Possibilities!

[Crazybob]

Would like some feedback on this kit. Not sure about the 6850's and their production.

http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7239556

[Maxwell]

That will probably end up being a little better than a dual 5750 system. Regardless with that box, you're out of luck on MW.

If it were me, I'd build something better within that price point. Of course, if you're terribly interested in it, you could eBay the cards in there and replace them, but I would pass, personally.

[Crazybob]

Thanks for the feedback. Does seem like a lot of over kill. Don't really need the burner or 12MB of memory at this point and I noticed that the cards weren't dual precision. The HD is overkill also for what we do. Will just have to keep my eye out for the next good deal.

[Fire$torm]

It looks like a decent system but there are several gotchas.

1) As Maxwell stated those ATI's are Single Precision. :-q
2) The case is only a Mid-Tower. :-q
3) Other then the CPU & GPUs, the components are unknowns. The add does not state brands. :-q :-q :-q

For that price point of $1,500.00 you can build a system with similar characteristics and known high quality components.

Here is my rendition of a good system for that price point (Not necessarily the cheapest prices to be found, too lazy to look. But if you are really interested then I will make the effort.)

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423) - $209.99 (MIR - $10)

CPU: Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211) - $279.99

Memory: CORSAIR XMS3 6GB TR3X6G1600C9 Kit (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145222) - $72.99 (MIR - $10)

Graphics: SAPPHIRE 100312-1GSR Radeon HD 6950 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102921) - $244.99 (MIR - $20)

PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series AX1200 1200W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014) - $279.99

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136795) - $59.99

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160) - $139.98 (MIR - $20)

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (OEM) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754&cm_re=windows_7-_-32-116-754-_-Product) - $99.99
Or save a $100.00 and use a Linux OS distro like Ubuntu, Gentoo, SUSE, Mint, etc...

USB Pen/Thumb/Pen Drive: Patriot Xporter XT Boost 8GB Flash Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220252) - $16.99
Needed in place of CD/DVD drive but very, very useful. I also own one :-bd

Total Before Shipping & MIRs: $1,405.00 (Rounded up)
Shipping: Approx. $14.00
Mail In Rebates (MIRs): $60.00

Note: Only the GPU & PSU have shipping charges so they should be purchased separately from the other items if you where to go with Newegg.

Of course with my suggested build your budget only has enough for one GPU.
So, what advantage(s) do you come away with building your own system? Quality components and Parts & Labor warranties.

Corsair: 7 years on the PSU!!! Lifetime on the Memory.
Gigabyte: 3 years.
Patriot: Lifetime.
Sapphire: 2 years.
Western Digital: 5 years.

[Shadow]

You could also knock down the price a bit if you went with an AMD X6 CPU and compatible MB. That would save you about $200, but I don't know how well they perform vs Intel.
Sapphire's 2 year warranty on GPU's is great, if you can get them to honor it. I had a fan go bad on a 3 month old 5870 and they told me to contact Newegg to get it RMA'd. Newegg told me to contact Sapphire because their 60 day warranty was up. Sapphire still insists you have to go through the reseller. :mad: Sapphire no longer gets my business.

[Fire$torm]

You could also knock down the price a bit if you went with an AMD X6 CPU and compatible MB. That would save you about $200, but I don't know how well they perform vs Intel.
Sapphire's 2 year warranty on GPU's is great, if you can get them to honor it. I had a fan go bad on a 3 month old 5870 and they told me to contact Newegg to get it RMA'd. Newegg told me to contact Sapphire because their 60 day warranty was up. Sapphire still insists you have to go through the reseller. :mad: Sapphire no longer gets my business.

I too am not sure of the performance difference between Intel and AMD.
For your card, did you try contacting Sapphire's corporate offices?

[Shadow]

I too am not sure of the performance difference between Intel and AMD.
For your card, did you try contacting Sapphire's corporate offices?

Yeah, they gave me the runaround. I ended up selling that card to a friend and upgrading to 6970's. He threw an Accelero on it and loves it. I ended up going with HIS this time and threw the Accelero's on them, much better.

[YoDude9999]

Personally, I will never buy another kit. I have owned two Compaqs over the last several years and they were/are reliable and solid machines. But these both were geared for something other than performance. Minimal sized power supplies, minimal expansion capabilities and the list goes on. Tiger direct and Newegg and the rest really are only marginally better than Walmart units.

I will never buy a "Boxed", box or kit box ever again. I will start from scratch knowing what role it is I want the box to perform in. From that I will build using only good trusted name brand components with lifetime warranties on the major components...P/S, MB, GPUs and memory. Hard drives, fans, DVDs and all the rest are "expected to die" items, but I still will only buy name brands that have been around for a long time. And, this applies to used items found on ebay or craigslist. If it's a good name brand and the seller says it's good, then I'll take the chance and dive on it to save a few extra bucks here and there, sometimes hundreds of dollars over new.

Knowing what you want and research is the key to finding and getting the best price on a build.

Just my 2 cents worth,

Yo-

[joker]

I have to ask, CB, what are you looking to do with the new machine (speaking to the CPU)? MM's or most credits? I ask because IMHO, you will have better luck achieving MM's (and having versatility and better credits for the price in more projects) with an AMD processor, but if you are looking for max credits, I have heard that HTing kicks butt in AQUA (and with my limited knowledge it is the only project that benefits from HTing). I might be wrong about that, and if I am, I am sure someone will correct me. Food for thought/discussion.

[dan]

You could also knock down the price a bit if you went with an AMD X6 CPU and compatible MB. That would save you about $200, but I don't know how well they perform vs Intel.
Sapphire's 2 year warranty on GPU's is great, if you can get them to honor it. I had a fan go bad on a 3 month old 5870 and they told me to contact Newegg to get it RMA'd. Newegg told me to contact Sapphire because their 60 day warranty was up. Sapphire still insists you have to go through the reseller. :mad: Sapphire no longer gets my business.

Sorry to hear about Sapphire, I have three cards from them and never had a problem. But there is a bright side, you could have a company that is too responsive. I had three MSI mother boards burn up in three months. They just kept replacing them. If they hadn't kept accepting my RMA's I'd of gotten a different board and never gone through the hassle of pulling and shipping the board over and over.:))