A friend with a lot of cash emailed me yesterday and asked what I thought of a "bleeding edge" computer system he customized for himself on the Dell website. He had put together a XPS system with quad core Core2, 8800GTX SLI gaming system w/24" monitor that came in at around $4000. This is a guy who always goes first class, and now wants to graduate from Halo on the Xbox to Crysis on a high-end gaming rig, transitioning from an old iMac he's been surfing the net with. He wants his computer to be ultra-high performing, but also stylish and quiet.
I told him I thought I could build him something better for less money. He said great, send him the spec's (he fancies himself as knowledgeable about computers and technology). He'll be using the computer for 1. games 2. web/email 3.photo and (maybe) video editing.
I'll be overclocking whatever I build - certainly the CPU, perhaps the GPU's.
I've built lots of computers before, but I usually target the midrange sweet spot of value and performance rather than the super high-end, so I'm looking for feedback on what I've put together so far:
PC Power & Cooling PPCT860 860W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail $269.00
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Processor
Item #:N82E16819115037 $194.99
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive $169.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $209.99
2 X EVGA 01G-P3-N891-AR GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB (512MB per GPU) 512-bit (256-bit per GPU) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card $999.98 ($499.99 each)
EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard $239.99
2 X SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B
Item #:N82E16827151153 $53.98 ($26.99 each)
ASUS MK241H Black 24" 2ms Widescreen LCD with 1.3M Pixel Webcam w/Speaker $539.99
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 Speaker System
Item #:N82E16836119008 $169.99
Logitech MX Revolution Black RF Wireless Laser Mouse
Item #:N82E16826104015 $79.99
Logitech Silver & Black Gaming Keyboard
Item #:N82E16823126009 $58.99
Rosewill RCR-FD200 All-in-one USB 2.0 Black 3.5" Card Reader with 1.44MB Floppy Drive
Item #:N82E16820223072 $31.99
Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler
Item #:N82E16835154001 $49.00
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Item #:N82E16835100007 $5.99
3 X Scythe S-FLEX 120mm SFF21E Case Fan
Item #:N82E16835185005 $44.97 ($14.99 each)
Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Item #:N82E16820220293 $89.99
Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 32-bit English 1pk DSP OEI DVD
Combo price for both: 319.98
Total so far: $3520.00
I told him I thought I could build him something better for less money. He said great, send him the spec's (he fancies himself as knowledgeable about computers and technology). He'll be using the computer for 1. games 2. web/email 3.photo and (maybe) video editing.
I'll be overclocking whatever I build - certainly the CPU, perhaps the GPU's.
I've built lots of computers before, but I usually target the midrange sweet spot of value and performance rather than the super high-end, so I'm looking for feedback on what I've put together so far:
PC Power & Cooling PPCT860 860W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail $269.00
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Processor
Item #:N82E16819115037 $194.99
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive $169.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $209.99
2 X EVGA 01G-P3-N891-AR GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB (512MB per GPU) 512-bit (256-bit per GPU) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card $999.98 ($499.99 each)
EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard $239.99
2 X SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B
Item #:N82E16827151153 $53.98 ($26.99 each)
ASUS MK241H Black 24" 2ms Widescreen LCD with 1.3M Pixel Webcam w/Speaker $539.99
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 Speaker System
Item #:N82E16836119008 $169.99
Logitech MX Revolution Black RF Wireless Laser Mouse
Item #:N82E16826104015 $79.99
Logitech Silver & Black Gaming Keyboard
Item #:N82E16823126009 $58.99
Rosewill RCR-FD200 All-in-one USB 2.0 Black 3.5" Card Reader with 1.44MB Floppy Drive
Item #:N82E16820223072 $31.99
Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler
Item #:N82E16835154001 $49.00
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Item #:N82E16835100007 $5.99
3 X Scythe S-FLEX 120mm SFF21E Case Fan
Item #:N82E16835185005 $44.97 ($14.99 each)
Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Item #:N82E16820220293 $89.99
Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 32-bit English 1pk DSP OEI DVD
Combo price for both: 319.98
Total so far: $3520.00