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Editor's Choice Gaming Rig 2009

By Vincent Chang - 1 Aug 2009

The Standard Components

Graphics

Now that we have figured out the components for the two separate AMD and Intel based systems, it's time to move to the standard components that are common for both the systems. First, the most important part for a gaming rig - the graphics processing unit (GPU) on the graphics card.

As we mentioned earlier, the current generation of GPUs has reached its zenith and there's nothing but a slow decline in prices for a while now. ATI has dabbled in 40nm GPUs with its Radeon HD 4670 but the main bulk of these 40nm GPUs will probably be in the next generation GPU designs. NVIDIA too is developing its own 40nm lineup but its huge, complex GT200 chip based GPU appears to be its flagship architecture for the near future.

Hence, among the current generation GPUs, who is the top dog? Our recent comparison between the two competing multi-GPU technologies between the two companies found that the performance between them, the dual Radeon HD 4890 in CrossFireX and the GeForce GTX 295 were mostly similar, with some benchmarks favoring slightly one side or the other. However, the power consumption and temperature results gave the advantage to the GTX 295, which is why we have chosen this GPU for our gaming rig. The fact that it's practically a single card (despite having two GPUs) and hence works for any motherboard with a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot is another additional plus. As such, the GeForce GTX 295 is a more efficient card in our books, despite their price differential.

Our preferred GPU for high-end systems, NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 295. Shown here is the original, dual-PCB, reference card from NVIDIA.

We're not going into the specifics of which brands of the GTX 295 to get, since most of them are identical to the reference model. NVIDIA did release a single PCB version of the GTX 295 that has both GPU on the same PCB, unlike the dual PCB sandwich that's seen in the original design. In case you're wondering how much you need to pay for this top of the class GPU, it's about the price of a console for that matter. We have listed some models below and their online listed price, which all happens to be around US$499.

Model Name Retail Price
ASUS ENGTX295/2DI/1792MD3/A GeForce GTX 295 US$499
EVGA 017-P3-1295-AR CO-OP Edition GeForce GTX 295 US$499
GIGABYTE GV-N295-18I-B GeForce GTX 295 US$499
MSI N295GTX-2D1792 GeForce GTX 295 US$499
ZOTAC ZT-295E3MB-FSP GeForce GTX 295 US$499
XFX GeForce GTX 295 (GX295NHWFC) US$499

Storage

Finally, we come to an increasingly important section - storage. Our perception of storage and hard drives in recent years has been its ever plunging cost. Now, we have reached the stage where terabytes are commonplace among consumers and prices have been the lowest ever yet.

Despite this sunny outlook, it's also true that the actual performance of your hard drive has been relatively stagnant. One could even say that their days are numbered. It's very likely that they will stay for a while to come due to their low cost but the future, or some would say, the present, belongs to flash memory in the form of solid state drives (SSD).

Yes, the SSD is on the verge of breaking into the mainstream, what with new models that use less costly multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory and of course the shift to more flash memory production among manufacturers. Most important of all, applications benefit greatly from the lower latency, higher read and write speeds of SSD. Not to mention the greater durability and lower power consumption and noise.

You can learn more about SSD and the technology behind it in our SSD roundup but suffice to say that the benefits for going the SSD route, at least for the partition for your operating system are numerous. At the very least, you'll find a more responsive system which boots up fast and shuts down quick.

Our pick for the storage is Patriot's Torqx 64GB SSD which comes with a 64MB cache.

From our roundup, we picked the Patriot Torqx for its relatively affordable price for its high performance output. This SSD uses the newer Indilinx controller which has 64MB of cache memory to improve its performance. Going for around US$223, it's well worth the price, though here, we have to mention that Intel's latest 34nm SSD will probably eclipse the current competition. However, a firmware bug has delayed its introduction to the retail market, so it fails to make it in time for this article.

Adding it up

A complete PC will require other components, like power supply, chassis, displays, etc. We won't be covering that here since those are not the crucial performance elements of the system. So, now that we have identified the important components for the AMD and Intel based systems, let's find out how much they will cost:

The AMD system with its core performance components will set you back by US$1203.

Our AMD Editor's Choice system.

Meanwhile, the Intel system will cost US$2166. That's quite a sum for a non-complete system. As you can see, there's a huge disparity between the two platforms, with the Core i7 processor taking up the bulk of the cost. The Core i7 has been a stellar performer in our CPU reviews and that's also why it's commanding this high premium for serious content creators and enthusiasts needing the best overall performance. Still, we aim to find out just how much, if any, does the top Core i7 offer in gaming performance over the competition.

Our Intel Editor's Choice system.

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