Media-XE™ Ultra Power Unit - an advanced computer system configuration

[Allan Gabriel]

Since I was asked to come up with a really cool computer system configuration, I though I should publish it here as well:

System Name (dated 26th of October, 2006) :

Media-XE™ Ultra Power Unit

Display:
http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?mo...=10&l2=89&l3=0 - ASUS MW221U 22"

or Dell (details >>here<<) (but I wouldn't chose a Dell product nowadays, even if it has 30"! and also it has 11-14 ms of response time. not like 2 ms response time on ASUS)

Keyboard:
http://www.directron.com/kb608wt.html or http://www.directron.com/kb608bk.html

(Logisys Multimedia Pro Illuminated Keyboard, PS/2 + USB Interface - hehe, just in case lights go off)

Mouse:
http://www.a4tech.com/en/product2.as...103&MNO=X-750F A4Tech X-750F (2500 DPI!)

(and I have this little bugger already!)

Logitech Combination is tempting, but just not good enough:
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/pr...ONTENTID=10776

Internal Powersource:
http://www.thermaltake.com/product/P...0130/w0130.asp - video cards powersource

http://www.enermaxusa.com/catalog/pr...5c5c8115e80bc8
System Powersource

Computer Case:
http://www.thermaltake.com/product/C.../vc3000bws.asp Thermaltake - Armor Jr. VC3000BWS (well if I have an armour, so shoud my computer as well )

+ 1 BlueLed Fan - http://www.thermaltake.com/product/D...2387/a2387.asp

+ 2 BlueLed Fans - model A2016 - http://www.thermaltake.com/product/D...ye/blueeye.asp

Optical Drive(s):
Plextor Blu-Ray Burner - http://www.plextor.be/products/blu-ray/px-b920sa.html
(1 unit, you can get 2 units if you want to Write/copy many DVDs @ once or copy from a DVD to another)

Motherboard, CPU, RAM Memory & Video Cards:
4 Models to choose from 2 AMD Versions, 2 Intel Versions:
all systems (versions presented below) can have and support without any issue under windows 4GB of KingMax 1GB in each of the 4 Ram Memory Slots (http://www.kingmax.com/)

(yes, I know there are other brands or RAM Memory, but I selected KingMax for stability and durability - and since there are 2 types of CPU and 2 types of videocards - I had to come up with 4 possible configurations)

A) First AMD Version
Either ASUS Crosshair (not CrossFire, CROSSHAIR!) Motherboard
http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?mo...=3&l2=117&l3=0
Specs:
- AMD AM2 platform
- NVIDIA nForce® 590 SLI™ MCP
- Dual-channel DDR2 800/667/533
- Extreme Tweaker
- SupremeFX Audio
- Array mic
- LCD Poster
- EL I/O
- Onboard switches
- Onboard LED

With 2 nVidia 7950 GX2 Cards in SLI (2x http://www.inno3d.com/products/graph...ie/7950gx2.htm)

and CPU -
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core
Model Number: 5200+
Frequency (MHz): 2600
L2 Cache Size: 1MB x2
Socket: AM2
Stepping: F2
Manufacturing Tech
(CMOS): 90nm SOI
Wattage (W): 89
System Bus (MHz): 2000



B)Or Second AMD Version
ASUS M2R32-MVP - with the chipset ATI™ CrossFire™ Xpress 3200+ATI™ SB600
http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?mo...&l2=101&l3=328
Specs:
- Support AMD Socket AM2 CPU
- ATI™ CrossFire™ Xpress 3200+ATI™ SB600
- Dual PCIe x 16 Graphics
- Dual-channel DDR2 800/667/533
- AMD Live!™ Ready
- Stack Cool 2
- Noise-Filtering

With 2 ATI Radeon Gecube Cards:
RADEON X1950XTX, 512MB GDDR4, Dual-Link, VIVO + AVIVO Edition (As Mastercard in Crossfire - http://radeonxt.xenonweb.us/modules/...php?storyid=37)

and RADEON X1950Pro 512MB GDDR3, FZ Cool Fan, HDCP Edition (as Slavecard in Crossfire - http://radeonxt.xenonweb.us/modules/...php?storyid=38)

and CPU -
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core
Model Number: 5200+
Frequency (MHz): 2600
L2 Cache Size: 1MB x2
Socket: AM2
Stepping: F2
Manufacturing Tech
(CMOS): 90nm SOI
Wattage (W): 89
System Bus (MHz): 2000

C) Intel CPU version 1:
Motherboard for ATI Crossfire configuration:
DFI INFINITY 975X/G
details here...

Specs:
LGA 775 socket for:
- Intel® Pentium® D
- Intel® Pentium® 4
- Intel® Celeron D
- Intel® Core2 (Conroe family)
Supports Intel Enhanced Memory 64 Technology (EMT64T)Supports Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST)

Supports Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Supports 1066/800/533MHz FSB
Intel® 975X Express Chipset
2 PCI Express x16 slots
- CrossFire mode: The two x16 slots each operate at x8 bandwidth.
- Single VGA mode: Supports only one x16 slot operating at x16 bandwidth.

RADEON X1950XTX, 512MB GDDR4, Dual-Link, VIVO + AVIVO Edition (As Mastercard in Crossfire - http://radeonxt.xenonweb.us/modules/...php?storyid=37)

and RADEON X1950Pro 512MB GDDR3, FZ Cool Fan, HDCP Edition (as Slavecard in Crossfire - http://radeonxt.xenonweb.us/modules/...php?storyid=38)

and CPU:
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800
Processor Number: X6800
Cache: 4 MB L2
Clock Speed: 2.93 GHz
Front Side Bus: 1066 MHz
Other Features: Dual-core, Enhanced Intel Speed Step, Executable Disable Bit

D) Intel CPU version 2:

Motherboard for nVidia SLI:
ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium/WiFi-AP
http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?mo...1=3&l2=11&l3=0
Specs:
- Quad-SLI Ready
- Intel® Core™2 Extreme / Core™2 Duo Ready
- Intel® Pentium® Extreme / Pentium® D /
Pentium® 4 / Celeron® D Ready
- NVIDIA nForce® 590 SLI™ Intel Edition
- Dual-channel DDR2 800(OC) /667/533
- SupremeFX/ DTS Connect/ Array Mic/ Noise
Filter
- AI NOS™ / AI Gear / AI Nap
- 8 Phase Power Design

With 2 nVidia 7950 GX2 Cards in SLI (2x http://www.inno3d.com/products/graph...ie/7950gx2.htm)

and CPU:
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800
Processor Number: X6800
Cache: 4 MB L2
Clock Speed: 2.93 GHz
Front Side Bus: 1066 MHz
Other Features: Dual-core, Enhanced Intel Speed Step, Executable Disable Bit

(just like above)

HDD:
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/pro...sp?DriveID=459 ---- WD VelociRaptor, 3.5-inch SATA Hard Drive, 300 GB, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16 MB Cache, 10,000 RPM - 1 unit (for OS and fast hdd demanding applications)

http://www.westerndigital.com/en/pro...sp?driveid=733 ---- WD Caviar Black, Desktop Hard Drive, 2 TB, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 7200 RPM - 3 units (for storage)

TV & FM Tuner:
WinTV-PVR-500 MCE-Kit
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/produ...500mcekit.html (model 00254: WinTV-PVR-500 MCE-Kit with PAL TV tuner, hardware MPEG encoder and Media Center remote control)

1 pair of Headphones
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTE...tSKU=MDRV900HD

1 desktop microphone:
details >>here<<

1 5.1 Home Surround Audio System:

Logitech X-530 5.1 sound system
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/sp...211&cl=roeu,en

1 USB Bluetooth adapter for connectivity:
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProdu...duct_Id=273109

1 USB2.0 All-in-1 External Memory Card Reader:
http://www.preisroboter.de/search.ph...derwriter+1000 Hama CardReader 1000

Operating System and software:
- Windows Media Center 2005 Emerald (lastest MCE Windows Edition - Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 2 (codenamed Emerald) with Service Pack 3
- the latest Adobe Creative Suite
- Ms Office 2007
(and many other usefull pieces of software)



Add-ons (something for show-off puposes only):


Asus PhysX P1 - AGEIA PhysX videoCard enhancing - for stunningly real and accurate images and effects
http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1...37&modelmenu=2

Sound Card (the soundcards embedded on the motherboards can do the job very well, especially the 8 channel ones on ASUS motherboards, but if you want more... :)
Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi Fatal1ty:
http://uk.europe.creative.com/produc...&product=14000

Phewww, that took a while. Well, I posted the links to the products if you want to find out more details. The component manufacturers have been thoroughly selected, especially for their known traditional reputation of being good at creating certain components. As you might have noticed, the most expensive components are not always the best (have a look at the Logitech example). Another important thing is that, even if I had the money, I wouldn't hurry to buy the video cards yet - as you may all know, Windows Vista is about to be lauched soon, and with it, the DirectX 10 - and so, in this case, we'd need top high-end video cards with support for DirectX 10 (the actual ones only offer support for DirectX 9.0c), and ShaderModel 4. The good news I might be able to buy such a system soon. The price? If we are to take into consideration the ASUS M2R32-MVP - with the chipset ATI™ CrossFire™ Xpress 3200+ATI™ SB600 configuration, the system would cost about $7000, or about £3,690.82 (and this system doesn't require any overclocking whatsoever!)- so it's not that expensive compared to the prices of tens of thousands of dollars of brandname systems. And also it's much more powerfull than those.

The system mentioned above is Vista Ready, capable of running all actual video-games at very high framerates, it is suitable for advanced and complex video & audio editing, obvioulsy it has all the multimedia capabilities you'd expect from a PC and even more (Blue-Ray!). Multitasking is not a problem and you're able to run easily any application with heavy demands. It is a next-gen computer system and it can provide you with thousands of posibilities and tools to get your job done when it comes to computing requirements.

Update on the article:

The NVIDIA video cards 7950 GX2 can now be replaced with NVIDIA 8800 GTX cards, because the 8800 series have support for shader model 4.0 and are way much faster:

http://www.inno3d.com/products/graph...f8/8800gtx.htm

8800 GTX more info and description >>here<<