Over the top PC $$$$$

flagreen

Storage Freak Apprentice
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And a BSOD will shut it down just as quick as any dirt cheap PC.

Seriously though I can't remember the last time I had a BSOD. That's real progress by MS I guess. Or maybe because I use only Intel boards and cpus. Or both?
 

Pradeep

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Dual 1kW power supplies....wow. Considering this is less expensive than a whole-house furnace...

Whole house furnace would deliver more than 2KW of heat. Well at least the natural gas ones. Not sure how much an electric heatpump would consume (no use for us in the snow half the year), might be enough for CA.
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
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It seems like someone could do better. I suppose the stopping point for computer hobbyist magazine wankery is the requirement for SLI/Crossfire.
 

Santilli

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It seems like someone could do better. I suppose the stopping point for computer hobbyist magazine wankery is the requirement for SLI/Crossfire.

Seems it doesn't do much, unless you are running over 1900 resolution, and then in a few specific games it does offer a considerable improvement, at least that on the reviews I've looked at. Can't help but check up on SLI with two 295's;-)

CT: What is Age of Empire II?
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
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Ugly.

I was thinking of something more like a dual Xeon 5680 setup with 192GB RAM, a RAID10 of X25-Es and 24TB or so of local storage on some kind of decent SAS controller. Spend a bit to get some silent cooling and redundant PSUs as well. I'm sure an ATI 5970 will cover graphics adequately, even with three 30" monitors.
 

Santilli

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Ugly.

I was thinking of something more like a dual Xeon 5680 setup with 192GB RAM, a RAID10 of X25-Es and 24TB or so of local storage on some kind of decent SAS controller. Spend a bit to get some silent cooling and redundant PSUs as well. I'm sure an ATI 5970 will cover graphics adequately, even with three 30" monitors.

If I said that, I'd have all kinds of people telling me I'm crazy using server parts for game machines. That I'll be missing the chance to stay current by sinking so much money into
one machine that I'm unlikely to upgrade, and that it will become obsolete in 2 years, and, I'm better off upgrading every two-3 years. Some how I don't think even game makers will use that much power, cpu wise, though I might contest the single graphics card.


What motherboard are you thinking of? This setup looks very Supermicro to me;-).
 

Santilli

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I was actually having a bit of fun with the history here. I LIKE dual Xeons, and, if Intel had more sensible pricing, and better motherboard options, ahh, that's all bull. Fact is David's machine was an offer I couldn't refuse.

I DID look at dual Xeons an option prior to buying The Beast.

Actually, if you are really going to do it, a quad processor, with 24 combined cores would be the way to go.

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon7000/7500/X8QB6.cfm?SAS=Y

Board takes 512 Gigabytes of ram.
How about 4 of these??

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117228
 

Pradeep

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Look at the Opteron 6100 for the 4 socket space, no more 4S ass rape prices lke Intel deliver.
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
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If I said that, I'd have all kinds of people telling me I'm crazy using server parts for game machines.

In your case the issue is that you would actually give serious consideration to buying something like that. A machine like that is basically only necessary for some kind of ridiculous database or high-volume E-mail server, or as a massive collection of VMs.

A guy I know on another forum uses two quad-CPU 6-core Opterons each with 384GB RAM to manage his corporate MS Exchange workload.
 

Santilli

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Computers are one of the few tax beneficial purchases I can think of. Why not have dual
AMD 6 cores for doing email, when, if you don't spend the money, it just goes to fund the Obama's and Pelosi's incredible waste, on their jets and entourages?

Not to mention next year, when the biggest tax increases in history are in effect, and you have no deductions, and a 40% increase in taxes.

When the depreciation is done, instead of just buying another machine and scrapping the old one, you can buy another, and still be able to use the old one for stuff for 10 plus years, with minor upgrades?
 
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