Considering new rig, ?'s on Frostbite components

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Hello, 

I currently have a Falcon NW fragbox that i am considering shelving for a Digital Storm. Prior to this rig, I had a machine that i built myself. Being an old system builder, I like to know and research the parts I am getting to check out how they stack up. I have heard nothing but good reviews, been impressed by the forums and read good stuff in maximum PC about DS. I just don't have the knowledge or the advanced expertise that DS has in terms of OC, and hardware, testing, etc and the like so I want to learn more about some of the prebuilds and exactly what comes with them. I am thinking of the Enthusiast and Extreme line, leaning towards an Extreme 2.

So my questions:

1. I mostly play WoW, and from what I've heard, ATI seems to have fewer issues with the random freezing that occurs with some newer Nvida chipsets. I've heard high end single GPU solutions are best with non xfire/sli setups. Opinions on GTX 275, GTX 260 or 4890? I plan to use my 32" TV with HDMI input to 720p 1328x768 as a monitor. I'm checking out Tom's hardware charts of all benchmarks and it looks like bang for the buck the 4890, GTX 260 would probably be in rigs I was considering. Any recommendations here?

2. Water cooling is new to me. I have had heat issues and the good ole take off the dust cover and blow a fan on the rig is getting old. So I want to go with the Frostbite setup, but i want to know what I am getting, part by part. I've heard its a swifttech CPU block and a dangerden radiator, but I would like all the specific models so that i can ensure that my money is well spent and read reviews and such so that I will totally understand the 3rd party parts in my system for the future. I understand there is a warranty, but I believe an educated consumer is the best consumer. Looking around the site, I can't seem to get the exact parts list that make up the frostbite setup. The other system componets are listed pretty specifically in the build config steps. 

3. Any suggestions on a processor that I should be looking for? The i7 920 is probably overkill, as I've heard for WoW a fast Dual Core is best. Any prebuilts with a beefy GPU like a 260, a fast dual core and frostbite?

Thx

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laxin213 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 19 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Quote Reply Topic: Considering new rig, ?'s on Frostbite components Posted: 19 Aug 2009 at 4:08pm
	Hello, I currently have a Falcon NW fragbox that i am considering shelving for a Digital Storm. Prior to this rig, I had a machine that i built myself. Being an old system builder, I like to know and research the parts I am getting to check out how they stack up. I have heard nothing but good reviews, been impressed by the forums and read good stuff in maximum PC about DS. I just don't have the knowledge or the advanced expertise that DS has in terms of OC, and hardware, testing, etc and the like so I want to learn more about some of the prebuilds and exactly what comes with them. I am thinking of the Enthusiast and Extreme line, leaning towards an Extreme 2. So my questions: 1. I mostly play WoW, and from what I've heard, ATI seems to have fewer issues with the random freezing that occurs with some newer Nvida chipsets. I've heard high end single GPU solutions are best with non xfire/sli setups. Opinions on GTX 275, GTX 260 or 4890? I plan to use my 32" TV with HDMI input to 720p 1328x768 as a monitor. I'm checking out Tom's hardware charts of all benchmarks and it looks like bang for the buck the 4890, GTX 260 would probably be in rigs I was considering. Any recommendations here? 2. Water cooling is new to me. I have had heat issues and the good ole take off the dust cover and blow a fan on the rig is getting old. So I want to go with the Frostbite setup, but i want to know what I am getting, part by part. I've heard its a swifttech CPU block and a dangerden radiator, but I would like all the specific models so that i can ensure that my money is well spent and read reviews and such so that I will totally understand the 3rd party parts in my system for the future. I understand there is a warranty, but I believe an educated consumer is the best consumer. Looking around the site, I can't seem to get the exact parts list that make up the frostbite setup. The other system componets are listed pretty specifically in the build config steps. 3. Any suggestions on a processor that I should be looking for? The i7 920 is probably overkill, as I've heard for WoW a fast Dual Core is best. Any prebuilts with a beefy GPU like a 260, a fast dual core and frostbite? Thx

<8) slunK parade Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 20 Jan 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 798	Quote Reply Posted: 19 Aug 2009 at 6:58pm
	i doubt a dual core can out perform an i7 in gaming but if your set on it either the e8400 or the e8500. You can custom order any parts for your water cooling loop, you just need to tell them what you want on the config page 4890 is lower in price than a 275 and under-performs it, but at that resolution i doubt it would matter.

venom Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 08 Oct 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Quote Reply Posted: 19 Aug 2009 at 11:41pm
	The pre-builds have the Asetek all-in-one water cooling thingy. The Stage 3 Frostbite consists of a Danger Den CPU Waterblock (lga1366 or 775 depending on what you decide), swiftec mcp355 pump(s), tygon tubing, and HW Labs Black ICE GT radiator(s). Video card waterblocks are usually Koolance. I would recommend the GTX275, best card especially if your playing WoW which doesn't support SLI. Though even if the ATI card will perform the same at that resolution, if you upgrade your TV/Monitor later on, you wont have to upgrade your video card. The i7/x58 platform is probably the way to go, or if you want to wait until mid-September, the P55 chipset and new i7/i5 chips will be out, which provide very similar performance to the x58/i7 when paired with a single video card. A pre-built system may be the way to go if you want a system right now, I would suggest the Enthusiast 1, but it is out of stock. So I would then suggest the Enthusiast 2.

laxin213 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 19 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Quote Reply Posted: 20 Aug 2009 at 10:05am
	i doubt a dual core can out perform an i7 in gaming but if your set on it either the e8400 or the e8500. From what I have read, when consdering WoW, it does not ultize cores 3 and 4 really at all. I'm sure your statement about an i7 to be true for some games, even most new games, but I usually only play WoW on the PC. Thx for the recc'd on the 84/85 4890 is lower in price than a 275 and under-performs it, but at that resolution i doubt it would matter. As far as the Res, yes it is low, but considering 32" 720p's can be had easily sub $300, I choose just raw screen size over say a high res 24" at that price point. I'd like it to be a high Res 32" but you're talking triple the price so my 32" 720p makes sense to me, and it really isn't that bad. Edited by laxin213 - 20 Aug 2009 at 10:08am

Zurginator Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 30 Mar 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 343	Quote Reply Posted: 20 Aug 2009 at 1:10pm
	Core for core, an i7 beats a Core 2 CPU clock-for-clock by a fair margin. If you are set on a dual, wait for the dual-core i3s to come out.

modern_outlaw76 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 22 Feb 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 75	Quote Reply Posted: 20 Aug 2009 at 4:06pm
	do the all in one cpu cool i'm still on the fence. i'm not too interested in gpu cooling. just the cpu to help out with overclocking

Considering new rig, ?'s on Frostbite components

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