Engine Chess

1. AMD is not competitive at the top levels of computer/engine chess as of 12-2007.

So if you are fan of the Darkside like I was for many year, learn to like Intel ! 

2. Top Lever computer chess in my opinion is the ability to maintain a position on the

Playchess Engine Room's Top 100 Computer List. How high you are on the list relates to

everything about you and your computer, like Hard Work, Money, Skill, and Persistence.

3. Its an expensive, hopefully satisfying,  time consuming effort, enjoy the adventure.

    Norm Pruitt / PAKman 

Priced 03/05/2008                  Shipping not Included                      Priced before Rebates   

http://www.jens.tauchclub-krems.at/diverses/schach/fritz9_benchmarks.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/08/intel_skulltrail_part_3/page14.html

http://techgage.com/article/building_an_affordable_skulltrail_system/

A few ideas for a chess computer based on whats good quality and value right now, it will be out of date in 20 minutes, so don't forget to do your own research too.

Asus Maximus formula DDR2 $259
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131227
Definitely one of the top performing X38 DDR2 boards, with excellent control over every aspect of over clocking.

Gigabyte X38 ds4 $199
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128080
A cheaper option which is capable of getting any quad CPU to run extremely fast, most likely fast enough.

Q6600 OEM $255
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128080
The best CPU choice for now, but very soon to be surpassed by the new 45nm CPUs, add $100 to the budget if you want to wait a few weeks for a Q9550, which is what I would do.

Geil 4gb 1066mHz memory $199
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144115
If you plan on running Vista 64bit, it might pay to have 4gb... The big advantage of this kit is it's 2 sticks of 2gb, which should perform better than 4x1gb. I am still not convinced it's necessary for engine chess, but DDR2 is so cheap now.

Patriot 2gb 1140mHz $162
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220233
My preference for "amazing speed for the money" RAM

Corsair HX620w Modular power supply $169
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002
I have bought two of these I like them so much, no need for bigger unless you plan on huge graphics cards. A very high quality unit.

Sapphire X1650 pro graphics card $60
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102098
This will do everything you are likely to need on a chess computer, it will also play every game available at a reasonable standard.

Samsung Spinpoint T series 500gb Sata3 hd(s) $110 each.
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152052
Great drives with 16gb cache and good transfer rates, also quiet and cheap.

Samsung 20x DVD everything drive, SATA version $30
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151153
You could easily make do with a used one off ebay for $10 if you want.

Swiftech Apex watercooling kit $269
 http://www.xoxide.com/swiftech-h2o-apex-ultra-extreme.html
I think this is the best quality watercooling stuff. Water cooling is well within your budget and gets great results.

Lian Li PC-V2000 Black aluminium case $269
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112062
Huge high quality case with all the room you could ever want. If the wife objects to the cost of all this, you could live in it.

If you took the most expensive options from the list above, the total would be $1830, leaving change for an O/S.

I know everyone will have their own ideas about this type of list, some will want a bigger graphics card others will want a more extreme CPU. I will say this is about value as well as performance, and there is quite a lot of flexibility left within your budget of $2000.

Hope this helps,

Phil

Priced 02/04/2008                  Shipping not Included                      Priced before Rebates   

 http://www.maximumpc.com/article/dream_machine_2007

As humans, we just have to measure the worth of things using some sort of value. It can be objective or subjective but no matter which metric we choose, it allows us to compare stuff and decide on their worth. In life, we can use our senses, observations and logical reasonings to form these deductions.

However, such subjective methods cannot help much when it comes to computers. For example, if you compare two different processors, how would you know which is faster? By the size of those processors or their cost? Now, how ridiculous would that be? My processor is faster than your processor because it's bigger!

For the best comparisons of PC hardware, we need objective metrics. Even the long-abused MHz and GHz are useful as measures of performance when applied properly. So, this guide will be using a combination of objective metrics in helping you decide on the right parts for your PC. This will be an on-going work and will be updated as necessary.

This guide will take up many pages, so for your convenience, we have taken the liberty of splitting it up into several small sections.