Custom iBuyPower PC, Would like opinions/answers!

With HD 5850 anything from GTX 260 and above is a bad buy IMO The HD 5850 edges out even the GTX 285 so a GTX 275 is not in the same country hehe

batuchka said:

With HD 5850 anything from GTX 260 and above is a bad buy IMO The HD 5850 edges out even the GTX 285 so a GTX 275 is not in the same country hehe

Alright I'll keep that in mind, I'm pretty impressed with the 5850. I'm starting to think that the physx isn't worth the extra spending.

Here's the "winners" from THG's latest (December) GFX Roundup
Best Graphics Cards For The Money: December '09

$50 - HD 4650
$65 - HD 4670 / 9600 GSO
$85 - 9600 GT
$95 - 9600 GT / HD 4830
$110 - GTS 250 512 MB
$120 - GTS 250 1 GB
$155 - HD 5770 / GTX 260
$200 - HD 4890
$240 - 2 x GTS 250
$310 - No winner (HD 5850 Honorable Mention)
$330 - 2 x GTX 260 / 2 x HD 5770
$400 - 2 x HD 4890
$410 - No winner (HD 5870 Honorable Mention)
$465 - No winner (GTX 295 Honorable Mention)
$625 - No winner (HD 5970 Honorable Mention)

1. ibuypower is reliable. Newegg sells their pcs if that means anything to you .
2. Will perform well on all the tasks you have listed.
3. 5850 all the way.
4. It's free, I'd go for the liquid cooling. I mean, if it comes all leaked, I'm pretty sure you could "RMA" it. Liquid cooling is for extreme overclocks and enthusiasts, but a good cpu cooler should be more than enough for an average gamer, especially the dark knight that's currently selected.
5. That would depend on you. Here's an example from RAID 0 setup using 2x 1 TB spinpoint f3 (one of, if not the, premiere hard drive at the moment) http://www.overclock.net/hard-drives-storage/618485-raid0-spinpoint-f3-hdtune-results.html

You don't need that 850w corsair. A 650 will do fine with a single gpu. Changing your PSU and switching to their free liquid cooling will save you an easy ~$140.

Now since this is the "Homebuilt System" forum... I gotta insert a plug, which is.. you could save a lot of money (or gain a lot of performance) if you did research and build your own pc. It's not that hard and is rather satisfying know what you have accomplished after you build your first one. .. Give it a thought!

matt_01 said:

Wasn't quite sure where to put this, it's a custom so not technically home built.
Anyway, I made this custom a few minutes ago Custom iBuyPower PC and was wondering what you guys thought of it.

A few things I'm not sure on are:

1. Most importantly, the reliability of ibuypower

2. Secondly, how would say this computer would perform for things like 3d animation, video editing and gaming?

3. I had a tough time choosing a graphics card,
it's either the ati 5850 (dx11+better fps) or the gtx275 (physx but less fps)
I can't figure out which I'd like more and which would "last" longer
And fyi, the price difference is 13 dollars, so pretty negligible.

4. Would it be smart to get their "liquid cooling kit" seen in the Processor Cooling section? I've read about people finding it having leaked all over their computer when it arrived.
Are air cooling heatsinks just as good? The air ones are oddly more expensive.

5. And finally, is the risk of loosing your info in raid 0, worth the increased performance?

That is all,
And thanks in advance!
-Matt

I suggest building your own.