Synthetics, Continued

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Conclusions

Here's the total cost of the system, less software and peripherals we already owned:

High-End PC Component Cost
CPU Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 £650 / €910
CPU Cooler Ultra ChillTec £90 / €115
Motherboard Asus Striker Extreme £230 / €320
RAM Crucial Ballistix DDR2 1000 PC2-8000 - 2GB £250 / €300
Graphics 2x XFX GeForce 8800GTX PN: PVT80FSHF9 £800 / €1,040
Hard Drive 2x Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5000YS £200 / €300
Sound Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS £140 / €160
Case LIAN LI PC-60A PLUSII £100 / €130
Power PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad £120 / €140
DVD-RW Sony NEC Optiarc 7170 SATA £20 / €35
Total Price £2,600 / €3,450

The system cost around three times as much as the mid-priced build. We're certainly glad we didn't go "all out" on factory-overclocked parts or redundant CPU cores, because we need to justify this expense, relative to performance in our final system build!

Author's Opinion

We all like fast parts, but none of the editors were particularly interested in specifying the high-end build. Why? Perhaps because none of us could afford to have all these parts in our personal-use systems, or more likely because removing the strict budget cap takes much of the challenge out of choosing a configuration. We still saved money in a few places where it wasn't going to make a large performance difference, but high-end buyers know they're going to be scoffed at by value seekers. If they listen closely, they might just hear envious undertones in that laughter...

Now if I can just convince Shelton to overclock these systems!

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