iBUYPOWER: 4.0GHz QX9650 and 3-way SLI 8800 Ultras
by Matt Campbell on April 10, 2008 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Specifications
Due to the huge number of choices at iBUYPOWER, the system under review doesn't really have a catchy name. We've used the case and processor names and dubbed it the SwordM-QX9650. As configured, the system is priced at $5,495. FedEx Express Saver is reasonably priced, especially for such a heavy case ($85 cross-country from CA to NY). Specs are as follows:
| iBUYPOWER SwordM-QX9650 | |
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650, overclocked to 4.0GHz |
| Motherboard | EVGA nForce 780i SLI |
| Memory | 4 GB Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066 |
| Video Card | Three (3) EVGA 8800 Ultra 768MB |
| Power Supply | Thermaltake Toughpower 1200-Watt |
| Case | Thermaltake SwordM (extruded aluminum) |
| Hard Drive | Two (2) Western Digital Raptor 150GB, 10k rpm,
striped One (1) Western Digital Caviar 750GB |
| OS | Vista Ultimate 64-bit |
| Removables | Memory Card Reader |
| DVD Burner | LG Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM and DVD+RW Optiarc DVD+RW |
| CPU Cooler | Thermaltake MaxOrb |
Overall, this system is about as loaded as it gets. Let's take a closer look.
Exterior
The system arrived in a flashy box, but this was simply the default box for the case. There were no logos or other identifying marks for iBUYPOWER other than the packing label. The indicated weight is 72 lbs.; this is not a light machine (though on the other hand, it's also not as heavy as the HP Blackbird 002).
The box got a little ripped on the journey, but didn't affect the interior.
There was no owner's binder or other system manual solution included, just the aluminum "wings" that jut out from the case, the case manual, and a couple of disks (OS recovery, motherboard utilities, and DVD software).
The case itself is rather interesting, with hydraulic doors, tons of fans, and even a personal touch from the designer, as well as the iBUYPOWER raised logo.
The back - note the holes at the bottom for wire routing
The top has two 120mm fans to help with cooling…
And you get four more 120mm fans in the side panel! How many fans do you really need? This seems to be overkill, honestly. So far we're at nine 120mm case fans.
Here's the case signature, which provided the basis for our "SwordM-QX9650" name.
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m2super - Thursday, April 10, 2008 - link
I bet if you pull 2gb of ram from the system with all the cards in you wont get this error message!Do a google search of this annoying issue quite a few people with vista 64, 4gb of ram and an sli config. The fact nvidia/ms havent done anything to resolve it is bs imo.
kuraegomon - Thursday, April 10, 2008 - link
I run SLI-ed GTX's, with RAID and overclocked Q6600. The only reason for a setup like this is to game at 1920x1200 or above. I have a 30' monitor, and like to game at 2560x1600 whenever possible. I believe that triple-SLI only makes sense with 2560x1600 resolutions, and you'll need the extra GPU-to-GPU bandwidth/lower latency that the 790i will provide, to really examine this. Sorry to say for anyone who bought one, but the 780i is already obsolete. (Of course, my 680i Striker Extreme is even moreso).Matt Campbell - Thursday, April 10, 2008 - link
Higher resolutions are in the queue for our next high end rig.Maffer - Thursday, April 10, 2008 - link
You just run into very annoying problem which has been with 780i quite quite a long time now. Please see this thread:http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=256404&mpa...">http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=256404&mpa...
You can find lots of people with the same problems right there. Nvidia is doing nothing to solve this crap. Some folks have switched to 790i system and problems vanished. This cannot be the solution though. Please Anandtech, if you have any powers to do something about this...at least poke nVidia around with a large trout or something :/
67STANG - Thursday, April 10, 2008 - link
I think people that build these "uber" machines forget their target audience: "the enthusiast". What enthusiast buys a machine like this rather than building it themself?I don't know about anyone else, but part of the fun of a high end computer is building it (at least for me). I wouldn't want to spend $5k+ on a system that I probably could have built myself for much less...
Granted it gets very high scores on benchmarks, but it would be hard not to with what is in it... I believe something could be built that could beat this for hundreds less. Pass.
abhaxus - Sunday, April 13, 2008 - link
There are most definitely people out there that buy the fastest computer available but have no clue how they are built.To use a car analogy... you are arguing that everyone who buys an Impreza WRX is stupid because you could buy the RS and put a turbo on it and go just as fast. The WRX is pre-tuned, has a warranty, and has a badge that says it's fast. These are the same people that buy a Dell XPS or Alienware rig.
To a semi-knowledgeable but not guru-level person, saying "i have an alienware pc" is a lot easier than "I have an overclocked 3.2ghz quad core pc with 2 8800GTS's in SLI"
Noya - Thursday, April 10, 2008 - link
Exactly...you don't buy a review article on a hardware tech site.HOOfan 1 - Thursday, April 10, 2008 - link
If these are the problems that are going to crop up and you will have to troubleshoot them yourself (which seems the case from reading the reviews on resellerrating.com) then you may as well just build it yourself and save even more money.