System Builder Marathon, March 2010: $3,000 Extreme PC

[Crashman]

We loosened the leash on our budgets a little this month in order to pack all of your most requested features into a system that's accessible to more than just affluent enthusiasts. Will this build be complete enough to avoid previously noted regrets?

System Builder Marathon, March 2010: $3,000 Extreme PC : Read more

 

[zoemayne]

More than 64GB is gonna be needed for multiple games and good apps... those ssd's can only handle 5 games max.

 

[zoemayne]

the case is sick it just needs a black interior

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]zoemayne[/nom]More than 64GB is gonna be needed for multiple games and good apps... those ssd's can only handle 5 games max.[/citation]

You're repeatedly ignoring that it's 128GB, not 64GB, because the article repeatedly states that the drives are striped (Level 0) by the RAID controller. And there's a terabyte of added storage on top of that for stuff that isn't programs.

 

[sid1712]

I couldn't have made it better. Amazing rig for a 3k budget.

 

[Onyx2291]

Nice fail there Zoe.

This thing is a beast.

 

[anamaniac]

Nice as it is, my only complaint is that...
Overclocked 5970 + i7 on a single 120.2?
ARE YOU MAD!
Likely.

Well, I personally would have dropped something else and gone for a 120.3 or 140.3 radiator. =D
Hell, maybe even a 140.4 radiator, but then again, I like my system to run chilly and silent. It's also be very difficult to mount a 140.4 I assume. Maybe I could jack a radiator form work, I think it's about 1 metre by 3 metres by half a metre. Granted, it's for industrial use, but just for one day, please boss please?

Good results on the i7 though. Decently low voltage and still managed to reach 4.3GHz. My i7 is a lemon. It makes me sad. =(
Also an impressive overclock for a 5970.

At this kind of power, you should be testing multi monitor resolutions. I have a 5770 and I run 7 megapixels, you use a 5970 and only run 4 megapixels.

Looking forward tho the $1,500 build. See how my build compares to one six months older on a similar budget (and cry).

 

[tacoslave]

i cried when i saw that 5970. in action

 

[tacoslave]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9l-XQzdRGg&feature=related this is what happened when i saw that 5970 in action "I CAME"

 

[Crashman]

[quotemsg=9490893,7,208780]Nice as it is, my only complaint is that...
Overclocked 5970 + i7 on a single 120.2?
ARE YOU MAD![/quotemsg]

Well, the explanation is in the conclusion, the builder wanted redundant storage instead of the big radiator but chose neither, leaving enough room in the budget for anyone who wanted to copy the build to make their own upgrade choice.

But what's not in the budget is that the water was never hot, it was barely warm. The problem with running the CPU at 100% load and the GPU at 100% load is that the water temperature went up by around 10 degrees...we're talking about going from the 30's to the 40's here at full load. The article points to the GPU cooler as a likely flow restriction so I have three solutions:

Solution 1: Add 1/2" by 3/8" adapter T's and cool the chipset block, parallel to the GPU block. That would allow some of the water to bypass the GPU cooler, which is OK since the GPU was always cold. But 1/2" by 3/8" T's are hard to find outside of a hardware store, and Newegg certainly doesn't have them.

Solution 2: Switch to a 3-fan radiator. A 4-fan unit won't fit nicely into that case, and making an ugly system wasn't considered a solution.

Solution 3: Add a second liquid-cooled 5970 parallel to the first. Get twice the GPU power and completely unblock the lines in the process. The GPUs would run slightly hotter when each gets only half the water, but at least the CPU block's flow won't be restricted. And...since it's probably adding another 10 degrees to the coolant...stick the three-fan radiator in there as well. For FOUR grand you could have a KILLER system!

OK, so solution 1 is the cheapest, but you have to admit solution 3 is tempting...

 

[Sihastru]

I kinda like it. Dramatic power increase for the overclocked components. But also dramatic performance increase.

Another solution to the constricted water flow would be to change the block on the 5970.

This build gets one and a half thumbs up from me, not that anyone cares...

 

[brisingamen]

solution 4:
swap the mobo forasus super computer mobo
and swap the h20'ed 5970 for 5850x4 gpu solution,
and scrap the ssd's for two raid WD black editions.
swap that case with one that can hold 4 graphics cards.
scrap the watercooling and nabbed an antec 1200 psu and a good air cooler
and your 2560x1600 res numbers would have been better.

thats a nice computer but i think there is more availible for $3000

 

[tecmo34]

Only changes I would've recommended is...

Storage HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB - $90
RAM: G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $180

Those would still get you in at $3,000 provide an increase in performance with the Cas7 DDR3 1600 RAM and a faster hard drive (well, if you really need faster with two SSD in RAID0 ).

 

[JeanLuc]

I don't know why someone marked down tecmo34 comments, if you going to mark down a comment at least have the good curtsey and explain why you disagree (unless it's blindingly obvious like the post left by tacoslave).

I too would have used the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1Tb it's been reviewed countless times and benchmarked against all the competition and wins every time.

 

[cscott_it]

So....You guys planning on giving this beauty away?

Seriously though, great review. It makes me seriously consider switching to water.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Will the prices continue to rise, will they level off, or will they decrease this Summer?

 

[teslaxero]

Here is what I would like to see...

Swap the case for a goliath sized Antec 1200, add another 5970 and a seperate water cooler 120.3 for the pair. Now the CPU and GPU's have a water supply independant from each other. Overclock that monster!

 

[jeverson]

The only thing I would have changed would be the case to a COOLER MASTER CM690 II Advanced. It already includes a mount for 2 SSD drives and can accommodate 2 radiators internally. Aside from that, very nice build and I look forward to a chance to win it...

 

[banthracis]

[citation][nom]teslaxero[/nom]Here is what I would like to see...Swap the case for a goliath sized Antec 1200, add another 5970 and a seperate water cooler 120.3 for the pair. Now the CPU and GPU's have a water supply independant from each other. Overclock that monster![/citation]

There is a $3000 budget limit you know. Curious as to why you guys didn't go with the Vertex LE for the SSD. Granted it's only 100gb and was $400, but it's a very large boost in performance, putting even the Intel X25 G2 drives to shame.

 

[blackened144]

[citation][nom]banthracis[/nom]There is a $3000 budget limit you know. Curious as to why you guys didn't go with the Vertex LE for the SSD. Granted it's only 100gb and was $400, but it's a very large boost in performance, putting even the Intel X25 G2 drives to shame.[/citation]
Those SandForce powered drives have amazing performence.. But that drive alone is nothing compared to the 64bg drives in raid0.. Plus you get an extra 28gb with the 2x64gb setup..

 

[Guest]

What's the boot time???

 

[kivnul]

Could one make two loops by removing the one large pump, putting in two smaller pumps?

Have loop1 go... tank -> pump1 -> gpu
Have loop2 go... tank -> radiator -> pump2 -> cpu

would require a res with multiple input/output holes, or T adaptors

 

[fausto]

i just want to win one of these systems. that's all i need

 

[dark_lord69]

WOW!!
FULL HD 1920 X 1080
64bit
DirectX 10

66 FPS in Crysis!

I don't think anyone needs to ask "the question" it's very obvious!
Awesome build guys!

 

[fausto]

"Constantly-advancing technologies assure that “future proof” systems will never exist. But a little consideration of near-term improvements should allow a system to remain useful a little while longer than some of the haphazard tier-one builds we still see from time to time."

this is what i did with my system. my motherboard supports ddr3 and the latest Quad Core LGA775 cpu's and both ddr2 and ddr3 ram. So i went from a Dell 19" 4x3 screen to a Samsung 16x10 22" screen, then i went from 2 gig ddr2 800 to 4 gig ddr2 1066 Dominators for 60 bucks when ram prices hit bottom. Then i went from x1950pro to 8800gts512, then i went from e6750 to Q9550 recently. Next it's 8800gts512 to ?????????? whatever the best $300 card that can run BFBC2 maxed out with everything enabled above 40 fps in worst situations is. waiting for nvidia's gtx470 and 480 to drop and for benchmarks and prices to adjust

bang for the buck baby!.

i got the order of the upgrades above mixed up but the point is i've kept my system fast via constant upgrades on a budget every year. i think 2011 i will not get a single upgrade. that's why i want to get the best card for bfbc2 that isn't dual gpu.