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Processor: Maximum performance starts with the CPU. We chose Intel’s Core i7 CPU (formerly code ame “Nehalem”) to be the powerhouse behind our performance system. The Core i7-965 is the top of the heap with a clock speed of 3.2 Ghz.
Motherboard: The Core i7 CPU deserves a motherboard that can keep up. We went with Intel’s DX58S0 motherboard, which features the X58 chipset (code named “SmackOver”). The DX58S0 sports support for three channels of DDR3 RAM, two PCI Express 2.0 X16 slots, eight-channel audio, SATA RAID support, and plenty of accessory ports.
Storage: We chose to meet the need for speed by choosing an Intel SDA2MHO80G 80GB solid state drive (left) as the primary drive and then added a Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EACS as a secondary drive to provide 1TB of space to work with for video editing or other large capacity tasks.
Memory: Selecting RAM was an easy choice. We chose to use three 1GB DDR3 modules from Kingston. With SmackOver and Core i7, three is a magic number; it’s a combo is designed to perform best with three memory channels. What’s more, when using a 32-bit OS, such as Windows Vista, 3GB is the maximum amount of memory that can be used.
Graphics Card: There are dozens of different cards, all with different performance and price levels. We went for an all around good performer, since our ultimate system is destined for a variety of tasks, from video editing to CAD to games. That led to choosing an EN9800GTX+ from ASUS, which uses a Nvidea GeForce GPU and features 512MB of DDR3 RAM.
Optical Drive: The ability to read and write all popular DVD and CDR formats was an important consideration that drove the optical drive selection. A Plextor PX-850SA Super Multi DVD+/-RW drive fit the bill. The PX-850SA offers SATA connectivity and fast read/write speeds.
Power Supply: The power supply is a one of the most critical components of a high-performance PC. Reliable power is needed for all of the components, as well as cooling fans. We chose a NZXT Precise 850W, which offers 850 watts of power, plenty of connectors and is a standard ATX size.
The Case: We were looking for hot performance out of our system, we still wanted it to look cool and we did not want to hide all of our fancy components behind pieces of metal. The Antec Skeleton is an open air case that offers excellent airflow, cooling and looks really sharp. The Skeleton is suitable for most motherboards.
Operating System: After we assembled our system, we installed Windows Vista Ultimate Edition and took it for a drive. Performance was outstanding, with the system achieving a PassMark Score of 2765.5 using Performance Test V6.1 from PassMark Software.
The Final Product:While the final price tag of our custom system is more than $3,000, the final product provides far greater performance than most off-the-shelf business- or consumer-class desktop systems. For power users, this system so hot, it’s cool. Add a reasonable 30% margin, and you have a high-performance system that retails for roughly $4,200. Not bad.
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