Go Big Or Go Home?

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Sicarius

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OKay, firstly, I'm stuck between getting an AlienWare computer, and making a custom one, because I might mess something up, but Alienware won't. Secondly, I've gone to various sites with the specs of the computer I want, and they all say I'm nuts because I had two NVidia 7800GTX cards, a AMD FX-57 Processor, and other good stuff. Is this stuff to much? Will it be unneccecary?

All help would be appreciated.


Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-57 Processor with HyperTransport Technology
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Warranty: 4-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service Bundle with AlienAutopsy and Respawn
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 510 Express 650 Watt peak power
Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case
Chassis Upgrades: AlienIce™ 2.0 Video Cooling System with Acoustic Dampening - Fusion Red
Motherboard: Alienware® nForce™4 SLI™ Chipset Motherboard PCI Express
Graphics Processor: Dual NVIDIA® GeForce™ 7800 GTX PCI Express 256MB DDR3 with NVIDIA SLI Technology
Video Optimizer: AlienAdrenaline: Video Performance Optimizer
Memory: 2GB Ultra Low Latency DDR PC-3200 SDRAM at 333MHz - 4 x 512MB
System Drive: High Performance - Serial ATA - 400GB Serial ATA 7,200 RPM w/8MB Cache
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 16x DVD-ROM Drive with Software DVD Decoder
Secondary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Drive
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 4 Pro High Definition 7.1 Surround Sound with Dual Firewire (IEEE® 1394)
Floppy Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive - Black
Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet
Modem: 56K V.92 Performance Pro
Portable Storage : Alienware® 10-in-1 Digital Media Reader / Writer
Security Software: Norton™ Internet Security ™ 2005
Monitor: No Monitor
Keyboard: Free Alienware® Microsoft® Multimedia Keyboard
Mouse: Free Alienware® Microsoft® IntelliMouse Explorer
Speakers: Creative GigaWorks™ THX® S750 - 7.1 700-Watt Speakers
Game Controllers: Saitek P3000 Wireless Gamepad and Charger
Headphones: Sennheiser PC140 Multimedia Headset
USB Lighted Cables: 10' USB 2.0 Cable with Red LEDs
Hot Titles: DOOM 3™
Hot Titles: Half Life 2
Games: Battlefield 2
Games: Battlefield 1942: World War II Anthology
Games: Battlefield Vietnam
Games: Call of Duty: United Offensive
Games: Everquest 2
Games: Halo: Combat Evolved
Games: Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed
Games: Thief 3 Deadly Shadows
Retro Gaming: Intellivision Lives! 50 Retro-Style Gaming Classics
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
AlienInspection: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
AlienWiring: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $99.99 Value - FREE!



And then the custom one I was gonna build is this:


Case: Thermaltake VA9000BWS Black Kandalf Super Tower Case - $173.84
Mobo: Asus A8NSLIDELUXE NFORCE4 Sli 939 Dual Channel - $174.95
Processor: ATHLON64 FX-57 - $1,099.99
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 - $249.88
Power Supply: SilverStone / SST-ST65ZF / 650-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm Fan /
SATA-Ready / PCI-E Ready / Quad 12V / 20/24-Pin / Power Supply / SLI Ready
Graphics Card: Dual GeForce 7800GTX 256MB DDR3 Dual DVI PCIe NVIDIA GEFORCE 7800 GTX 256MB PCI EXPRESS DDR3 - $506 (Each)
RAM: 2 Corsair TWINX Platinum Dual Channel 1024MB PC3200 DDR Memory (2 x 512) - $144.99 (Each)
Hard Drive: 2 HITACHI 400GB Hard Drives - $299.99 (Each)
CD/DVD-ROM Drive One: Pacific Digital U-30115 16x Internal IDE DVD-ROM Drive - $34.19
CD/DVD-ROM Drive 2: PIONEER DVR-A09XL Internal Double Layer DVD Writer - $105.44
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro Limited Edition - $271.95
Floppy Drive: Sony MPF920-Z/CU1 Internal 3.5" Floppy Drive - $22.79
56K Modem: Diamond SM56IPCXL1 SupraMax 56K PCI Modem - $14.95
Ethernet Modem: Linksys LNE100TX EtherFast 10/100 LAN Card - $16.60
Mouse: Logitech MX1000 Laser Cordless Mouse - $61.27
Keyboard: Logitech Cordless Desktop LX 700 - $63.99
Speakers: Creative Labs Gigaworks S750 7 Piece THX 7.1 Speaker System - $410.99
Extras: Logitech Cordless Rumblepad 2 Vibration Feedback Gamepad - $29.44
Sennheiser PC140 Noise Cancelling Headset/Microphone - $36.04


Thanks.
 
It looks like the specs on that computer you are proposing are another way to say "I have cash bonfires on the weekend."

A few points:

1. Unless things have changed in recent times, Alienware was and probably still is highly overpriced. I skimmed that list and didn't see a price, but I bet it starts with a $4,xxx.

2. Spending more != Better.

-Like, why use such an expensive DVD writer, when there are many <$50 solutions that work fine?
-Why spend almost $300 on the super-mega-whatever edition of the Audigy 4 when you can probably get something comprable for ~$100, like the Audigy2 ZS Gamer?
-Why use 400GB drives when 250-300GB drives are so much cheaper, and with the money you save you could probably get an extra one?
-Why buy the absolute most expensive processor on the market when itll probably drop $200 in price in a month?
-And if you want to blow a ton, why not throw in at least 1 74GB WD Raptor for a boot/OS drive, or maybe 2 of them in Raid 0, if you really have excess cash to waste?

And most importantly....
TWO 7800GTXs? Are you serious? WHY?

I don't agree with the "Go Big or Go Home" idea when it comes to computers. It is worthless to be on the 'bleeding edge', especially when if you wait a month or two, you can get the stuff at 50% or better discount, not to mention, the next-gen stuff is usually only 10-15% better anyway.
 
Well, if you are looking to build the best possible gaming machine, then it will consist of an FX57 and 2 7800s. Is it too much? Nah, if you have the money, then do it, I know I would:D

Everything looks good, though. I recommed Gigabyte mobos for skt 939 non-overclocking builds, because I own one myself, and have found it to be great. But, thats only personal preference, because I havent uses an ASUS board for skt 939 myself.

Windows XP Pro is really only useful when you are in a corporate environment, or get fancy with user accounts, which most people dont.

Im not really sure if you are entirely serious about this build. I've seen threads like this that are just because the poster just wants to brag or something stupid. Hopefully you arent one of such posters :)
 
Custom is always better and 2 7800gtx well its future proof best cards out there right know. So i would go with custom.
 
Future proof? hah

Spend $1000 today just for 200+fps in 8xAA with 2048+ resolutions.

And in a year or so, it'll be totally obsolete with the new games, because of the way they are developing GPU-based enhancements. You'll be sorry that you didn't have a "DirectX 11" (or whatever they are on by then) based card.

Sorry, I just dont buy into nVidia and ATIs "New $600 card every 3-4 months" based strategy. What a ripoff. And SLI is just yet another way to rip you off even more.
 
I just thought of a better idea.

Buy yourself one of those 7800GTXs. If you think you even need that kind of power. That should keep you occupied for at least a year, even if you have a 26" CRT that you run at crazy resolutions.

Then, take the $500 cash for that other 7800GTX, and put it in an envelope, seal it, and tape it inside your computer case, behind the drive cages.

In a year, when your 7800GTX is starting to lack in performance, take your $500 and buy the latest fad from nVidia or ATI, and replace your 7800GTX with the next-generation uber-card that'll probably take up 3 slots and require its own power supply.

That, or, put $300 back in the envelope, and buy a second 7800GTX at the now reduced price of $200, and run them in SLI.

That is the only "future proofing" you can even do in the world of computers.
 
I couldn't agree more. There's no need at this point for TWO 7800's. They can run all of the games. ALL of them. Not 'most', or 'some'; but it runs all of them, perfectly.

At this point that would be overkill completely unless you do have those cash bondfires.

Ryan
 
if ur gonna blow a few stacks on a pc why not dual core?
and i would also get more hard drives.
and if you wanna be soo future proof why not get 2 gigs of ram?most will say pverkill but u have 2x7800gtx's in sli thats overkill you could save the 500$ incase you need it for something else that might go wrong then u kee the 500$ and then when you need the new card if nothing goes wrong pop it in.
JUst suggestions.
 
Well, this is turning more into a moral thing than a hardware thing.

If you have the money, that will be a great system to remeber. I am guessing your not an overclocker, so your not going to try to hit a world record with it either. If i had the money, I would buy it. Most people on the forum have less money than you.

For building your own, the only thing that is real easy to mess up is the motherboard. However you should be able to get everything together well.

Building your own PC gets you satasfaction, better peformance and saves alot of money.

Since you want the best, their's a few changes I would recomend.

#1: Ditch the Asus motherboard, get a DFI Lanparty SLI-DR as they are much more stable, and higher peformance in many cases.

#2: Get 2x 1 gig sticks of ram, unless you want to get more expensive ram which you cannot get 1 gig sticks of.

#3: Reconsider the Power Supply. PC Power and Cooling 850 is the best, but it may be too much.

You can also feel free to send me a PM, MSN or AIM message if you need any help.
 
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