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Build Questions - Need to Know Before Purchase

Post Date: 2007-08-04
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Donut View Drop Down
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Posts: 77 		  Quote Donut Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Build Questions - Need to Know Before Purchase
    Posted: 04 Aug 2007 at 6:28pm
My build is as follows (I have yet to purchase it):

Case: Digital Storm Twister PRO (Black Anodized Aluminum Finish)
Power Supply: 750W Thermaltake (SLI Compatible) (Silent Toughpower Edition)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad QX6850 Extreme 3.00GHz (1333MHz FSB)
Motherboard: nVidia 680i Core 2 Quad (By: eVGA) (nForce 680i SLI) (A1 Revision)
Memory: 2GB DDR2 Corsair at 1066MHz Dominator (Dual Channel) (Extreme-Performance)
Hard Drive 1: 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Optical Drive 1: DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x)
Optical Drive 2: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x)
Network Card: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (nVidia GeForce 8800ULTRA 768MB (By: eVGA) (PCI-Express)
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE (Up to 7.1 Channel)
Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 2 (Silent Artic Cooling Heat-sink (Copper Heatpipes)
Case Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Blue Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes)
Round Cables: Enhanced Interior Air Flow (Optical Drive & Floppy Cables (Blue Edition)
User Manual: Personalized Platinum Digital Storm Binder (Includes Paperwork/Benchmarks/CDs/Manuals)
Windows OS: Vista
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)



I was wondering if this would have enough cooling, heard dual ultras and quad processors run HOT, and also if anyone had any recommendations/changes for the build as a whole.



Edited by Donut - 04 Aug 2007 at 7:48pm
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Posts: 77 		  Quote Donut Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 04 Aug 2007 at 6:31pm
I was wondering if there was anyway to make this build a little bit cheaper and still have it run high-end games (up-and-coming nex-gen games that is) on high, I don't mean a huge price drop but just minor details like mem card differences and maybe the other mother board. Its really pretty pricey at the moment, just wondering if you had any price-related build advice aside from my above post.


Edited by Donut - 04 Aug 2007 at 7:47pm
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Alex View Drop Down
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 04 Aug 2007 at 8:06pm
Honestly, take advantage  of our offer on the promotion we have going on.
 
Go with the Intel QX6800 that we are currently selling with TwisterBoost technology. It will have a faster clock speed than the QX6850 and it will run on the 1333MHz FSB as well. It will drop your price a few hundred!
 
Trust me, you will pay less and gain more.
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Donut View Drop Down
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Posts: 77 		  Quote Donut Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 2:30am
Originally posted by Alex

Honestly, take advantage  of our offer on the promotion we have going on.
 
Go with the Intel QX6800 that we are currently selling with TwisterBoost technology. It will have a faster clock speed than the QX6850 and it will run on the 1333MHz FSB as well. It will drop your price a few hundred!
 
Trust me, you will pay less and gain more.



Whew, thanks for that tip, saved me a couple hundred. Went from 3.00 GHz to 3.33! Any other tips? I was worrying about the memory too. At any rate, thanks.
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skyR View Drop Down
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 3:22am
I dont think you need a 500GB HDD for a gaming rig. 320GB and external storage is more then enough for music, games, videos, and work.

Getting the Q6600 and overclocking it to 3.0ghz is a way better choice imo then wasting $1000 on a QX6850E when games don't even take full advantage of 4 cores yet.

Get Vista Premium also =)
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Donut View Drop Down
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Posts: 77 		  Quote Donut Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 3:27am
Originally posted by skyR

I dont think you need a 500GB HDD for a gaming rig. 320GB and external storage is more then enough for music, games, videos, and work.

Getting the Q6600 and overclocking it to 3.0ghz is a way better choice imo then wasting $1000 on a QX6850E when games don't even take full advantage of 4 cores yet.

Get Vista Premium also =)



Well, I appreciate your suggestions, but a) I'm not too computer savvy and can't manually overclock, and b) I want a processor that'll last a long time, so I'd rather stick with a really good one and use it for a couple years. Also whats the advantage of vista premium over the standard edition? 0.o

At any rate, thanks for the tips. Maybe I will go with a smaller hard drive, 500 gigs does seem a bit unnecessary.
EDIT: also, I changed it to a QX6800 at the advice of Alex here, down a couple hundred bucks and up to 3.33 GHz :P. And the games I have in mind are those like crysis, UTIII and those of the near future, which supposedly do take advantage of quad-processors. Again, I want this to last a couple years, replacing the vid cards from time to time.


Edited by Donut - 05 Aug 2007 at 3:30am
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skyR View Drop Down
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 4:04am
I think the Premium offers a lot of good features over the Basic.

Just to name a few:

Windows Media Center
Scheduled Back-Up Data
Aero Desktop
DVD Maker

You can compare all 4 editions at microsoft's website.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx



Edited by skyR - 05 Aug 2007 at 4:05am
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Donut View Drop Down
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Posts: 77 		  Quote Donut Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 1:12pm
Originally posted by skyR

I think the Premium offers a lot of good features over the Basic.

Just to name a few:

Windows Media Center
Scheduled Back-Up Data
Aero Desktop
DVD Maker

You can compare all 4 editions at microsoft's website.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx



Yea, you're right, I went to the site and its worth the extra 30 dollars. Thanks for the tip


Also, for cooling the build, with dual 8800 ultras and a quad processor should I got with a 850W power supply and Air Cooled Stage 2 or Air Cooled Stage 3?


Edited by Donut - 05 Aug 2007 at 1:45pm
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Posts: 77 		  Quote Donut Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 3:59pm
Originally posted by Alex

Honestly, take advantage  of our offer on the promotion we have going on.
 
Go with the Intel QX6800 that we are currently selling with TwisterBoost technology. It will have a faster clock speed than the QX6850 and it will run on the 1333MHz FSB as well. It will drop your price a few hundred!
 
Trust me, you will pay less and gain more.



Hmm. I heard that the QX6800 isn't a "true" quad core, that its just 2 duals smashed together. Even so, will that make a difference at 3.33GHz overclocked?
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 4:07pm
It definitely will because the four cores are running at a very high clock speed. That's one of the main reason why I wanted to recommend you that processor because of it's high clock speed from our TwisterBoost technology. I recommend going with our Stage 2 cooling, the Stage 3 has the extra TwisterBoost technology option, which your processor already has.
 
Even though Intel's Quad-Core isn't a true quad-core, do some research on it and you'll see that doesn't matter at all. It rips through all benchmarks. It still has our cores on the processor!
 
Heat wise the PRO series is excellent in cooling. There will be a massive 120MM fan right in font of the 8800ULTRA's. It will be drawing in cool air straight to the cards. Leave the case and cooling setup the way you have and go with the QX6800 with TwisterBoost technology and you got yourself a very powerful gaming machine that you will fall in love with!
 
Originally posted by Donut

Originally posted by Alex

Honestly, take advantage  of our offer on the promotion we have going on.
 
Go with the Intel QX6800 that we are currently selling with TwisterBoost technology. It will have a faster clock speed than the QX6850 and it will run on the 1333MHz FSB as well. It will drop your price a few hundred!
 
Trust me, you will pay less and gain more.



Hmm. I heard that the QX6800 isn't a "true" quad core, that its just 2 duals smashed together. Even so, will that make a difference at 3.33GHz overclocked?
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Larry View Drop Down
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Posts: 167 		  Quote Larry Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 4:13pm
Donut asked the question on the QX6800 being a true Quad Core, is it?  I would like to know as well.
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 4:17pm
All of Intel's current processors are not TRUE quad-core, but, what that means is at the hardware level, there are two dual core processors in the CPU which makes it a quad core. That alone doesn't mean its a bad processor, its very effective in multi-tasking and it rips through raw power benchmarks.
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Posts: 167 		  Quote Larry Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 4:28pm
Now that is quick response!
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 4:29pm
amd has been bashing them a lot about it xD
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 4:30pm
Smile
 
Some say Dual-Cores are fast enough --- true ONLY back in the days when the Quad-Cores were running at lower clock speeds than the dual-cores.

NOW, we have quad-cores exceeding the dual core speeds which make them a great choice for today's and tomorrow's games.
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Posts: 77 		  Quote Donut Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 5:04pm
Originally posted by Alex

Smile
 
Some say Dual-Cores are fast enough --- true ONLY back in the days when the Quad-Cores were running at lower clock speeds than the dual-cores.

NOW, we have quad-cores exceeding the dual core speeds which make them a great choice for today's and tomorrow's games.


Thanks for all the advice, helped me a lot. Now about memory/power supply, what would you recommend for that setup?
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 8:25pm
The memory and power supply are perfect. You have selected good choices. If you want to be extra sure, going with a 850W power supply would be a good thing, but, you won't need it for the current setup (im just talking about future upgrades).
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Posts: 77 		  Quote Donut Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 8:29pm
This is my updated build:

Case: Digital Storm Twister PRO (Black Anodized Aluminum Finish)
Power Supply: 850W Thermaltake (8800 GTX SLI Compatible) (Silent Toughpower Edition)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad (TwisterBoost Enhanced) QX6800 Extreme 3.33GHz (1333MHz FSB)
Motherboard: nVidia 680i Core 2 Quad (By: eVGA) (nForce 680i SLI) (A1 Revision)
Memory: 2GB DDR2 Corsair at 1066MHz Dominator (Dual Channel) (Extreme-Performance)
Floppy / Media: - No Thanks
Hard Drive 1: 320GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Hard Drive 2: - No Thanks
Raid Option: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x)
Optical Drive 2: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x)
Network Card: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Modem: - No Thanks
Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (nVidia GeForce 8800ULTRA 768MB (By: eVGA) (PCI-Express)
TV Tuner: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE (Up to 7.1 Channel)
Physics Card: - No Thanks
Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 2 (Silent Artic Cooling Heat-sink (Copper Heatpipes)
Case Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Blue Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes)
Round Cables: Enhanced Interior Air Flow (Optical Drive & Floppy Cables (Blue Edition)
User Manual: Personalized Platinum Digital Storm Binder (Includes Paperwork/Benchmarks/CDs/Manuals)
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty
Support: Lifetime Toll-Free Platinum Care Technical Support


Originally posted by Alex

The memory and power supply are perfect. You have selected good choices. If you want to be extra sure, going with a 850W power supply would be a good thing, but, you won't need it for the current setup (im just talking about future upgrades).




Anyway, if that looks all good then, I'll be ready to buy soon ^ ^. Thanks for all the advice everyone, its helped a lot. Sorry I've been indecisive, guess i just want to be 100% sure before $4k's gone Smile
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 8:34pm
I totally understand, if your spending money, may it be any price, you want to make sure your picking the right stuff, and we always check every configuration before working on it for any mistakes.
 
The setup you have would be petty much what I would go for if I was in the $4K price range.
 
Welcome to the Digital Storm family!
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Posts: 15 		  Quote chrissmith Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 9:26pm
Unless your planing on upgrading your memory at some point you may do better getting 4 GB of 667 MHZ RAM. You would also save about 50 bucks.
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 9:40pm
Sorry but that is totally incorrect. Going with a 4GB setup on your setup against a 2GB setup of 1066MHz memory would not be worth it.
 
There are no games out there that need 4GB of memory. Going with a 2GB setup of 1066MHz memory is far faster than a 4GB at 667MHz. We seen this first hand. There is a reason why our high-end review systems don't have 4GB of memory at 667MHz, versus 2GB at 1066MHz or 1200MHz.
 
Originally posted by chrissmith

Unless your planing on upgrading your memory at some point you may do better getting 4 GB of 667 MHZ RAM. You would also save about 50 bucks.
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Posts: 77 		  Quote Donut Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 06 Aug 2007 at 1:12am
Hmm, interesting. Well I think I'm set for that build, so thanks again. 
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 06 Aug 2007 at 1:23am
No problem.
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