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• Graphics: Two MSI GeForce GTX 295 Cards In SLI Three weeks ago, Nvidia proved to us that while two graphics processors are great, four can be better. We concluded that the only reason to buy more than one GTX 295 was for bragging rights, but with so much invested in the rest of our system, we really wanted those bragging rights. Read Customer Reviews of MSI's GeForce GTX 295 1,792 MB A Newegg special on the MSI N295GTX-M2D1792 was enough to seal the deal for us, but a recent price drop for another brand could have made the choice more difficult. With two brands of reference-design cards now available for the same price, our selection process would hinge on the level of the warranty and service if we were to make the purchase today. System Drives: Two Intel X25-M 80 GB SSDs In RAID 0 One of the most repeated complaints from our previous $2,500 PC was its use of a 2.0 TB RAID 5 array consisting of three 1 TB drives. We had chosen RAID 5 for its redundancy and limited loss of capacity, but questions concerning its performance and overhead were only answered after testing it. The integrated ICH10R controller extracted minimal overhead from our CPU, but the tradeoff was limited transfer performance. Our hopes of something “in the middle” quickly vanished when we saw the PCMark performance scores. Our budget increase would have left room for a hardware RAID card to boost RAID 5 performance, but many readers wanted to see a build based on SSDs. Using top-model SSDs would again price us out of the hardware RAID controller market, but SSD technology’s resistance to catastrophic failure allowed us to scale back to a performance mode that didn’t require hardware control. Non-redundant RAID 0 also receives little benefit from hardware RAID. Read Customer Reviews of Intel's X25-M 80 GB SSD Super-fast single-level cell (SLC) drives are tiny and we wanted enough space to store a few programs for faster launch times. Multi-level cell (MLC) drives, on the other hand, are larger and cheaper, but are typically slower. Intel got around the “slow MLC” problem via parallelism in its 10-channel X25-M drives. We knew that we’d need at least 128 GB and a 160 GB X25-M would have provided the capacity we needed without completely blowing our budget. Fortunately, each Intel X25-M 80 GB drive costs half as much, allowing us to seek the performance benefits that a RAID controller’s Level 0 mode is known for. For those who can’t remember RAID controller-level details, Level 0 mode divides data across two drives and the array size equals the total capacity of both drives. (Actually, since RAID means redundant array of independent disks, a non-redundant Level 0 mode can’t logically be called RAID.) The 80 GB X25-M dropped by an amazing $120 per drive between the day we ordered components and the day we finished testing. That $240 difference is the primary reason our budget wasn’t used up by the addition of other performance gear. Storage Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5 TB Any high-end machine is going to have capabilities beyond gaming and those capabilities place higher demands on storage. A super-fast Core i7 processor and 6 GB of RAM should make our $5,000 PC ideal for heavy tasks such as 3D rendering and video editing and the accumulation of related files can quickly increase storage needs by hundreds of gigabytes. We chose Seagate’s Barracuda 7200.11 1.5 TB hard disk drive as a quick-and-easy way to add mass storage without slowing down our system. Read Customer Reviews of Seagate's 1.5 TB Barracuda 7200.11 A single part number ST31500341AS doesn’t cost much, but we had already devoted the majority of our budget to performance hardware. Subsequent price drops will allow buyers to add a second 1.5 TB drive in RAID 1 for redundancy, without exceeding a $5,000 limit.

• CPU: Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 965 Most of us prefer to seek the best possible value, using overclocking as an excuse not to buy elite-class (and often over-priced) components. After all, with the exception of a few minor features, aren’t all Core i7 processors really the same, save an unlocked multiplier? The only way to test that theory would be to buy the best, which is something many $5,000 PC builders would do anyway and consider the differences between it and previously-tested lower-cost parts. Read Customer Reviews of Intel's Core i7 Extreme Edition 965 The two documented differences between Core i7 Extreme and its siblings are its unlocked multiplier and an increased QPI-link rate of 6.4 GT/s, compared to 4.8 GT/s for cheaper versions. But while every model of Core i7 is also differentiated by rated speed, what’s not documented is how well each model is cherry-picked for the task. All Core i7 processors come from the same process, and while Intel has been known to determine the best parts by testing, there is simply no way of knowing how much difference separates the lowest- and highest-end models. We hope that choosing the highest-end model will allow us to reach the highest overclock, but there is always the possibility that the lowest-end models of one batch might actually overclock better than the highest-end models of another. The only way to know how well any processor will respond to an overclocking effort is to test it, since each processor is unique. Intel includes a higher-capacity, all-copper cooler with its Core i7 Extreme. This would be a great accessory for budget overclockers if available separately, but our overclocks are a little more “extreme” than what the Extreme cooler is designed to cope with. CPU Cooling: Custom-Liquid Configuration Setting up a liquid-cooling system should be easy with a partner as large as Newegg, but the i7 water cooling market is still young enough that a complete kit still isn't available for the Core i7 Extreme. Also, since we had to return our parts to Newegg, we couldn’t simply drill holes in the case to mount various components. Instead, we had to piece together our cooling system with a variety of parts, beginning with the pump-and-reservoir assembly of Cooler Master’s Aquagate Max. Read Customer Reviews of Cooler Master's RL-HUB-KBU1-GP Water Cooler We scoured the Web, comparing every pump-and-reservoir option Newegg offered, and the easy installation and a flow rate of 450L/H made the Aquagate Max the best fit for our application. A few testers had claimed the kit’s fans and water block were inadequate, but we planned to replace those anyway. In fact, because we had selected a specific case for its triple-fan-radiator support, our first move was to replace the two-fan Cooler Master unit with a three-fan model from Swiftech. We’ve long appreciated the capabilities of its MCR320-QP Quiet Power radiator , and this is also the only three-fan model Newegg carries. Increased airflow usually comes at the expense of added noise, but a well-designed fan provides the best of both worlds. Rated at 63.7 CFM and 1,600 RPM, fluid-dynamic-bearing technology and optimized blades keep the Scythe S-Flex SFF21F below its 28 decibel peak noise level under typical operating conditions. With nearly as much capacity per fan as two of Cooler Master’s fans, three SFF21Fs should prove more than sufficient for our CPU-cooling needs. The only part we couldn’t get from Newegg was a liquid-cooling water block for LGA-1366 processors. After waiting three months for the requisite component to show up at retail, we gave up and used our own means to obtain the Apogee GTZ LGA-775 water-block assembly and LGA-1366 bracket. The combination must be in high demand, because several companies that had offered pre-configured Apogee GTZ LGA-1366 assemblies were out of stock.

• Because our $5,000 system used two 2.5” form-factor SSD hard drives, we needed at a minimum two 3.5” bay adapters, at a minimum cost of $10 each. The thought of paying $20 or more for a few crude brackets spelled “rip off” in this editor’s mind, especially when a far more elegant solution could be had for $36. Newegg calls this type of device a "mobile rack," but the term “mobile” is most likely carried over from earlier designs that mounted the hard drive in a tote box with a handle. Alternatively, this device could be called a “hot-swap drive cage” or a “SATA backplane,” although these names are typically only applied to devices that support three or more drives for advanced RAID arrays. Two adapters are required to connect the SYBA CL-HD-MRDU25S rack’s LED activity indicators, but we instead configured our system using standard cables. The activity light of the Cooler Master Cosmos S provides the same information without the sloppy wiring. An ejection lever automatically disengages each drive when its access door is open, making the installation and removal of 9.5 mm tall drives a simple operation. Buyers should be aware that the 2.5” SATA form factor is standardized so that 2.5” SSD devices follow it. Specially-labeled “SSD Adapters” are not required, although labeling a standard adapter as SSD-optimized sounds like a good way for sellers to collect a “sucker tax.” Cooler Master designed space into its Cosmos S for installing fans between the top trim panel and the top of the aluminum chassis. Mounting intake fans here allows cool air to be blown downward through the radiator. This is the method that liquid-cooling expert Koolance favors, even though it works against convective flow of the case. We tried it, and found it was too noisy. Mounting the fans on the bottom blows warm case air up through the radiator, but this also improves airflow inside the case. The cooling of other internal components improves, with the added benefit of significant noise reduction. Choosing this configuration increased the temperature of our heavily overclocked Core i7 965 processor by around 0.5 degrees Celsius, which we feel is a reasonable trade-off for remarkably decreased noise with marginally lower case temperatures. The Swiftech MCR320-QP radiator doesn’t include hose barbs, so we re-used fittings from the Cooler Master Aquagate Max radiator. Because the liquid cooling system was empty, we attached the Apogee GTZ water block onto the Asus Rampage II Extreme prior to motherboard installation. Coolant lines were then cut to length, joining the Aquagate Max pump and reservoir assembly with remaining components. With the liquid cooling components installed, we inserted the LG GGW-H20LK Blu-ray Burner, the SYBA CL-HD-MRDU25S rack with its twin Intel X25-M 80 GB drives, the Seagate ST31500341AS 1.5 TB storage drive, and the Cooler Master RS-850-EMBA power supply. Once we had the case, hard drive, and motherboard power cables connected, we inserted two MSI N295GTX-M2D1792 graphics cards to complete our quad-SLI configuration. We dropped the radiator below the Aquagate Max pump and reservoir to allow air to be purged while filling the liquid-cooling system. The radiator was detached from the top panel by removing four screws and was repositioned once air had been removed. Few problems slowed our build progress, but one particular annoyance was that the Aquagate Max pump assembly didn’t quite fit into its bays. Tabs protruding from the sides of the bays are meant to keep drives positioned horizontally during installation, but the pump assembly’s casing was just a little taller than the spacing of those tabs. We had to slightly bend four of the tabs to compensate. A less annoying issue was that the 5.25”-to-3.5”-adapter brackets that Cooler Master included with its case were too narrow to fit snuggly into the larger bay when attached to the SYBA CL-HD-MRDU25S rack. That prevented the screw-less drive-lock mechanism from functioning properly, forcing us to use screws instead.