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Ultimate PC - February 2007

hwi-h  PC Advice » Ultimate PC - February 2007

Author: Martin Brijs 02/12/2007

Ultimate PC

Configuration

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Processors
When building an ultimate system you need an ultimate processor. There is only one candidate for this job at the moment, the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700. This quadcore powerhouse combines two Core 2 Duo processors into one package, creating four physical cores on 2.67GHz with a 8MB L2 cache. When we tested this monster it blew away all other processors we have tested, especially in programs optimized for multiple cores. This processor is the fastest one in the world at the moment!.
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Scythe Mugen Scythe Mugen CPU coolers
We tested almost every CPU cooler on the market in our magazine, and to our surprise the Scythe Infinity come out on top, both in noise levels as well as cooling performance. Sure, it is a huge cooler, but we think this is the only choice in an ultimate system.
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ASUS Striker Extreme ASUS Striker Extreme Mainboards
A motherboard in an ultimate system has to have two things: Support for Intels Core 2 Duo processors and suppor for SLI or CrossFire. The ASUS Striker Extreme fits this description, and supports the quad core processor and SLI. The Striker Extreme is built around nVidia's 680SLI chipset and supports 4 dual channel DDR2 800 modules, two PCI-Express x16 graphics cards, 8 SATA II hard drives and 10 USB 2.0 ports. The board is loaded with exra features like a LCD panel that shows the boot process and numerous LED's on all connections. The north and south bridge are cooled hrough heatpipes, and all stabilisors are cooled as well for uptimum stability. There is a 7.1 soundchip on this board, although we choose not to use this is this configuration. A board fit fot both overclockers and casemodders, and it truly has it all. The only correct choice for our ultimate system.
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2x Corsair Dominator TWIN2X2048-8888C4DF 2x Corsair Dominator TWIN2X2048-8888C4DF Memory modules
We think an ultimate system needs 4GB of memory, but not just any memory. The Corsair Dominator series can reach speeds up to 1111MHz on 4-4-4-12 timings, and sports the EPP technology. As our motherboard supports this feature as well, it is the perfect choice for our system.

nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX SLI 2x nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX in SLI 3D chips
DirectX 10, 128 unified shaders, Shader model 4.0, 768 MB memory, 485-bit memory bus, etc. As you can guess we are describing the recently introduced GeForce 8800 GTX. The best card that you can purchase at this point in time. As we are building an ultimate system we will use two of these cards in SLI mode, in our test a setup like this set records in all benchmarks.
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2x Western Digital Raptor X 150 GB in RAID 0 2x Western Digital Raptor X 150 GB in RAID 0 Hard disks/SSD's
Not one drive, not two, but 5 drives need to go in our system. For speed we use two Western Digital Raptors X 150GB in RAID 0. The X version is the one with the window so you can actually see the drive move, adding a bit of extra bling to our system.

3x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750 GB in RAID 5 3x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750 GB in RAID 5 Hard disks/SSD's
People need more and more capacity as is evident by the growing sales in hard drives but also the growing size of hard drives. The word gigabyte has been replaced with terabyte. For data storage we use three Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB hard disks in RAID 5, adding both seeds and contingincy to our system. Our operating system and the games will off course be run of the Raptor drives, as these are unrivalled in speed.

Samsung SH-D162A 16x DVD-ROM SATA Samsung SH-D162A 16x DVD-ROM SATA Optical drives
Nothing special to report on the SH-162 DVD drive, high speeds and a low noise level. The biggest advantage however is the SATA connection. We choose the version with the black bezel for our system.

Samsung SH-S183A Black OEM Samsung SH-S183A Black OEM Optical drives
Samsung SH-S183A was one of the first 18 speed DVD rewriters, and our tests showed that the average writing speed of this drive reached 13 speed, making it one of the fastest on the market today. Not only the speed is good, the actual quality of the discs burned is very good as well. As this drive has a SATA connetion as well, and its price is more than reasonable it is the correct choice for our system.
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Multifunctional cardreader Multifunctional cardreader Cardreaders
A x-in-1 cardreader is a cheap and very usefull addition to a modern day computer system. Memory cards from digital camera's, PDA's and phones can be read straight into the PC and with Windows Vista around the corner we can safely say that the floppy drive has had its time. When using Windows XP however a floppy drive is still a necessary evil when using a RAID setup.

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Sound cards
The X-Fi range by Creative is the most powerfull soundcard range on the market at the moment. The soundquality and possibilities of the X-Fi are unrivalled, and Creatuve has a model for gamers, multimedia users or music creators. For our ultimate system we use the Fatal1ty card, as the front box s a usefull extra, for instance when using headphones. The card also offers the possibility to connect the speakerset optically or through coaxial cable. The card has 64MB of onboard RAM that caches sounds that are used a lot, this way there is a performance increase of at least 5% in games, according to Creative.

Cooler Master Stacker 830 Cooler Master Stacker 830 Cases
The Cooler CM Stacker is the ultimate case for hardware enthousiasts, combining design with smart cooling (The fans are deoivered with teh case). The CM stacker can be used as a BTX case, and with the amount of room in the case it is the ideal solution for our ultimate system.
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Thermaltake Toughpower 850 Watt Thermaltake Toughpower 850 Watt Power supplies
A system with a quad core processor, five hard drives and two GeForce 8800 GTX cards will consume a lot of power. To ensure everything runs stable we opt for the new Thermaltake toughpower 850W PSU with four 12V rails that can deliver up to 62A. This should be ample for the system and as the PSU is modular you will not have unnecessary cables in your system.

Creative Gigaworks S750 Creative Gigaworks S750 Speaker sets
Already three years on the market but still teh best speakerset around. The Gigaworks S750 is the perfect companion for the X-Fi Fatal1ty, THX certified with seven 70W satellite speakers. The subwoofer delivers 210W RMS, more than enough to annoy your neighbours.

Logitech G15 desktop Logitech G15 desktop Keyboard
This keyboard is the only choice for our ultimate system, 18 programmable keys, excellent keystroke and the zero tilt design make this keyboard very easy to use. Off course it helps that the LCD screen adds a lot of "bling" to the setup, as well as the possibility to light up your keys and even adjust the intensity of the light. Last but not least: When running a full screen application, the windows keys are disabled automatically so that you do not hit the wrong key in the middle of fragging your opponent.

Logitech MX Revolution Logitech MX Revolution Mouse
The Logitech MX Revolution is the perfect allround mouse. When you will use the system purely for gaming the Razor Copperhead or Logitech G5 is a better choice, but for other applications the MX Revolution is the ultimate mouse.

 

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