System Builder Marathon, March 2011: $2000 Bonus Build

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[citation][nom]krinkles619[/nom]If i won either of the 2000 pc's i would put them in a NZXT Phantom, because hey, if you've got almost 2k worth of parts in it you might as well have a sexy case, amirite?[/citation]

Nah go with the Silverstone Raven-02!!
 
@youssef
While I agree they could've gone with a better case, you should realize a lot of people (myself, for example) don't like the gaudy, plasticky designs a lot of cases use. Most of the time, a slightly more expensive case isn't any better than a cheaper one but just has more LEDs, molded plastic, etc. It's entirely possible that it would require more than the ~$50 left over to actually get a better case than the 300, rather than just an equivalent or worse case with a different look.
 
[citation][nom]AnUnusedUsername[/nom]@youssefWhile I agree they could've gone with a better case, you should realize a lot of people (myself, for example) don't like the gaudy, plasticky designs a lot of cases use. Most of the time, a slightly more expensive case isn't any better than a cheaper one but just has more LEDs, molded plastic, etc. It's entirely possible that it would require more than the ~$50 left over to actually get a better case than the 300, rather than just an equivalent or worse case with a different look.[/citation]

I suggested replacements to cure the graphics cards that were sticking to the drive cage which will prevent any further upgrades with taller cards. I don't have any issues with their choice beyond that
 
[citation][nom]silverblue[/nom]I can't help but wonder how things would've changed had those 6950s been unlocked. It might have negated the use for a follow-up article, I suppose.[/citation]

Shhhh, let us have another opportunity to win one of these bad boys :) :)
 
[citation][nom]dcompart[/nom]Thomas S., can you add a "1920x1080 resolution High End gaming Value performance/relative price" graph/illustration at the conclusion page in the future? I understand that these are enthusiast systems and part of the point of benchmarking the higher card 6970 system is to point out the performance increase at higher resolutions, but 2560x1600 monitors can go from $1000/2000+ on Newegg.com. Some people who splurge and build a $2000+ system may not have deep enough pockets to get anything higher than 1920x1080 and it would be great to have the informative percentage graphs for the suggested resolution.[/citation]

that's why they said "or three 1280*1024 monitors in eyefinity"
 
I can't wait to upgrade from my q9400 based system. my gtx 470s are being held back :/.I get jealous every time I read these articles
 
do I fill out the form once and I'm entered for all of the computers or do I have to fill out the form for each of the computers?
 
@James296:
"do I fill out the form once and I'm entered for all of the computers or do I have to fill out the form for each of the computers?"

One time only--more will DQ you.
 
This rig demands to be tested on Crysis 2. I expected more from the 6970s and there might be more of a difference on the next gen of FPS games.
 
I've noticed when I turn pages in FF4, the page scrolls left slightly and I have to move it back in order to read the left edge of text... not sure if it's a Firefox issue or an HTML issue, but it is getting annoying...
 
[citation][nom]hangfirew8[/nom]I've noticed when I turn pages in FF4, the page scrolls left slightly and I have to move it back in order to read the left edge of text... not sure if it's a Firefox issue or an HTML issue, but it is getting annoying...[/citation]Using FF 3.6.12 here, and I get the same thing. I suspect Tom's has changed their HTML somewhere. Was fine yesterday.
[citation][nom]joelmartinez[/nom]I would drop the i7 2600K for the i5 2500K, in gaming it doesn't make a difference and with saved cash you could put money into SSDs[/citation]What he said ^^
Unless you need the HyperThreading (eg video processing), i5 2500K is identical to the i7 for gaming.
 
[citation][nom]joelmartinez[/nom]I would drop the i7 2600K for the i5 2500K, in gaming it doesn't make a difference and with saved cash you could put money into SSDs[/citation]
In the end the possibilities are endless. There are some skilled builders here that would pick different hardware for focusing priorities differently. You have your point and since the PC is in essence a gaming machine it makes a lot of sense. Would it be oriented to multimedia I'd say including a sound card is a must; would it be a rig to be placed in a living room a better case makes more sense than anything else; would it handle work having a pair of HDD mirrored is necessary to prevent data losses.
 
[citation][nom]mayankleoboy1[/nom]i prefer the newer build. better performance where i need[/citation]
Agreed. This was a successful tweak since it primarily is supposed to be a gaming PC after all.
Good job THG.
 
[citation][nom]Pixel13[/nom]@James296:"do I fill out the form once and I'm entered for all of the computers or do I have to fill out the form for each of the computers?"One time only--more will DQ you.[/citation]Yes, that's what everyone ELSE is hoping for 😉[citation][nom]Dyers Eve[/nom]This rig demands to be tested on Crysis 2. I expected more from the 6970s and there might be more of a difference on the next gen of FPS games.[/citation]You do know that the original Crysis, a DX10 game, is far more demanding on hardware than Crysis 2, a DX9 game, right?
 
[citation][nom]spammit[/nom]Pretty decent results, although I was expecting it to beat out the original by a bit more[/citation]

yep. Because Crysis 2 was wriiten for PS3 and XBox 360. Nothing is really made for PC first anymore.
 
I would like to see the original build with the 6950's flashed with the 6970's bios to compete with the new build. While it might void warranties some people (myself) might not care so much about whether or not my warranty is voided and if 5 minutes of effort can take the original build and improve it to be better than the new build (since it gets all the performance of the 6970s and retains the 16x16 crossfire of the original board) and still remains under 2k.
 
Seems pretty funny that dual 6950's performed just about equal to dual 6970's. I mean sure you flashed the 50's but seems like a pretty bad blunder by ATI for the time being.

What's really funny is that the hardware is obviously on the card still but you're paying more for the 6970 than the 6950... why ship it with disabled anything instead of just sell it all at the same price point? I mean if the components are still there on the card why drop the price? Good for us i suppose 😀 crossed fingers to win any of the systems... looking to replace this 775 pentium D system haha.
 
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