Ryan's Rad Red Machine
Processor:
Intel Core i7-3960X - $1,049.99
Motherboard:
ASUS Rampage IV Extreme - $449.99
RAM: 2X
Corsair Vengeance 16GB Quad-Channel Memory Kit - $165.98 ($82.99 each)
Graphics Card: 4X
XFX Radeon HD 6970 2GB - $1359.96 ($339.99 each)
Hard Drive:
Corsair Force Series GT 480GB - $879.99
Case:
Antec Lanboy Air - $139.99
Power Supply:
XFX ProSeries 1250W - $269.99
Cooling:
Corsair Hydro Series H80 CPU Cooler - $93.99
DVD Burner:
ASUS BW-12B1ST - $99.99
Total: $4509.87
(Prices and availability current as of 12/18/2011)
Explaining the logic behind my choices~
Since my past systems have generally been blue and black color themed, I thought I would go with a red and black theme this time - the motherboard and ram are black and red already so they will tie in quite nicely! Killing your friends is a lot of fun and the whole red theme ties in with the virtual blood I want to spill (don't worry, I will utilize a tiny bit of system power to play them some really sweet funeral music). I am also attempting to stick with the same vendors and use just one store here as much as possible to simplify things and to stay with the color scheme (NewEgg's products are listed on PriceGrabber.com as well).
It could have been tough to choose between AMD and NVidia when it came to a graphics card since they both offer great modern high end cards. AMD cards tend to feature the red color I am going for here though - so that made the choice a bit easier. With new cards from AMD just over the horizon, its also really tough not to want to wait a month and splurge on the HD 7000 series. While ASUS offers AMD cards, they were limited on supply with their higher end HD 6000 series cards (likely due to AMD's chip output and to high demand), so I looked into a VisionTek card until I realized that they used
blue PCB on the card I had chosen. Since the cards back end faces upwards and I get to choose whatever I want in this ultimate dream build, that was a deal breaker for me. I found another option in the XFX HD 6970. I think that it matches ASUS's Rampage IV Extreme motherboard colors quite well.
This is a rather hefty ultimate gaming system (four video cards!) and some may think it should be housed in a full sized ATX case, but I want a case that would still allow me to take my PC to LAN parties if I so desired. I have lugged a full-sized ATX case to a LAN party before and I would really prefer something a tad smaller. Antec's Lanboy Air (in Red!) is a mid-tower case that seems to fit the bill. Aside from Antec being a well-known name, I happen to like this flashy case - although I can understand it may not be everyone's favorite flavor.
I was thinking that a 480GB SSD might be too much, but then considered that this system is top end so it should be fairly future-proof. I want my system drive to be that way too and to store everything I want on it. Games are ever-increasing in size, particularly the more vast RPGs. What kind of an ultimate system wouldn't allow for a little extra media to be stored as well? With hard drive prices up and SSD prices continually dropping, it makes even more sense to go with an SSD over a traditional hard drive. If you're going to dream big, dream small...with large capacity of course! Its within the $5000 budget so I went ahead and opted for a Corsair Force GT 480GB Solid State Drive (in red, of course). ASUS's Rampage Extreme has a RAID controller so one could choose to save a few bucks and utilize RAID 0 or RAID 1 and use dual 240GBs instead.
After MUCH (a couple of hours) of debate (which shows my enthusiasm for hardware considering that I am not actually building this system, lol) I
finally decided to go with XFX's in part, due to the five-year warranty (I noticed that Corsair has a 1200w PSU with a seven-year warranty but it does not have four 8-pin connectors). It also matches the graphics cards in aesthetics fairly well, has a modular design, suitably strong power output, and a company name I am fairly familiar with. It was a really tough decision, but I didn't want to ruin the color scheme I had going, and at least one of the options only came with a two year warranty, from a brand that has lasted me only three years in the past. I also wanted something that I had hoped would stay pretty quiet so as not to add to the noise that will already be coming from quad crossfire. Luckily, the Corsair Hydro Series H80 CPU Cooler should help keep things quiet as well.
I already own a couple of modestly fast DVD burners to throw into the system, but because future games "may" come on a Blu-Ray disc, and since I am trying to go with the same vendors here, I opted for the ASUS BW-12B1ST.
Well, that does it for my build. Total cost before rebates and a bit of shipping comes to
$4509.87. I believe most of the shipping was free, and a few items have mail-in rebates which makes the deal just that much sweeter. Sorry to those in other countries who are ineligible
🙁 but good luck to everyone who enters
.
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