God Box

Two Intel Xeon X5690 retail = $1579.99 * 2

eVGA Classified SR-2 = $579.99

Two Thermalright HR-02 Macho = $39.95 * 2

Twelve Kingston 8GB DDR3-1333 ECC Registered (KVR1333D3D4R9S/8G) = $84.99 * 12

Two eVGA Geforce GTX 580 Superclocked (015-P3-1582-A1) = $519.99 * 2

Asus Xonar Xense = $267.22

Syba 2-port USB 3.0 card = $19.99

Adaptec 6805 retail = $479.99

Two Crucial m4 256GB = $374.99 * 2

Four Seagate Constellation ES.2 3TB SATA (ST33000650NS) = $396.99 * 4

Pioneer BDR-206DBKS = $99.99

LG 22x DVD-RW (GH22NS90B) = $16.99

Lian-Li PC-V2120B = $429.99

Corsair AX1200 = $287.39

APC Smart-UPS 1500VA = $489.99

Three Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm = $16.95 * 3

Two HP ZR30w 30" = $1174.99 * 2

Logitech Z906 5.1 = $330.99

Logitech G19 keyboard = $144.99

Logitech G500 wired mouse = $56.99

Total = $13,243.02

The most ambitious box in the main three-box System Guide, the God Box is so high-end, so elaborate, that we expect most builders to use it as a starting base and to customize their builds as needed.

It offers significant CPU, GPU, and storage, but striking the right balance between the three (as well as cost) is up to individual builders; the God Box as-is is a very, very nice general box that can easily be focused on more specific needs.

Of the boxes in the main System Guide, the God Box has also had the least amount of significant change in the past few updates. Look for big updates in early 2012 as Intel's Sandy Bridge architecture makes it to its Xeon line, and both AMD and Nvidia release new GPU architectures.

CPU, motherboard, and memory

Two Intel Xeon X5690 retail

eVGA Classified SR-2 motherboard

Two Thermalright HR-02 Macho heatsink/fan

Twelve Kingston 8GB DDR3-1333 ECC Registered (KVR1333D3D4R9S/8G) memory

The God Box has been stuck in limbo for a while. Intel's server CPUs tend to lag behind its desktop counterparts, and in this case, Sandy Bridge-EP isn't due until Q1 2012. With 8 cores rather than 6 of current top-end Xeons, plus the architectural improvements we've already seen, Sandy Bridge-EP looks damned good. AMD's Bulldozer chips (codenamed Interlagos) look to have a rough future ahead as they already are slower than Intel's current Westmere-EP chips.

For applications that need more memory, more cores, and more threads, two 3.46ghz 6-core Xeons makes sense. Even the fastest Interlagos, the Opteron 6282 SE, is targeted at the Xeon X5650 (2.66ghz base clock, 6-cores), and not anywhere near the top-end X5690 part.

Gamers who don't care about all of the extra threads may be better off at something in-between the God Box and Hot Rod that we normally cover in our occasional Gaming Boxes, which are admittedly badly overdue for an update. However, a single-socket Core i7-3960X would probably be a good place to start.

In the meantime, the God Box needs a motherboard. Putting in two high-end video cards has caused all kinds of undocumented compatibility issues (as our readers remind us) with many motherboards. This limits us to only a few choices, with the HPTX form factor eVGA Classified SR-2 being one of them. Loaded with enough PCI-e x16 slots to fit all of our expansion needs and twelve memory slots, it actually is a nice board, merely (or should we say "critically") lacking in the proven reliability and engineering we are used to seeing from traditional server board vendors. If it concerns you enough, going back to the previous Supermicro X8DTH-iF might be worth it, and (possibly) sacrificing the second high-end video card as a result.

One more concrete issue, of greater concern to practical builders, is a lack of official support for 8GB and 16GB DIMMs in the eVGA Classified SR-2. Browsing eVGA's forums shows multiple users who have gotten 8GB ECC sticks to work without issue, but information on 16GB sticks is much more spotty. Not that the average God Box would need more than 96GB, but twelve Kingston 8GB DDR3-1333 1.5v ECC Registered sticks seem to work just fine.

As far as heatsinks go, the Thermalright HR-02 Macho is enormous but should fit just fine, and it's one of the better heatsinks available (Xbitlabs). Paired with the excellent stock fan, it's almost as good as heatsinks costing almost twice as much that might not fit our motherboard.

Video

Two eVGA Geforce GTX 580 Superclocked (015-P3-1582-A1)

The GTX580 is the fastest single-GPU video card available today, and of course the God Box gets two of them. Looking between the 1.5GB and 3GB versions shows minimal difference, so we stick with the 1.5GB version of the GTX580. We go with a mildly overclocked version as the supply of more heavily overclocked ones seemed to have dried up at the moment, but supply situations and prices are always fluid.

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 is close, but not quite there. A pair of Radeon HD 6970s in Crossfire doesn't quite match up to a pair of GTX580s either, although the value may be much better depending on the specific game. Triple or quad GPU setups, such as two Radeon HD 6990s (4 GPUs total) or two Geforce GTX 590s (4 GPUs total) show less return for the money despite the power consumption increase, keeping them out of the main recommendation—although God Box builders should definitely look at their specific needs before deciding. God Box builders should also remember that both AMD and Nvidia have new high-end GPUs due out in Q1 2012.

The eVGA Geforce GTX 580 Superclocked (015-P3-1582-A1) packs a 797mhz core/1594mhz shaders (512SPs), with 1.5GB GDDR5 memory at 4050mhz effective, one mini-HDMI and 2x DVI ports. This model also has Nvidia's reference heatsink/fan design that exhausts air out of the chassis, which works better for multi-GPU setups where the upper card might otherwise be starved for air.

A non-gaming God Box may want to check the Hot Rod video section for more suitable recommendations, or if looking at GPU computing options, evaluate the specific applications and their performance on both AMD and Nvidia GPUs. For crazy multiple display use—a wall of six monitors or something—AMD's Radeon HD cards have a few models that support Eyefinity with up to six mini-Displayport outputs.

Sound, communications

Network card: none (on-board)

Asus Xonar Xense soundcard

Dual onboard gigabit ethernet is fine for virtually all God Box builders.

For audio, the choices are relatively few today. Asus' Xonar line dominates the consumer market, while M-Audio, Terratec, and a few others occupy the professional market. Those who need professional-level audio capability probably already know what they need, while gamers have mostly only Asus' Xonar line, what's left of Creative's X-fi line, or motherboard onboard audio to choose from.

While some onboard audio setups are quite decent, the God Box can do better, which means Asus' top of the line Xonar Xense card. It sports 7.1 output, 118dB signal to noise ratio, 24-bit D-A and A-D converters, DS3D GX 2.5, Asus' AV100 processor, a PCI-e x1 interface, etc. Toss in the included Sennheiser PC350 headset and it's a pretty good deal.

God Box users seeking to use a pro-level audio card should note that the God Box is all PCI-e expansion slots and no PCI slots, so adding a PCI-e Firewire card to connect a Firewire audio solution may be the best route.

Primary Storage

Two Crucial m4 256GB SSD

Four Seagate Constellation ES.2 3TB SATA (ST33000650NS)

Adaptec 6805 SAS RAID card (retail)

The Crucial m4, based on Marvell's latest controller, is one of the more well-regarded SSDs on the market today. Synchronous flash memory, sequential reads up to 415MB/sec, sequential writes up to 260MB/sec, and up to 50K IOPS make for a very fast drive, both in benchmarks and in real-world use. The God Box goes with two of them for flexibility (RAID1 for redundancy, RAID0 for more speed, or just two separate disks?). A larger 512GB version is also available for the ambitious—two would be nice if your storage needs were that large.

The fastest SSDs today actually are based on SandForce's SF-2281 controller when paired with synchronous flash memory, including the Corsair Force GT and OCZ Vertex 3. Crucial's m4, Intel's 510-series, and Samsung's 830 SSDs actually don't quite match the SF-2281 in performance; however, Sandforce SF-2281's reported BSOD issues affect just enough users to have us pick something else for the System Guide.

Bulk storage is handled by a bunch of Seagate Constellation ES.2 3TB 7200rpm mechanical disks. Adaptec's 6805 8-port SAS/SATA controller provides superb performance in all reasonable use, easily on par with Areca's ARC-1880ix and LSI Logic's MegaRAID 9261-8i. Improved controllers—the Areca ARC-1882 and LSI MegaRAID 9265-8i—are available, but benchmarks are tough to find at the moment. Make sure to buy the retail kit for the RAID card to get the necessary cables, although buying mini-SAS fanout to SATA cables separately isn't a big deal. (Adaptec 2247000-R)

Four 3TB disks may prove limiting; individual God Box builders are welcome to add more disks as appropriate. Seagate Constellation ES.2 3TB (and the competing Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000's) offer 5-year warranties, 7200rpm spindle speeds, and plenty of performance for this kind of use. They're also on Areca, Adaptec, and LSI Logic's hardware compatibility lists for their RAID controllers, which we consider a very good thing where data integrity is concerned.

4TB disks are just hitting the market as well, but nearline versions are probably a ways further off. Intel's new 520-series SSD is also rumored to be hitting the market soon.

Other Storage

Pioneer BDR-206DBKS Blu-ray writer

LG 22x DVD-RW (GH22NS90B)

Syba 2-port USB 3.0 card

For the optical drive, Blu-ray is a must in the God Box. The modest price premium is better saved in most systems, but the God Box can easily afford the extra flexibility. The Pioneer BDR-206 is one of the best, with 12x BD-R/BD-R DL speed, support for BDXL discs (up to 128GB on a quad-layer disc), 4MB cache, SATA interface, and all the goodies.

A DVD-RW for mundane tasks may also be nice, not to mention having dual drives is sometimes useful. The picky may want a Samsung SH-S243N or a Lite-On iHAS524, but the performance differences are small in reality.

USB 3.0 is also a necessity in the God Box. Take your pick from ASMedia, Etron, and Renesas/NEC, per reviews (VR-Zone). The Syba card picked is a no-frills 2-port PCI-e x1 card with an NEC controller that works fine for our purposes, at least until the next generation of USB 3.0 controllers comes out.

And if Firewire is needed, it can be added via PCI-e expansion card, although we've found somewhat less demand for Firewire than expected and hence leave it as optional.

Case and fans

Lian-Li PC-V2120B

Three Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm fans (D1225C12B3AP-14)

Two top of the line Xeon X5690s and two top of the line video cards suck quite a bit of power. While TDP (thermal design power) is not necessarily a precise indicator compared to real world numbers (a la Xbitlabs and others), the God Box can still safely be expected to pull close to 1,000 watts at load; possibly more depending on individual builders and their component choices.

All of this heat has to go somewhere, and we have to fit the oversized HPTX motherboard into a suitable chassis. HPTX compatible chassis are small in number, and the Lian-Li PC-V2120B works. It may lack some of the nicer features found in the latest extended ATX chassis such as the Corsair Obsidian 800D, Antec P193 V3, or Fractal Design Define XL, but it works fine with the ridiculous thermal load imposed by the rest of the God Box. More storage-oriented builders may want to look at the extended-ATX capable Chenbro SR107 and its optional hot-swap drive cages, or other chassis with hot-swap bays, to get the full benefits of hot-swap from their RAID controllers.

The PC-V2120 offers a considerable amount of airflow potential for the God Box. Front fans are 3x140mm + 1x120mm, rear 1x120mm, plus available top fan mounts for 3x120mm fans, as well as 11 expansion slots, 10x3.5" bays, 5x5.25" exposed bays, USB 3.0 front panel ports, and video cards up to 360mm (14") long. Sharp eyes will note that the fan mounted behind the drive cage to feed air to the video cards is a nice touch.

We add three Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1450rpm fans to the top fan mounts to help exhaust hot air. At 1450rpm and 21dBA, these are among the best airflow-to-noise ratio fans currently available in a fairly low-noise fan. Specific God Box builders may wish to play with fan speeds and fan layouts to see if this much fan is necessary; slower-spinning Gentle Typhoons are available, plus fan controllers to tweak fan speeds in more precise ways may also be an option.

Power supply

Corsair AX1200 power supply

APC Smart-UPS 1500VA UPS

Powering two top of the line Xeons, two top of the line video cards (maybe more, in some other specific God Box builds we've seen), and a bunch of hard disks... that's a lot of power.

This means the relentless power supply size inflation that has taken place in the past few years has at least one justification—the God Box can use those otherwise absurdly oversized PSUs on the market. The Corsair AX1200 (1200 watt) is the unit of choice, with its 80PLUS Gold certified efficiency (more than 90% at some loads), more than 100A on its +12v output, six PCI-e power connectors, and reasonable noise levels. Some of its competiton, notably Seasonic's new X-1250, may be more quiet, but the AX1200 is still very, very good. Also consider Antec's High Current Pro 1200, Seasonic Platinum-1000, and Enermax Revolution85+ 1050W, as well as the Silverstone ST1500 (1500W) for God Boxes that might sport something even more insane like quad GTX580s.

God Boxes that are less focused on gaming, but more on GPU computing, will probably have similar power requirements. God Boxes focused entirely on the CPU (and possibly storage), skipping GPU-heavy applications and getting by with significantly more modest video cards, can probably step down to smaller power supplies such as the Seasonic X-760.

Backup power protection is a necessity for the God Box, if at least to ensure a clean shutdown during longer outages and to minimize the effects of shorter ones on gaming.

At peak power, the God Box is getting into fairly hefty UPS (uninterruptible power supply) territory, to the point where UPS sizes get a little unreasonable—the next step up in APC's line, the 2200VA version, has a NEMA 5-20P plug, and hence God Box builders should make sure they know what they are getting into. The APC Smart-UPS 1500VA is one step down (1440VA/980W, sine wave output, 8 outlets, USB...) and hence might not take a God Box running full tilt for very long at all, but it has a NEMA 5-15P plug for the much more common NEMA 5-15R outlet.

Heck, two UPSs might be a good idea, one for the monitors and one for the computer, just to reduce the load on the UPS.

Monitor

Two HP ZR30w 30" LCD

30", 2560x1600, 7ms GTG response time, fairly minimal input lag, and extended color gamut with (HP-claimed) over 1 billion colors? Drool! It is so gorgeous we'll take two.

Competitors in 30" 2560x1600 consumer space are relatively few. The Dell Ultrasharp U3011 has even more inputs, but it also has worse input lag (Anandtech), which makes it less suitable for gaming. Given that the God Box doesn't need those inputs, the ZR30w seems to be a better choice.

God Box users doing absolutely color-critical work will want to look at true professional displays like LaCie's or NEC's professional models (such as the NEC PA301w) which are designed for such use. For most, though, the color accuracy and capabilities of high-end consumer displays such as the U3011 and ZR30w will be more than good enough.

For the less ambitious, the Dell Ultrasharp U2711 (27", 2560x1440) is excellent as well. Three of them for gaming might be justifable. For even smaller (or should we say reasonably sized) monitors, the Hot Rod selection discusses some nice ones. For standard-gamut 24" monitors, the HP ZR24w (and the ZR2440w replacing it) and Dell Ultrasharp U2412M are pretty good, while for wide-gamut, the HP LP2475w and Dell Ultrasharp U2410 are excellent choices.

Mouse and keyboard

Logitech G19 keyboard

Logitech G500 wired mouse

The trusty ol' Logitech MX5500 setup is still nice, but a bit long in the tooth now. Logitech's G19 gaming keyboard is their current wired top of the line unit, with a dedicated LCD for additional information display, customizable backlighting, 12 programmable keys, N-key rollover for 5+ keys.

The Logitech G500 gaming mouse is also its top of the line wired mouse, with adjustable sensitivity up to 5700dpi, 10 programmable buttons, and a laser-lit sensor... it's a nice improvement on Logitech's classic MX518.

That said, there are tons of competitors on the market in both categories, and we encourage all builders to pick what suits their individual needs and preferences best. In the old school IBM Model M keyboard vein, Unicomp fills the modern version, while keyboards with Cherry MX switches such as Leopold are popular with those who want the Model M click but a newer feel. Outrageous ones such as the Optimus exist, then down to the realistically priced Microsoft Sidewinder X6. Heck, some of us in the Orbiting HQ are using old school Microsoft Natural keyboards, others almost as old Dell Quietkey units—whatever suits best!

The mouse has even more choice than the keyboard. Razer has a wide selection, as does Microsoft, as well as Logitech and many others. As already noted, differences, aside from size and shape, include adjustable DPI, buttons and button layout (and programmability), click vs. smooth (and sometimes adjustable between the two) scroll wheels, tilt scroll wheels, etc.

Speakers

Logitech Z906 5.1 speakers

A few years ago, multichannel "computer" speakers were common and ranged from cheap and awful to expensive and slightly-less-awful. Today the selection is smaller and more focused on 2.1 setups. Logitech's Z906 is perhaps top of the line or close, with 5.1 sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding, DTS decoding, plenty of digital inputs, and THX Certification, for what that's worth.

Sadly, though, computer or multimedia speakers still aren't very good—just loud. Similar money tends to buy a decent 2.0 or 2.1 setup from quality such as the M-Audio BX8A, Swan M200MkIII, Axiom Audiobyte, Behringer MS40, or Audioengine A5. These all sound better than any computer speaker we've heard by a fair margin. In the past few years, Corsair and Antec have both tried to make decent computer speakers, albeit with only limited success to date. Altec Lansing used to be a big player as well, although their efforts have been curiously absent at the high end.

Another consideration is headsets. The Sennheiser PC350 is quite decent (and included with the Asus Xonar Xense soundcard), while the Sennheiser MM450 is very nice upgrade. The in-ear monitor (IEM) Etymotic ER-4p is a favorite of many, while a few in the Orbiting HQ have picked up the Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10 when they've gone on sale. Honestly, the range of choices is huge. Browsing the Audio/Visual forum right here on Ars might be a good start if your audio needs go beyond the typical multimedia setup.