Posted 07/31/2008 at 09:12:31am

This one looks much better.

I would consider the only options and its  a matter of what you do with your system.

Dropping ram to 1333 and getting a Q9450 proc

If you swapped out the two 280s for a pair of 9800GX2 (that are more polished now) you could get the Asus Striker II Extreme mobo (that will spank this board in OC'ing)

A solid build though and very good effert.

Posted 07/29/2008 at 09:54:50am

Asus 790I MB Striker II Ultra (359)

2x EVGA 9800GX2 (800)

Thermaltake 1200WT PS  (249)

2 X 2GB 1333 DDR3 (Crucial) (173)

2X 500GB Segate 32mb HD  (160)

Cosmos S case (229)

Blu Ray Reader Lite On (139)

Intel 9450  (Quad 2.6) (349)

Custom cables (wrapped) (52)

 Thermaltake silent  CPU cooler (31)

That came to 2541

Ordered my Gateway XHD3000 yesterday for  $1400

I don't understand why go so much $$ for that processor when you get so much savings with the 9450.  Its the sweet spot right now and as soon as the next line of procs come out those high end procs will drop to there knees.  You will get much more bang for you buck if you spent that money on graphics cards IMO. 

Posted 07/17/2008 at 01:29:46pm

Yes I was looking at the single card 4870 and assumed you meant two in crossfire.  The 4870x2 is appearing to beat/tie the base level 9800GX2.  It is not on shelves yet.  It will be more expensive ($500 in a month comparired to the base 9800gx2 at $450 Now) But lets all be honest its a close tie with the first gen 9800gx2.  Check out the benchmarks on the 9800gx2 SSC for $509 NOW and again its beating the 4870x2 by 12-15%.  Not bad considering it  is here NOW and its going to be a better price than the 4870x2 before it hits the shelves.  Again ATI a month late and a dollar short. 

Posted 07/17/2008 at 01:13:45pm

Haha, GreenBoy!  If you want to save power go outside and plant a tree and stay off the computer all together. Go buy some solar pannels and run a mega efficient laptop.   Not at all what this is about.  Its about the blowing the doors off the car next to you muscle car.  

Maybe MPC will do a GREEN Machine 2009 next year for the new customer base.  I sure AL Gore would subscribe then! 

I will say I was suprised that the Dell 3008WFP didn't get the monitor slot, but after doing a lot of homework I understand now, and that was going to be my next purchase.  Thanks MPC for giving me a heads up that that Dell will only do smaller compressed HD.  Dell says you can do BLU-RAY if you use display port that its only a issue with DVI/HDMI but as display port is just showing up, and I have a pair of 9800GX2s on the way Gateway will be getting my 1600 bucks.  Just all around more versitility with the Gateway to ignore even if Dell does have a touch of more color and contrast.

Posted 07/17/2008 at 08:10:43am

Its funny how everyone uses the word Fanboy when you throw benchmarks at them.

Look I don't care if Bob The Builder made the fastest video card.  I just want to see from my favorite mag that I preach to my other hardware junkies about to give the bottom line.  

I don't care about the GTX280s.  We are talking about the best GAMMING machine.  The featured MOBO would support SLI (2 cards) So run two 9800GX2s.  Heck one of the 9800GX2s is close in benchmarks to two of the 4870s.  

 And the case is the part that gave me the sellout outlook.  The video card just backed it up.  When is AMD/ATI going to learn that going another 9Million in the whole this quarter is not going to get the folks who look at the facts to buy a overhyped product.  Benchmarks don't lie. 

 So you guys take your Fanboy remark and go look at benchmarks.  Who is the Fanboy now?  

Posted 07/16/2008 at 10:14:50am

9800GX2 is even beating the 280 in many games running at high res.  The 4870 is a large chunk behind. 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-4870,1964-11.html

Here you go on your pimp 30" monitor 

9800GX2 is the ONLY choice for running 2560 x 1600

9800GX2 got 68.8

GTX 280 got 49.6

HD 4870 got 45.2

You will notice on the last page of this review they do averages.  The average is not correct for the 9800GX2 cuase the bug for Crysis has been fixed and the GX2 is pumping out over 35FPS on Crysis now.  This would put the GX2 well over them all in averages for 30" joy.

Hd 4870 is not even in the same ballpark as the 9800GX2, there are many more tests and benchmarks that all show the same thing.  If your using a 30" monitor and gamming at 2560 X 1600 then the best card for that is being made right now on shelves is the 9800GX2.  If you do video editing etc then the new features on the GTX280.  If you are on a budget and can only afford second rate cards then get your ATI. Or if you are on the payroll and need to keep that fresh ad money flowing in.  

I also have MAJOR issue with your case choice.  So now you guys are featuring guess visitor parts not the best case for the "Dream Machine" Build.  There are a DOZEN real cases on the market that spank this case in EVERY single catagory you could think of.  /cough the new Cosmos S

Sorry but once again I say Dream Machine 2008 is a complete SELL OUT!  

So very disappointed.  

Posted 07/15/2008 at 03:23:33pm

Poor selection this mobo does support SLI and two 280s or a pair of 9800GX2s would smoke the crossfire set up.  So third rate of them to try and PIMP ATI to us in the dream machine.  Do you not think we actually read your articles with the benchmarks and breakdowns of performance? /sigh consider yourselves smacked on the hand for ruining the dream machine this year to pimp ATI's rise back to the cheap gammer PC with near but not top of the line performance.  Better yet a pair of 9800GTXs are cheaper and seem to tie the cards you picked.  But price isn't a consideration here so go big dog or delete the article cuase its worthless this year.  I see you pimped HP's case also.  What a load, yes I know they to buy lots of ad space.  Starting to see you guys are just like all the othe magazines.  Might not renew this year.

Posted 07/15/2008 at 03:14:33pm

"only motherboard we've found that will run both Nvidia SLI and AMD Crossfire setups"

So you ran a Crossfire over a single 280?  Why?  SLI? 

How about 2x 280 or even a pair of 9800GX2?   You don't need three way SLI to beat a pair of crossfires.  Last time I checked the dream machine was never about money so the obvious best duo for the dream machine is only one of two choices

280 or 9800GX2

Drivers are more productive on gamming with the 9800GX2 but on app heavy systems / graphics the 280.  Very disappointed in the choice of second rate video for a mag that I thought was unbiased.  You can't reserect ATI to the top.  They are happy with bringing quality for cheap.  Top guns they are not and its not there aim right now.