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Thread: The Best Computer Money can Buy !

  1. #11
    Agony Aunty-Online Moira's Avatar
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    Bah! What a waste of a super computer to use it for something like that

    Nasa use these powerful computers, another use for them is to factor massive primes that would otherwise render encryption completely unbreakable, hence the constant need to find larger and larger prime numbers - and the move towards quantum computing. Even then, cracking encryption is usually done via distributed computing - I take part in one such project to try and unravel an Enigma coded message from the war (I do some really useful things with my PCs!)

    I suppose when you're the FBI trying to outwit terrorists, then you need the best you can get. Not exactly for the home user perhaps
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  2. #12
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Hey Moira, you will just get to the BSOD more quickly?


  3. #13
    Senior Member alakhiyar's Avatar
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    Well i do have to say that sucks compared to some of the pc's you can build. Here is a great example that i just made in like 15min on newegg:

    Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

    Update Thermaltake Tai-Chi VB5000SNA Black/ Silver All aluminum extrusion built chassis ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
    Model #: VB5000SNA
    Item #: N82E16811133164

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $369.00 $369.00

    Update TYAN S4881G2NR Quad Socket 940 NVIDIA nForce Professional 2200 + AMD 8131 SSI MEB v3.5 footprint Server Motherboard - Retail
    Model #: S4881G2NR
    Item #: N82E16813151008

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $1,587.99 $1,587.99

    Update eVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
    Model #: 768-P2-N831-AR
    Item #: N82E16814130072

    Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

    In Stock
    $629.99 $629.99

    Update HP 291967-B21 PCI-X / 133 MHz Ultra320 SCSI Smart Array 642 Controller - Storage controller - Retail
    Model #: 291967-B21
    Item #: N82E16816401012

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $494.99 $494.99

    Update PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 1KW EPS12V 1000W Continuous @ 50°C Power Supply - Retail
    Model #: Turbo-Cool 1KW
    Item #: N82E16817703003

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $529.99 $529.99

    Update AMD Opteron 875 Egypt 2.2GHz Socket 940 Dual Core Processor Model OSA875FAA6CC - OEM
    Model #: OSA875FAA6CC
    Item #: N82E16819105079

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $879.99 $3,519.96

    Update CORSAIR XMS 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory Model CMX1024-3200C2PRO - Retail
    Model #: CMX1024-3200C2PRO
    Item #: N82E16820145018

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $153.99 $2,463.84

    Update Seagate Cheetah 15K.4 ST3146854LC 147GB 15,000 RPM SCSI Ultra320 80pin Hard Drive - OEM
    Model #: ST3146854LC
    Item #: N82E16822111152

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $681.99 $2,727.96

    Update Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3750640AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
    Model #: ST3750640AS
    Item #: N82E16822148134

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $399.99 -$20.00 Instant $759.98

    Update EIZO S2410W-BK Black 24.1" On/Off Response Time: 16ms Midtone Response Time: 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
    Model #: S2410W-BK
    Item #: N82E16824136059

    Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

    In Stock
    $1,629.99 $1,629.99

    Update Optoma HD78DC3 1280x720 DLP Home Theater Projector - Retail
    Model #: HD78DC3
    Item #: N82E16824219019

    Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

    In Stock
    $3,629.99 $3,629.99

    Update PLEXTOR Slot Load 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model PX-716AL/SW-BL - Retail
    Model #: PX-716AL/SW-BL
    Item #: N82E16827131352

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $153.99 $153.99

    Update PLEXTOR Blu-ray DVD Burner with replaceable beige front bezel -Bilingual Packaging Black IDE Model PX-B900A/SW-BL - Retail
    Model #: PX-B900A/SW-BL
    Item #: N82E16827131365

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $850.99 $850.99

    Update Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
    Model #: 70SB046600002
    Item #: N82E16829102189

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $182.99 $182.99

    Update COOLER MASTER RL-MUA-EBU1 AQUAGATE Mini R120 Liquid Cooling System - Retail
    Model #: RL-MUA-EBU1
    Item #: N82E16835103165

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $99.99 -$38.00 Instant $61.99

    Update asetek 03-L-1351 CPU/VGA/Chipset cooling kit - Retail
    Model #: 03-L-1351
    Item #: N82E16835703015

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $449.99 -$60.00 Instant $389.99

    Update Creative GigaWorks S750 700 Watts 7.1 Speaker - Retail
    Model #: 51MF7010AA000
    Item #: N82E16836116142

    Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

    In Stock
    $429.99 $429.99
    Subtotal: $20,413.62


    So you are getting:

    4X Dual Core Opterons (8 cores there)
    16gb ram
    4X 15,000rpm drives in Raid
    2X 750GB drives
    8800GTX
    1kw psu
    water cooling
    best sound card available
    7.1 700w speaker system
    blue-ray burner
    slot loading dvd burner
    24.1" lcd for normal stuff and gaming
    projector for movies video ect.


    still missing a few items i think

  4. #14
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Hi alakhiyar,

    That looks pretty comprehensive and I don't know the case/chassis details, but I would be looking for a redundant power supply?

    Also, although it is external (you did specify a monitor, so I will take my lead from that) I would want a UPS system?

    After all, you are building a server

  5. #15
    Some Assembly Required ShagDevil's Avatar
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    The "best" system? Please. The Commodore 64 blows anything mentioned in this thread away.

    System Architecture
    Microprocessor: 6510
    Clock speed: 1 MHz
    Bus type: CBM proprietary
    Data bus width: 8-bit
    Address bus width: 16-bit

    Memory
    Standard on system board: 64k
    Maximum on system board: 64k
    Maximum total memory: 512k cartridge
    Memory type and speed: 200ns dynamic RAM
    System board memory socket type: 16 pin DIP
    Number of memory module sockets: 8 soldered
    Memory used on system board: 4164-2/MK4564N-20

    Standard Features
    ROM size: 20k
    Parallel port type: serial
    RS232C serial ports: yes

    Disk Storage
    Internal disk and tape drive bays: none
    Standard floppy drives: optional
    Optional floppy drives: up to 8
    5 1/4 inch 160k: optional

    Video & Graphics
    Graphics Processor: VIC II 6567 / 40 pin DIP
    Screen size: Col x Rows 40 x 25
    Resolution: Colors/High 16 - 320 x 200 pixels
    Resolution: Colors/Low 16 - 40 x 25
    Max colors: 16
    Sprites or Missiles 8: 21 x 24 pixels

    Sound
    Sound Interface device: SID 6581 / 28 pin DIP
    Sound generation 3 voices ADSR capable yes
    The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his - George Patton

  6. #16
    Senior Member gore's Avatar
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    An IBM Blue Gene /L would blow this thing out of the water it needs for cooling. And the Blue Gene /L can run Linux so it's actually useable by people here without some weirdo special OS only big corporate admins have ever heard of.

    360 Teraflops was it?

    And even then you don't need to go that far, one fo those big as a fridge Sun bxes would pretty much run circles around it regaurdless of it it was running linux or Solaris.

    For home users who want to go all out you have two choices to make someone at a LAN party wet themselves:

    An Alienware, which you wouldn't just buy one, you'd of course click on configure, and then upgrade everything to the option that adds money to the total price.

    Alienware has a nice website and when you configure a machine before purchase you can configure what you want it to come with. Click on everything that adds to the cost to make it faster and more expensive and basically you'd have almost the same thing.

    The next choice is for the Apple Mac users, who there and configure their top fo the line I wet myself because I paid as much for this thing as some people do for their cars buttons, then add all the extras and you have another top fo the line machine.

    Not that I'd know exact specs, I can't afford either, and if I could, I'd go mid grade with room for upgrade and concentrate mainly on as much RAM as I can shove in this thing, as much HD space as I can fit, and as fast of a processor as I can make it use with water cooling, HD coolers, a video card cooler, and generally hook up liquid nitrogen to the MOBO.

    When I bought my Laptop, I didn't have a lot of money, so I was like OK, I want it to be nice but I can't afford REALLY high end, so I took an Inspiron notebook, and configured it myself from Dell, it was cheap, and the grand total was 1200 dollars.

    This is how I did it:

    I want a fast processor, what good is a laptop I'm going to use at school if I'm waiting for everything to load up? So I went with a Pentium 4 Mobile at 3.06GHz.

    Next was RAM, Most of my machines have 512 MBs and that works fine for me, being a Linux user, that gives me the ability to open 19 instances of Firefox with 10 tabs in each + XMMS playing a huge MP3 playlist while watching a video and ripping a CD and talking on AIM.

    So I went with 512, and that only costed a little extra, so now the price was still under a thousand dollars.

    Next, I said "OK, this is a laptop, meaning a MOBILE PC, it's not much good if the Battery runs out and so a crap battery defeats the purpose of a laptop I can use without being at home, I want to use it in school, but it's hard to do that if the Battery dies" and so I upgraded the Battery in it to a Lithium Ion, which costed an extra 100 dollars.

    I said "OK, now I have a Laptop that's 15 inches, it has a decent amount of RAM, so it's useable, it's got a good processor, so it's good on speed, and it has a nice price tag. It also has a getter battery" and the HD was 30 GBs, which is fine, I have 2 MP3 players and an external HD and a USB DVD / CD burner so I didn't spend extra to make it have a CD or DVD burner, and I left the HD at 30 GBs because I run an FTP server on at least one machine so I can store things there and still have room for a few games, some homework, and even a partition for Linux and Windows to play on the HD without having to delete things all the time.

    I also made the HD go farther by uninstalling things I don't use. I have some MP3s on it, a few videos, some pics, Doom, Doom 2, Final Doom, Quake, Quake 2, Unreal Tournament, Unreal Tournament 2003, and Wolfenstein, and still have room for software and things I work on.

    Now, I have almost 50 gigs of MP3s, and almost the same in movies, so to keep the HD space working for this laptop, I only grabbed MP3s I actually listen to a lot and even allowed a few more for when I want to have a new playlist, for videos, I grabbed a few I like to watch, and downloaded Dawn of the Dead from my FTP server on my desk, and still had like 20 gigs free so I installed Linux, set up an FTP server so I had something to do in class when my friend would bringin a router, we would unhook Cat5 from the PCs in the machine area, set up a mini network, and have fun.

    This is a lot of typing, but the thread made me think "hmm, some people may want one of these machines thinking they really need everything top of the line when they don't, maybe I can go over how I went about getting my first laptop, and go over what I did to keep the price down".

    The only other thing I paid extra for was the video card. I don't like integrated cards, so I spent the extra money and had it come with an Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 GO card, and that works to play the games I actually play and at the same time work out of the box with Linux.

    So there you have it, a machine that didn't suck and costed 1200 dollars. If you don't have a bunch of mp3 players or USB drives and don't have a CD or DVD burner on every other machine you own, or don't have a portable one, you still don't have to spend a bunch on the thing.

    This was 2 years ago and I still got one of the fastest processors the thing could handle, so you just have to go over what you're ACTUALLY using it for, and go from there.

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