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When High End Gaming Machines Fight

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the pc-as-a-console dept.

mikemuch writes "Games for Windows Magazine and ExtremeTech teamed up to determine which prebuilt high-end PC delivers the ultimate game performance in terms of frame-rate and ability to yield the highest game quality settings on large displays. The winner, VoodooPC's Omen, features an Intel Core 2 Duo QX6800 processor and two Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX's in SLI configuration. It delivers over 15,000 3DMarks (as do a few of the other contestants), but 'only' costs $5,700 — in contrast with some of the other machines that go for close to eight grand."

63 comments

  1. Fight?! What fight?! by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Personally, I prefer high-end systems to work out of the box. Kinda like a Mac. :P

    1. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by AP2k · · Score: 1

      Dont you need CrossOverMac?

    2. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by Simon80 · · Score: 4, Interesting
      1. What part of the article are you referring to?
      2. When Apple releases any hardware that can compare with the gaming performance of these machines, then you can think about making snarky comments
    3. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by justkarl · · Score: 1

      Personally, I like to build my own system, as high-end as I want. That way, I don't spend $4000 on something that could cost 300-500 bucks.
       
      I think most of these "contests" and things among the PC manufacturers are mainly pissing contests.

    4. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      "High-end" systems can't be bought all in one package.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    5. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      "Personally, I like to build my own system, as high-end as I want. That way, I don't spend $4000 on something that could cost 300-500 bucks."

      You know I use to have this same attitude. I spent WEEKS planning out my purchase, trolling the hardware sites for deals, trying to figure out what motherboard worked better with specific video cards and audio interfaces. All that sort of stuff.

      And then I realized I was charging $100 an hour for my consulting work and short changing myself in the end.

      I picked up a Mac and never looked back. Paid for itself in a few weeks. Doing work with the music industry, I needed a stable rig first and foremost, and as such, any PC I picked up had to go through about 4 weeks of tuning. For my work in the educational field (I design computer adaptive testing 'solutions'), it didn't really matter -- but Virtual PC ended up being the better solution. Actually, I still use a VM solution anytime I'm doing this be it Windows or Mac these days.

      In either industry, the 'cheapest' solution so far has been a Mac. If you are a hobbiest, it doesn't matter. If you are a professional with ANY type of specialization, you can easily charge what I do, and it quickly makes sense to go with what works best out of the box.

      Besides, I still kick my roommates ass on a machine that he's probably dropped $2K on over the last year with my MacBook that I spent the same amount on. His videocard is SUPPOSEDLY much better, but honestly I just don't see it when playing any sort of twitchy multiplayer gaming.

    6. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Personally, I would prefer more games to work on a Mac. Seriously, I love my Mac but we are getting off topic. TFA is about gaming.
      There are just too many games you can not play on a Mac.

    7. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by stonecypher · · Score: 3, Funny

      Personally, I prefer high end gaming machines to have games.

      --
      StoneCypher is Full of BS
    8. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by udderly · · Score: 2, Informative

      Personally, I like to build my own system, as high-end as I want. That way, I don't spend $4000 on something that could cost 300-500 bucks.

      There is no way that either of the systems would cost anything like $300-$500, even at wholesale. My wholesale account at Ingram Micro indicates that the two GeForce 8800 video cards alone would cost nearly $1200 (and they don't even have any available) and the processor almost $1000. The fact is that on an older system, you might, by biding your time and doing rebates, be able to save a substantial amount of money, but not on high-demand hardware like this.

      On the other hand, I never bother to buy any of the latest high-end stuff; I know that it will be half as much in six months.

    9. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by Sir_Sri · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That might happen if Apple stopped selling neutered video cards like the X1900XT with the current mac pros.

      Seriously, that's a huge market that for some reason apple has completely missed. Their Mac Pro line is not far off from an ultimate gaming rig, drop in a decent video card (make OSX recognize any PCI express video card properly!), a decent soundcard (which I think they have?), apply 10 minutes of that apple case engineering to make it look pretty and keep cool and voila now you have the ultimate geek toy, it runs OSX out of the box, you can install windows and linux, massive hard drive expansion for games music, movies, and all those operating systems what more could you want?

      I think for the same amount of money (give or take the cost of OSX) apple could build machines this good, and people would buy them in droves. Why would any self respecting geek by a 5700 dollar ultimate gaming rig, when they can get a 5800 dollar ultimate gaming rig, that also runs OSX (or a 2000 dollar rig or a 3000 dollar rig)? It needs to support any PCIx card though, so I can drop in a Nvidia 9800 GTX when they come out.

    10. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      are you completely retarded? you'd prefer a mac for your gaming rig?

      fanboy :/

    11. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by Sir_Sri · · Score: 1

      actually I'd prefer just one rig, and have it do everything I need. Admittedly rebooting to play games at peak performance is less than ideal, but cheaper than one really fancy gaming computer and one constant linux box.

      If you look at the performance numbers for other (ie non neutered) apple hardware like their notebook line it is comparable to the equivalent wintel OSXless machines, so that's where I premise my arguement.

      If I could get the same (high end) performance from a Mac as I can from a PC on games (even under windows with apple hardware), for essentially the same price, yes, I'd rather have the mac. If however, as the current situation is, and the high end mac isn't so high end, I'll build my own bloody system or buy a high end PC and a Mac can wait.

    12. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      oh, sorry, i didn't mean you, i meant the original poster. if you could use any pci-e graphics cards in an apple, they would be fine for games. like you said, rebooting to play would suck a little, but wouldnt be all bad

    13. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by timeOday · · Score: 1

      What parts would you use that beat the QX6800 processor and two Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX's?

    14. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by jackbird · · Score: 1

      It does, under Windows. And for $800 less than Dell for Dual 2.6 Woodcrests, your aftermarket video card, OEM Windows license, and 10k SATA drive budget is built right in.

    15. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by Sir_Sri · · Score: 1

      except the Mac Pros don't seem to play nice with regular PCIx video cards under OSX. Yes, they work under windows, but I think it a tad strange to by a mac, install windows and then disable the mac part by installing your own video card.

      Admittedly I may be out of date on that, if that's changed I'm all for buying a mac pro with a 7300 video card and dropping in an 8800 or R600 Upon release.

    16. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by jackbird · · Score: 1
      Well, I find it a tad strange to run OSX on an "ultimate gaming rig."

      Thanks, I'll be here all week.

    17. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by cakilmer · · Score: 1

      Here's a place where you can sign up for a chance to get a free Nintendo Wii Console. They give one away per day. http://nintendo---wii.notlong.com/

    18. Re:Fight?! What fight?! by Raenex · · Score: 1

      Was "snarky" word of the day recently? I seem to be seeing it a lot.

  2. Just an observation by HappySqurriel · · Score: -1, Troll

    Just as an observation, you see several PS3 fans say that you can't buy a PC that outperforms the PS3 ... In this review (practically) every system has FEAR running at 2560x1600 with AA and AF at nearly 60fps ...

    1. Re:Just an observation by DragonWriter · · Score: 2, Informative
      Just as an observation, you see several PS3 fans say that you can't buy a PC that outperforms the PS3 ...


      Really, where? The only time I've seen anything like that is in response to the inevitable "anything you can do on a PS3 you can do cheaper on a PC" where the response is that you can't buy a sub-$600 PC that outperforms a PS3.
    2. Re:Just an observation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And currently, these PCs and the PS3 are selling for about the same price! ;P

    3. Re:Just an observation by HappySqurriel · · Score: 1

      http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=204055&c id=16677399
      http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=201751&c id=16517957

      A reasonable person would argue that the PS3 is a more cost effective performance set up ... Many Sony fanboys argue that it simply isn't possible (which isn't true)

    4. Re:Just an observation by DragonWriter · · Score: 1

      Your first example doesn't address any kind of practical performance, its a vague handwave about processing power of the Core 2 Duo vs. the Cell.

      In the second, the poster of the same article posts, in the thread, a breakdown which is specifically a cost effectiveness comparison, though the initial comment seemed more general.

      If those are the best examples you can find, I'd suggest your "rebutting" a strawman.

  3. Honestly by webheaded · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Who cares about prebuilt systems that much anyway? Most PC enthusiasts that are looking for this kind of power are the type that build their own PCs anyway, so who are these companies marketing to?

    What would you guys do? Build your own or buy from some random manufacturer?

    --
    "Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - BenF
    1. Re:Honestly by Simon80 · · Score: 1

      Some people are both filthy rich and into playing video games. This is for them.

    2. Re:Honestly by Broken+scope · · Score: 1

      Filthy rich white suburbanites who play madden and battlefield 2 and yell that they are 1337. AKA the dregs of gaming.

      --
      You mad
    3. Re:Honestly by webheaded · · Score: 0

      If I was filthy rich I'd personally build my own...but then again...I know how to build a computer. I can't imagine the market for this is THAT huge, but then again I've not nothing to back that up and I don't feel like pulling numbers out of my ass so we'll just go with your theory. :p

      --
      "Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - BenF
    4. Re:Honestly by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 1

      Since they actually have to use action in their games, I'd say those dregs are better than WOW dregs that just grind for leveling, or zerg dungeons.

      --
      God spoke to me.
    5. Re:Honestly by teh_chrizzle · · Score: 1

      OMFG!!!1! j00 iz j34l0us kuz i r0xx0r3d j00r b0x3rs!1!!!

      --
      sarcasm:
      -noun
      1. harsh or bitter derision or irony.
    6. Re:Honestly by buhatkj · · Score: 1

      sometimes, I would buy a dell. granted, vs buying the bits from newegg or something and building it yourself you pay a premium of $100-$300 depending on level of performance, but you get a nicely integrated, fully tested system, with at least a 1 year warranty. dealing with often-flaky part mfg warranties is no fun, and i have gotten burned by everybody but corsair. sometimes you just want the damn thing to WORK. for myself, I might still build one just to enjoy the build. I can afford for it to be occasionally out of order, since i have other PC's for day to day stuff besides gaming.

      also, id like to point out that my wife's new dell machine gets almost 5000 3dmarks on 3dmark06, and only cost about $1000, vs. $5000 for that voodoo box getting 15000. so 5x the price, for (yeh gross estimate..) 3x performance doesn't seem like a great deal (especially with the added cost of carrying the dell name vs some random whiteboxer or boutique maker).

      --
      sometimes, i wonder if i'm the only conservative on teh intarweb. ah well, back to mah hogs and warmongerin'....
    7. Re:Honestly by StarWreck · · Score: 3, Funny

      Dude, you are so, like, behind the times. Everybody thats anybody knows the filthy rich white suburbanites play Battlefield 2142 now instead of that old Battlefield 2.

      --
      ... and in the DRM, bind them.
    8. Re:Honestly by ZDRuX · · Score: 1

      I have *never* purchased a pre-built PC and most likely never will. There is absolutely NOTHING that Dell or anybody else can give me that will be better than having the freedom to pick and choose your own parts. As for warranty, I have yet to come across a PC component that would make me ship it back or return it because of any faults, so as long as you purchase high-quality ($$) and known big-brand products. The only time I had to return a part was a motherboard, which was already open-box when I bought it so god knows what the previous owner did with it. Also, buuilding your own computer guarentees you're not stuck with old hardware a year from now, like intergrated graphics or sound, some of them CAN be swapped with newer parts, but alot of OEM machines cannot.

      --
      The magical number is: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    9. Re:Honestly by bunions · · Score: 2, Funny

      > I have yet to come across a PC component that would make me ship it back or return it because of any faults,

      Lucky you! Eventually statistics will catch up with you.

      I'm actually pretty happy to not have to build another system. I don't really have it in me anymore to keep up with what ram timings work with what cpu and motherboard and what the optimal configuration is and lord knows what all. You can find plenty of places that will build you a good system from actual name-brand parts for very little over what you'd spend assembling it yourself. If I never have to wash thermal grease out of my pants again, I'll be happy.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    10. Re:Honestly by Apotekaren · · Score: 1

      Then I'm your opposite. I LOVE finding out which components fit my need the best, and how I have to pair things together.
      It's a geek's treasurehunt!
      Spending some quality hours just reading reviews, finding bargains, I love it all.
      Now only if I had the money to do it more often...

      --
      She: Hey, are you a traitor? Me: No, I'm atheist.
    11. Re:Honestly by Nightspirit · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Oddly enough the only thing wrong with my new home-built system was my Corsair memory.

      I understand the feeling though. First I spent 8 hours wondering why the damn thing wouldn't boot (I didn't push hard enough on the intel core 2 duo heatsink pins, a much worse configuration than AMD, which is relatively easy). Then I do a memtest, everything is find, install the OS, then everything starts going haywire. I do another memtest and find out one of the sticks of RAM is bad.

      The part that sucks is that the memory is matched, and I'm not going to waste time sending both sticks back (I want to actually use what I paid for), so I hope that it doesn't make a difference if the ram is matched or not.

    12. Re:Honestly by bunions · · Score: 1

      > Then I'm your opposite

      circle of life.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    13. Re:Honestly by dami99 · · Score: 1

      It's nice to find a decent hardware store around if you can, at least someone that will exchange faulty hardware without you having to go ot the manufacturer. At my local hw store, if you buy mb/cpu/ram at the same time, they install cpu/ram on the MB and test it all for you, as well as updating the mb to the latest bios. (usually I don't buy all 3 at once though) I've even had them hookup power supplies, and more, just for me to judge noise levels.

    14. Re:Honestly by springbox · · Score: 1

      I always build my own systems. It's easy to save money when you don't need to buy things you already have. Plus, even in terms of playing games, you don't need *the best* (and often the most expensive) hardware to get a good experience.

    15. Re:Honestly by dami99 · · Score: 1

      Damn white people!

      Why do they have all the money???

      Poor me.

      Oh wait. I AM white!!!! YES!

    16. Re:Honestly by timeOday · · Score: 1

      I certainly wouldn't buy it either, but $6K isn't outrageous compared to what people spend on some other hobbies. For instance $6K won't get you very far in the world of Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

    17. Re:Honestly by buhatkj · · Score: 1

      that's pretty sweet, wish my local microcenter or whatnot did that. all the same tho, for cpu/ram/mobo/videocard i usually buy online to save monies. for drives and cases and stuff i do go to the store tho...
      i remember on particular net retailer that used to do a buirn-in for you, but they cant match the newegg prices...

      --
      sometimes, i wonder if i'm the only conservative on teh intarweb. ah well, back to mah hogs and warmongerin'....
    18. Re:Honestly by basics · · Score: 1
      Lucky you! Eventually statistics will catch up with you.


      The same point about statistics can be said about pre-built PCs though. Last person I knew who ordered a box from dell had a problem where the PC would lock up every now and then... which he eventually noticed was more likely to happen if he bumped the pc. I popped the side of the case off and looked around found out the main power cable wasn't snapped into the motherboard all the way. When the pc was getting bumped or whatever it was shorting the system.

      Additionally, I have worked in an it department for a university as a student assistant. When they bought computers it would be several hundred at a time (usually form compaq). Every time they added/upgraded a computer lab there would be pcs with broken items. Hdd failures, on board ethernet failures, cd-rom failures, ect. These were more or less low-end boxes; the same thing anyone looking to buy a cheap pre-built computer online would get from compaq.

      When I order parts to build systems I typically order off monarchcomputing... they offer cpu/motherboard/ram of your choice pre installed/testing, at newegg comparable pricing. Havn't ordered anything in a while, but the last few times I did there was very little delay in shipping (although if you need to get stuff overnight this probably wouldn't work... I usually go for the 3-5 day ish shipping level).
    19. Re:Honestly by Lane.exe · · Score: 1

      You should be drawn and quartered for posting that, even in jest.

      --
      IAALS.
    20. Re:Honestly by billcopc · · Score: 1

      Ahh it's analogy time! Computers are like cars. Gaming machines are like race cars. You can take a normal car, drop in a bigger engine, exhaust, performance chip, high-power spark plugs, stiffer suspension etc and turn it into a street racer. Or you can buy a luxury sports car that's already tuned up. What kind of guy would soup up his own car ? A mechanic or hobbyist. What kind of guy buys a Viper or Lamborghini ? A rich small-dicked white guy.

      What kind of guy builds a gaming machine from scratch ? A techie. What kind of guy drops a shitload of cash on a VoodooPC or Alienware ? A rich small-dicked white guy.

      The big difference is that the DIYer spends a fair bit of time researching, assembling/modding and tweaking, whereas the rich guy just drops a bit more money and doesn't have to fuss with any of that. Time is money.

      --
      -Billco, Fnarg.com
    21. Re:Honestly by Synic · · Score: 1

      Yay for stereotypes.

    22. Re:Honestly by The-Bus · · Score: 1

      I'm not much of a fan of building my own. I can do upgrades but for an entire system previously I just had a local shop build them for me. The resulting price was about what I would've paid for parts, so it's not like I paid more. I generally would walk in with a list of hardware wants and let them figure out the rest. Then again, I'm not a huge PC gamer.

      People are obviously buying these $5,000 PCs based on the mere fact that Alienware is still in business (in some form). When Dell makes specialized gaming rigs, it indicates there's a market. For large manufacturers and retailers (Dell, Best Buy), having these kinds of rigs offers the idea of cost migration. You might go onto a website or store and check out the $4000 PC and then find a $1500 one that fits your needs much better. Plus, building ridiculously expensive machines also gets you press. I've never heard of Cyberpower before. Now I have.

      I would say the PC enthusiasts that don't build their own use these companies because they don't want to or can't build their own and have some combination of high disposable income, willingness to sacrifice other things for the sake of a great gaming rig, and/or parents with loose purse strings.

      --

      Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

  4. $6000 == $600 ? by AP2k · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "It delivers over 15,000 3DMarks (as do a few of the other contestants), but 'only' costs $5,700 " Which is in stark contrast to $600... You were saying?

    1. Re:$6000 == $600 ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Odd, I don't know anywhere you can buy a PS3 for $600. At least not this month.

    2. Re:$6000 == $600 ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I see Ebay hasn't hit your part of Mars, yet.

    3. Re:$6000 == $600 ? by Dark_MadMax666 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Umm PS3 cant hit 15000 3dmarks for life. Its roughly 1/8th in power of such PC (without nitpicking on the fact that there is no 3dmark for ps3)

    4. Re:$6000 == $600 ? by wolf87 · · Score: 1

      On the $600 PS3's: wait a few weeks. Pissed off girlfriends work wonders; it's how I got my 360 cheap :).

  5. PS3 prices... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    are insane! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=0 17&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=2700 56181117&rd=1&rd=1 --better way of doing it!

  6. But how many FPS for GoW? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But how many FPS do they play Gears of War at? What, they can't play Gears of War? OK nevermind.

    1. Re:But how many FPS for GoW? by Sir_Sri · · Score: 1

      "What, they can't play Gears of War?"

      In a word: Yet

      http://www.younewb.com/index.php/2006/11/16/pc-gam er-leaks-gears-of-war-pc-photo/

      I suspect that GoW takes advantage of some Dx10 functionality and microsoft is using it as an exclusive to spur holiday 360 sales and then will use it to spur vista sales to geeks who feel the 360 is a loud, ugly prone to failure piece of dung.

      If you compare the horsepower of a 8800 GTX/GTS with a core 2 duo processor and a 360/PS3, the PC wins, so expect better visuals and higher framerates, though obviously the higher pixel density of monitors may negate some of that bump.

    2. Re:But how many FPS for GoW? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "geeks who feel the 360 is a loud, ugly prone to failure piece of dung."

      Now, I'm a PC gamer who wouldn't buy a 360 if it was half the price, but I've got to say that between a 360 and my PC, it's my Windows PC which is uglier, louder, and more prone to failure (Windows is fried right now, though linux is still OK). The 360 does have more dung.

      But, Gears of War with a mouse, hell yes. Epic is my fave developer.

    3. Re:But how many FPS for GoW? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't you mean higher resolution? Pixel density is a function of the physical size of the monitor/TV (as well as the resolution)... in fact, two TV's, with different sizes, yet equal resolutions, have different pixel densities, but play at the same framerate. I know - very nitpicky of me, but hey, we're slashdotters, and we should all know better!

  7. No such thing as a QX6800, sloppy review by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Q means Quad. This is a dual-core X6800 CPU, not quad-core.

    It's an Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800, not an "Intel Core 2 Duo QX6800", which is a non-existent part.

    The Falcon NW has a Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700.

    http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=28 66 has the info.

  8. except... by snuf23 · · Score: 1

    No SLI. The RAM is slow. The Mac Pro for gaming benches under my Core 2 Duo x6600 which cost $1500 less than a decently configged Mac Pro - and I don't have SLI yet. Oh and I don't believe you can overclock the Mac Pro. My x6600 is prime stable on stock cooling at 3GHz - which puts it in the performance level of the x6800.
    The Mac Pro is a damn nice workstation but for games where better video and faster memory is more important than more CPU cores - it isn't really the right mix of hardware.

    --
    Sometimes my arms bend back.
  9. Yeah, but ... by rlp · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Yeah, but is it powerful enough to run Vista?

    --
    [Insert pithy quote here]
    1. Re:Yeah, but ... by jo42 · · Score: 1

      Barely...

  10. I am a jelly donut! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Go ahead and log my ip, I don;t fucking care!

  11. small inaccuracy by way2trivial · · Score: 1

    maybe half of all dells, and 95% of the tv ad buyers, buy systems that start with a 90 day warranty.

    lots of dell systems have 90 days as a starting point.

    --
    every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random