Intel's gunning hard for the high end of the gaming market with the new
Skulltrail platform, but nothing about it is cheap -- the D5400XS mobo at the heart of the platform costs $649 to start, and the flagship "fastest ever" config features two $1,499 3.2GHZ QX9775 processors. Still, if you're a hardcore gamer, you know you want it, so the folks over at Techgage have put together a handy guide to building a Skulltrail system for just $2,500 -- sure, you're not getting those crazy processors for that money, but the specs are still pretty respectable. Techgage priced out a pair of $300 2.3GHz Xeon E5410s, a single NVIDIA 8800GT-based graphics card, 320GB drive, 4GB of RAM and all the chassis bits for $2,520 -- not bad, not bad at all. Grab your screwdrivers and check out all the sample configurations at the read link.
posted Feb 20th 2008 4:21PM
Toss in a second 8800GT for only $250 more and it gets even better (seriously, if your already paying $2500, whats $250 more?)
10%
more money
I guess you are not a financial adviser. (If you are paying $3000 whats $250 more,...if you are paying $3250 whats $250 more...lol)
Thanks for posting this! I'm looking to build a desktop after I buy my laptop so this will definitely help.
I'm fine with a dual core. Thank you. There are not enough games to take advantage of eight cores. Maybe if you play NFS Carbon and ALT-TAB to BioShock, then ALT-TAB to other game that you think of while using Folding at Home at the same time.
P.S: Are you on F@H? Then join the Engadget team!
Absolutely agree...basically if you don't play Supreme Commander (it sees a nice boost from quad) or use other heavily multithreaded apps, dual core is more than enough.
I'd recommend a P35, X38, or 780i chipset mobo with a E8400 right now to get the best bang for your buck.
I just tried alt-tab for the first time after i read your comment. thank you, god
My Mac Alt+Tab function is better than your PC Alt+Tab function!!
LOL, just kidding. I wish I could afford to build my own system but I decided paying the 40% premium was a much more fashionable idea.
//Seriously, my MBP is putting me through gadget withdraw.
@TJ Johnson
My Windows Key + Tab function pawns your Mac Alt + Tab Function.
my macbook air touchpad gesture activates exposé, so i've got you all beat!
@ Oliver
Touche.
I predict someone will post these so I will get ahead of them. (Sarcasm)
"Will it Play doom?"
Erm... YES WE KNOW, YES WE KNOW! Now try something new. Doom will run on a pitching iPod and a pitching phone [n80?] so a big PC will not have a pitching problem. This is getting old.
"Will it Blend"
No. It won't fit.
Now, no offense. I am really annoyed of old jokes. Repetitive. Repetitive. Repetitive.
Forget about Doom... Where are these "pitching iPods" and "pitching iPhones" you speak of? Something the MLB is deploying for spring training perhaps?
Yes, but will it play Doom 2? More importantly, will it dice?
*crying* I wish I could blend you!
Yeah it wont fit, that case is HUGE. I have it and I never expected it to be this big, it also weighs about 50 lbs.
Yeah I know the will it blend thing is a joke.
time to move up to the wood chipper. that could get the job done.
But will it fit inside a manila folde...
bah! nevermind...
I'd rather build a Scull Trail. Especially if you could hear Vincent Price in the background.
I would hear this sound in the background:
Chi-Ching! (Coins pouring)
But does it come with internet installed?
You can build a better gaming machine for $2500. Considering the fact that the extra processors don't make much sense for gaming, the FB-DIMM RAM is too slow for gaming, and you can build a $2500 PC with an nVidia 8800 Ultra and a quad-core AND 4 GB of RAM, I don't really know why you would build an inferior Skulltrail machine unless your new purpose in life is to show your friends 2 CPU heatsinks in your rig.
Or maybe it's because you need to run Folding@Home at the speed of light.
Only suckers run dual-cpu... quad-cpu is where it's at... and only suckers have one, clustering is where its at.
Yeah, i'm telling you to spend a fortune on 5 quad-quad xeon rigs and a host machine just to play crysis... but really... isn't the number of processors/cores an extension of how dig your bick is?
what's wrong with the name Biggus Dickus?
"isn't the number of processors/cores an extension of how dig your bick is?" what does my disposable lighter have to do with it?
I know this may blow gamers minds, but there are quite a few people at home who constantly max out their quad cores, and are wanting 8, 16, or more core machines already. Not everybody is trying to get 10fps more in supreme commander, some of us are trying to work on next next gen graphics, scientific computing, next gen data visualization, etc, and yet we still could make use of a high powered dual GPU setup as well. The skulltrail makes sense in those applications. I know intel and this article are framing the machine as a gamer machine, but think beyond that and get over the whole "2 cores is enough for me, so this machine is worthless" argument. The machine is a step in the right direction, and I'm glad it's finally out there.
And does anyone find it funny whenb i say his wifes name... incontinencia buttocks.
i don't know about yours, but i know my bick isnt disposable while i guess you could call it a lighter
My point being that we're talking about a $2500 machine here, and what the best components for the buck are. Sure, if you got 5 grand, go ahead and get 2 8800 Ultra's and 8 CPU cores altold - all I know is that on my $2500 config I can run Crysis at 1920x1200 with the DX10-XP config hack at 40+ FPS, and I doubt that you can do that with a 8800 GT.
I'd rather have 4 graphics cards than get another $1400 cpu. But all you millionare Supreme Commander fans out there be my guest(and just for the hell of it put a video on youtube)
There's a hugely extensive testing of skulltrail on Toms Hardware they found the memory just bottlenecked the whole system so badly it wasn't worth the extra money; A single dual/quad-core is faster at most desktop applications especially games.
Voodoo/Falcon NW/Alienware are rediculously expensive to begin with.. I cant even imagine how much they will charge for a machine with this board in it.
What is the case picture here?
Looks like the Thermaltake Armor or a variation of it.
It's a Thermaltake Armour case, and it happens to be my exact model : P
It looks impressive, and, although I haven't tried, it could probably take a couple hits from a metal baseball bat and still live : O
Steel Aluminum Alloy ftw
this is news?
i'm with this guy.
Funny, I built a PC about a year and a half ago using that same case, heh.
Not even the $6000 version can run Crysis at Very High settings at an acceptable frame rate. :(
"How to build a computer for $2500 and compare it to the Skulltrail" -- Did I get that right?