Bobs killer new PC

[BobTD]

Aight. So over the past month I have been working non stop and every holiday and sometimes as many as three 16 hour shifts in a week to save up money over winter break. All to afford a little extra for a present I wanted to get myself:

1. Processor:AMD Phenom II 6MB
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT55TFBGRBOX
2. Mobo: 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
Newegg.com - ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
3. GPU: Radeon HD 6850 1GB CrossFired (x2)
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
4. PSU: COOLER MASTER GX Series
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER GX Series RS750-ACAAE3-US 750W ATX12V v2.31 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
5. HDD: 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
6. Case: AZZA Solano 1000 Black/
Newegg.com - AZZA Solano 1000 BlackMetal mesh in front ATX Full Tower Computer Case
7. Ram: 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

Using dvd drives from someone I took IT classes with.

Total Cost: ($999.12)USD
Not including the value of the free copy of Darksiders and the free $10 gift card that came with some parts.

The last of the order went out today, so it should all be here within the week.

The case I spent a lot more then I needed to, because I could have used a cheep $20 full case, but it was made of cheep aluminium and dented to easy and this one was pretty sexy looking for the price:



The way I found many of the components for the computer I wanted to build was though comparing performance ratings with the price, to get a good idea of the best value I could get. A good way to do this is to look at sites like this one:

PassMark Software - Video Card Benchmark Charts

Just for fun, this is a chart with my GPU vs Dilis =D


Look up your video card and hit CTRL F and type it in there and you can locate the card you want pretty fast. The Radeon HD 6850 Im using comes in about 11th on the highend bechmark list with well over 300 samples. And at under $200 for one of the best looking cards on the market. With the motherboard I have I can also crossfire this GPU for a performance that possibly outclasses the best cards for a lot lower price.

The next step of course for each part was to look up user responses to all the parts I planned to order. Trying to get an accurate picture of common complaints and problems was important to me if I was going to be spending over $800 on a computer.

And finally if after decided on the parts I went and researched the companies the parts where from. Its a good idea a lot of time because I found my PSU was from a bankrupt company and thats why it was marked down so low. Knowing if you will have tech support or a reliable return policy is important.

Why the overkill you ask? Well I pride myself on being an informed gamer. And for a long time many PC games lay outside my grasp. In fact I have many games on my STEAM account I cant even play due to some higher end requirements, like Shattered Horizon for example:



The requirement pushed the prospective price up to begin with, the rest didnt seem like a huge leap to keep adding $20 here and there to get a little better performance here or there. While some areas could have been cut back in a lot, I decided not to since this is essentially my Xmas present to myself.

Im especially interested to see if Linux likes some of my selections and hear his opinion.

If you are not a computer person, and your only question is can I run Crysis, then the answer is yes: