Objective: Build the best computer Budget: £1000 - not a penny more Requirements: Fully compatible rig, including Operating System Competition: Who can make the best rig Limitations: One entry per person Prize: Suprise (yes it will be crummy ) =====GET CREATING!===========
HD Destroyer Case: Coolermaster HAF932 PSU: NorthQ Black Magic 850W Modular CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz 8MB Cache HSF: Stock Case Fans: Stock HAF932 + 2 Red LED Internal 22db Coolermaster 120mm Fan GPU: 2x XFX HD4890 Black 4000MHz GDDR5, 1000MHz GPU in CrossfireX HDD: 500GB Hitachi DeskStar 7200rpm 16MB Cache RAM: (2x2GB 1333MHz PC3-10666 6-6-6-20 DDR3 OCZ Reaper) ODD: Samsung SH-S223L DVD+DL Drive, Lightscribe 22xDVD+R Motherboard: Sapphire PureCrossFireX AMD 790GX OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit + Windows 7 Upgrade Other: Silverstone 4pc SST-Ventilation Slots Price (inc VAT, excl carriage): £999.44 Shops: http://www.scan.co.uk + http://www.overclockers.co.uk
Intel Core i7 920 D0 2.66GHz Socket 1366 8MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R iX58 Socket 1366 7.1 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard XFX HD 4890 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card Coolermaster HAF 922 Mid Tower Case - No PSU Windows 7 Professional Samsung EcoGreen F2 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 32MB Cache - OEM LG GH22NS40 22X SATA DVD±RW/DL/RAM Black Bare Drive - OEM Corsair 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3 Memory Seagate ST3250310AS 250GB Hard Drive Corsair 850W TX Series PSU £968.35 delivered all from ebuyer Ive gone for Win7 pro on the basis of using the RC till its released.
Case: CM Cooler Master Scout + Hiper Flow 120mm fan (excellent cooling and I didn't like the 922 and couldn't afford the p183) PSU: 850W Seasonic M12D Modular Power Supply CPU: Intel Core i7-920 D0 Stepping CPU HSF: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 Quiet CPU Cooler GPU: XFX Radeon HD 4890 XXX 1GB (overclocked to 900MHz) HDD: 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F1 3.5" Hard Disk Drive RAM: 6GB OCZ Gold 1600MHz DDR3 Triple Channel Memory Kit (CAS 8-8-8-24) ODD: Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22x DVDRW Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R Motherboard OS: Windows 7 prebuy + Windows 7 RC to tide you over Total: 999.51 (prices fluctuate a bit but this was correct to the last p when i found the components) All from cclonline.com (free delivery) except Win7 (PC World) Notes: 1) should be able to overclock to both the CPU and the GPU to 4+ and possible 1000MHz (if you're VERY lucky) 2) RAM chosen more for lower CAS rating than speed (cas has a bigger impact on games) 3) Windows 7 is so cheap to prebuy. No reason not to for a new system.
very nice rigs so far, keep em coming, i've noticed that many people are picking the i7, just remember that this is a gaming rig, so due to AMDs superb chipsets even the £1000 i7 will offer 1-5fps max more than the best Phenom II, which is ofcourse 5x less to buy Also, these are £1000 rigs, if you dont get dual GPU/SLI/CrossfireX your gonna get slayed...
May I ask what arbitrary criteria you are judging these builds by? All you have said so far is the rather vague statement of 'best rig', and that doesn't really help as everyone's idea of their 'best' rig will vary (i.e. see above posts).
Allow me to explain: Using your research skills, and a £1000 budget you must find not only the most impressive specs but also the best stuff benchmark wise (i.e. check benchmarks before you pick)
Must we? Really? Also, impressive specs? It's all going to be around a Core i7, a 4890 or two, a GTX275 or two. You get the picture, they'll all be the same computers. Bar a few differences, there will be nothing Earth shatteringly different about them, nice idea, but severely flawed.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2009/07/08/what-hardware-should-i-buy-july-2009/6 There's the 'best' rig for £1000. Since when is a Phenom II rig 'ofcourse 5x less to buy' than an i7 rig?
$280/$240 (i7 920/955 BE) = 1.17x the price, total price isn't that much higher if you choose parts carefully. If you just want to compare top-end to top-end, i7 ends up 11.6x cheaper. A Phenom II X4 42 TWKR sold for $11,600 at auction, and the top i7 975 costs $1000.
It's easy: Cost - Phenom II wins because it's cheaper overall Gaming - About the same Everything else - i7 cleans up
I would think an i7 is about 150-200 more expensive (CPU+mobo+RAM) which tbh, is about the price of a graphics card If it's the best 'gaming only' rig, y not go for a 8400 oc the crap out of it and put in either a triple SLI/crossfire or a SLI/crossfire dual-graphics cards Most games only use 2 cores anyway right? And clockspeed is the deciding factor. The Core 2 Duo should do just as well as either the Phenom II or the i7