returning buyer looking for advisce on new rigPost Date: 2016-04-16 |
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Godhand456 
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Joined: 03 May 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 50 |
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 Topic: returning buyer looking for advisce on new rigPosted: 16 Apr 2016 at 1:05am |
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Budget:
2500-3000 Expectations: this will mainly be a gaming rig. my expectations are to play all games at highest settings as well as games in the near future with stable performance. will also like the rig to last a good 5-6 years without needing upgrades. Usage: will be used everyday for gaming, general web browsing, Netflix, and possibly looking into streaming on twitch/youtube Special Needs: none Saved Ticket #: 1400597 Specifications: may want to use dual monitors if I decide to get serious into twitch tv streaming. right now I plan to use a 1080 monitor but I may want to upgrade to a 4k in the future. no guarantees though. it has been awhile since I built a rig but if I qualify for that paypal credit with 6 month no interest and getting my tax return, I wish to treat myself. im pretty out of the loop with all this new tech stuff and hoping the community can offer some advice. below is the rig I made. the only changes I made from the default velox package lvl 2 was upgrading the power supply from evga 750 to an evga 850 (don't know if this was needed but I read a few forum posts that advised this to other buyers). I upgraded the default 250 ssd to a 512 ssd. I also went with the 950 instead of the 850. again, not sure if this is a "waste" for my needs or not but again, I seen other members advise this. good changes? not needed? other minor changes was changing the 2nd hd to a western digital as that is what I have now and changing the default graphics card to the 980 ti strix. I do have questions on the cooling. right now the default is the 240 liquid cooler. I never seen this hydrolux cooling before. is it worth the extra money? if it is worth it, do I then have to get the next step and get the hardline/copper tubing or is this all for looks? what can you tell me about this Velox case? good airflow? room for upgrades if I decide too? should I upgrade the standard chassis fans to the "up to 6 fans" for the extra 99$ or is this enough cooling? I really want my money to go 95% into performance and power and then remaining 5% for looks. anyways here is the build. any advice in laymen's terms will be highly appreciated. Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Digital Storm Velox Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 6700K 4.0GHz (Codename Skylake) (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core) Motherboard: ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING (Intel Z170 Chipset) (Up to 5x PCI-E Devices) System Memory: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series Power Supply: 850W EVGA SuperNOVA Expansion Bay: Option Not Available Optical Drive: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 8x / CD-Writer 8x) Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (512GB Samsung 950 PRO) (NVM Express) (Extreme Performance) Storage Set 2: 1x Storage (1TB Western Digital - Black Edition) Storage Set 3: - No Thanks RAID Config: - No Thanks RAID Card: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Graphics Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB (ASUS Strix Edition) (VR Ready) Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio HPC Processor: - No Thanks Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex 240mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler HydroLux Tubing Style: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected HydroLux Fluid Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected Cable Management: Premium Cable Management (Strategically Routed & Organized for Airflow) Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans Internal Lighting: - No Thanks Airflow Control: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Noise Reduction: - No Thanks LaserMark: - No Thanks Boost Processor: Standard Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Automatic Overclocking Boost Graphics Card(s): - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit Edition) Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD) Virus Protection: FREE: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 Value) Office: - No Thanks Game: - No Thanks Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks Branded Gear: - No Thanks Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement) thanks friends |
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bprat22
DS ELITE 
DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!)
Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
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Posted: 16 Apr 2016 at 7:06am |
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The build looks great. Don't see much to adjust.
 I would however consider changing the Digital Storm branded 240mm cooler for the Corsair h100i or H115i mainly for the warranty difference. I believe the DS cooler warranty expires with the 1 year parts on the rig while the Corsair, even though pretty much the same, gives a 5 year warranty. I'm not 100% sure on that but it is something you could ask DS.To answer your questions.... The 240mm rad will cool the cpu just fine. The Hydrolux Lite is more flexible in that you can break the loop and add parts to it, but I don't think cooling the video card is of concern to you. The Hydrolux Pro is a fully custom water setup and will keep the cpu at its coolest, but unless you're into higher overclocking, not needed, but still tops. The Velox case is about the best here for air cooling. It used to have side fans on the side panel but most , especially a single card, can function just fine without it. The case has plenty of room for any upgrades. Its a quality case. I would recommend the 950 Pro you picked over a standard SSD. It is more money, but is a leap ahead in performance with its PCIE interface. Not restricted by SATA bandwidth. Whether you would actually need or see the faster read/writes depends on your uses. It would be my pick. I would keep the Velox fans. Hope this helps and good luck. |
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Godhand456
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Joined: 03 May 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 50 |
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Posted: 17 Apr 2016 at 4:17am |
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thanks bprat for the advice. im still wondering if i put too much money into unneccessary things. aka maybe the ssd 950 is too much for what i will need? or maybe the power supply was an unneeded upgrade.
i guess what im getting at is, could this rig be just as powerful but cost 2500 instead of 2900? Edited by Godhand456 - 17 Apr 2016 at 4:17am |
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bprat22
DS ELITE
DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!)
Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
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Posted: 17 Apr 2016 at 4:34am |
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To trim costs, and I understand making every penny count, you could get a standard SDD that would serve you very well. The 950 is the latest but let's face it, an SSD is plenty fast enough. The new PCIe drives don't all of a sudden make SSD a bad choice.
For the psu, the EVGA 750 is all you need for a single 980 ti. Just get the little more expensive 750 and not the B1. Better quality and much longer warranty. You could also get the i5-6600k CPU for gaming. The i7 with its added hyperthreading is great for multitasking, most apps, but gaming doesn't need it at this point in time. I'm on an old 5 year old i5-2500k and was told the i7 was future proof and good for all things and future games. . Well, it' still games great with my updated video card. Your initial build is great if the budget allows, but these changes still give you a great gaming rig and you probably wouldn't even notice the changes. Except the wallet. Hope this helps. 
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bprat22
DS ELITE
DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!)
Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
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Posted: 17 Apr 2016 at 4:41am |
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Making those changes, including the H100i, gets you to about $2600. You could get by with 8gb ram but 16gb is the new standard. I still have 8gb but would probably get 16 with any new rig. 8gb still works.
One more thought... You could put all this into the Apollo, Corsair 760t, case and save another $187. The Velox is a quality, metal case, with lots of airflow, but the Apollo has very good airflow and works with your single card system with AIO cooler. Edited by bprat22 - 17 Apr 2016 at 5:39am |
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FrankW
DS Veteran 
Joined: 22 Feb 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2254 |
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Posted: 17 Apr 2016 at 6:09am |
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Hi Godhand456,
bprat22 has given you some very good advise. You can also drop the Velox case and get the Coridium. It is a metal case and you can save $242. The Coridium is the Corsair 450D case and one of my favorite mid-tower cases. The Apollo case is metal frame with mostly plastic on the outside. You can see the details of the 450D HERE. I would also upgrade to the Corsair 100i or 115i CPU cooler. You get the Corsair control software and a longer warranty. Frank Digital Storm Coridium. (Corsair 450D)  Edited by FrankW - 17 Apr 2016 at 6:12am |
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bprat22
DS ELITE
DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!)
Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
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Posted: 17 Apr 2016 at 7:10am |
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I keep forgetting about the Coridium. Good advice , Frank. That is a nice case.
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Godhand456
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Joined: 03 May 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 50 |
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Posted: 17 Apr 2016 at 7:37am |
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ya i picked the velox because i heard it was a very good quality metal case which sounded up my alley in terms of quality. plus it has great airlflow. the apollo looks nice to but i think i seen a couple of forums posts about it being "cheap" and plastic. of course that is just a couple of people's opinions but it turned me off to the apollo. how is the coridium in terms of airflow? slightly worse then velox? about the same?
however if u guys can vouche for the coridium being a solid quality case (add a couple hundred dollars cheaper) i can definitely get behind that. these are exactly the kind of answers imlooking for before i buy. trying to get the most bang for my buck without hurting power/performance of the machine. let me draw up a new config and post it and see what u guys all think before i buy anything. thanks edit: oh another reason i was leaning toward velox was in case of future upgrades. i dont want to be limited on space if iever decided to add a 2nd video card. is the coridium roomy enough for this? then the power supply comes into question: if i wanted to ever do sli dual cards, would i then need 1000W supply? if this is so, then maybe ill just stick with a single card for now but SLI seems to be calling to me since ive never had a dual grpahic card rig before Edited by Godhand456 - 17 Apr 2016 at 7:47am |
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bprat22
DS ELITE
DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!)
Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
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Posted: 17 Apr 2016 at 7:51am |
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Whether you go sli or not is almost totally dependent on your monitors. For 1080p then a single card will do it. For 4K or the highest settings in 1440p then sli.
The Coridium can hold sli no problem and you would want a 1000watt psu if you sli the 980 ti. An all metal case is nice, but imho, what are you gonna do with the case? It just sits there. My ODE 600T has the same metal frame with plastic panels and it looks like it did in 2011. The side panel on my 600t is metal with smaller plastic window and the Apollo 760 t is all plastic. That might be a consideration if its opened a lot. |
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Godhand456
Newbie
Joined: 03 May 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 50 |
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Posted: 17 Apr 2016 at 8:04am |
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u guys are great. thanks for all the advice. i wish i had your knowledge hah. how do u know how much power u need in a power supply for a system. just curioushow you folks come to that conclusion so i can learn a bit more about computer building and spec.
ya i think ill just stick with a single card for now. i dont think ill ever have a real need to SLI. i just like always having the option available is all in case. one other minor question that i just noticed: why do ppl always pick the 980ti strix video card over the default 980ti that DS offers on the page? anyways here is the new rig with ur advised changes. i still stuck with the samsung 950ssd as it was only 60 dollars more from the 850 so at this price, what is another 60 =). im still under my budget. my goal was keep it under 3k and i think with this build, im a little over 2700 (not including tax). but thats cheaper than the first build i made which was a bit over 2900 heres the rig. plz advise on any other final changes before i click buy: Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Digital Storm Coridium Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 6700K 4.0GHz (Codename Skylake) (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core) Motherboard: ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING (Intel Z170 Chipset) (Up to 5x PCI-E Devices) System Memory: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series Power Supply: 850W EVGA SuperNOVA Expansion Bay: Option Not Available Optical Drive: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 8x / CD-Writer 8x) Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (512GB Samsung 950 PRO) (NVM Express) (Extreme Performance) Storage Set 2: 1x Storage (1TB Western Digital - Black Edition) Storage Set 3: - No Thanks RAID Config: - No Thanks RAID Card: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Graphics Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB (ASUS Strix Edition) (VR Ready) Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio HPC Processor: - No Thanks Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Corsair H115i - 280mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler HydroLux Tubing Style: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected HydroLux Fluid Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected Cable Management: Premium Cable Management (Strategically Routed & Organized for Airflow) Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans Internal Lighting: - No Thanks Airflow Control: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Noise Reduction: - No Thanks LaserMark: - No Thanks Boost Processor: Standard Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Automatic Overclocking Boost Graphics Card(s): - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit Edition) Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD) Virus Protection: FREE: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 Value) Office: - No Thanks Game: - No Thanks Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks Branded Gear: - No Thanks Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement) i think i got it all right. plz be my extra set of eyes as im just getting home from working overnights so my eyesight my be a bit off =). im about to go lay down so ill check back here in a couple hours to see what u guys decide. pretty excited so i hope i can sleep. thanks again guys for all ur help. you've been great Edited by Godhand456 - 17 Apr 2016 at 8:07am |
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bprat22
DS ELITE
DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!)
Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
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Posted: 17 Apr 2016 at 8:39am |
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Looks good to me.
Go for it.The Strix is picked because , for just a bit more, you're getting a fully customized card vs reference, with a larger circuit board, more stable and efficient vrm, voltage regulation, and a 3 fan card that keeps the fans off until needed, usually the low 60C. It's factory overclocked and had 3 preset clocks via their GPU Tweak software. The only time the custom cards with their multi fan cards pose an issue, is if you have them in sli in a case with iffy airflow. The fans dump the heat into the case vs reference single fan cards that send the heat out the back. You won't have an issue. Good luck and stay in touch. |
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FrankW
DS Veteran
Joined: 22 Feb 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2254 |
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Posted: 17 Apr 2016 at 8:56am |
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Hi Godhand456,
I suggest you use the link I put in my post above. It gives you a very good overview of the Coridium/450D case. Especially look at this Video. . This case is high quality and all metal. The SSDs mount in the back so no obstruction to the airflow to the GPU. If you go with just SSDs then remove the two HDD caddies that impede airflow to the GPUs. Even if you have a HDD I would remove one of the HDD caddies. You can see review here. This case has excellent thermals and should work well with SLI. The problem with the dual fan GPUs is they dump a lot of heat into the case. That is a problem with many cases. Liquid cooling the GPUs solves that problem but may not be necessary with this case. DS can tell you what to expect. One thing you might consider is to get the Hydrolux-Lite cooler for your CPU with a 360mm radiator. This could cool your CPU and a single GPU. Later on you could add a second GPU and another radiator. A single GPU is always the best solution unless you go 4K. Then you will need SLI. The GTX 980ti is a great choice and a single card is good for multiple monitors and just short of 4K. A single GTX 980ti will run 4K if you back off your settings. Just not the same experience as with SLI 980ti. Frank |
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FrankW
DS Veteran
Joined: 22 Feb 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2254 |
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Posted: 17 Apr 2016 at 9:09am |
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Hi Godhand456,
I had not seen your new build before my last post. Great build. The only change I would make is to add the Stage 1 Overclock. It makes no sense to get the H115i cooler and not overclock the CPU. It won't shorten the life of your CPU and you get better performance. The Intel Core i7 6700K is designed to be overclocked. The K in the title indicates the controls are unlocked so you can overclock. The level 1 OC is mild. Frank |
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