A few config questions/looking for comments

Well, it's been ~4 years and I'm hankering to get a new system. I built my last one myself, but I don't have the free time and patience to deal with all the small hassles this time around and decided to have one built/tested for me.

Primary use for the system will be gaming at 1920x1200.
I enjoy games like Left 4 Dead and TF2, Half-Life 2, Oblivion, etc. I'd like to play Crysis but I've been reluctant to give it a try on my current system, knowing that I'd have to crank the settings waaaaay down.

I'd like something that will last ~3-4 years and still be able to run games decently. No plans to swap anything out or upgrade; I like to start from scratch. Some maintenance is fine, like refilling/changing out the liquid coolant, but otherwise I'd like to avoid having to change out any major parts (auuggh no hard drive failures please; never again!).

I have a somewhat strong preference to get my GPU water-cooled. Maybe this is completely irrational, but my last two generations of systems died or were hampered due to video card cooling/overheating issues (and were not overclocked or anything), usually involving their fans degrading with time. Maybe it's the carpet, house, dog, I don't know, but fans seem to die a slow death around me. I stopped trying to play Oblivion and the original Far Cry on my current system because I started getting graphical artifacts after playing for 20+ minutes, and my GPU temperatures were through the roof (and this was playing on a smaller 19' LCD at the time). Removing the fan assembly, cleaning off the whole area, and putting it back together seemed to help for a while, but it still gets quite hot. I'd like to avoid the whole mess and it seems like liquid cooling would help with that.

Anyway, onward to the setup I'm looking at.

A few questions about it:

1. I figure if I'm getting liquid cooling for the CPU and GPU, I might as well overclock them both, yes? Or will I not gain much benefit from overclocking the GPU? I notice it isn't an option frequently selected on builds posted in this subforum.

2. If I do overclock both, will the 750W power supply be sufficient? I don't want to push things to the edge of their limits; I just want to utilize some of the overclocking potential since I want to water cool anyway.

3. How is the integrated sound on the EVGA X58 ? I'm no audiophile and have a hard time hearing subtle differences in sound, so "decent" is good enough for me. As long as there's no nasty static or anything.

My budget is $3200-$3600.

Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated.

http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=249378
Ticket Number: 249378
Total Price with Instant Savings: $3,445.00


Copy of Specifications:
Chassis Model: Digital Storm 950Si
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Interior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 940 2.93GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 3X SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports Triple SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 3GB DDR3 1333MHz Corsair Dominator DHX (High-Performance)
Power Supply: 750W PC Power & Cooling (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silencer Edition)
Card Reader: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x) (LightScribe Edition)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 1.792GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 3: High-Performance Liquid Chilled FrostBite System For CPU & Single Video Card
Liquid Color:Blue: Non-conductive High-Performance Fluid (Requires H20: Stage 3 Cooling Package)
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue)
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Yes, Overclock the processor as much as possible with complete stability
Boost Video Card: Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Tweak Windows: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) (For Enthusiasts)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Install/Test Game: - No Thanks
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-10 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty

920 system (remember you get another $175 off the price listed below:

here you go Ticket# 249397 --- Price: $3280 (To see this build click here)

Copy of Specifications:
Chassis Model: Cooler Master HAF 932
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Interior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 3X SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports Triple SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX (High-Performance)
Power Supply: 1000W Silverstone OP1000-E (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition)
Card Reader: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor (10K RPM) (16MB Cache) (Extreme Speed)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x) (LightScribe Edition)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 1.792GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 3: High-Performance Liquid Chilled FrostBite System For CPU
Liquid Color:Blue: Non-conductive High-Performance Fluid (Requires H20: Stage 3 Cooling Package)
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue)
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Yes, Overclock the processor as much as possible with complete stability
Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Tweak Windows: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) (For Enthusiasts)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Install/Test Game: - No Thanks
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-10 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty

---------------------------------------------------------

940 system (remember you get another $175 off the price listed below:

here you go Ticket# 249398 --- Price: $3624 (To see this build click here)

Copy of Specifications:
Chassis Model: Cooler Master HAF 932
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Interior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 940 2.93GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 3X SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports Triple SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX (High-Performance)
Power Supply: 1000W Silverstone OP1000-E (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition)
Card Reader: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor (10K RPM) (16MB Cache) (Extreme Speed)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x) (LightScribe Edition)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 1.792GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 3: High-Performance Liquid Chilled FrostBite System For CPU
Liquid Color:Blue: Non-conductive High-Performance Fluid (Requires H20: Stage 3 Cooling Package)
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue)
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Yes, Overclock the processor as much as possible with complete stability
Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Tweak Windows: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) (For Enthusiasts)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Install/Test Game: - No Thanks
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-10 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty

home I'm pretty much with Kryhavoc on everything, but I don't think you want go any higher then 1600MHz with the 920 and the 940.

3. How is the integrated sound on the EVGA X58 ? I'm no audiophile and have a hard time hearing subtle differences in sound, so "decent" is good enough for me. As long as there's no nasty static or anything.

Considering how little about current computer tech I knew before coming to this forum, I learned a lot real fast.  Still have a lot to learn.

Left4WHAT, you are in good hands with this company and we will help as best we can, but, of course, it is your decision of what you want for your dream machine.

I suspect your biggest worry is cooling.  I suggest you read the reviews.  Most of them have posted their temps as well as their overclocks. 

Originally posted by Kryhavoc I removed the overclock on the GPU, we have people here on the forums that can help you with that.  It's very easy.

I figured that if I have DS overclock the GPU, it will be covered by the warranty if it has an overclocking related failure. Will it still be covered by them if I overclock it myself and it fails?

Left4WHAT, veloci will show you faster load times, I have had these and I find them reliable.

the thing to do is to always clone your OS drive, so if it dies you have a copy of it. its real easy and I have a walk thru on how to if you are interested.

we can OC the GPU ourselves, and you got nothing to worry about as far as OC on GPU and warranty. so don't worry, the thing is that also the GPU we have picked for you is very powerful, you won't need to OC it, for it to take care of what ever you throw at it

you don't worry about the card, its under warranty with DS and the EVGA 295 card comes with lifetime warranty.

if you can go lc do so it is well worth the money.

I have a dog and a cat and know what you mean, but if you clean the case once a week, it will never be a problem for you.

Great build, as long as you clean it once a week, you should be fine