Configuration Review Request

Hi, all

I'm settling down on my choices after some reviewing through the forums. I'm several years out of touch with hardware, but have been reading to try to catch up. Any suggestions you can make the my proposed build below would be most welcome.

Thanks for the template for posting, by the way. The prompts below help.

Just a bit of background. I spent a similar amount of money ($2800) on my last system in 2005. It's held up fairly well over the years for anything work or non-gaming related (video editing, etc). Recently, though, it's just out of pace for the gaming I do -- blizzard and valve games, etc. Terraria runs fine though!

So, I'm looking to buy a new system to last for another 5-6 years. I don't mind overbuying a touch knowing I probably won't contemplate upgrading for a long while.

Budget:
About this system amount -- 2700-2900.

Expectations:
Everything today, within reason. 60 fps+ for d3 on high (but maybe not ultra) settings.

Usage:
Home office, video and photo, and of course, the games. WoW, Sins of a Solar Empire, Civ 5, etc. Some FPSes outside valve. Looking forward to having the heft to run Crysis, finally!

Special Needs:
I have added kids since the last system. Quiet is at a premium in the evenings. I will use all existing peripherals, including a dual-head monitor setup.

Saved Ticket #: 621800

I've settled on an assassin frame for the rotated mobo. I'm trying to balance performance for the cost -- cheaper to add an upgraded mobo and cooling and overclock the 2700 than to jump to the next tier processor, I've found. I'll add a HDD data drive in the spring, after prices come down, and use an existing for now.

Any advice folks have about tweaks or changes to options would be appreciated. And if a DSO employee is reading -- or anyone knows -- as I'm local to the south bay, can I just pick up my system and forego the shipping cost and time?

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS Assassin Edition
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 2700K 3.50 GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Quad Core) <b></b>
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 Deluxe (Intel P67 Chipset) (New & Improved B3 Revision Without SATA 3G Issue) <b></b>
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) <b></b>
Power Supply: 800W Corsair GS (Dual SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (120GB Solid State (By: Corsair) (Model: Force GT Series CSSD-F120GBGT-BK) (SATA 6Gbps) <b></b>
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: Blu-Ray Writer/Reader (Burn and Play Blu-Ray Discs) <b></b>
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB (Includes PhysX) (Overclocked EVGA Edition) <b></b>
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D14 Extreme Performance (Does NOT fit on the regular EVGA X58 3X SLI) <b></b>
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: Noise Suppression Package Stage 2 (Optimized Airflow & Fan Speeds with Noise Dampening Material) <b></b>
LaserMark: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro or Deluxe Series Motherboard) <b></b>
Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows 7 CD)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - Maybe! Not too exclusive if you ship them to everyone, is it?
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

I don't know if the assassin case will allow 200mm fans at the bottom instead of the stock 180s, but I'd probably exchange those if possible as well.

Again, thanks for your advice!

K

Thanks for the reply and helping out. Let me go through your post and provide the information you're asking about, as maybe it'll get me closer to resolution. I do appreciate the time.

Originally posted by DST4ME I can't help you without knowing the res of the monitor you want to game at, so I need to know the native res, also you mentioned dual head monitor, are you gonna be using 2 monitors? if so you gonna be gaming on both monitors? if yes need to know the res for both monitors.

I usually use the 1680x1050 for gaming, and 1600x1200 for utility, sometimes at once, sometimes both for utility. Never gaming on both -- the dissimilar physical and resolution sizes messes that up. I may get a matching pair sometime before replacing the system, depending on how these hold up.

Originally posted by DST4ME ocing the p67 platform in no way or shape makes up for being on the x79 platform, you can oc a 4 core all you like but its not gonna beat the 6 core at the same oc or even little less oc. getting overkill does not cover you for the future, if somebody just needed a 275 gtx 3 years ago but got sli to cover future performance, right now sli 275 can't even support dx11, does not have enough vram for certain games, in short the only way to future proof your gpus, is to get what you need now and put the rest towards gpu upgrade in 2 - 3 years so that the pc feels new in gaming.

Noted, and thank you. That said, I'll consider upping the GPU -- if the architecture is still supported. My current AGP-slot mobo faces limited options.

Originally posted by DST4ME 99% of your noise comes from gpu's fan when under load, teh only way to deal wiht that is to put them under lc. the noise package is pointless as they just slow down your fans killing air flow, and you trap noise you trap head, last at best the noise package gets rid of 10% of the noise.

Hmmm. I've read (you, elsewhere, unless my memory is failing me tonight) that the lc fans are actually the cause of a lot of noise. Did I misunderstand?

Originally posted by DST4ME We have more to discuss and lot to change in your config, so let me know the info I asked for then we can move forward.

I think I hit the questions. If I missed anything, my apologies.

Happy thanksgiving!

K

Thanks, DST4ME

If I grow monitors, it would be to two 27s, at 1920x1080. I probably would only ever run gaming on one at a time, though. Would that change the system considerably?

I read elsewhere of the cost of getting a "SLI-ready" system and failing to insert the second card -- all the component upgrades cost less than the extra card, so why not finish? You're pretty far under my budget (not a bad thing), so if you can suggest things that will be more helpful in the long run, I'd be game.

I appreciate the advice!

K

Thanks again!