Looking at getting this

[Josquius]

I note you're going for all out crazyness here...Why DVD instead of blu-ray?

[grumbler]

Were we comparing Home or Pro against Ultimate?  Home is $179 retail.  Now if you're going the OEM route (which I tend to do), Ultimate is $184.  But then Home is $99 OEM.

Home versus premium is a matter of paying $100 extra now and never having to upgrade, or paying $100 sometime in the future and going through the hassle of upgrading to get beyond 12 gigs of memory (if that date will even come within the lifetime of the machine).

Not a contest, in my mind.  Ultimate all the way.

Pro versus Premium is a matter of paying $15-$20 extra to avoid a possible situation where one might need the ultimate version (can't imagine why that would be, but who knows?).  This would be future-proofing at less than 1% of the price of the machine.

Narrow lead for Ultimate here.

With that price difference, unless I was certain I'd need any Ultimate features soon, I would go with Home OEM for $99.

That's a legitimate position.  I just don't share it.  It is better than getting pro, though, IMO.

[Barrister]

If he's spending that kind of money I don't think he's pinching pennies.  Go Ultimate.


Good to know about the memory limit on Home though.  I'm still dragging my heels on upgrading my Bootcamp partition to 7, but since I already have my 10GBs and two extra slots it is conceivable I could go above 12 (although unlikely as I am far from RAM constrained right now).

[Alcibiades]

Went with Pro, couldn't see the reason for ultimate....ultimately. :p

And chose dvd over blue-ray because I have absolutely no need ever for a blue-ray player.... I have a ps3 5 feet away from my comp connected to my big screen.... don't need it on my computer unless they start putting games in blue-ray....which I don't see it being exclusive for the next 5 years at least were they to.

Paladin XLC V2   $2,992.00   1   $2,992.00
Case   CoolerMaster HAF 932 Full Tower Gaming Case - Black
Processor   Intel® Core™ i7 960 Processor (4x 3.20GHz/8MB L3 Cache)
iBUYPOWER PowerDrive   PowerDrive Level 3 - Up to 30% Overclocking
Processor Cooling   Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System w/ 240mm Radiator [SOCKET-1366]
Memory   12 GB [2 GB X6] DDR3-1800 Triple Memory Module - Corsair or Major Brand
Video Card   ATI Radeon HD 5870 - 1GB - Single Card
Free Stuff   [Free T-shirt] iBUYPOWER / ARCHLORD - Black
Free Stuff   [Free Game] - DiRT 2 - Free with Purchase of ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series Video Card
Motherboard   [SLI] ASUS P6X58D Premium w/ 2x Gb LAN
Power Supply   1200 Watt -- Thermaltake TR2 TRX-1200M Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready
Primary Hard Drive   80 GB Intel X25-M MLC SSD - Single Drive
Data Hard Drive   1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 16M Cache, 7200 RPM, 3.0Gb/s - Single Drive
Optical Drive   24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black
Sound Card   3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
Network Card   Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Operating System   Microsoft Windows 7 Professional - 64-Bit
Advanced Build Options   Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound - The best interface between your CPU and the heatsinks
Advanced Build Options   iBUYPOWER Specialized Advanced Packaging System - Protect your investment during transportation!
Warranty   Standard Warranty Service - Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support
Rush Service   Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) - No Rush Service, Estimate Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days

That's what I ordered today.....What do you guys think?  Any objections or misgivings?

[Grey Fox]

PC games will be on Flash drives before they are on Blu-Rays.

Who's building it? Can I do it?

[Barrister]

Only thoughts are that I'm leery of liquid cooling.

I love the SSD, the 5870 gets good reviews, and I think you went overboard on the PS (a PS is less efficient if it is operating significantly below its capacity).

[Caliga]

I think you went overboard on the PS (a PS is less efficient if it is operating significantly below its capacity).

I tried to tell him that too. 

[Grey Fox]

Someone said, I think grumbler, that the HAF 932 supports 2 PSU. While true that's not possible if, like alci, you are using liquid cooling.

[Alcibiades]

In regards to the PS, I plan on upgrading the graphics cards eventually.  A single 480 gtx for example runs at 300watts under full load and dual is like 615 watts or something completely ridiculous like that.  So yeah, probably a little overkill for now.....But I wasn't aware that it runs so much more inefficiently if its not used to its full potential.  How bad are we talking?  I was under the impression that they scale down to what's required, and the less strain the better.

[Barrister]

In regards to the PS, I plan on upgrading the graphics cards eventually.  A single 480 gtx for example runs at 300watts under full load and dual is like 615 watts or something completely ridiculous like that.  So yeah, probably a little overkill for now.....But I wasn't aware that it runs so much more inefficiently if its not used to its full potential.  How bad are we talking?  I was under the impression that they scale down to what's required, and the less strain the better.

It's not the end of the world or anything - it just isn't as efficient.  It'll draw more power, run hotter, then it would otherwise need to.

I don't know to what extent that "less efficient" part is - I tried to google some numbers, but no luck.

And running at your designed capacity isn't 'strain'.  It is straining to run above it.

It's the equivalent to using a ferrari to drive to the corner store for milk.  It'll do it, sure, but you'll get much worse gas mileage than something with a smaller engine.

[derspiess]

Were we comparing Home or Pro against Ultimate?  Home is $179 retail.  Now if you're going the OEM route (which I tend to do), Ultimate is $184.  But then Home is $99 OEM.

Home versus premium is a matter of paying $100 extra now and never having to upgrade, or paying $100 sometime in the future and going through the hassle of upgrading to get beyond 12 gigs of memory (if that date will even come within the lifetime of the machine).

Not a contest, in my mind.  Ultimate all the way.

Pro versus Premium is a matter of paying $15-$20 extra to avoid a possible situation where one might need the ultimate version (can't imagine why that would be, but who knows?).  This would be future-proofing at less than 1% of the price of the machine.

Narrow lead for Ultimate here.

With that price difference, unless I was certain I'd need any Ultimate features soon, I would go with Home OEM for $99.

That's a legitimate position.  I just don't share it.  It is better than getting pro, though, IMO.

Congrats, you managed to confuse me into submission

FWIW though, if he wants to do an "anytime upgrade", it would cost less than buying another full copy of the OS outright, and he won't have to do a full OS install.  So in that sense there's very little hassle.

[grumbler]

FWIW though, if he wants to do an "anytime upgrade", it would cost less than buying another full copy of the OS outright, and he won't have to do a full OS install.  So in that sense there's very little hassle.

Understand that the cost is about equivalent, but I have seen few upgrades go as smoothly as just installing the end system from the start.  If he was looking to defer some costs at this point, I would agree with you.

[Josquius]

PC games will be on Flash drives before they are on Blu-Rays.

Who's building it? Can I do it?

You think so? I've not heard that.
That would be odd...but cool. Cartidges were awesome.
Would be amusing if it happened though, it used to be PCs were discs and consoles were carts, it would mark a complete turn-around.

[Alcibiades]

PC games will be on Flash drives before they are on Blu-Rays.

Who's building it? Can I do it?

Buying from ibuypower.com.  Ideally I wanted to build it myself, but I lack a nerd circle now that can help me build it.

[DGuller]

PC games will be on Flash drives before they are on Blu-Rays.

Who's building it? Can I do it?

Buying from ibuypower.com.  Ideally I wanted to build it myself, but I lack a nerd circle now that can help me build it.

We can guide you through.  Languish did it for me, and the whole process led to a semi-amusing, expletive-laden thread around here somewhere.