Build Advice Too much money to spend on a build thread

Hello,
A friend of mine and I were having a conversation about a computer that she wants to build.
she told me that she wants to spend fifteen thousand on it.
I corrected her by saying fifteen hundred. And she said "no" she wants to spend up to 15,000 (CDN) dollars on it.

I dont know how to spend that much money as I usually go for a mid range computer myself.

And I haven't been paying attention to the i7's as I dont need a new pc right now.

So here is the question,

How do I spend 15 grand on a pc?

It needs bling too. she wants a clear panel on the side with lots of pretty lights inside.
And watercooling.
The 15grand also needs to be spent on things like a printer, monitor, mouse, keyboard, OS, and speakers.

Suggestions?

 

Zeon workstation class system board with two £800 processors would be a good start, max the memory or at least to 12gb, 3x256Gb SSD drives in Raid 0

Blue ray reader writer.

30inch monitor.

how much is all that in dollars? has to be over 7 thousands im sure.

Custom PC case is an empty bucket..

check out

www.million-dollar-pc.com

 

that website is perfect. There are some people on there who can do a much better job than what I could ever do.
thanks for that!

 

Fifteen... thousand?

Okaaay... *breathes in*

Well, first off, it's worth knowing what she's actually going to use this for. If she really just told you "I have fifteen grand to blow on a PC" without telling you what she was going to do with it, the numerical figure isn't really much help. Is it being used for gaming? Rendering? Photography work? Does she want dual monitors - or has she even thought about that? How much storage space does she need?


Assuming she needs a lot of everything, I would start off by suggesting the following:

- Dual Core i7 CPUs on a server board
- Two liquid-cooled GTX 295s (or more, if she's folding or is willing to try it out)
- 24GB DDR3-1600 RAM with as low latency as possible, maybe even in 4GB modules so as to allow future upgrades on a 12-slot board
- 4x Intel X25-M G2 160GB in RAID 0
- 4-8x Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB in RAID 10
- Two identical discrete RAID controllers from Areca (one for the SSDs, one for the HDDs, so as not to saturate the chipset bandwidth or overload the controller's onboard processor)

Liquid cooling system:
- Dual Aquacomputer Aquastream XT Ultra pumps
- at least 5x120mm worth of TFC X-Changer or HW Labs Black Ice SR1 radiators (SR1 if your fans are lower RPM, X-Changer otherwise)
- CPU and GPU Waterblocks from EK, maybe a MIPS Freezer 6 block or two for the RAM (if you decide to go with Corsair Dominators)
- 13mm inner diameter tubing

Peripherals (ask about these - they depend heavily on personal preference and intended use)
- 2x HP LP2475W
- Logitech Wave Pro Desktop


And while you're off asking her how she's going to be using this, you might want to ask her why she feels like she wants to spend this much money...


- Diosjenin -

 

Good questions,
She wants to spend this much money for a few reasons. One is that she grew up without money, and now that she has a lot, she wants to show it off.
the computer will be used for some gaming, home theater, and business work.
No rendering or anything like that.
And now that I mention that, I think she wanted a projector... I'll have to ask.
I'm thinking *just* a dual sli setup with watercooling. two 295's like this:
EVGA E-GEFORCE GTX 295 CO-OP 576MHZ 1792MB 2.016GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDCP Video Card
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=40034
But maybe one that comes with a waterblock to make things easier.
I'll have to ask about the monitor setup. I had assumed one but this will have the power for two 25's so I will see if she wants that.


so many options at this price range. I'm trying to get ideas to show her so we can narrow down what she really wants.

too much money if you ask me, but its hers to spend.

 

You buy 3 NEC 2490WUXi's instead of Diosjenin's 2 HPs.

Or 3 Eizo 24"s... Those things are amazing.

And a Matrox Dual/Triple-Head-to-Go.

 

So it turns out there's basically no server boards in black - they're all that ugly green color, so that won't work. Here's what I have so far (in $CA unless otherwise noted):

- Intel Core i7 975: $1140
- EVGA Classified Hydro Copper: $620
- 6x2GB Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600 CAS8: $404
- 2x BFG GTX 295 H2OC: $1720
- 4x Intel X25-M 160GB: $1996 (the link is for Generation 1s, look for G2s in a few weeks)
- 3Ware 9650SE-4LPML RAID Card: $375
- 6x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB: $900
- Enermax Revolution 1050W: $360
- << some Blu-Ray reader/DVD burner combo. Use LG's GGC-H20L if you can find it. >>

- Total: $7514.86 (newegg.ca)

Now, that doesn't include the case. For that, I went to PerformancePCs.com, found a Lian-Li PC-A77B Extreme Watercooled Edition (which includes a 4x120mm X-Changer radiator and fans built into the top), and configured it with the following extra options:
- Clear window panel
- Fully sleeve all interior case wires
- Pack of 20 black thumbscrews
- Install Lian-Li black aluminum casters

That came out to about $928 US. From the same site, you'll also want to accessorize the case with at least the following:
- Lian-Li C-02B Aluminum Bezel for Wide-Tray Drives: $13 US
- 2x Lian-Li EX-H33B: $140 US
- 2x Lian-Li HD-322 5.25" to 2x 2.5" Drive Bay Converter: $38 US

All that comes out to about $1119 US total, plus another $117 US or so for 6-10 day shipping to Canada. Plug that into a currency converter and you get (this is true) roughly $1337 CA. That's got to be a good choice right there.


Thus, in total, all the hardware above amounts to $8,852.22 CA.

It still lacks an optical drive, the remainder of the liquid cooling system (needs barbs, hose, pumps, reservoir, coolant, and CPU waterblock, and perhaps some extras like flow meters, etc.), all peripherals (monitor/projector, keyboard/mouse, headphones/speaker, wireless router, printer, etc.), and all software (OS, office suite, etc.) Also of note is that it does not include a sound card of any kind - whether you'll actually need one will depend somewhat upon the sound system she selects. It also does not include a lighting system - this is fairly cheap, but going LED or fluorescent or something else is dependent upon her desires.

More can be added as details about use, etc. continue to come in.


- Diosjenin -

 

Just tell her to get a murderbox = new PC pr0ns for us all.

 

triple head only goes up to 1680 by xyz right, so 1920 is out of the window.

She is going to need decent table and a proper chair which would eat another 2k..

 

This thread makes me cry. Not because I can't afford all this gear, but because of how much of a waste it is. You'd think these hard economic times would make people think a bit more carefully about how they spend their money, but obviously not for some.

Would the circle of people she is close to (or the ones she wants to impress) even be able to tell the difference between a $15,000 system and one costing 1/10th that amount? I am struggling to believe that would be the case. In fact, if I knew someone with a fully watercooled system with an i7 975, 4 SSDs, 2 WC GTX 295s that they only used for browsing the web and playing The Sims, then I'd just laugh at them for being so wasteful. You can easily turn an ordinary high-end build into something unique (with "bling") for far, far less.

If I knew her and it was me she was asking, I would very seriously tell her to spend half that amount and give the rest to charity.

 

for showing off, surely a nice car is better?

apart from geeks, no one is really going to notice a pimped out computer. just get a Mac Pro and a couple 30 inch displays.

 

Yeah, no kidding.
The best part? she's a financial advisor...
yup.
I pointed out that the computer is overkill but she doesn't care.
Oh well, I haven't heard from her yet today. Must be busy with her family or something.

Thanks for all the advice so far. I'll post here again when I hear from her and get some more direction.

 

Alternately, if you wanted to be Robin Hood-sneaky about it, I guess you could just take the $15k, say what's not for parts is building fees, build her a less expensive computer, and donate the remainder to Kiva yourself...

Just a thought.


- Diosjenin -

 

I'll have to +1 the Murderbox... They can come up with some SEXY systems.

 

if you want dual cpu in black than it is time for...
SKULLTRAIL!!

 

Im Prepared to be hailed by abuse.

But....

Considered a Mac Pro?

 

If she wants to be showy about it, she shouldn't spend all that cash on a 975 and 4 SSDs, because nobody will notice. What she should do is turn to a professional modder, and have him/her build something truely unique, that blends in with her existing furniture. Integrate the full setup, have the desk be a seethrough mirror with the hardware below, watercool the lot, and see how the neighbours look at THAT when you invite them for dinner.

PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE stay away from overpriced hardware, hire an overpriced modder instead. There's plenty of candidates on this forum alone.

 

I'm prepared to be hailed by even more abuse (although thankfully I think I'm in the right forum not to be)

But...

...even Macs aren't that expensive


EDIT: Xtrafresh's idea is along the right lines - go with something unique and creative, not something that anyone could buy with enough cash.

 

Murderbox might go overbudget? She needs the entire PC setup including a $2000 chair apparently, so that might not work.

 

that's what i've said earlier!

the only thing that can be stand out are modifications to the case or Apple products. xtrafresh's idea is the way forward if spending 8k on Mac Pro doesn't satisfy her needs