic Keyboard & Mouse #967692-0403


Looking forward to seeing other creative compilations...
~Ciphex

I would start with 4 gb of RAM, add Vista Ultimate and start building, 2-3 drives, One for OS and the other 2 for data unless I got a NAS system.
Not real sure about a QUAD yet, and that Mobo is real nice but might not be the best for most things, unless you are going to get dual 8800GTXs and a big Dell monitor. Add some great speakers and the Xfi card, with 7.1 set up.

Alright, let me see if I can give it a go:


Ill just use your case, since you picked it out. Must mean you like it.

Silverstone Strider 1000w
Asus Striker Extreme
QX6800 - After price drops
Swiftech Custom watercooling system, with TEC accessories
Sceptre 42' 1080p LCD TV - Supports 1900x1200 resolution
GeIL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory -x2 = 4GB
X-fi Xtrememusic
Vista Ultimate
3 150GB Raptor Harddrives
2 500GB Seagate Barracudas - RAID0
2x8800GTX SLi - Watercooled of course.

That should make a nice computer.

Actually, I would spend $2000 of that and make a nice computer, and put the other $2000 in the bank to earn interest for my future comp.

Though, if I really had $4000 burning a hole in my pocket, I would wait for this summer. There should be some sweet offerings from AMD, ATI, Intel, and nVidia this summer.

with $4000 to spend, go with a 30' flat panel! Either Dell or Samsungs newest!

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Alright, let me see if I can give it a go:


Ill just use your case, since you picked it out. Must mean you like it.

Silverstone Strider 1000w
Asus Striker Extreme
QX6800 - After price drops
Swiftech Custom watercooling system, with TEC accessories
Sceptre 42' 1080p LCD TV - Supports 1900x1200 resolution
GeIL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory -x2 = 4GB
X-fi Xtrememusic
Vista Ultimate
3 150GB Raptor Harddrives
2 500GB Seagate Barracudas - RAID0
2x8800GTX SLi - Watercooled of course.

That should make a nice computer.

Ok, Firstly, the PSU, no need for one that big, a 850W toughpower or a 750 PP&C would easily handle it, Secondly, the QX6800 is NOT retail and won't ever be, Thirdly, if you are using 3 raptors for performance why have the seagates in raid 0?, and finally, wait to see when the r600 is like, even if it doesn't totally beat the 8800GTX, it will still be cheaper.

Ok, First off on the Powersupply

1. Its futureproof. Provides the 8-pin PCI-E connectors.

2. I had only heard about the QX6800. Even so, the QX6700 or Q6600 is fine.

3. Three raptors for games and such, and raid on the two 500's for storage such as movies, or other large applications. Raid for backup, why take the chance of loosing it all? Not to mention with the 42' monitor, this could second as a HTPC.

4. I'm only going by what is on the market today. This person may want to buy tomorrow for all we know. Plus, who Knows when R600 is going to be released. It's being pushed back even more when comes to its *predicted* release date.

And warezme has a good example. Use his as your backbone on ideas.

A cabin?

Four things I knew would be in the first list of parts without even reading his post:
1) ASUS Striker Extreme
2) Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700
3) Corsair 8500
4) 1kW PSU

Get an eVGA 680i motherboard.
Get 2GB of the CAS3 DDR2 800 Dominator.
Get an Enermax Galaxy.

Raid 1 must be what you're thinking of.
Raid 0 = striping aka performance
Raid 1 = mirroring aka makes a copy of the data on 2 or more disks

If you need to spend $4000 to "reassert your geekieness", then you are not a geek. Never will be...

30" LCD and 8800 GTX SLI for sure. 680i SLI motherboard, 2GB ram, E6600 or higher, a few Raptors in RAID0.

Hahahaha! If I had room in my sig I would quote you.

Silverstone Strider 1000w
Asus Striker Extreme
QX6800 - After price drops
Swiftech Custom watercooling system, with TEC accessories
Sceptre 42' 1080p LCD TV - Supports 1900x1200 resolution
GeIL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory -x2 = 4GB
X-fi Xtrememusic
Vista Ultimate
3 150GB Raptor Harddrives
2 500GB Seagate Barracudas - RAID0
2x8800GTX SLi - Watercooled of course.


The QX6800 will not only not be included in price drops, but it will not be available to the average consumer unless you purchase a computer through a botique dealer such as Alienware, Falcon North West, Voodoo, etc.

GeIL? A $4000 budget and you say GeIL?

Xtreme Music? A $4000 budget and you say Xtreme Music?

Silverstone Strider? What about one of the two best PSUs available? Namely the Galaxy and Turbo Cool 1kW.

I took the time to do some research and I understand where everyone is coming from. I've tried to take the best recommendations plus a couple new ideas to come up with the following:

Quick run down...

The P5N32-E appears to be the less savvy Asus Striker Extreme minus a few eSATA outlets and the LCD Post screen and might be a good compromise between performance and price. The EVGA 680i looks every bit as attractive. Anyone have any comments as to why one might be preferable to the other?

I went to Anandtech and they have a wonderful article that compares the Intel Core 2 Duo versus the Core 2 Duo Extreme and the data seems to suggest that more can be milked from the E6600 at a more affordable rate than the performance advantage inherent to the Extreme series. So I'm considering a more conservative CPU purchase to augment my cooling system along with more memory and possibly another GeForce 8800 GTX.
[Reference: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipse [...] =2795&p=1]

Displays... I'm not sure which display will best compliment this setup. I do enjoy gaming (one of my favorite past-times) but I also like to be productive (AutoCAD, 3DSMax, Office, PHP, VMachines...etc.). I don't know how these large format displays handle under these conditions and I have mixed feelings about displays that double as computer monitors as opposed to those dedicated to the purpose. I would love to build a system that performs equally well as a HTPC as it does a gaming and applications platform.

What would you pick?
And if you own one, what do you think of it...

a) Samsung 22" 226BW ~$320
b) Samsung 24" 244T-BK ~$680
c) Samsung 30" 305T ~$1400.00
d) WestingHouse 37" LVM-42W2 $1000
e) WestingHouse 42" LVM-37W3 $1300
PS> How does SCEPTRE compare to West