2X 512GB OCZ Vertex 4
1TB of SSD storage, at last
SSDs have come a long way since 2009, when
we used our first SSD in a Dream Machine build. That SATA 3Gb/s 256GB unit cost
$700. Today, we can get a 512GB OCZ Vertex U for roughly $600. Not bad.
For DM2012 we wanted 1TB of storage, so we
tapped two Vertex 4 drives in RAID 0. With the X79 PCH set to RAID 0 and a
stripe size of 128KB, we saw about 800MB/s reads and 1,000MB/s writes. That's
Dreamy.
3X HGST Ultrastar 7K4000
We'll never go hungry for space
With a 32GB RAM disk and 1TB of SSD storage,
we were just getting started. Despite all the bellyaching you've heard about mechanical
drives going away, they won't. Know why? We have way too much crap. So
muchsothatwecanactuallyusethe12TBof storage we're packing into Dream Machine
2012. This bounty was achieved painlessly with three 4TB HGST Ultrastar drives.
2X EVGA Hydro Copper GeForce GTX 690
The most powerful GPUs on the planet, on
liquid
There’s only one thing better than the most
powerful graphics card on earth- two of them. And, yes, we did entertain the
fantasy of four GTX 690 cards in octo-SLI but, sadly, the drivers don't exist.
Normally, running dual-GPU cards comes with a compromise, but the power and
thermal efficiency of the new Kepler architecture means our quad-SLI setup is
damn near the same as running four GeForce GTX 680 cards. We'll leave you for
now with that tantalizing thought.
Silverstone TJ11
Designed for modding and painting
Consumer desktops may be getting smaller,
but our Dream Machine seems to be getting bigger. The Silverstone TJ11 is so
big, in some states you have to get a zoning variance to bring it home. It's so
big, it has a power switch on top and bottom for those who can't reach that
high. Even better, the case is designed with modding in mind. Instead of pop
rivets and glued-on plastic panels, the aluminum case is screwed together,
allowing panels to be removed for easy modding or, in our case, painting. The
modularity of the case allowed us to pull the hard drive racks – normally
stowed away inside the bottom – to make room for a massive 560mm water-cooling
radiator.
All dolled up: No mere paint job
When we say that Smooth Creations (www.smoothcreationsonline.com) is
probably the best paint shooter in the business, we say it having seen
custom-painted high-end PCs from just about every boutique company in the
country. Yeah, sure, invariably we'll get an email from someone saying the
paint ain't that good: ‘Hell, I can do better in my garage with a rattle can of
Rust-Oleum.’ From our own experience of being shade-tree case painters, we say,
‘Fat chance, Bubba!’ You can't touch these paint jobs. Smooth will shoot the
outside of a case for a mere $300, and will do both inside and out for $700. In
our book, that's a bargain for a case that makes a serious style statement.
Audioengine A5+
Subwoofer shmubwoofer
We've long been fans of Audioengine's A5
speakers, and the A5+ builds on that heritage with a few subtle improvements
that make them even better. Want the full skinny
