Building a lightning fast pc for client, Need experienced recommendations?

CompuMedics PC Repair said:
I guess this client is building a machine to brag over, but it seems to be a waste of potential.
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How many Ferarri owners regularly drive their cars at max speed/rpm?

There are other factors that are value-added by building a high end pc. Customer then has the option of doing 'whatever he wants' with the machine, knowing it will be up to the task.

Theres also the longevity factor. High end builds cost more initially but retain their usefulness longer than cheap builds. Its better future-proofing, which is a significant benefit in-and-of itself for the end user.

The other factor which has been discussed is using parts that have a longer warranty. Its obviously in the customer's interest to use the best quality components to reduce the likelihood of failure.

If the build budget was $10,000 I would have to be siding with you about wasted potential, because there's a point at which its throwing money into a fire.

The build that was initially proposed and most of the suggestions so far, though, seem like reasonable bang-for-buck proposals for a customer who just wants a nice machine that can run anything he throws at it.

If a customer has the budget and wants a fast machine, I will build it for them. At the end of the day its about what they feel comfortable spending. My job is just to ensure they get the best possible result for their budget. That means using components that are the best possible chioce, which will give the best possible result.

I dont think there's many car salesmen who would talk their Ferarri customer out of buying the car he wants because they have decided its 'too fast for him'.

It should be up to the customer.

Just my 5c worth.
 
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16k_zx81 said:
How many Ferarri owners regularly drive their cars at max speed/rpm?

There are other factors that are value-added by building a high end pc. Customer then has the option of doing 'whatever he wants' with the machine, knowing it will be up to the task.

Theres also the longevity factor. High end builds cost more initially but retain their usefulness longer than cheap builds. Its better future-proofing, which is a significant benefit in-and-of itself for the end user.

The other factor which has been discussed is using parts that have a longer warranty. Its obviously in the customer's interest to use the best quality components to reduce the likelihood of failure.

If the build budget was $10,000 I would have to be siding with you about wasted potential, because there's a point at which its throwing money into a fire.

The build that was initially proposed and most of the suggestions so far, though, seem like reasonable bang-for-buck proposals for a customer who just wants a nice machine that can run anything he throws at it.

If a customer has the budget and wants a fast machine, I will build it for them. At the end of the day its about what they feel comfortable spending. My job is just to ensure they get the best possible result for their budget. That means using components that are the best possible chioce, which will give the best possible result. Which I think is what this thread is about.

I dont think there's many car salesmen who would talk their Ferarri customer out of buying the car he wants because they have decided its 'too fast for him'.

It should be up to the customer.

Just my 5c worth.
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Nope, you're right. No car salesman will talk a customer down. I just read the first post, about the "Ferrari of computers," and then read what he will be using it for and laughed.

I agree about future proofing, and warranties and such.

If I had a client come to me, and say "I need a Core i7 980X, an ASUS Rampage III Extreme MOBO, 24GB of 1600MHZ RAM, and 3 GEFORCE 470s," I would be thinking gamer, or benchmarker, or bragging rights. If I then asked him what he intended to do with it, and their response was "Internet, and email," I would kind of laugh in the back of my mind a little bit.

If that is what they wanted I would build it for them, without a doubt. Highend computers are where I make money, I don't make much on budget PCs.

If I could afford a Ferrari in the first place, chances are good that I could drive the bejeezus out of it and buy another. So I think if I had one, it would get driven.

For the longest time my personal computer was way behind the times because it did what I needed as fast as I needed it. Not until I started getting back into gaming did I think about upgrading.

I didn't mean to offend, or criticize, I just laughed, and thought I would comment about my laugh, I am trying to get my posts up so I can link in my SIG, sorry if that is bad.
 
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CompuMedics PC Repair said:
I didn't mean to offend, or criticize, I just laughed, and thought I would comment about my laugh, I am trying to get my posts up so I can link in my SIG, sorry if that is bad.
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No! Sorry if I sounded like I was criticising. Was just responding to the idea itself, not having a go :)

CompuMedics PC Repair said:
I need a Core i7 980X, an ASUS Rampage III Extreme MOBO, 24GB of 1600MHZ RAM, and 3 GEFORCE 470s,"
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Yeah I think with that build, I would probably be having the same conversation :)
 
** UPDATE **

Well it looks like this is the final draft for the build. Please let me know your opinions:

Asus Radeon 5550 1 GB Video Card <-- he is a business user. Just want something with a lot of video ram.

Coolermaster 600 Watt P/S

Coolermaster CM690 2 Case

Gigabyte GA-X58-UD3R

Intel i7 950 Processor

Logitech Cordless Desktop MX5500 Revolution

OCZ 60G Vertex II SSD S2

Patriot Gaming Series Ram 6 GB PV736g1600Elk

Plextor 24 X Dvd Writer Sata with Lightscribe

Western Digital Black 1 TB 7200 RPM Sata Drive

Windows 7 Home Premium


I had to make a profit somewhere here and I've included Installation, assembly, Data Transfer etc etc into the price.

Any comments are welcome :)

Majestic
 
boo at western digital. I get more of those in my trash pile than any others.

GO HITACHI!!!
 
Knightsman said:
boo at western digital. I get more of those in my trash pile than any others.

GO HITACHI!!!
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Could that be due to their market share, which is almost three times that of Hitachi? Sort of like saying Dell is a bad computer based solely on the number of them you see in your shop.

Rick
 
red12049 said:
Could that be due to their market share, which is almost three times that of Hitachi? Sort of like saying Dell is a bad computer based solely on the number of them you see in your shop.

Rick
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Or the fact that every Western Digital I have owned has failed. Its not the same as saying because I see it more blah blah. They failed to live up to my expectations as a company and as a drive. I believe Hitachi to be an all around better product.
 
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Please don't use a Coolermaster PSU.

Also make sure you test the crap out of the standby/hibernate modes if you're booting from that SSD. If it has the Sandforce2 controller, he MAY experience issues coming out of standby. My Corsair SSD does this, but I think it's a problem with the new Sandforce2 controllers that they all use. I'm not an SSD expert though.
 
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Majestic said:
** UPDATE **

Well it looks like this is the final draft for the build. Please let me know your opinions:

Asus Radeon 5550 1 GB Video Card <-- he is a business user. Just want something with a lot of video ram.

Coolermaster 600 Watt P/S

Coolermaster CM690 2 Case

Gigabyte GA-X58-UD3R

Intel i7 950 Processor

Logitech Cordless Desktop MX5500 Revolution

OCZ 60G Vertex II SSD S2

Patriot Gaming Series Ram 6 GB PV736g1600Elk

Plextor 24 X Dvd Writer Sata with Lightscribe

Western Digital Black 1 TB 7200 RPM Sata Drive

Windows 7 Home Premium


I had to make a profit somewhere here and I've included Installation, assembly, Data Transfer etc etc into the price.

Any comments are welcome :)

Majestic
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I would dump the Patriot memory and go with Corsair.
Dump the Coolermaster PSU and get a Corsair.

All that power, and you completely bottleneck it by putting a 60 dollar video card in it.

I would've chosen a motherboard that had USB 3.0 as well.
Such as:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128456
 
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that motherboard has USB 3 (it's the blue sockets in the back) , I am using it at my gaming machine.

The OP says his client doesn't do gaming, I suggested a mid range card (ati 5770 or 5750). But I guess a 5550 is fine for most of his purposes.

Ram and PSU brands.... we can probably drop that argument. Cooler master is a reputable brand. Patriot is a growing brand. Their quality and RMA process should be OK.
 
Upon a little more review it appears that Cooler Master's higher-end PSUs, such as the 600w the OP chose, are more reliable and have a positive reaction from at least newegg's customers. It does have a 5 year warranty which is exactly what you want to see on a PSU.

I would still probably shy away from their lower end PSUs. I have had poor experiences with them in the past and it's probably a case of 'you get what you pay for'.

Having said all that, I hope the OP saw Newegg's anniversary sale. There is a 500W modular OCZ PSU for about $40 after rebate. It might be worth considering. I ordered one. :)
 
meanderer said:
that motherboard has USB 3 (it's the blue sockets in the back) , I am using it at my gaming machine.

The OP says his client doesn't do gaming, I suggested a mid range card (ati 5770 or 5750). But I guess a 5550 is fine for most of his purposes.

Ram and PSU brands.... we can probably drop that argument. Cooler master is a reputable brand. Patriot is a growing brand. Their quality and RMA process should be OK.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about the "GA-EX58-UD3R?"
 
16k_zx81 said:
How many Ferarri owners regularly drive their cars at max speed/rpm?

There are other factors that are value-added by building a high end pc. Customer then has the option of doing 'whatever he wants' with the machine, knowing it will be up to the task.

Theres also the longevity factor. High end builds cost more initially but retain their usefulness longer than cheap builds. Its better future-proofing, which is a significant benefit in-and-of itself for the end user.

The other factor which has been discussed is using parts that have a longer warranty. Its obviously in the customer's interest to use the best quality components to reduce the likelihood of failure.

If the build budget was $10,000 I would have to be siding with you about wasted potential, because there's a point at which its throwing money into a fire.

The build that was initially proposed and most of the suggestions so far, though, seem like reasonable bang-for-buck proposals for a customer who just wants a nice machine that can run anything he throws at it.

If a customer has the budget and wants a fast machine, I will build it for them. At the end of the day its about what they feel comfortable spending. My job is just to ensure they get the best possible result for their budget. That means using components that are the best possible chioce, which will give the best possible result.

I dont think there's many car salesmen who would talk their Ferarri customer out of buying the car he wants because they have decided its 'too fast for him'.

It should be up to the customer.

Just my 5c worth.
Click to expand...

I agree with what you've said. This is a rather affluent client whom at the same time as wanting to get an extremely powerful system also does not want to throw money out the window (I suppose that is why he is affluent:P)

He wants some power under the hood that most people don't have but he doesn't want to go crazy either.

Majestic
 
red12049 said:
Could that be due to their market share, which is almost three times that of Hitachi? Sort of like saying Dell is a bad computer based solely on the number of them you see in your shop.

Rick
Click to expand...

That is true. The black series of hard drives also are quite well respected as well.
 
TopLevelComp said:
I would dump the Patriot memory and go with Corsair.
Dump the Coolermaster PSU and get a Corsair.

All that power, and you completely bottleneck it by putting a 60 dollar video card in it.

I would've chosen a motherboard that had USB 3.0 as well.
Such as:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128456
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, my wholesalers cannot get me corsair. Not sure why.

The motherboard does have USB 3.0 actually.

I have had very good experiences with Coolermaster so far. I have 5 builds so far with their higher end power supplys and they work well, have an 80%+ rating at load and are quite quiet.

Is Patriot really that bad? I've had no problems with Patriot so far?


Seeing that I still do have to make a profit there are some places I have to make cuts where it will benefit me. Sure I can put the whole $2k towards the system but then why am I in business? Otherwise I'd get him quite a powerful video card :)

Thank you for your input..

Majestic
 
Majestic said:
Unfortunately, my wholesalers cannot get me corsair. Not sure why.

The motherboard does have USB 3.0 actually.

I have had very good experiences with Coolermaster so far. I have 5 builds so far with their higher end power supplys and they work well, have an 80%+ rating at load and are quite quiet.

Is Patriot really that bad? I've had no problems with Patriot so far?


Seeing that I still do have to make a profit there are some places I have to make cuts where it will benefit me. Sure I can put the whole $2k towards the system but then why am I in business? Otherwise I'd get him quite a powerful video card :)

Thank you for your input..

Majestic
Click to expand...

If you don't mind me asking, how much profit did you make on that system? I make anywhere between 100-150 on a stock system, and 400 on a completely unique system (Case painted, power coated chassis, ect.)
 
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