Dream Machine Contest

[uberness23]

Valid point. Most games don't even handle tri/quad GPU configs well anyways. I've avoided high end peripherals in the past due to my sloppy room mate's tendency to spill things on them :wallbash:

[FMod]

Exactly, if multi-GPU configs scaled perfectly, or even worked in case of 3x or 4x, we could just keep adding more cards.

But as it is, 2 is the practical maximum, so they have to be replaced. Actually, I would have upgraded to a pair of 680s in a heartbeat, if they didn't suck.

 

Let me clarify. "What, isn't 680 faster?" Yes, it is faster. But how many of us said "yeah, baby, that's exactly what I've been waiting for" when the new card was, like in a math class, 23% more expensive and 23% faster? Except in games with PhysX, where it's 20% slower.

 

And in compute, where it's 60% slower. That is a whole order of magnitude slower than the competition now. Overclocking by just 10% rather than 25%, and being less reliable. Requiring drivers that can slow your PC to a grinding halt unless you use an old beta. With a 2012-worthy amount of VRAM being extra, and the narrow bus unable to use it all even if you pay.

I can forgive a lot of things, but I draw the line... well, about here.

 

There are a lot better ways to spend 2x($630 card+$150 waterblock)=$1,550 than replacing a pair of solid cards with a pair of much shoddier ones. Should have jumped at 7970 the day they came out; 580s were still an easy sell then, especially with Bitpowers - the only waterblock that fits MSI LXT (the best 580).

Right now, I can only reasonably wait for HD8000+Haswell and sell this rig assembled, should fetch a good bit more than parted out.

 

 

 

Anyway, where was I? Better ways to spend $1,550.

 

Let's start with something cheap. A mechanical keyboard - Majestouch, Topre, K90, Leupold - $100-$300. Faster typing, better game performance, known to last over 10 years.

 

High-grade flight sim kit - Warthog, Saitek pedals, panels - about $950. Quality authentic controllers that will keep you in the cockpit for 10 years of intense use.

 

Pair of Monitor Audio Silver RX6 speakers with an Arcam amplifier - $1,550. Clear, full-range, life-like sound in games, movies and music, and will sound just as great in 30 years.

 

Philips 9705 display - $850 for 32", $1,420 for 40". Pitch black nights, eye-burning sunlight, 0.5 ms panel, 3D, wide color gamut. You haven't seen Fallout 3 until you've seen it loaded with high-def mods on a 9700 series.

 

Marquee 8500 liquid coupled 8" projector - $1,500. Same as above, but on an 80-inch screen. It's not quite the same as a 9" Barco, but it looks close for a lot less money.

 

Xigmatek Elysium, SS-1000XP Platinum PSU, set of ultra-quiet fans - $500. Lets you go SLI without going deaf, cheaper than water cooling. An extra $900 would actually add water cooling for CPU and 2xGPU.

Edited July 31, 2012 by FMod