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iq1:

Wait for the next quad core from Intel based on 45nm.

Wait 3-5 weeks for the specs/benches on the ATI R600.

Get the ARECA raid card. Use 4+ RAPTORS in a RAID0, and store any crucial data on a network drive.

Get 2-4GB of Corsair Ram. The only reason to not use Corsair is price; not important to you. Also look into thier newest dominator line-up; I think I saw some C5 stuff???

Definitely stick with a non-workstation motherboard. You want to be able to use dual video cards in 16x PCI-E slots for the best results.

Noise level output from your Powersupply should be a concern. Make sure you get something both powerful enough and quiet.

Get a watercooling kit from DANGERDEN. Use this with your 8800GTX BFG Pre-Waterblocked video cards (or ATI R600s).

Get the best case you can find. Big. Shiny. Silverstone, Antec, Coolermaster, Lian-Li, etc. All great names. I really like the Coolermaster Stacker CM830 series stuff. The Silverstone TJ-09 is really nice too.

Overclock the quad-core proc until it becomes slightly unstable, then reel it back in a little for stability.

Definitely get the best sound card money can buy. XFI plat or whatever.

Get the Logitech Z5500 speakers. Or go crazy and get a Onkyo Receiver and spend another $10k on decent speakers/subwoofer.

Whatever you do, don't use an HDTV as your monitor. Get the 1080p Dell 27" monitors (2 of them). Or wait for the new 30"s with the good response times.

Look into getting a UPS - these filter the power being fed to your system and can extend it's lifespan. Worthwhile with so many high end parts plugged into it.

I've tried almost all the gaming mice, and I still prefer the Logitech G5, although it's last years baby.

Get the Logitech G15 gaming keyboard. Its sweet.

Don't get the Xeon/Opteron rigs. They sound great on paper, but they are really meant for workstation-level jobs, like serious number crunching for scientific research or crazy-busy fileservers with 100s of users requesting I/Os. These rigs have expensive motherboards, have limited upgrade paths, require ECC ram, don't have a full feature set, don't have SLI, etc.

Finally - tell us what you decide to do!

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Crap case. Crap PSU. Small monitor. Blu-Ray will lose out to HD-DVD (don't get me started) so don't waste your money. And lastly, never EVER mix DX9 and DX10 cards. They will NOT work together, you can't mix and match drivers on the same machine. BAD, bad.

If you look back thru these posts, you'll see alot of commonalities:

-quad core
-Striker mobo
-4 gigs top notch RAM
-2 8800GTX's in SLI
-minimum 24" monitor
-FAST hard drives
-NICE big case
-liquid cooling
-sound card
-good speakers

Really, that covers it. Just pick the exact manufacturers and you got yourself a helluva system.



Oh, and a side note, already 3,500 views on this topic....it's everyone's DREAM We'll probably hit 10,000 before this thing is purchased LOL

I apologize for that post.... I swore I had picked the 1000w Case+PS... and I never would have mixed those GFX cards - not sure how that happened either...

Just get an Order from PCpowerplay in Australia and build the beast.

I'm nice so I will post it.
(Please note, all prices are in AU$)

Intel Core 2 Duo X6800 Extreme Edition - AU $1699
ASUS 680i Striker Extreme - AU$699
G.Skill HZ PC8500 DDR2 - AU$860
2x MSI GeForce 8800GTX in SLI - AU$2098
Turbo-Cool 850 SSI 1Kw PSU - AU$795
Creative Soundblaster x-Fi Elite Pro - AU$929
Creative Gigaworks S750 7.1 THX - AU$999
2x ASUS DRW-1608P2S DVD Burner - AU$158
2x Seagate SATAII 16Mb Cache 7200RPM HDD - AU$1698
30" Dell 3007WFP LCD - AU$2899
Lian-Li S80 Silent Case - AU$499
Logitech G5 and G15 Mouse and Keyboard AU$300

Total = AU$13383

SCHNIKIES!!! Aussie's expensive!

Good parts though...

Try this
Puget Systems water cooled Total = $11,425.14 Puget System is the only online PC builder that I've found to use the water cooled 8800gtx cards

or take a look at Velocity Micro Velocity Micro
$11006 for
Velocity Raptor™ Signature Edition
Base Price: $7395.00 Your Price: $11006.00 Weight: 75 lbs
Case
LXe-W Black - Velocity Micro Signature Case - Pure Aluminum, side window, removable front door, extended depth
LX Wheel Kit LX Aluminum Wheel Kit (LX case only) - Pure aluminum wheels make your case easy to move, with wheel lock
Power Supply 1000 Watt PC Power & Cooling® Turbo-Cool® 1KW - Nvidia® SLI™ Certified (LXe case recommended)
Power Cable Blackflash Power Onyx Premium Power Cable with Braided Exterior (+$49.00)
Case Lights Double Blue Cold Cathode Chassis Light Kit (+$50.00)
Motherboard EVGA nForce 680i SLI, Socket 775, PCI-E, DDR2
Processor Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX6700, factory overclocked quad 3.2GHz cores, 8MB L2 Cache* (requires LiquiCool 3 Pro)
CPU Cooling Velocity Micro™ LiquiCool 3 Pro™ Advanced Thermal Electric Cooling (+$195.00)
Platform Performance Optimization Advanced CPU, Motherboard, and Memory Performance Optimization (requires LiquiCool 3 Pro for QX6700)
DDR2 Memory 4096MB Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066 Twin2X2048-8500C5D* Dual-path Heat Xchange (4x1024) (2 week delay) (+$495.00)
PCX Video 2 x 768MB EVGA GeForce 8800GTX in SLI DDR3 PCI-Express* (LXe/LXe-W Chassis and 1KW PSU Recommended)
Physics Processor 128mb Asus® AGEIA™ PhysX™ Processor Ghost Recon Edition (not available with Creative Labs soundcard) (+$340.00)
Monitor 21.3" NEC® MultiSync® LCD Display (LCD2170NX), 1600x1200 resolution, 8ms Rapid Response™ (+$899.00) 5.00 lbs
Audio Creative Labs SoundBlaster® X-Fi™ Elite Pro, 64MB X-RAM for high performance and superior digital audio (+$240.00)
Speakers Creative Labs GigaWorks™ ProGamer G500 - 5.1 Channel, 310 watt, THX certified - Black (+$275.00)
RAIDStorm™ Controller 500MHz RAIDStorm™ Controller 128MB DDR, PCI-Express, 4-ports
RAIDStorm™ Array 4 x 150GB Western Digital Raptor 10,000rpm SATA/150, 16MB Cache, NCQ - RAID 0 Stripe (600GB Total)
Hard Drive 2 750GB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm SATA/150/300, 16MB Cache - with NCQ (+$575.00)
Optical Drive 1 18x Plextor® DVD+/-RW (PX-760A) Dual Layer, Black Bezel
Optical Drive 2 16x Lite On® DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner with LightScribe Labeling Technology, Black (+$45.00)
Optical Drive 3 None
Floppy Drive & Media Reader 8-in-1 Floppy Drive & Media Reader Combo, Black Bezel
USB Drive 16GB Corsair Flash Voyager™ USB 2.0 Drive (+$259.00)
Network Adapter Dual Integrated 10/100/1000MBps Ethernet Network Adapters
Network Adapter 2 or WiFi Adapter None
Modem None
FireWire 2 Integrated IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports, 1 front & 1 rear
USB 2.0 Ports 8 USB 2.0 Ports, 2 front & 6 rear (2 rear ports may be unavailable in some configurations due to available resources)
Operating System Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional SP2 on original CD (w/coupon for FREE Vista Business upgrade)
Productivity Software Genuine Microsoft® Office 2003 Small Business - Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher with Office 2007 Upgrade coupon (+$229.00)
Software Bundle Nero Digital Creation Suite - Capture, Edit, and Author Video with immersive Dolby 5.1 Surround, plus Photo Editing Suite
Benchmark Software NEW - FutureMark® 3DMark06® Velocity Micro Basic Edition - gaming performance benchmark software
Security Software None
Recovery Disk Custom DVD Restore Disk, returns your system hard drive to the original factory installation
Internal Cables Rounded Silver Braided IDE and Floppy Cables
Keyboard Logitech® Cordless Desktop MX™ 3000 Laser - Keyboard & Mouse - Charcoal (+$80.00)
Mouse None (Or select a Cordless Keyboard/Mouse Combo) (-$20.00)
T-Shirt Velocity Micro™ Limited Edition T-shirt in Blue, size XL
Assembly Immaculate custom hand wiring by Senior Technicians & Randy Copeland, assembled in Richmond, Virginia, USA
Quality Assurance Individual custom testing for complete system functionality, signed by our President, Randy Copeland
Autograph Personally autographed under the side window panel by our founder, Randy Copeland
Documentation Owner's Portfolio with Velocity Micro manual, driver disks, and accessory pack
Warranty** 3 Yr VelocityCare™ Parts & Labor Ltd Warranty, 1 Yr 24/7 Support with Emergency Hours, and On-Site Service
Upgrade Plan Velocity Micro Lifetime Upgrade Plan allows you to return your system for maintenance, discounted upgrades, and tuning
Instant Coupon Wow! You found an instant coupon! Hurry! Expires this Sunday! (-$100.00)

"See velocity Micro uses the raid card we've been talking about."

Or as others are saying you could go much cheaper and still get a great system with this:

DELL H2C Dell H2C
The Dell XPS 710 H2C Edition has an innovative, two-stage cooling solution that helps cool the processor even at its highest mode, and does so more effectively than Dell’s air-cooling solution. The H2C hybrid cooling system combines a liquid radiator, a thermoelectric cooling module and control circuitry to optimize CPU cooling with minimal power. Ideal for gaming enthusiasts, the system is designed to help the XPS 710 H2C Edition stay cool in overclocked mode2—up to 9 degrees cooler even when you clock it at bin+2 speeds.3
Congratulations! Your system is ready to be built.

My Components
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Extreme QX6700 (8MB, 3.2GHz Factory overclocked)
OPERATING SYSTEM & TV-TUNERS Genuine Windows® XP Media Center,CD and Dual TV tuner,Remote
UPGRADE TO WINDOWS VISTA Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Home Premium w/ Dell On Call Vista Support
MEMORY 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 4 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE 320GB Performance RAID 0 (2 x 160GB SATA 1.5Gb/s 10,000 RPM HDDs)
ADDITIONAL HARD DRIVE 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
OPTICAL DRIVE Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable
MONITOR 22 inch E228WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel
VIDEO CARD Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GTX, 768 MB
PHYSICS ACCELERATOR AGEIA® PhysX® physics accelerator
SOUND CARD Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeMusic (D) Sound Card
My Accessories
SPEAKERS CREATIVE LABS GigaWorks ProGamer G500 Gaming Speaker System
KEYBOARD Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard (ships separately)
MOUSE Razer Copperhead Tempest Blue Gaming Mouse (ships separately)
FLOPPY & MEDIA READER 13 in 1 Media Card Reader and 3.5 in Floppy Drive
MODEM No Modem
My Software
PRODUCTIVITY Microsoft Office Basic - Includes Word, Excel and Outlook email
ANTI-VIRUS & SECURITY Norton Internet Security™ 2006 Edition 15-months

Dell Recommends
Help Protect Your New PC!
PC-cillin™ Security Software, 24 months!
Help Me Choose
Upgrade to PC-cillin Internet Security with AntiVirus and Spyware removal 24-months [add $10 or $1/month1]
PHOTOS, MUSIC & MORE! No preinstalled software
My Service
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service

Dell Recommends
An Additional Year of Service!
Upgrade Your Years of Service. Choose 2 Years of Service and protect your investment!

(If Complete Care selected, number of years must match warranty term)
Help Me Choose
Upgrade to 2Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service [add $109]
DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS No ISP requested
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
SYSTEM DETAILS 2.5MM aluminum thickness with front & back customizable LEDs
SYSTEM DETAILS 7-slot, BTX design motherboard
SYSTEM DETAILS 1 kilowatt Power Supply
SYSTEM DETAILS Tower Six-heat pipe, Copper base Heat Sink with aluminum fans
SYSTEM DETAILS Two 120mm x 38mm front fans
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
Labels Windows Vista™ Capable
XPS Specialized Support XPS, Specialized Support
total cost = $6,895.00

Others as in who, exactly?

Who in their right mind would recommend a DELL???

For that matter, for $10,000, there's NO WAY you'll get a good deal on a prefab PC. You have to build, or you'll lose ~33% of the value.

Regarding monitors, instead of a 30" I'd get a twin or triple 24" setup side by side

Man this thread is getting very confusing, Im out

Others as in who, exactly?

Who in their right mind would recommend a DELL???

For that matter, for $10,000, there's NO WAY you'll get a good deal on a prefab PC. You have to build, or you'll lose ~33% of the value.

I meant that others have suggested a cheaper system, not a Dell.
Me, I'm suggesting the DELL based on this review
http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_XPS_7 [...] 05739.html
Price it, for what you get, it is about $2000 cheaper than other builders. And I've priced building one myself and always run it up higher when I try to configure similar cooling. But then I'm a novice at water cooling.

Others as in who, exactly?

Who in their right mind would recommend a DELL???

For that matter, for $10,000, there's NO WAY you'll get a good deal on a prefab PC. You have to build, or you'll lose ~33% of the value.

I meant that others have suggested a cheaper system, not a Dell.
Me, I'm suggesting the DELL based on this review
http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_XPS_7 [...] 05739.html
Price it, for what you get, it is about $2000 cheaper than other builders. And I've priced building one myself and always run it up higher when I try to configure similar cooling. But then I'm a novice at water cooling.

Actually, I built the system in question, but with better Motherboard, Higher DDR2 800 RAM with minor differences in how I set up the HDDs, and came in Just under $4000... Thats $1759 cheaper than Dell... thankyaverrmhuch...

don't forget 2 Westinghouse 37" true 1080p displays 8ms speed for those vids. I have one but it would be nice to have two. There is an identical 42" 1080p model but its to big for up close and the image is so much sharper on the smaller pixels of the 37"'s anyways. A pair of these will chew up over $3,000 grand from your budget but you still have enough.

Others as in who, exactly?

Who in their right mind would recommend a DELL???

For that matter, for $10,000, there's NO WAY you'll get a good deal on a prefab PC. You have to build, or you'll lose ~33% of the value.

I meant that others have suggested a cheaper system, not a Dell.
Me, I'm suggesting the DELL based on this review
http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_XPS_7 [...] 05739.html
Price it, for what you get, it is about $2000 cheaper than other builders. And I've priced building one myself and always run it up higher when I try to configure similar cooling. But then I'm a novice at water cooling.

Now this I can answer

Dont get a DELL

1) You dont want to pay a customer service when your best customer service is yourself or Toms Forums
2) You dont want to spend $200 on their case because even if you buy a cheap-o dell with $400, you are paying like $80 for their cheap-*ss case.
3) You dont want to pay for the extra garbage of software that comes with it
4) You will pay for something that you will find is not worth the money, instead built something yourself which will bring faster components.

Personally, I would go for a Falcon Northwest Mach 5. Theyve got award winning service and quality and they OC and test your PC for you. Also for fun, their paintjobs kick some serious a#@

http://www.falcon-nw.com/

I would get the QX6700 (3.51ghz btw)
4gb of Corsair Twin-X 8500C5 ram
watercooling kit
dual 8800gtx's
dual Raptor 150gb 10 hds
a 750gb hd
dual liteon dvd burners
media card reader w logitech G15 and g7 kb and mouse

then I would buy the Dell 3007WFP http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna [...] u=222-0863
for $1274

good stuff will run you: $9927

b-e-a-u-tiful - Jim Carrey: Bruce Almighty