3,500 dollar budget, what to do?

[Phynaz]

As for me, I'd rather get two 60GB SSDs in RAID 0 than a single 120GB SSD. It is not for the added capacity, it is for the added performance and capacity.

Techreport found that RAIDed SSD's are slower than single drives in real world usage.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/22358

 

[dma0991]

Techreport found that RAIDed SSD's are slower than single drives in real world usage.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/22358

Strange. Very strange. Their tests practically contradicts every other reviews that I could find about RAID 0 performance. Almost all synthetic benches still shows that RAID shows an improvement over a single SSD in sequential reads.

Support for RAID with SSDs are terrible, so I could see why the improvements aren't as great as it supposes to be. Probably I should get a few and find the truth about it myself.

 

[NTMBK]

Strange. Very strange. Their tests practically contradicts every other reviews that I could find about RAID 0 performance. Almost all synthetic benches still shows that RAID shows an improvement over a single SSD in sequential reads.

Support for RAID with SSDs are terrible, so I could see why the improvements aren't as great as it supposes to be. Probably I should get a few and find the truth about it myself.

The performance gains will be negligible at best, and the loss of reliability is a serious issue. SSDs are still unreliable technology, and RAID0 makes it even more unreliable. If anything, I'd go the opposite way with a RAID SSD array- clone the disks in a RAID 1.

 

[TidusZ]

Would probably be best off getting a $2000 pc and a $1200 30" monitor. Higher resolution is pretty helpful for mmo's, especially for hardcore raiding with all the ui addons and unit frames. It wouldn't run any worse than on the $3500 pc either. Also, performance of mmo's is mostly based on processor so its a shame she wont overclock since even 8 year old WoW benefits greatly from 4 ghz+ overclocks during raiding (and pretty necessary if your going to fraps a raid).

 

[Dallascisco]

After taking a hard look at things and having an in depth discussion with her I have shaved off a couple of ridiculous items. Everyone here has been rather helpful. I'm an experienced computer tech but I will admit I don't custom build machines much any more. Most people just get something from the OEM's. When I do get to do custom jobs most of the time my budget is 2,000 or below so as I mentioned earlier this is a real treat. The one thing I always preach is to build in headroom and my issue was finding the spot where you have headroom to grow without being ridiculous. I think my latest parts lists reflects that. After our discussion she made it clear she is set on the antec case as many of her friends have it and the noise isn't going to be a problem as her last one was fairly loud and it didn't bother her. She has a surround sound system so the music is cranked anyways. She made it clear she wants a newer platform that will offer the possibility of upgrades within the 1-2 year time frame. I think the lga 2011 offers better possibilities there as opposed to the 1366 which is already well developed. She made it clear that she wants ssd, top end cpu, and top end gpu.

I like how you use the term "trusted adviser" because I use it all the time with my clients. I believe I've made it very clear to her what her options are. I priced out a lga 1366 system for her as well and she still decided to go the way we are going to get newer features and more expansion. This isn't a dumb blonde, this woman is fairly tech savvy and has a general understanding of most concepts. She understands that this build will be overkill in the short term but she also wants a machine that is prepared to handle new games that come out. The way this machine is put together it will be viable for at least 2 years and maybe longer depending on what she gets into and that's all she wants. Yes, she has been ripped before and she spent over 3500 on the last one. She felt more betrayed by the fact that not all the parts were of performance grade than anything else. That fact has made her somewhat paranoid but I think I've made her feel comfortable since we've had such an open dialogue. I don't think I'm perpetuating anything except what the customer wants.

To give you some background on me, I am the highest rated computer repair contractor on Angie's List in the Washington DC metro area. In just over a year I've accumulated 120+ A reviews which is by far the most of any contractor, even overall. Given the fact that there are 25+ pages of registered computer repair contractors in this area I think that is fairly impressive. I was also fortunate enough to receive the Angie's List 2011 Super Service Award which only 5 percent of companies qualify for, let alone receive. I admit that most of my client is the general Joe Blo type, but one thing that is evident in many of my reviews is how honest I am.

My updated parts list will follow shortly. Once again, I thank all who have contributed.

I admit, I LOL'ed.

OP, while you could keep your mouth shut and build your client a ridiculous $3500 machine, I don't think that is the most moral/ethical choice. IMHO it is your duty as a trusted adviser to point out how much of a ridiculous waste of money this machine is for someone whose goal is to play SWTOR. That task can be handled even at 2560x1600 with a $1500 machine. Just because your client has been ripped off by boutiques in the past and has a whacked out view of what a gaming machine should cost doesn't mean that you have to be a part of perpetuating that.

 

[Dallascisco]

Revised parts list

antec 1200
pc power and cooling 910 psu
3930k sandy bridge
asus sabertooth x79
16 gb gskill 1866
crucial 512 gb OS\App drive
wd cav black 1.5 data drive (from old machine)
7970 video
lite on dvdrw
rosewill media card reader

total comes in below 3,000

 

[tynopik]

She made it clear she wants a newer platform that will offer the possibility of upgrades within the 1-2 year time frame. I think the lga 2011 offers better possibilities there as opposed to the 1366 which is already well developed.

The choice isn't between 2011 and 1366, it's between 2011 and 1155

Both will offer a future for exactly one more generation: ivy bridge

After that, Haswell will require a new motherboard regardless.

so what does 2011 offer that 1155 does not?

- more PCIe lanes: Is she planning to go quad-fire in 1-2 years? Otherwise it doesn't matter

- 8 ram slots: Does she need more than 16GB RAM in 1-2 years? Even if she might, you can just get 2x8gb sticks now to leave 2 slots free for future upgrades.

- more than 4 core processors: really this is the only way you can begin to justify this. But since you didn't choose a 6-core processor, again there's no point.

edit: durr, sorry misread what processor you were getting, so you are going for 6-core, interesting

 

[Dallascisco]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116492

Do I read 6 core there or are my eyes deceived?

The choice isn't between 2011 and 1366, it's between 2011 and 1155

Both will offer a future for exactly one more generation: ivy bridge

After that, Haswell will require a new motherboard regardless.

so what does 2011 offer that 1155 does not?

- more PCIe lanes: Is she planning to go quad-fire in 1-2 years? Otherwise it doesn't matter

- 8 ram slots: Does she need more than 16GB RAM in 1-2 years? Even if she might, you can just get 2x8gb sticks now to leave 2 slots free for future upgrades.

- more than 4 core processors: really this is the only way you can begin to justify this. But since you didn't choose a 6-core processor, again there's no point.

 

[Kristijonas]

it's true.
Also if she has a sound system as you've said, then perhaps adding a good soundcard could be a good idea?

 

[tynopik]

Do I read 6 core there or are my eyes deceived?

sorry, misread what you typed

 

[KidNiki1]

as a female gamer who built her own PC (with lots of help from some people here ), i wanted to throw in my two cents.

if i am correct, she wants a nice rig to play swtor, and other games? The PC i built, i did for about half her budget. And i game a lot, and it runs all my games 'like buttah'. I'm not sure how she feels about it, but, my recommendation is to get a solid machine, which she can do for half that budget, and take the rest of her money and upgrade her keyboard, headset, mouse, get dual monitors (upgrade to some 120hz monitors and thats about 1k right there).

Honestly, unless she is a professional gamer and needs a $3500 machine, i think she is much better off upgrading her peripherals to make her overall gaming experience better, or saving that money.

i can't find the thread where i asked for some help building mine, but that was a while ago.

 

[Dallascisco]

What's true?

Do you have a sound card in mind?

it's true.
Also if she has a sound system as you've said, then perhaps adding a good soundcard could be a good idea?

 

[Dallascisco]

You are correct.

What are your system specs?

as a female gamer who built her own PC (with lots of help from some people here ), i wanted to throw in my two cents.

if i am correct, she wants a nice rig to play swtor, and other games? The PC i built, i did for about half her budget. And i game a lot, and it runs all my games 'like buttah'. I'm not sure how she feels about it, but, my recommendation is to get a solid machine, which she can do for half that budget, and take the rest of her money and upgrade her keyboard, headset, mouse, get dual monitors (upgrade to some 120hz monitors and thats about 1k right there).

Honestly, unless she is a professional gamer and needs a $3500 machine, i think she is much better off upgrading her peripherals to make her overall gaming experience better, or saving that money.

i can't find the thread where i asked for some help building mine, but that was a while ago.

 

[KidNiki1]

sorry, had to find the post i made with the info. here is what i got.

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

OCZ ZX Series 850W Fully-Modular 80PLUS Gold High Performance Power Supply

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

Rosewill RFA-120-BL 120mm 4 Blue LEDs LED Case Fan

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler

Corsair Carbide Series 400R Graphite grey and black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case

Galaxy 58NLH5HS3PXZ GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

SAMSUNG Black Blu-ray Combo SATA Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support - OEM

ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

ASUS Xonar DS 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Audio Card

total cost was around 1700. i added a 120hz monitor (amazing looking) and upgraded to a gaming mouse with the money I had left over from my budget.

also, i thought i would throw in there that i play SWTOR as well. Also have played BF3, Borderlands and WoW on this rig. No problems, good framerates. With the monitor, the games look sweet! I can also broadcast all the above mentioned games with no system impact, i.e., my game performance does not suffer even when recording/broadcasting live video of me playing.

 

[NTMBK]

How about a really good high quality sound card to get the most out of that surround sound system? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132010

 

[Dallascisco]

That's a nice rig, congrats on putting it together yourself.

sorry, had to find the post i made with the info. here is what i got.

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

OCZ ZX Series 850W Fully-Modular 80PLUS Gold High Performance Power Supply

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

Rosewill RFA-120-BL 120mm 4 Blue LEDs LED Case Fan

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler

Corsair Carbide Series 400R Graphite grey and black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case

Galaxy 58NLH5HS3PXZ GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

SAMSUNG Black Blu-ray Combo SATA Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support - OEM

ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

ASUS Xonar DS 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Audio Card

total cost was around 1700. i added a 120hz monitor (amazing looking) and upgraded to a gaming mouse with the money I had left over from my budget.

also, i thought i would throw in there that i play SWTOR as well. Also have played BF3, Borderlands and WoW on this rig. No problems, good framerates. With the monitor, the games look sweet! I can also broadcast all the above mentioned games with no system impact, i.e., my game performance does not suffer even when recording/broadcasting live video of me playing.

 

[Dallascisco]

That's a good option depending on the specs of her sound which she is supposed to be getting me.

How about a really good high quality sound card to get the most out of that surround sound system? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132010

 

[NTMBK]

Revised parts list

antec 1200
pc power and cooling 910 psu
3930k sandy bridge
asus sabertooth x79
16 gb gskill 1866
crucial 512 gb OS\App drive
wd cav black 1.5 data drive (from old machine)
7970 video
lite on dvdrw
rosewill media card reader

total comes in below 3,000

Lite-On DVD drives are rather ugly. On a $3000 machine, I'd splash out the extra ten bucks to get a drive that isn't plastered with white stickers. Get a nice Sony drive.

Also, since you're a bit below budget, why not consider throwing in a second 7970 in Crossfire?

 

[mnewsham]

I would suggest 2 7950's over a single 7970

 

[NAC]

If she is going to store any kind of data: pictures, music, documents or videos - I would include a separate HD just for backup. Internal is fine unless she wants USB to located elsewhere.

IMO every computer should have at least one backup drive.

In my case - I do both - a daily backup to a second drive in the computer, a quarterly or so backup to external drives I keep in the garage.

 

[mnewsham]

If she is going to store any kind of data: pictures, music, documents or videos - I would include a separate HD just for backup. Internal is fine unless she wants USB to located elsewhere.

IMO every computer should have at least one backup drive.

In my case - I do both - a daily backup to a second drive in the computer, a quarterly or so backup to external drives I keep in the garage.

Is there sensitive information on your computer daily? If not there is no reason to waste time on a daily back up. Honestly for me 90% of the things I do a day would be temp files or maybe a song or two. I would say a weekly backup or bi weekly back up.

 

[videogames101]

Seriously, make the budget 2k and pick up a

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...ynoteSearch&baynote_bnrank=4&baynote_irrank=0

and she'll be way happier. (At least I would be)

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Honestly, unless she is a professional gamer and needs a $3500 machine, i think she is much better off upgrading her peripherals to make her overall gaming experience better, or saving that money.

Hear, hear. The benefit from moving from a 2500K to a 3930K for $400 is much less tangible than the enjoyment derived from $200 spent on a nice mechanical keyboard and gaming mouse.

 

[mnewsham]

Hear, hear. The benefit from moving from a 2500K to a 3930K for $400 is much less tangible than the enjoyment derived from $200 spent on a nice mechanical keyboard and gaming mouse.

or 120hz monitor, decent office chair, good headphones/speakers, etc. etc.

 

[mfenn]

Seriously, make the budget 2k and pick up a

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=224-9949&~ck=baynoteSearch&baynote_bnrank=4&baynote_irrank=0

and she'll be way happier. (At least I would be)

Hear, hear. The benefit from moving from a 2500K to a 3930K for $400 is much less tangible than the enjoyment derived from $200 spent on a nice mechanical keyboard and gaming mouse.

Agreed on both counts. Anyone who is willing to drop $3500 should be getting a 30", mech. kb, and nice mouse by default.