Weekly Build – Mike’s Dream Machine
One thing I enjoy doing every so often is sitting down to design a computer that I would build if money were no object. I call this my “Dream Machine”, and it’s more than recklessly throwing together the most expensive components I can find.
When I say that I approach the build as if money were no object, I am stretching the truth a bit. My overall rule for the build is that, provided my wife would ever agree to this, I am spending the equivalent of a healthy holiday bonus on a new computer. This would never happen, of course, but it does create a nice ceiling for how much money I can spend in creating my dream computing system.
With that in mind, I put my hypothetical $4,000 towards building the perfect computer for me. I stress “for me”, because everyone is different. Some people eschew storage space for raw processing power, and would be willing to sacrifice $1,000 for a processor alone. Others are focused solely on gaming, and want to have three of the best cutting-edge graphics cards in three-way SLI, so that they can finally play Crysis at full resolution. I have a bit of a different take on the dream machine. It might be a bit pedestrian, perhaps even somewhat boring…but hey, it’s my dream!
Intel Core i7-950 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor – Newegg
CORSAIR CWCH50-1 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler – Newegg
[$359.98 Combo Deal]
There was no doubt in my mind that I would be using a Core i7 processor for this build, but the question was, “which one?”. I chose the i7-950 based on its price and feature set. At $300 it does not break the bank, but it has four cores operating at 3.0 GHz as well as a 3-channel DDR3 memory controller. I considered some of the LGA 1156 based processors to save a few dollars, but the fact that they are limited to a 2 channel memory controller ruled them out immediately. When I discussed this build with some people, they suggested I drop $1,000 on the i7-980x, but I just could not justify it.
I honestly picked this cooler by chance. It was part of a combo deal featured at Newegg, so I thought I would take a look at it. The closed-loop water cooling aspect of this heatsink made it an instant winner in my book. I like the idea of water cooling, but I am too lazy to do it. It seems like more hassle than its worth, unless I am overclocking this machine in a ridiculous manner. This heatsink seems to be a nice compromise between air and water cooling, so I figure I will give it a shot.
ASUS Rampage III Formula ATX Intel Motherboard
[$299.99 - Newegg]
I am a big fan of ASUS motherboards, as you can see by my previous builds. I think they make solid equipment, and the Rampage Formula boards are no exception. This board has it all – a pair of SATA III ports, two USB 3.0 ports, three Pci-e slots, the list goes on and on. There are so many overclocking-friendly features to this board that I could write an entire post about them. Some of the big features are the dual BIOS chips on the board, and the ability to overclock the board using a separate laptop computer. If you really want to read about the board’s features in detail, check out this article.
At the end of the day, I wanted something “future proof” that had enough of today’s technology as well as the ability to use newer components in the future. I think this board strikes a nice balance between power, reliability, and flexibility. I really couldn’t ask for much more in a motherboard.
2 x Kingston HyperX T1 Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory
[$377.98 - ($188.99 each) - Newegg]
Kingston is always an easy choice for me when building a PC. I often lean towards Corsair or Patriot memory, but Kingston is another brand I trust quite a bit. These particular modules were pretty attractive due to their built-in heatsinks and the fact that they come with a fan to keep things even cooler. These modules are already rated at DDR3 2000, but if you know Kingston, you know there is always room for overclocking. These modules should be perfect for my system, and I am pretty comfortable in saying that 12 GB of memory should last me for quite some time.
As an added bonus, Kingston is bundling a free 2 GB “Michael Jackson – This is It” flash drive with this memory. I can’t imagine why they are trying to get rid of it….
In all seriousness, 2 free flash drives are not a terrible freebie, even if they do suffer from unfortunate branding. You can always use them as ReadyBoost drives or in a one-off project, so I can’t imagine them going to waste.
2 x EVGA GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 012-P3-1470-AR Video Card
[$639.98 - ($319.99 each) after $20 mail-in rebate - Newegg]
Video performance is always important. This machine would be used for gaming at times, video encoding at others, and even Folding. A pair of high-end cards is a must in my case. However, there is a point where I don’t think the extra cost of top-end cards can be justified performance-wise. Sure, I could spring for GTX 480 Fermi-based cards, but I can’t see paying an additional $200 apiece for the performance increase. They are powerful enough for all I will be doing, and relatively reasonable when you compare them to the next highest tier of video cards.
As an added bonus, these cards come with a free copy of Mafia II. I can easily sell the second copy to a friend and recoup a bit of my money.
4 x WD SiliconEdge Blue SSC-D0064SC-2100 2.5″ MLC Internal Solid State Drive
[$599.96 - ($139.99 each) - Newegg]
Here is part of what makes my dream machine mine. Hard drives are the biggest bottleneck in any modern PC, so you have to do something in order to combat that. My solution is to use SSD drives in RAID 0 configuration.
My plan is to use two of these drives for my OS and program storage, then use the other two as a Newsbin “work” drive. Newsbin can be very I/O intensive – writing files, fixing others and decompressing archives, all at the same time. These SSDs are rated at 250 MB/s read and 170 MB/s write, so paired together in RAID will greatly increase my system performance and responsiveness. At $140 apiece, these are a steal!
2 x Western Digital 2 TB Caviar Black SATA 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive WD2001FASS
[$328.98 - ($164.49 each) - Amazon]
These drives are nothing too special, but they will make up the bulk of the storage space on my computer. I digitize all sorts of things – my music, my movies, etc. Eventually it all adds up, so I need some serious storage devices to handle all of my content. These two 2TB drives should tide me over for quite some time. I really like the Western Digital brand, and the Black line drives are their top performers, aside from the RE- line. For this setup, I can’t justify the price of enterprise-grade hardware, so I will go for the consumer-grade gear.
LSI MegaRAID Internal Low-Power SATA/SAS 9240-8i 6Gb/s PCI-Express 2.0 RAID Controller Card, Kit
[$304.99 - Newegg]
To wrangle all of my drives, I want real RAID. While I settle for Intel ICH RAID in my current system, I would really prefer a hardware-based RAID solution. LSI is a reliable brand, however I really would prefer a 3Ware card. The price is pretty prohibitive, so the LSI fits the bill both hardware and price-wise.
I really like the SAS ports on this card. Each SAS interface can support 4 SATA drives, so I still have room to add up to 4 more devices, provided I only use it for my two RAID volumes.
As an added bonus, this card comes with a 4 GB Kingston USB flash drive. That’s 8 GB of free flash drives for those of you who are counting.
Corsair Professional Series Gold High Performance 1200-Watt Power Supply CMPSU-1200AX
[$278.99 - Amazon]
This is a serious computer, so I need a serious power supply. 1200 watts might seem like overkill, but between the video cards, the hard drives, overclocking, and the forthcoming DVD drives, I need it. In all reality, I might not need 1200 watts now, but if I continue to add hardware to this computer, I will likely need it later.
I really like Corsair, and their power supplies are top-notch. This model is 80+ certified, so I know I will be getting problem-free, clean, consistent power.
LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS-324-98
[$24.99 - Newegg]
It’s a DVD drive. It burns DVDs. What else is there to say?
LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Reader SATA Model iHOS104-06
[$99.98 - Newegg]
This is a pretty basic Blu-ray drive, nothing too exciting. It plays Blu Ray movies, and that’s all I need it for.
2 x SilverStone SDP08 3.5″ to 2 x 2.5″ Bay Converter
[$19.98 - ($9.99 each) - Newegg]
These drive trays allow me to fit two 2.5″ SSDs into one 3.5″ drive slot. $9.99 is a fair enough price to pay for saving some case real estate.
COOLER MASTER Cosmos Pure Black Computer Case – Newegg
Nippon Labs ICR-MFFD All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader – Newegg
[$244.99 Combo Deal]
This is a really sharp looking case from Cooler Master. The PSU mounts on the bottom, there is room for six hard drives in the bottom tray, and the case overall is quite spacious. It doesn’t have a slide-out motherboard tray, but I can live with that.
As for the card reader, I just couldn’t resist. I don’t really need a card reader, but the combo deal sold me. The case is $249 on its own, but if I add the $25 card reader, I only have to pay $244. Sounds like something went wrong in Newegg’s pricing system, but you won’t hear me complain!
2 x Acer P235Hbmid Black 23″ 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor Built-in Speakers
[$399.98 - ($199.99 each) - Newegg]
Since I am replacing my rig, I might as well replace my monitor too. My 19″ LCD has served me well, but I have no problem moving up to this pair of 23″ LCD panels from Acer. They are widescreen, have HDMI inputs, and that’s about all I need.
So that’s my dream machine. It might not be a screaming speed demon, but it does everything I need. At just under $4,000 this is one machine that is welcome under my desk any day.
What does your “Dream Machine” look like?
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Weekly Build – The $1,000 Gaming Rig
Weekly Build – Gaming on the Cheap
Weekly Build – Carputer Internals
Weekly Build – A sub-$1,200 Home Media Server
2 Responses to “Weekly Build – Mike’s Dream Machine”
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Looks pretty good; I was thinking the i7 line was overpriced at first but the price drops combined with the release of the i7-950 makes them look pretty good and more reasonable purchases.
Would love to get a Corsair AX line of power supply, too. The idea of something insanely reliable and with a seven year warranty seriously appeals to me, even if PC hardware is always changing and improving.
If I had thousands of dollars to spend on a new PC, though, I’d have to opt for 2x GTX 460 or HD 5850/5870. I think a 480 or 470 would be too hot during the summer with air cooling.
I would agree that most of the i7 line is reasonably priced at this point. I think I paid about $250 for my C2Q 9300 a couple of years ago, so $300 is not totally out of line. You can still find new Phenom’s cheaper than that, but I think I will still stick with the i7.
As for the Corsair power supplies, I couldn’t agree with you more. They are pricey, but rock solid.
I never considered temps to be an issue with my video cards, but then again I don’t know how hot this rig would get if I was running F@H on both the CPU and video cards during a hot summer. Air conditioning would help a bit, but I definitely see your point.
At the end of the day, if I was hitting a wall heat-wise I would probably bite the bullet and invest in some water cooling.