Tom's Hardware's Haswell-E-Based Builder Sweepstakes

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I love the cyberpower colors, and the clean lines. As well it is one of the few that appears to be no exterior paint job.
 
After reading through these very capable, very different, Haswell-E configurations I finally whittled down to three choices from the original six which caught my attention. I made my selections based on value, performance and balance, as well as keeping in mind that anyone buying these high-tier PC's likely are already using a decently capable system. Therefore, and with those things in mind, I also chose based on which is sufficiently "future-proof" (if there is such a thing).

My first choice has to be the Digital Storm machine for sheer performance and clearly it is the most future-proof. Even for the price which is higher than the others it gives all the best parts and there is nothing left to want with this build. You simply will not need to add anything to this build for years and it will still be a top performer across the board.

My second choice is the CyberPower PC due to its value, at $2.3k, and the likelihood that for most gamers this will be a build that they themselves can and will create. It has the lower six core processor but still balances the GPU and RAM appropriately and anyone with this machine will experience a top-notch rig and spend a lot less to do so. It will also last its buyer a good long time with very capable hardware and again, superior value.

The third choice was the hardest as there were a few I was going between but in the end I had to choose the Puget machine due to a decent value, keeping the 8-core unlocked CPU as well as the amazing kudos I give to them in the name of innovation. The single gamer will have a more than fine time on this powerful, RAM packed and GPU rich machine but having the unique ability to host four independent gamers, each with two overclocked cores and an additional two threads as well as a Radeon 280 a chair has my mind boggled at the potential of the Intel 8-core monsters that have just been unleashed upon us. Although it may be priced a tad high I think there is a value in having such an innovative product to your name and I do think that will pay off for their brand long-term.

Honorable mention to the Origin machine putting out 8-cores and SLI Titan Z's for $10K, the Falcon machine at $7K also giving us 8-cores and SLI Titan Black's and the Xotic rig which, at $5.5K is maybe a big too much for the higher six core CPU with SLI 780 ti's and a low amount of RAM. Hope you all gave these machines the once over. There is a lot of power and a lot of possibilities on the horizon and for me the winner, Digital Storm, will be rocking that machine for many years to come.
 
1. CyberPower PC for balance. Price carries a lot of weight and this one is the closest to my budget. Swap out the configured SSD and drop in a 256GB M.2

2. Maingear if only I had the money…great for a vampire…all hardcore gamers are you know…

3. Origin PC for originality but the $$$$

The only way to get what you want (afford) is to build yourself. A system with i7 5820k, X99 MB (prefer ASUS), M.2 256 SSD, 1 TB HD, 16GB DDR4, Mid to High end Graphics, Semi modular PSU (prefer SeaSonic) and BD DVD read / write drive can all be had for around $2000.00
 
#1 CyberPower -
#2 Ncix
#3 Ava Direct

"Its not about how shiny the box is its about whats inside that counts."
Judged on the read not on the pictures.

I had a friend who had a pink led fan for like 4 years, but with a hex core and 16 gigs of ram back then (circa 2009) who cares.



P.S. building for 10+ years solo.
 
Maingear - Quality Of Work = Awesome
NCIX - Taff call but 2nd = still also awesome
Digital Storm = Bit Pricey = Would rather buy two Maingear ones instead
 
Digital storm
Ncix
Maingear.
I will not be using it just for gaming. It will be used as a Maya/Zbrush/3dsmax/Ps/Ai/Id renderbox-workstation. So I will be pushing millions of millions of polygons on these workstations along with heavy use of after effects. Probably purchase a good 128gb of memory to put on these things as well Hooahh.
 
My favorites:

1. Maingear - love the custom tubing on the liquid cooled system, really classes up the interior.
2. Falcon Northwest - I've always been a fan of the Frag Box. And having X99 in one sounds like it would be too good to be true.
3. Digital Storm - high end to the max. The yellow color is sweet looking.

My least favorite is probably the Ava Direct.
 
Definitely the Digital Storm Yellow on Black is my favorite Followed by the Maingear Black on red. The water cooling looks so clean. Lastly, Origin PC knows liquid cooling as well, and they have proprietary parts that make their builds look the beastly.

Good luck to everyone! and thanks toms for the contest.
 
I'm going with:

1.Digital Storm....ridiculously decadent
2. Maingear....that straight run water cooling is a thing of beauty
3.and then the dark horse....The Puget system....Not a big fan off the see thru chassis but the way that have vm machines running is something unique that I never would have thought of
 
1) Puget Systems: Totally original looking rig with a unique feature (visualization mode), at a lower cost than the other quad GPU systmes. Wow.
2) Maingear: Definitely on the pricey side for the hard component's, but flawless aesthetics. A great buy for the right person.
3) Cyberpower: A great deal, hard to beat without a micro center in your neck of the woods :)
 
Maingear, to start off with, if for no other reason than that beautiful cooling setup.
NCIX for good power at a (relatively) reasonable price.
And the last spot has to go to the very eyecatching, incredibly powerful and appropriately expensive Digital Storm build.
 
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