System Builder Marathon, Sept. '09: $2,500 Performance PC

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The Quality of video on ATI streem is shit on sticks and doesn't even support high profile.

The last build was a bit too odd for me but this one seems like a very nice chose of parts and on a larger screen set up makes a lot of sense the loss of i7 for AMD only build was a bit sad but the addition of those great SSD kind of makes up for me along with the nice chose of case and cooling. That case looks like it is very nice to work on.
 

WINTERLORD

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now that is one slick gaming machine! could'nt imagine them frames rates on a big monitor. love the insides water cooling 3 radeon 4890's with room for a 4th. great pictures by the way lots of eye candy. you can tell alot of work went into tis kmonster. great article.
 

IzzyCraft

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Your PSU calculations do not include transient loads, which happen too quickly to measure on a Kill-a-watt. 1000HX was the better choice.

Either water cool the GPUs or use a case with better air flow. Perhaps 90C is within spec (although I'm not aware of any published official max temps for 4890s)but it doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

What's with the limited choice for a case anyway? You seem to want to experiment? CM Storm Scout has handles, or Lian Li Lancool has great air cooling and radiator hose grommets.

I did like the inclusion of the Swiftech kit.

 

tipmen

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I only fear what a QuadFire 5870 would bring if a tri 4890s does this much damage. Thanks for doing AMD it may not be the best CPU but its always nice to see a change.
 

Crashman

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[citation][nom]dirtmountain[/nom]So does Jonnyguruhttp://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.p [...] 2&reid=153I guess you just can't believe everything you find on a brands site.[/citation]

80 plus is an independant rating site, the 850HX was upgraded to Gold status so unless you're using an old unit you should be fine.

[citation][nom]Proximon[/nom]What's with the limited choice for a case anyway? You seem to want to experiment? CM Storm Scout has handles, or Lian Li Lancool has great air cooling and radiator hose grommets.I did like the inclusion of the Swiftech kit.[/citation]

This editor never uses external radiators because they're too easily damaged, ugly, and make transportation difficult. The only choice not mentioned was the HAF932: There's one in the lab, it's enormous and cheaply built.

Also, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the ventilation of the case used. It's remarkable. It's darned near perfect. The GPU's run hot for two reasons: HD 4890's are horribly inefficient and there's not much space between them.

The other option would have been to face the PSU fan towards the cards so it could draw warm air away from them.
 

WINTERLORD

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this thing is truely alswome anyway you slice it. eye candy galore, and im sure anyone who won this thing would be more then happy. and what makes this beast realy shine is how much performance it gets not only in gaming but alswome productivity/ap[plication scores as well. all the way around it is alswome. also very interesting to see AMD parts stacking up like this in a high end gaming. very interesting.
 

anamaniac

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Wow...
I would take this over your last $2,500 Intel system no doubt!
This thing is a work of art.

Excellent work.
Wait wait wait... why would I want a phenom when i have a i7? I don't know, but this system is that cool.

I love the case used on it too. Tri-4890, 2x80GB SSD etc. even on a 2.5k budget is admirable.
Making me wonder were all the money on my build went...

Also nice to see a cheap motherboard being promoted. I paid over $300 for my mobo, and I regret it (good overclocking mobo... crappy overclocker cpu). >_<


Keep up the good work.
 

anamaniac

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P.S.
Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G1 80GB are now $300 USD or $370 at newegg.com and newegg.ca respectively.
Damn you SSDs and apparantly getting more expensive...
 

toxxel

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Nice build, the computer fully assembled makes the case look cramped. Then again I didn't expect to see water cooling which is a plus. Definitely a good system though I would have loved to see last sbm included in the graphs like the other systems for this price point.
 

Crashman

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[citation][nom]toxxel[/nom]Nice build, the computer fully assembled makes the case look cramped. Then again I didn't expect to see water cooling which is a plus. Definitely a good system though I would have loved to see last sbm included in the graphs like the other systems for this price point.[/citation]

It wouldn't be fair to compare a big system to a tiny system when both are overclocked, especially when the tiny system had to be undervolted just to run at stock speed.

The $1250 PC has such a comparison only because the builder used a big cooler both times.
 
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