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Tom's Hardware > Forum > Systems > New Build > Rate my rig: Mach V by Falcon Northwest

Rate my rig: Mach V by Falcon Northwest

Forum Systems : New Build Rate my rig: Mach V by Falcon Northwest

I'm customizing a new Mach V from Falcon Northwest. I plan on spending a silly amount of money on it as well since it's my present to myself for 6 more years in the Army. =/

The general concept behind my new rig is extreme overclocking and the very pinnacle of gaming prowess. Screaming FPS at max resolution on a 48 inch 1080p HDTV and exceptional sound in preferably a 7.1 surround sound. Just like everyone else though I guess. Hah.

Without further ado...

SPECS:
Power supply: Silverstone 1200w
Mobo: Asus Rampage 3 Extreme - Over-priced, but arguably the most over-clock friendly mobo in town.
Processor: Intel Core i7 960 running at 3.20ghz - not entirely sure about spending the extra 500 bucks for the 980x =/
RAM: 24g (6x4gb) running at 1333hz DDR3 - again, could easily spend another 600 bucks here for Viper 2 24GB @1600hz but, meh.
Video Cards: SLI'd GTX 580's at 1536GB apiece. - I might go triple bridge here for another 500 bucks.
Sound Card: Fatality Champion by Creative.
Hard Drive: 2TB WD 7200RPM @ 3g/s - I dont need anything crazy in this department, honestly.
Cooling: Premium liquid cooling. Asetek LCLC
OS: Win 7 Premium
Price: $5,598.60 - Note that this includes a monitor, G-series keyboard, mouse and 7.1 headset. DGL-4500 Xtreme N Wireless router, brushed aluminum case, with acrylic side panels and red interior lighting.

I know it's kinda over the top but, let's be honest. It's a Falcon, that's kinda the point of them.

I am curious; would I benefit more from upgrading the Processor to the 980x @ 3.33ghz for $500 or going the Triple SLI bridge also for $500? Even though I'm very likely to just get both before I actually buy the thing, heh.

Constructive criticism is very much appreciated as well as an opinion on the rig as a whole or on specific parts. Thanks!I'm customizing a new Mach V from Falcon Northwest. I plan on spending a silly amount of money on it as well since it's my present to myself for 6 more years in the Army. =/

EDIT: Whoa. Strange message doubling thingy. Anyhow. Fixt.

Message edited by ArmyRecon19d on 12-30-2010 at 07:16:56 PM

Reply to ArmyRecon19d

I like it.
$500 for triple sli or the 980x?
Definitely the 980x. You honestly wouldn't notice much difference adding a third 580, two 580s can take anything. A 970, 975 or 980x has to be a step up worth taking.

Reply to S1W1

If you are only going to be gaming on a 1080p monitor, 2 580's is way too much. One would be just fine. Check out this recent review from anandtech. This rig was a 950 overclocked and 2 580's in SLI and it is a waste of money for that resolution. If you want to take advantage of that power, You will need a 30" LCD at a resolution of 2560x1600 or grab 3 displays and start gaming across all three (of course you will need AMD with eyefinity for that). With over 100fps in every game except starcraft (which was a cpu limitation) there is just no point in that much power. If 1080p is the most, i would drop the second graphics card and pick up the 980x. Six cores will do more for you in other tasks and RTS games than two 580's will in everything else.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4074 [...] too-fast/3

Also, for that kind of money, its almost crazy not to get a 300GB SSD for games/Operating systems. You WILL see the difference. I know you said you don't need anything crazy in the hard drive department but for 5 grand, WHY NOT?

Message edited by jedi940 on 12-30-2010 at 08:41:59 PM

you want the best of the best of the best

gigabyte ud9 board it has taken the throne form the ReIII

antec hcp1200 power supply currently the best power supply on the market

Reply to obsidian86

I mean 48 inches at 1080p is quite a bit... Heh, I won a Brand new Sony Bravia before I deployed and I have no other use for it. Yes, I am buying a monitor but that's simply because lugging a 48inch TV around isn't all the sensible.

And it doesn't need to be the best of the best. Just up with the best :sol:

Reply to ArmyRecon19d

the size of the monitor doesn't matter. The resolution is the important factor. 1080p on 22" is the same as 1080p on 48". It's still the same number of pixels. You could always add a second and third graphics card later too if you upgrade your monitor.

Message edited by jedi940 on 12-30-2010 at 09:02:07 PM

Wait, maybe I phrased it strangely or something. The Bravia's resolution was pushing 2400xXXXX I can't remember what it was exactly. But it was the application that was running at that resolution I believe. Didnt leave it that way, poor little 3 year old desktop replacement nearly croaked on me from it. heh.

All the same, Montior shopping wasn't really anything I looked into. Maybe ya'll could suggest a good alternative. Endstate I'd -like- the computer to stay under 7-7.5 grand. =P

Reply to ArmyRecon19d

Well, a 30" monitor will set you back around $1500 so it's really up to your budget. Dell seems to advertise them a lot.
http://www.logicbuy.com/deals/dell [...] 25356.aspx

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] llFullInfo

This one seems like a good all around monitor. Good response times, nothing but wonderful reviews about color, and brightness. Though I'm starting to believe that 2560x1600 would hardly give SLI'd 580s a studder. But that's the point of them I suppose isn't it?

Reply to ArmyRecon19d

I love the R3E.

Skip the liquid cooling, certainly don't need it with the 25% OC that you'd get out of DDR3-1333 memory that you have chosen for the 960. Even with a 50% OC and DDR3-1600 today's air coolers match liquid cooling alternatives. Plus the 24 GB of RAM isn't going to help you with anything that you've listed.

But I'd build this box myself, get substantial performance increases and more features for the same price:

Item Price Component Link

Case - $180 - Antec DF-85 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129087
Case Fans - $18 - Antec Red 120 mm http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835209013
PSU - $310 - Antec HCP1200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371043
MoBo - $365 - Asus Rampage 3 Extreme http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131642
CPU - $1,000 - Intel i7-980x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115223
Cooler - $62 - Prolimatech Megahalems http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835242001
TIM - $5 - Shin Etsu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835150080
CPU Fan - $11 - Scythe SY1225SL12LM-P http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] 36c365s936
CPU Fan - $11 - Same
Fan Cable - $8 - Akasa PWM AK-CB002 http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] CB002.html
RAM - $234 - 3 x 4GB Patriot CAS 7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220542
GFX - $525 - Asus 580 ENGTX580/2DI/1536MD5 OC http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121409
GFX - $525 - Same
GFX - Maybe Later - Same
HD - $170 - Seagate XT ST32000641AS 2TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148506
SSD - $300 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1CCA http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820148362
SSD - $300 - Same
DVD Writer - $80 - ASUS BR Model BC-08B1LT http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135220
OS - $139 - Win 7-64 Pro OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116758
Monitor - $1,000 - Dell U2711 http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna [...] redirect=1
Keyboard - $130 - Logitech G19 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6823126053
Mouse - $80 - Logitech G9x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6826104261
Router $173 Netgear DGL-4500 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6833127243

Cost $5,626 w/o any combo discounts

Here you get RAID 0 SSD's w/ 256 GB of storage, a case w/ "slide-in" HD/SSD bays, a great IPS monitor and a Blue Ray player for movies

To go from the 27" 2560x 1440 to the 30" 2560x1600, will add another $400

Message edited by JackNaylorPE on 12-30-2010 at 09:56:43 PM

------------------------------ If a man speaks in the forest and no woman hears him, is he still wrong ?
Reply to JackNaylorPE

Dude you are wasting money on this rig. Build it yourself and have much more than you would buy from Falcon Northwest.

Reply to christop

I like JackNaylorPE build get it over the FALCON more for the money Personally I would choose the haf x for the case but the df-85 is just as good

------------------------------ AM3 doesn't support SLI (excluding crappy nvidia chipsets and lucid hydra)
Reply to joelmartinez

Well. Honestly, I knew going into this that buying a boutique mega-rig would not be a very cost effective way of getting a dream machine. Truth is I know enough about computer hardware to upgrade something or replace a damaged part.
But, I have never built a rig from the ground up before nor overclocked anything, Sure I've customized them online and told a company want I wanted and how I wanted it. Honestly wouldn't even know where to start.

Also, I'm in Afghanistan at the moment so I can't feasibly build it myself. Not to mention I haven't exactly been keeping track of Computer hardware for quite awhile now. Which as I look at it now lead to some silly choices when putting the rig together, hah. Honestly though with every new post its pretty clear that I'm going to have to bite the bullet and just build this bastard myself and hopefully not screw anything up.

Thanks for the great responses, Jack and Jedi!!!

Also, Jack, are SSDs really all that great, I've heard that they really only fluff?

Bleh, bedtime in the 'Stan. I'll check back in the morning. Night and thanks.!

Message edited by ArmyRecon19d on 12-30-2010 at 10:41:54 PM

Reply to ArmyRecon19d

Of course you can get more performance by building it yourself. He had chosen Falcon so I assumed he didn't want to build it himself. I am sure he is aware of the price premium from having someone build it for you and he doesn't have to go through the headache of overclocking it. Otherwise, he would be asking for advice with components from newegg or some other etailer.

EDIT, guess my post was 58 seconds too late.

Message edited by jedi940 on 12-30-2010 at 10:42:25 PM

If you are going to build it yourself, we can not only help you pick out parts but also walk you through the build. Will you be stateside soon to order it? Newegg will not ship overseas and that could put a damper on finding good prices where you can purchase them.

Alright one more reply before I rack out. (Seriously this time...)

Honestly the soonest I could do it would be May on R&R for 15 days then back over here for just a bit longer. But I just know if I dont hurry up and get it I'll waste me re-enlistment bonus on other less useful ***, hah!

Reply to ArmyRecon19d

Don't have too much meaningful to add, just want to say that JackNaylorPE's list looks sick.

Thanks for your service ArmyRecon19D! We appreciate you!

Reply to Psychodabble

Well a lot could change between now and may. If you are going to wait that long, it would be better to check back at that time. I'm sure there will be something better to build then. If you're going to go with falcon, then what you have looks to pretty good. Grab a 30" monitor and an SSD and you're all set.

Thanks for your service!!!

I'd spend the majority of that budget on 3x Dell U2410 monitors. Displays are where your going to get your over the top bang for buck- not adding a second or third 580 GPU, ect. Take a look at the monitor section on forum and check out the pics of some of the guys multi-monitor setups!

Reply to coldengrey

I bought my first rig from Falcon in 2003 ,they are great to do business with ,I still own that old rig too -and it runs (just not worth much in way of technology anymore)
if you have the coin,dont listen to these penny pinchers,go for broke and buy some gear!
If I had the smack they would be my first choice,life time support is awesome.....
Id call them on the phone and ask them to build you exactly what you want
and skip the silly only config they have on the website - in a year you can have them update it too
2012 specs -

Message edited by excelerater on 01-01-2011 at 08:16:55 PM

Reply to excelerater

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What level would you consider this?

By austinwillie_95, 12 minutes ago:

It won't handle high end games that's for sure. And for $800 you would be better off just...

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