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Config question / Review needed

Post Date: 2008-10-01
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neyelo View Drop Down
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Posts: 8 		  Quote neyelo Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Config question / Review needed
    Posted: 01 Oct 2008 at 7:43pm
My config is below. I want this machine to be my primary gaming machine, which would be comfortable with Crysis (1280x1024) and large Warhammer Online battles on high settings. I already have all the peripherals (keyboard, mouse, LCD, etc.). I am trying to limit the amount I spend, and around $1200 pre-sales tax is preferred. I have deleted from the list items which I won't be needing.

Technically, my primary concern is whether or not the 550W power source is sufficient.

I don't really care what it physically looks like.

I have read that the E8XXX series of procesor can be overclocked easily and stably to 3.7-4.1GHz. Offhand, does anyone know what level E8400s are OCed to by Digital Storm?

Future upgrades would be another consideration. I would probably add a sound card (maybe 6 months), another GPU to run in dual SLi (one or two years), and a new processor (3+ years).
 

Total Price with Instant Savings: $1,192.00

Direct Load URL: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=189710

Specifications:
Chassis: Antec 900
Power Supply: 550W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz (1333MHz Front Side Bus) (6MB Cache)
Motherboard: NVIDIA 750i SLI Core 2 Quad (Chipset: nForce 750i SLI)
System Memory: 2GB DDR2 800MHz Corsair Dominator DHX (High-Performance)
Hard Drive 1: 320GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Optical Drive 1: DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x)
Wireless Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT 512MB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 1 (Certified Digital Storm Heat-sink)
Boost Processor: Yes, Overclock the processor as much as possible with complete stability
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warrant


Thanks for your input.
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DST4ME View Drop Down
DS ELITE
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Posts: 36758 		  Quote DST4ME Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Oct 2008 at 8:04pm
here you go Ticket# 189720 --- Price: $1576 (To see this build click here)

Copy of Specifications:
Chassis: Cooler Master HAF 932
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Interior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Power Supply: 650W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz (1333MHz Front Side Bus) (6MB Cache)
Motherboard: NVIDIA 750i SLI Core 2 Quad (Chipset: nForce 750i SLI)
System Memory: 4GB DDR2 800MHz Corsair XMS2
Card Reader: - No Thanks
Hard Drive 1: 320GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Hard Drive 2: - No Thanks
Raid Option: - No Thanks
Hard Drive 3: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Wireless Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 896MB (Includes PhysX Technology)
TV Tuner: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 2 (Silent Artic Cooling Heat-sink Upgrade (Copper Heatpipes)
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Modifications: - 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)
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
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty

if you want to have 2 cards down the road then you need to go with a minum of a 860w psu.

Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers
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Tyler Lowe View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		  Quote Tyler Lowe Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Oct 2008 at 11:43pm
 
 
Copy of Specifications:
Chassis: Antec 900
Power Supply: 550W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz (1333MHz Front Side Bus) (6MB Cache)
Motherboard: NVIDIA 750i SLI Core 2 Quad (Chipset: nForce 750i SLI)
System Memory: 2GB DDR2 800MHz OCZ
Hard Drive 1: 320GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x)
Wireless Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT 512MB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 2 (Silent Artic Cooling Heat-sink Upgrade (Copper Heatpipes)
Boost Processor: Yes, Overclock the processor as much as possible with complete stability
 
 
 
There are a couple of areas where that config is slightly weak. Yes, the power supply will be able to handle that card, and should be able to handle SLI 9600GT's. That's actually not a bad setup, I've used SLI 96GT's myself and I will state as fact they run circles around a single 98GTX.  A single 9600GT card will provide a decent experience, and an upgrade to a second card later is very easy to acomplish if you want the boost in performance (it's a HUGE difference). 
 
I did look to upgrade your CPU cooling. As it is, you won't see the top speeds some people have achieved with liquid cooling or with extreme air cooling rigs, but with the Antec 900 and stage 2 cooling, you will get *much8 better result than you would from a stock CPU cooler.
 
I changed out your RAM to OCZ because it's simply more reliable lately than the Corsair.
 
Swapped that DVD ROM to writer so you can do ISO images of BIOS updates and create image based system backup. Having at least one device you can write to is something I recommend.
 
I highly recommend Vista 64 bit, but in order to do that you really want to go to 4GB of RAM. You did say you wanted to stay around $1200, so I have offered the above build with 2GB of RAM and Vista 32 bit. If you can at all swing 4GB of 800MHz OCZ and Vista 64 bit, I'd do it in a heart beat. The latest games really push hard on 2GB of RAM, so it's a good investment to go 64 bit to avoid having to upgrade OS later.
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neyelo View Drop Down
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Posts: 8 		  Quote neyelo Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Oct 2008 at 4:17pm
Thanks Tyler! That is exactly what I had in mind. I had not noticed that 64-bit Windows was only a $15 difference. OCZ is also a bit cheaper than Corsair for RAM, so it is ok for me to go up to 4GB of RAM. The price went up by only $100 with your suggestions!

One question about the power, just to make sure I have it right: would the 550W power supply be sufficient for the current build (below), both before and after the addition of another GPU (to run in SLi)? Could it also handle a sound card with the SLi GPUs?

The only question that no one has hit on yet: to what level does Digital Storm normally OC E8400s, with stage 2 air cooling?

And one new question: is there anywhere I can go to get a benchmark of this system to determine how well it would perform in, say, Crysis? I remember going to a site awhile back that was a database of 3dmark scores, but I can't remember; there may be a new and better resource nowadays.

I've included my updated build below. Although it is a bit pricier than I had originally planned, it does offer good performance now, plus the chance to add another GPU and a sound card later on. Let me know your thoughts.


 $1,312.00

Direct Load URL: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=189853

Chassis: Antec 900
Power Supply: 550W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz (1333MHz Front Side Bus) (6MB Cache)
Motherboard: NVIDIA 750i SLI Core 2 Quad (Chipset: nForce 750i SLI)
System Memory: 4GB DDR2 800MHz OCZ
Hard Drive 1: 320GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x)
Wireless Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT 512MB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 2 (Silent Artic Cooling Heat-sink Upgrade (Copper Heatpipes)
Boost Processor: Yes, Overclock the processor as much as possible with complete stability
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) (For Enthusiasts)


Edited by neyelo - 02 Oct 2008 at 7:56pm
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Tyler Lowe View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		  Quote Tyler Lowe Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Oct 2008 at 11:37pm

With the RAM selected you're looking at 3.6Ghz as an overclock. In order to go higher, you'd need to go with DDR2 1066. I would not sweat the exact number. I never once had a CPU bottleneck gaming with my SLI 96GT setup and my CPU was clocked at 3.15GHz. 3.6 is screaming fast, faster than anything officially released. You're going to love it. You're not going to get a commitment to any solid overclocking number from DSO. Too many variables can affect the final result, and DSO is shooting for a 100% stable overclock. Most overclockers get the rare BSOD or corrupted file and figure that's just part of it. DSO overclocks only to the highest 100% stable point as a rule to avoid this, the goal being to get you the best increase in performance possible without the normal drawbacks of an amatuer overclock.

I had decent results running Crysis at medium settings with the 9600GT in SLI up to 1680x1050. If your resolution is under that, like 1280x1024, a single card should handle that very well.

Here's a sample of 9600GT's recently tested at Tom's Hardware with a dual core CPU at about 3GHz:

What this chart tells me, is that the upper limit on frames was being held back by the 3GHz clock, but look carefully at the 9600GT cards here and you can see they are right at the point where the frame rates start dropping off, which suggests to me that these cards are not being held back by the CPU even at 3.0GHz. This goes to what I was saying about the overclock. 3.6 is plenty for gaming.
 
If you are thinking you may want to add more things later on down the road, like an audio card, an upgrade to 650W PSU is cheap and well worth it IMO. You'll still be under $1350, and you'll never have to worry about that power issue.


Edited by Tyler Lowe - 02 Oct 2008 at 11:39pm
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neyelo View Drop Down
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Posts: 8 		  Quote neyelo Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 03 Oct 2008 at 9:18am
Perfect! Thanks for all your help. I went ahead and added the 650W power supply (trivial price difference). I'll be ordering here shortly!

My final build is below. In the future I'll add a sound card and another 9600GT to run in SLi. Any further comments are welcome.

$1,327.00

Direct Load URL


Chassis: Antec 900
Power Supply: 650W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz (1333MHz Front Side Bus) (6MB Cache)
Motherboard: NVIDIA 750i SLI Core 2 Quad (Chipset: nForce 750i SLI)
System Memory: 4GB DDR2 800MHz OCZ
Hard Drive 1: 320GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x)
Wireless Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT 512MB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 2 (Silent Artic Cooling Heat-sink Upgrade (Copper Heatpipes)
Boost Processor: Yes, Overclock the processor as much as possible with complete stability
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) (For Enthusiasts)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
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