Maximum PC

Qty. Image Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1
OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 series RVD3X2-FHPX4-240G PCI-E 240GB PCI-Express 2.0 x4 MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Model #:RVD3X2-FHPX4-240G
Item #:N82E16820227744
Return Policy:Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
In Stock
Mail in Rebate Card
$699.99 -$120.00 Instant $579.99
1
NZXT Phantom 410 CA-PH410-B1 White Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Model #:CA-PH410-W1
Item #:N82E16811146087
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
$99.99 $99.99
1
ASUS Crosshair V Formula AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Gaming Motherboard with 3-Way SLI/CrossFireX Support and ...
Model #:Crosshair V Formula
Item #:N82E16813131735
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
$239.99 -$30.00 Instant $209.99
1
XFX Double D HD-695X-CDFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with ...
Model #:HD-695X-CDFC
Item #:N82E16814150549
Return Policy:VGA Standard Return Policy
In Stock
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$259.99 -$30.00 Instant $229.99
1
Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-900 900W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE ...
Model #:HCG-900
Item #:N82E16817371050
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
$159.99 -$30.00 Instant $129.99
1
AMD FX-8150 Zambezi 3.6GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8150FRGUBOX
Model #:FD8150FRGUBOX
Item #:N82E16819103960
Return Policy:CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
In Stock
$199.99 $199.99
1
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R
Model #:CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R
Item #:N82E16820233180
Return Policy:Memory Standard Return Policy
In Stock
$54.99 $54.99
1
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Model #:WD1002FAEX
Item #:N82E16822136533
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
$149.99 -$30.00 Instant $119.99
1
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Model #:DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS
Item #:N82E16827135204
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
$17.99 $17.99
1
CORSAIR H100 (CWCH100) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Model #:CWCH100
Item #:N82E16835181017
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
$114.99 $114.99
Subtotal: $1,757.90

my original budget was 2,500, but with 3 new monitors, new gaming keyboard and mouse, new desk... etc... ill probably get close.

but based off of this, any suggestions in the areas of:

where a bottleneck would be? and what should be upgraded?
what is total overkill and could be down scaled without much problem?
what is non-compatible
any thoughts on how this would work with linux? (ubuntu's unity or kde specifically?)
pretty good bet that the amd's not hackontishable right?
windows 7 home premium will probably be default boot though.
any other comments or thoughts?

i just want some thoughts. its a first build for me, but that doesnt mean i didnt want to go all out.

Drop the SSD, you don't need that. Or rather, get something that's more reasonable, like a SATA 6Gbps 128GB drive that has 500+ MB/s

I would go for an Intel based system. With your budget a Sandy Bridge E system isn't unreasonable.

Also you're picking previous generation video cards.

EDIT: Answering questions...
where a bottleneck would be? and what should be upgraded?
The processor. Opt for an Intel system. Doesn't have to be Sandy Bridge E like I mentioned, but AMD FX is about as good for gaming (which I'm assuming you're going to do primarily) as a Phenom II X6

what is total overkill and could be down scaled without much problem?
As said before the SSD. Get a 128GB one, you'll cut your cost down by at least 2/3. Also the PSU can be toned down to about 750W-800W

what is non-compatible
Nothing that I can see.

any thoughts on how this would work with linux? (ubuntu's unity or kde specifically?)
Depends on what you want to use Linux for.

pretty good bet that the amd's not hackontishable right?
That's not a prerequisite I think, it just needs to be an EUFI board.

I'm agreeing with Latios. There is no need to spend $5-600 on an SSD and then also buy a 1TB storage drive. A 128GB drive would work perfectly and you can get one for about $120-160 which would save you money to get a better videocard. You can then buy 2 or 3 1TB drives if you feel you need that much storage but an SSD isn't meant for storage, its meant for speed until prices start getting reasonable.

Also, for us to better help you what are your uses for this and if you say just gaming than be more descriptive with what games and what quality your expecting out of them.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Publi ... r=19385065

complete redesign for the computer after taking in account input from multipul forums. you guys were the main reason for the switch away from the AMD.

i still need a powersupply

and id REALLY like help with the whole "graphics cards" situation im having...

i was pointed to the 7970 as the best card out there. AND it can support my future dream of 6 monitors... or so i was told. i want eyefinity so i can play bf3. and i want bf3 toped out at max settings. the problem is, this card only has ports for 1-dvi 1-hdmi 2-minidisplayports. NOBODY USES MINIDISPLAYPORTS! only thunderblot display. so i thought, ok, ill just find a card with 4 dvi ports.... impossebru. the only cards i could find for radeon if i remember correctly were lower end graphics cards that wouldnt be able to support max settings. so i thought, ok, ill crossfire 2 pretty good cards with 2-dvi's on them and that should give me if not maxed out, still REALLY good graphics. but im not good with graphics cards. and i dont know if it would be better to just get one kickbutt graphics card with 4-minidisplay ports and then just use an adaptor, or get 2 mid-upper sized cards and crossfire. AND I will need help with a power supply. from my research, corsair is the one to beat. any thoughts and or recommendations on the build?

i picked the 6950's for now. but im not too suck on them if anyones got any recommendations.

Poking at the parts...

Power Supply: That's fine.
Processor: Why not Ivy Bridge?
Memory: *broken record* You don't need 16GB of RAM.
Video card: If you don't have six monitors now, there's no point in going after EyeFinity (also graphics card manufacturers use Mini DisplayPort because... well they're graphics cards). And even if you did get EyeFinity at 5760x2060, I'd be surprised if you got something other than a slide show for high-end games.

Since you didn't let us know what your using this for other than BF3 lets go down this one at a time....

1. Why would you get a Z77 board but no Ivy Bridge processor? If these "other forums" that you asked for help from suggested a Z77 board with a 2700k processor than delete your accounts from there immediately. For only $30 more you can get the nice i7-3770k processor to take full advantage of the Z77 board your buying. GET IT.

2. two 128GB SSDs??? Really, one SSD is perfect and then get that original 1TB drive you wanted. Use that saved money from the second SSD you don't need on the better CPU and items i list below. After installing Windows and Office 2010 (if you will even install it) you'll have between 100-105 GB free on that SSD. Plenty of room for you to install BF3 and about 6-8 other games depending on their size (assuming varying sizes between 8-15 GB for full installation of these games). The 1TB drive you can use for music, movies, and other unnecessary prorgams that speed isn't an issue for.

3. Memory, i agree with Latios about only needing 8GB....especially if BF3 is your most intensive resource. And I'd go with 2 4GB sticks to get Dual Channel speeds and go with CAS 8 speeds from the money you save from ditching the 8GB sticks. If later on you decide you need more memory (probably 4-5 years from now going by gaming as your use for this desktop) than you get can 2 more 4GB sticks or even 2 8GB sticks to give you 24 GB of ram. Right now 8 GB is all you need.

4.Power Supply. I'm biased and think you should go with a Gold Series instead of Bronze series to ensure you have top quality power for all your components, including that graphics card. Maybe even bump that up to an 850watt Gold series and you'll now have room to crossfire that 7970 nicely. Again, i'm biased and just trying to find other uses for all that extra money you saved from the components above.

5.Video card - never heard of "Diamond Multimedia" so i'd say do some research and how good of quality there parts are and their customer service is if the parts are bad. I'd personally get the Nvidia GTX 670 which, in benchmarks, is shown as comparable or only 5-10 FPS behind an ATI 7970......and the GTX670 is about $70 cheaper. Get two of them and you'd hit your 6+ monitor initiative(4DVI, 2 HDMI, 2 Displayports).

lol. my bad. i made that post like 3 days ago, and it took FOREVER for it to get approved because im new. and ive changed ALOT on the build. and another mistake i made was i forgot that i never told you guys what i was using it for, but i told everyone else. ill give you links to some of the other threads, but you dont need to read them if you dont want to. ill just give you the summery

http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=63111

http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/up ... replies=34


i plan on using this for learning purposes more than games. but if you are going to do it... well do it right. lol. i am a programmer, so the extra real estate is important. i plan on EVENTUALLY... MAYBE... POSSIBLY going up to 6 screens. for now i plan on just doing 3. so ive decided to get the 7970 and later i might upgrade to crossfire that if i need to and get 3 more screens. this is seeming more and more unlikely tho.

as for the motherboard and processor, i was kinda on the edge about the processor. the original build had the 3770k ivybridge. the reason i changed it was because ivybridges are not able to hackintosh. which will bring me to another important point later. but im actually going to give it another week and see if the ivybridges are put into the new macs at the wwdc on the 10th (almost certainly will be). so im likely going to put it back to the 3770k. i just never got around to changing it on the wishlist.

and as i was saying about hackintosh, the reason i have 2 SSD is because it makes it ALOT eaiser for triple booting. im going to use one SSD for my windows 7 which will be perfect and unchanged. the other one is going to be the one i reformat on a regular bases because ill probably screw stuff up. ill put a dual boot hackintosh and an ubuntu disto on there. ill probably also put some server OS on that drive as well. i dont need a HDD because i have a 1TB external, and i dont really haev that much media. honustly i could probably live off of 1x128 SSD even with all 3 OS's. i just dont want to have to worry about having to set up all of the microsoft stuff up again and again, so the second one is more for convince. and if it turns out that after a few months i stop using it like i originally planned, i can always just set it up in a RAID configuration lmao.

as for the ram, i was actually going to need that. since i have 3 screens, i thought it would be nice to actually have all 3 OS's running at the same time. so i could put OSX on the left, windows in the center, and linux on the right. the memory will be helpful for that. the memory will also be helpful for when i load up some servers which i plan on doing and leaving on. ill run some simple things like a minecraft server and a ventrillo server just about 24/7. i also plan on playing around with apache. im going to try and set up a business website for someone i know running a small business, and if all goes well, i might jsut leave it up on my computer 24/7.

i orginially had a H100 liquid cooling setup, but just today took that down. it was reviewed as loud, so i went for a more quiet option. but im open to suggestions on cooling.

most of the stuff you mentioned was actually quite reasonable to worry about. lol. it was just my fault for not informing you guys and updating you, and partially had to do with the fact that my post wasnt approved for like 3 or 4 days. BUT with all of these things in mind, and new suggestions?

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to run Mac OS? It's not any different than Linux for programming purposes, unless you're doing iOS development.

And even then, you could probably just get away with running a VM. VirtualBox supposedly has the ability now to run OS X, but I haven't been able to get it to.