Building new PC - would like some input please

Hi everyone.  Been shopping around for a new PC and today I finally got down and really compared different sites while taking notes about different builds.  It pretty much came down to here and another site, but Digital Storm really looks to be the one!

I'm hoping to get some input on what people thinks would be the best fit for what I need.  What I am going for is a PC capable of running games like The Witcher 2, Star Wars The Old Republic, Rift, and maybe Skyrim.  I would ideally like to run these games on high settings, but not necessarily max/ultra, at 1080p. 

As a general note, I am semi-hardware literate, but am 100% oblivious when it comes to a few certain things like motherboards so any advice/input on anything will be welcome.  For the most part, I do not favor one brand of components over another.

What I'm trying to avoid:
Liquid Cooling and SSDs - They scare me .  I know the power of SSDs, but am just not ready yet.

Here are the 3 builds I am considering with my thoughts.  I don't really understand what will run what or how powerful of a system you need to run certain games so again, input is welcome

1.) Digital Storm ODE

Things I like:
-Price, processor, ram choice

Things I don't like:
-Video card may struggle on higher settings with some of the above mentioned games at 1080p, Motherboard is not SLI-enabled, wouldn't mind a 1TB HD but not by any means a deal-breaker

2.) Customized Dreadnought rank 2 - Ticket # 640978

Things I like:
-Processor is still good I think, good ram, SLI-enabled mobo incase I want to go this route later, better power supply, 2gb video card (what kind of video card would this end up being? MSI?  Not opposed to switching to Nvidia if someone has an equally powerful suggestion), bigger harddrive

Things I don't like:
-Cost - would love to see suggestions to possibly lower this such as different motherboard or .  I have ideas which I put on my 3rd build.

3.) Similar but much cheaper Dreadnought rank 2 - ticket # 641261

Same as above but:
-Cheaper motherboard without SLI-link capabilities, smaller power supply because extra power isn't needed without SLI capability, and smaller case since I won't need the extra space for SLI link and will save a lot of money.  All this brings price down to low $1600's without mouse/keyboard and monitor.

I'm kind of leaning towards 2 or 3, but unsure.  From what I read, SLI requires finding special drivers for each game to optimize their output which I'm reaaallly not too keen on doing unless it's become a lot less hassle than what it was in 2003.

I'll stop here because I rambled a lot and I'm not sure what else to note.  I hope this isn't all too confusing or too much to post. I appreciate any and all suggestions. 


Edited by Akanbe - 08 Jan 2012 at 1:15pm

Thanks for the response DST4ME.  Just a note, I updated my third choice on my first post with cheaper, non-sli choices.

Originally posted by DST4ME 1. what I'm trying to say is that, what is there to be scared of when it comes to ssds? saying I'm scared of ssds is no different then saying I'm scared of hdds, in reality you need to be more scared of hdds cause they have moving parts and tend to go bad more often.

Your last sentence is kind of funny because I'm buying a new computer because my Harddrive failed on my last one (plus it was a really old iMac that I don't want anything to do with anymore).

There are two reasons I'm hesitant to go with SSDs and you're right that they could possibly be misconceptions.  The first reason is all the terms I hear thrown around like Trim and Marvell Controller.  I thought I read that you aren't really supposed to put them in sleep mode or turn them off at night because both can shorten the lifespan of the SSD.  Even with knowing the amazing performance gain SSDs offer, they make me nervous because you need to do a lot things differently than you do HDDs.  The second reason is, at least from the browsing on Newegg, it feels like the technology is still in its infancy.  It seems like every manufacturer, every model has a caveat to be aware of which I understand is pretty much true of everything.  I just remember reading things like how some manufacturer, mid-life of a product, was underclocking the voltage on the SSD so it would last longer without listing it on the product description.

I guess a third reason would be cost.  To add a SSD with a harddrive would add a lot of cost (and a lot of performance).

Originally posted by DST4ME 2. lc, again you have gotten bad info, lets clear them up shall we: a. are lc are not the same, but one things is with all of them, they all use non conductive liquid, what that means is that if you spill that liquid it will not short anything or do any damage at all, we are not putting straight water with electronic parts, that would be crazy tho it used to be done long time ago.

Yep, this is the reason.  I read over overclock.net and tom's hardware forum which I thought were good, but old sites (linked forum post is from 2009).  I also don't know what any of those products are they are talking about .  I guess it's still a possibility, but like you mentioned, the Noctua uses fans and is a great product.

Originally posted by DST4ME so lets get everything cleared up then let me know your budget and we will see what we can do.

I think $1700 not including S&H, monitor (still need to buy), mouse, and keyboard is the most I would like to go.  Ideally, it would be less than that so I can get a good monitor without going over $2000.

Originally posted by DST4ME also I like to tell you that I'm a very picky customer and it took me over a year to buy from DS, I looked at other builders, there are no other ones like DS that are very helpful and leave you happy if something goes wrong. can you tell me who you are looking at, at least if I know them I can give you some info on them you may not have otherwise known.

CyberpowerPC and Puget were the other two.  I know CyberPowers products, unless directly specified, use the cheapest ones available so while the final cost is great, you wlll probably end up RMAing a lot. I also know their customer support is beyond terrible.  Customer Service is very important to me and that's one of the reasons DSO is my top pick.  I hear Puget is good too, but rig#2 from my first post ended up $80 more over there and rig #3 was a lot more than what DSO is selling.  I don't mean to advertise any other sites, so they can be edited out if needed.

Originally posted by DST4ME don't take this the wrong way but for your money that custom config you made is not great, for example that psu is not a great psu, its not all about power, keep reliability in mind, unless you want to keep rma-ing and changing parts or a 5 year period.

No offense taken at all, that's the kind of advice I'm looking for.  I'm kinda-but-not-really knowledgeable about hardware stuff so any advice or changes is much welcome.  Stuff like video cards, mother boards, power supplies I just understand the basics so any help or suggestions to improve my rig are very appreciated.


Edited by Akanbe - 08 Jan 2012 at 2:17pm

I won't being to try and cover everything like DST but something that caught my attention is the myths about drives. The issues with Sleep Mode are actually the fault of Windows and not the drives. Windows has had issues with Sleep Mode with both Vista and Win7.

Those issues are typically more common for people like us, gamers, enthusiasts, etc, and we are also the type of people who are much more likely to spend the money on a SSD over the "average" consumer. Our systems are built from a mix of parts and are more often then not tweaked and overclocked to increase game performance. Those sorts of things do not always agree with Windows.

That said people do recommend against Sleep Mode but it's a Windows issue not a drive issue. Some people may try to blame it on the drive but unless the drive is faulty it's not the drive causing the problem.

As for turning your system off, it is 100% untrue that it in any way damages your system or shortens it's life span. It's one of those myths that just refuses to die. Shutting your system down properly when it is not in use is actually better for the system. Yes many people leave their systems on 24/7 for the entire life of the system but it is a simple fact that all electrical and mechanical components will simply wear out due to use, if you use them 24/7 they will wear out faster.

Those parts can end up lasting long enough for some people before they are simply upgraded due to age but if you want to "extend" the life of your system it is best to shut it down when you are not going to be using it for a while like going to work or sleeping.

One other thing, don't go by what you read on Tom'shardware, it's one of the worst sites out. It's not just the forums, the people who run the site are constantly giving bad information.


Edited by jmaster299 - 08 Jan 2012 at 3:42pm

Originally posted by jmaster299 One other thing, don't go by what you read on Tom'shardware, it's one of the worst sites out. It's not just the forums, the people who run the site are constantly giving bad information.

noted .  Thanks for the other information as well.

Originally posted by DST4ME As for your budget and build,f or the games you mentioned and no sli option, ode 1 gives you the best bang for the buck now and in the future, you gonna want the 2600k for best future performance, the 570 has more power and its all for $1539, you can add a intel 320 your self later.

Looking around, I see that many rank the GTX570 as high, or higher than the 2gb AMD9650.  Plus the 570 is EVGA which is a plus and I don't know what AMD brand it would be.  I thought a 2GB card > a 1280MB card, but I guess not?  Also, how well would it run games like SWTOR and Witcher 2 at 1080p on a 23" monitor?

I guess my only other two concerns are - the custom one has 64MB of cache on the Harddrive vs the ODE's 16MB.  How much of a difference would that really matter?

The custom one's ram is 1.65v versus the ODE's 1.5v probably wouldn't make much of a difference.  the ODE's ram seems okay, right?

ODE doesn't have a wireless card, so I would have to add one but that's not a big deal I suppose.

Sorry, getting close to a decision and I'm getting nervous .  So ready to kick this slow 9.5 years old PC that i'm using in the mean time to the curb!

Thanks again for your help.


Edited by Akanbe - 08 Jan 2012 at 9:49pm

Originally posted by DST4ME As for gpus go, you are thinking about dual gpu cards like the 590 or 6990 where its 1.5GB or something like that per card, the 6950 is a single gpu card so it the 570. the vram comes in handy at higher res, but you can get the 2.5GB version of 570 if like. If the 570 was not the best card for your money I would not tell you that you want it, same with 2600k, but don't go by what you see around the net, there are more misinformed fools then there are knowledgeable people with the correct info. You could not use dual gpu cards like the 590/6990 cause wow and swtor don't utilize sli correctly or need it to begin with. cache is not a big issue in hdds, its more about their platters and speeds, the 1TB black caviar is the fastest hdd they have here thats worth it, not counting the raptor. what do you mean "The custom one's ram is 1.65v versus the ODE's 1.5v "? are you talking about the voltage for the ram? You need to add a intel 320 ssd to ode when you get it to complete it.

Hm, would they be able to install the 2.5gb version of the 570 in the ODE if I asked?  I saw on a different custom conifig page that it's not that much more money.  Assuming the system would still have enough cooling and power supply at 600w, it would definitely give me more piece of mind to have that much more vram.

Regardless of the smaller HD size and the 16mb cache, you have talked me into the ODE and I think that's what I think I will go for and if I could get the 2.5gb 570 that would just be icing on the cake.  If not, that's okay too.

Yeah, I was talking about the ram voltage.  I saw someone mention it on newegg, but i don't think it's that big of a deal.

Last question - about to purchase, but still unsure about the upgrade to the 2.5gb GTX570.

Are the differences between the two GTX570s really that different?  Is it worth the extra $100 bucks or is it going to be a difference of settling for high settings instead of ultra?

Ah, I see.  Thanks for the input.  I searched a bit and found places where DST said pretty much the same thing you did.

Thanks for the help everyone.  Definitely going to put my order in today. These forums are amazing for nervous buyers like me who worry and obsess about details.  My fears/anxiety of a fairly expensive (to me) purchase have gone away and instead turned to excitement!

Thank you.

I ended up going with a vanilla ODE 1.  I'll have to buy a new network wifi card, but it's not too big of a deal.

With 3d it is like having two monitors at 1980p. Having two lower res monitors is about the same as a higher res monitor.

DST4ME, I've seen you recommending the Dell U2312HM monitor to quite a lot of people.  I'm thinking of purchasing it but have a few questions that I didn't see on the product page or google results

-It's matte and not glossy, right?  I also heard ghosting is minimal to non-existant during gaming.  Confirm/deny?

-I've seen some people complain about the anti-glare coating they put on the monitor, specifically on white backgrounds like webpages.  Have you heard anything about this?  Any reason to be concerned?

It's between that and a cheap Asus with horrible vertical viewing angles so I'm just curious.  Thanks!

Thanks DST, I did end up buying the monitor and I lurrrve it.  I suppose you can see the anti glare coating on white screens, but it, imho, doesn't detract from the experience whatsoever.  You really have to look for it.

Also just want to give a shout-out to Digital Storm.  Got my ODE today and it's freakin amazing.  Extremely pleased, but wasn't quite ready for how big the case would be .  I don't know where to put it and currently the windows to the inside is against a cabinet because this was the only way to really give it proper ventilation.

I opened the case and was reassured that the money was well spent because I had no idea what I was looking at.  It was very well spaced and the cables were all ziptied and looked extremely professional.  You guys got a loyal customer and you can be guaranteed I'll be sharing my views to anyone I find looking for a new PC.

I do have a few general questions for anyone familiar with the ODE.  I hope it's okay that I bumped this thread instead of creating a new one.

What's the red switch at the bottom of the case above the power plug?  It's quite ominous looking .  Also what is the the plug that came out of the inside of the case and is plugged into the USB?  When I opened the case the mobo said it was crossfire-ready?  What exactly does that mean?  Also what's all the extra EVGA cables that came in the accessory box?  They set my vcore to, on average, 1.416 during idle and it drops to 1.34-1.36 using LinX - should I try to lower it somehow during idle?

Thanks!


Edited by Akanbe - 18 Jan 2012 at 10:39pm

Originally posted by bprat22 Hi Akanbe...Congrats on new rig The red switch is for off and on of the red internal lighting on bottom of case.   The wire goes from back panel USB3.0 to top front panel USB3.0 connector next to fan control knob..  Motherboard doesn't have header on the mobo for it so this was option "b".   Crossfire is dual ATI graphic cards.  Your ODE might only do that, not sli, which is dual Nvidia graphic cards like gtx 560, 570.   vcore of 1.4 is a good setting for performance and cpu life.   Have fun.

Thanks for the answers.  I guess I might as well turn off the switch since I can't see the lights anyway.

Originally posted by DST4ME 1.416 vcore is ok its not bad, above 1.42 you should start to think about it. Glad you love the monitor, its something else isn't it? sli is for nvidia and crossfire is for ati, but your system can't really do sli or crossfire, cause the mobo even tho it says its crossfire ready, does not have enough pci lane bandwidth to do crossfire for you or sli, then there is problem of the psu not being able to do sli or cf.

Ah thanks, I feel better about it.  It does occasionally go to 1.424, but it's never for more than a second.  It usually stays at 1.416 or lower, especially during gaming. 

Yes the monitor really is top notch. I love the how the stand rises/lowers as well as tilts.  Much nicer that I don't have to stick a book under it like my old monitor.  Star Wars looks great on it. 

Gotcha on the crossfire.  I don't know what a pci lane bandwidth is but I'll take your word for it