Killer Specs for High End PC in 2006

Rhing

In the words of Charlie Brown: THAT'S IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope to hear more from others who have built windows systems for audio, but you really covered the topic here so thank you very much!

Ultraviolet

You make some good points.

FYI, I was flamed not for suggesting Alienware, but because I was not sufficiently specific in my request for the "best, fastest" windows based machine. Whether or not the Alienware machines were good or bad I didn't know but I just found their branding and design to be silly and juvenile.

High end audio is an appropriate metaphor, particularly as we are having this discussion on AUDIOgon.

As with my audio equipment, I care not only about the performance, but also the build quality and the appearance of any tool or applicance or component, my PC included.

I think the PC industry is still stuck in the dark ages, (other than the geeked out hobbyist world which decorates their home made Alienware PCs with neon lights and exotic cooling mechanisms) which is exactly why I am researching this topic.

Now further to your $20.00 PC, you might argue that a $10,000 Yamaha motorbike, or a tricked out Honda CRX goes just as fast as a Ferrari 612, so the only reason you should buy a Ferrari is if you want to waste money.

Or maybe that we should all have two cars: one, all AWD minivan, preferably purchased used at a discount, to get the groceries and drop off kids at soccer games and two, maybe a tracked out, fast and furious style Honda, or a second hand Caterham 7 which anyone knows will leave a Porsche Turbo in the dust for 10% of the price.

But we've explored all of these arguments before - a Seiko keeps better time than a Rolex, a Sears range top boils water as well as a Viking, a generic refrigerator cools milk and makes ice as well as a Subzero.

And those arguments dont belong on AUDIOgon.

For my house, and perhaps even for my office, I want a well made, beautifully designed, blazingly high performance PC which doesnt look like a mass produced, injection molded, depressingly ugly box, with a plastic keyboard, and yet another viewsonic monitor as seen on every white color slave's desk.

I have to spend many hours, day and night, on my computer and want it to be a high performance, luxury experience with gorgeous video, gorgeous sound, and everything I otherwise might need right at my fingertips. Why is that not a good idea?

You restored my faith to some degree with your comment on "PC" speakers, which I agree sound terrible. But in addition to having my ARC, Levinson and Tympanis in the next room, I think it would be great to have really good, studio (?) quality, active nearfield monitors also on my desk for the times when I can switch on some music, or tune into the video.

So Rhing and others, please keep the suggestions for "killer specs" and other high end, PC ideas coming.

Cheers

cwlondon

I still havent managed to build the new PC of my dreams and would greatly appreciate any up to the minute advice.

I continue to be obsessed with build quality, and I continue to be disappointed with the geeked out teenage video gamer PCs, as well as the boring, looks like everyone elses mass produced injection molded stuff.

So although I am still agonizing over the specs, I have noticed a couple of cases that some of you have recommended in other threads:

xoxide.com Lian Li cases

and atechfabrication.com

(although bummer that I can never get the atech guy to return a phone call, so I suspect he is a hobbyist garage operation, and only God knows when I would receive the product.)

For rack mountable options, and some pretty interesting looking accessories, take a look at this:

www.chassisplans.com (or chassis-plans.com)

Now here is my question - this might seem a bit backwards to some, but can I please choose the CASE or the rack mountability FIRST?

If so, can any of you please recommend a custom builder that I could hire to cram my high end case with the functionality that I need?

I would like this too!

http://www.digitaltigers.com/displays-powerscape.shtm\

Long overdue for the new state of the art machine of my dreams so all tips and suggestions greatly appreciated.

Can anyone update these "killer specs" now that it is February 2007?

Any major breakthroughs since this thread started?

Thank you,

YyZ

Thanks for the update - sounds like a very nice system you are building.

Aside from huge hard drive storage, wireless and networking capabilities etc, does this puzzle boil down to the following:

* Latest, greatest video card

and

* Maximum RAM

Because it seems that much of what we are tying to do here does not necessarily require the fastest chipsets?

In the true spirit of being an audiophile, I am perhaps most concerned with spending the big bucks on a heavy, beautifully made chassis.

Some of the nicer silent ones I have seen have a small "footprint" and I had concerns that they might not accomodate the components I needed.

But if my thesis above is correct, than all I have to do is ask if ask the manufacturer if such a chassis will accomodate a high end video card?

Thanks for ideas.