High end computers.

My friend is looking for advice on buying a high end computer (~$2,500) and I've been a bit out of the loop. Building one myself is always an option, but he looking towards financing and warranties, so basically, I'm hoping to get some opinions on what brands to look at/ avoid.

Thanks!

Hi!

I still say build it! You have warranties on every single hardware anyway.

And go i7, for the sake of (as usual in the gaming pc world) a relatively good future proofing.

This should make a really nice rig:

Case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119194

With plenty of room, 2 x 200mm + 1 x 120mm fans, this case can probably also chill the beer while gaming.

Psu:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139011

Modular psu. Less cable clutter and improved airflow.

Mobo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188049

cpu:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115211

Cpu cooler:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835608007

With some overclocking done with this cooler.. The i 950 cpu will be able to do 4 GHz without getting too hot.

RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104091

Video cards:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127429

The Intel i7 mobo's supports both SLI and crossfire.

Hdd:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136320

Backup hdd:


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148346

DVD burner:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151187

Total of: 1951.44$ No in mail rebates counted for.

If he stilll wants a prebuild?

Stay clear of HP, Compaq, Dell, Gateway and other "office machines". And Alienware + Woodoo. The latter 2, is way too exspensive for the stuff you get and have lousy customer support.

I say this should be a good prebuild:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883227155

Wanna speed up things even more? Get another GTX 285. The CoolerMaster HAF, is a nice case. Comes with a pretty good 800W psu.

But building the rig abouve will still be better and cheaper.

I'm surprised to see you not recommend a 10k drive.

Do you think buying a sli mobo with one very expensive gfx card (with the intention to later buy a matching gfx card) is a valid stratagy?

Naah! The only SLI mobo supporting socket LGA 775 and the later Intel Core 2 Duo's and Quad cpus, are the ASUS P5N64 WS PRO WiFi LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI. But it's very hard to find and cost about 250$ or more. That's too much money for an older mobo with an older chipset (NForce 790i).

Most modern, dual slot LGA 775 socket mobo's supports Crossfire (dual Radeons) only.

That's the good thing about the new Intel i7 boards. As said before. They support both Crossfire, SLI and triple SLI.


And going AMD SLI is'nt really high end stuff either.


I think that Caviar Black editition is good enough. I swapped my 2 x 10K, 74gb Raptor Sata Hdds for this Caviar Black. It's slightly faster than a Raptor according to tests. And most important. It's quiet. The only SATA hdd that beats the W.D. Caviar Black by a small lead is the Velociraptor. But I think that buying a Velociraptor is'nt worth it really, compairing Price / performance ratio. The gains with the 10K Velociraptor is'nt noticeable in day to day gaming. Only if you do a benchmark.