Almost ready to order...Post Date: 2008-06-25 |
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AROE 
Newbie 
Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9 |
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 Topic: Almost ready to order...Posted: 25 Jun 2008 at 12:39pm |
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Alright, after a lot of research I'm finally about to order. I just want some friendly advice and opinions before I commit. I intend to use this as my main system, but specifically for gaming since I don't have any business that requires a lot of power (my laptop may be sub-par, but it can at least handle Office). I'm looking to play AoC and WAR for MMO's, as well Crysis, Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, etc., most likely on an HDTV, so no higher than 1900 resolution. Here's what I've nearly decided on:
Chassis: Digital Storm 850Si Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Interior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Power Supply: 750W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition) Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz (1333MHz FSB) (12MB Cache) Motherboard: nVidia 790i Ultra Core 2 Quad (nForce 790i Ultra SLI) (DDR3 Only) System Memory: 4GB DDR3 Corsair at 1333MHz Card Reader: Internal Digital Media Card Reader (Black) Hard Drive 1: 150GB Western Digital Raptor (10K RPM) (16MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed) Hard Drive 2: 150GB Western Digital Raptor (10K RPM) (16MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed) Raid Option: Setup hard drive 1 and hard drive 2 in a Raid 0 Stripe Configuration (Expert) Hard Drive 3: 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) (LightScribe Edition) Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: CLEARANCE PRICED: 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 512MB) TV Tuner: - No Thanks Sound Card: Razer Barracuda AC-1 (Recommended) Extreme Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 3 WindTunnel (Copper Heatpipe Heatsink & Zalman Case Fans) Internal Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Blue Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes) Modifications: NVIDIA Enthusiast System Architecture (ESA) System (Install, Test, Optimize Computer) 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) Protection: - No Thanks Office: - No Thanks Benchmarking: - No Thanks Install/Test Game: Crysis (Pre-Install, apply updates, and test gameplay with my system) LCD Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: Logitech 2.1 System (Black Edition) (Model R20) (Includes Subwoofer) Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks External Storage: - No Thanks Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty I've already got the monitor and gaming keyboard/mouse covered. I'm willing to go up in price (no more than 4k though) if there's any glaring ommissions or cost effective upgrades. I'm not that impressed with the price/perfomance ratio of the new generation of graphics cards...the HD4870 looks nice, but I just can't wait anymore, and I don't know much about motherboards that are both DDR3 and crossfire capable. I'm thinking that the clearance priced 8800's are a better deal right now given the eVGA step up program and the fact that the new models will surely come down in price significantly in the future, not to mention the ESA compliance (the 8 series IS ESA compliant, right?). Any advice would be much appreciated. |
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!ender_
DS Veteran 
Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4219 |
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Posted: 25 Jun 2008 at 9:56pm |
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if your going that far i would very seriously suggest going with a higher GPU, the cost:performance ratio will obviously be a little hit, but most of these cards are just hitting the market...
if all your doing is gaming i personally think that getting 150gb raid HDs is a nasty hit to the wallet with very little to show for it. the difference (aside from some benchmark scores) would not likely be noticed.
at the very least id suggest a 9800gtx, and, unless you plan to overclock on your own, you should definately pick the RAM tweak along with the processor.. its sort of both or nothing as far as getting your moneys worth. if you want a crossfire mobo you need to get the rampage.. i would even suggest getting a rampage with 4 gb 1066 ram, talk about cost:performance, the 1333 ddr3 is like burning cash imo
way more bang for your buck >here<
id even go as far as saying preorder the new radeon cards, if you like them, with a few week build time, youll end up waiting a pretty short amount of extra time id guess Edited by !ender_ - 25 Jun 2008 at 9:59pm |
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skyR
Newbie
Digital Storm Apprentice 
Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2220 |
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Posted: 25 Jun 2008 at 10:04pm |
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Avoid ATI cards at all costs with Age of Conan. The game is part of Nvidia's "The way it's meant to be played." program and the coding team is terrible (go look at their tech forums to see what I mean).
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AROE
Newbie
Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9 |
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Posted: 26 Jun 2008 at 2:24am |
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Thank you for the responses.
I've decided to step up to the 1000w Corsair HX PSU (+$97) to provide headroom for future GPU upgrades; however, I just cant justify the almost +$400 for the ESA 1200W power supply...unless perhaps it has other advantages besides extra power and ESA compliance that I should be aware of? As for the graphics cards, the reviews all say that an overclocked 8800 GTS 512 will perform within a few frames of an overclocked 9800 GTX, and at clearance prices thats a $202 difference for a negligible gain. The 9800 GTX+ I would consider, but that won't be released until mid-July...I AM still considering SLI 260's for +$322, but I'm just not 100% confident in the new cards yet... I also took another long hard look at the GTX 260/280 reviews, but it looks to me like the last of a line...given the DDR5 memory and insane amount of stream processors on ATi's new cards, I'm willing to bet that Nvidia will be doing a complete redesign within the next year or so in response. There's really not much room to expand the same technologies in the 200 series. I figure that SLI 8800's should be sufficient until that happens, and I can use the step-up program to ease the cost burden of any transition. The DDR3 is to future proof the system. I know that what I've selected may not be as good as high perfomance DDR2 right now, but I figure that perfomance DDR3 will be coming down in price by the time I'm ready to upgrade. For the hard drives, what would be a good alternative to RAID Raptors plus a storage drive? One 300Gb Raptor maybe(I'm hesitant to go with only one 150GB, as AoC alone takes nearly 30 Gb, and I dont like to uninstall/reinstall frequently, plus two 150's are about the same cost as one 300)? Would two large-ish 7200RPM drives in RAID make any meaningful difference in load times? What if they're also used as storage drives? Thank you agian for the prompt and helpful responses. Any further thoughts, opinions, and advice would once again be very much appreciated. |
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AROE
Newbie
Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9 |
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Posted: 26 Jun 2008 at 6:14am |
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Well, a little more research and I found why everyone is hesitant about the Raptors. I should have looked into it more carefully before.
Stepping back to 7200RPM drives saves a TON of money as well...and since I'd already committed to the idea of spending around 4k, I decided that I should go whole hog and get dual GTX 260's (well, not quite WHOLE hog...are those 280's plated with gold or something? Sheeesh). Here's what I'm on the brink of ordering: Chassis: Digital Storm 850Si Power Supply: 1000W Corsair HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz (1333MHz FSB) (12MB Cache) Motherboard: nVidia 790i Ultra Core 2 Quad (nForce 790i Ultra SLI) (DDR3 Only) System Memory: 4GB DDR3 Corsair at 1333MHz Card Reader: Internal Digital Media Card Reader (Black) Hard Drive 1: 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) Hard Drive 2: 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) Raid Option: Setup hard drive 1 and hard drive 2 in a Raid 0 Stripe Configuration (Expert) Hard Drive 3: - 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) (LightScribe Edition) Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 896MB TV Tuner: - No Thanks Sound Card: Razer Barracuda AC-1 (Recommended) Extreme Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 3 WindTunnel (Copper Heatpipe Heatsink & Zalman Case Fans) Internal Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Blue Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes) Modifications: NVIDIA Enthusiast System Architecture (ESA) System (Install, Test, Optimize Computer) 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) Protection: - No Thanks Office: - No Thanks Benchmarking: - No Thanks Install/Test Game: Age of Conan (Pre-Install, apply updates, and test gameplay with my system) Just a few questions before I finalize... 1. I've heard that Vista Ultimate solves issues inherent in Home Premium...was this fixed via a patch, or is Ultimate worth upgrading to? 2. Should I overclock the graphics cards and/or the memory? The 260 allegedly overclocks quite well, but it seems like the processor would bottleneck before either of these components would, even at stock speeds, at least in apps that are'nt designed for four cores. Would heat and/or power draw be an issue if I did have them overclocked? |
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skyR
Newbie
Digital Storm Apprentice
Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2220 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 26 Jun 2008 at 11:16am |
To my knowledge, all Vista SKUs are patched the same way. The ultimate package combines both the Premium and Business features and also includes the Bitlock Drive Encryption tool. Also included in the package is some bonus content for the users to enjoy such as a video desktop, a poker game, and other stuff. Overclocking really depends on you. Depending on how high you go with the GPU, you could gain ~10 FPS out of an overclock. You can't really overclock 1333MHz ram, all you can do is tweak the timings. Overclocking components does increase power draw and heat so remember to watch your temperatures. Stress testing is also a good idea after having something overclocked. Bottlenecking.. it depends on the resolution you play at. For resolutions under 1280x1024, it's mostly CPU bottlenecked but when it gets up there in the 1900x1200+ with all the eye candy turned on. Your GPU will definitely be holding back most games. Here's an article on duo vs quad http://www.guru3d.com/article/cpu-scaling-in-games-with-quad-core-processors/1 Remember that if one of your harddrives fail in RAID 0, you lose all your data. Edited by skyR - 26 Jun 2008 at 11:18am |
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