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DS - will it roxor my boxor?

Post Date: 2007-08-14
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67alecto View Drop Down
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  Quote 67alecto Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: DS - will it roxor my boxor?
    Posted: 14 Aug 2007 at 3:14pm

Sorry about the title - the guy on the corner told me I had to be L33t to get one of these machines.

I'm looking for a high-ish end gaming PC that will meet my needs for durability and reliability.  My benchmark for this is Dell.
 
Don't laugh. 
 
I curently have 3 Dell machines, and between my two XP machines, I have over 80,000 hours of use where they are never shut off.  In the 6 years I've had the two desktops, I've had one issue with my XP home machine - power supply failure (me about 10,000 other people).  I've never had to call Dell phone support - in this case, I went to the forums, found out the issue, called PC Power and Cooling, ordered a power supply, and installed it with no trouble.  My hard drive on the XP home machine is starting to die (down to a write speed of 3mb/s), so I'm using this as an excuse to get a new machine (I'll still hang onto the XP machine and just put in a new HD from newegg).   
 
Plus, I get a discount on Dells through my work.  Where DS makes up ground, though, is in the customization.  Because I can pick and choose at a greater level, I can actually get more of what I want rather than bundled components.
 
I like to game - FPS, 3rd person, online, etc.  Battlefield, COD2, HL2, and so on.  I also occasionally render videos and animations, which is why I'm looking hard at the Quad Core chips.  More importantly, as evidenced by my Dells - I'd prefer to hang onto my machine for more than 3 years so I don't need to upgrade all of the time. 
 
I don't need to blow out the scores on the benchmarks - I like to play the games at the high settings, but at a 1024 resolution instead of 2048.  I'm looking for a stable machine that will go the distance.  I've recently been looking into DS after reading a lot of good things over at resellerratings.com
 
All of that being said, here is what I've come up with:
 
 
So, is that going to do what I need it to do?  Nothing too crazy, but will it still be in one piece in 5 years?
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Dave View Drop Down
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Posts: 172 		  Quote Dave Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Aug 2007 at 3:24pm
Yea that is a pretty good rig, a thing to ask do you really need 4GB of ram? and you could try and lower it down to 2 gigs and maybe even upgrade the processor, also another thing what kind of games do you plan on playing
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skyR View Drop Down
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Aug 2007 at 4:19pm
32-bit systems don't recognize 4GB of ram. So if you want to use 4GB of ram, you should get Windows Vista Premium and upgrade it to 64-bit.
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  Quote 67alecto Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Aug 2007 at 6:02pm

Yeah,  about the 4gb.  I know the 32bit systems will recognize just over 3gb, but I'd consider it a form of future-proofing.  I'm optimistically (insanely) assuming that Vista will eventually become more of a viable option for both gaming and retroactive program support (I love my old games).  The UAC needs to be reigned in, but I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir in that respect.  The graphics card is another form of this, which is why I'm getting the directx10 supported card.

Only getting 2gb is something I considered, and may still end up doing as RAM prices will only go down - I'd obviously prefer not to have to upgrade, but I can if it is required.
 
The games I like to play run the gambit of first and 3rd person action:
 
FEAR
HL2+
GTA
Painkiller
Alan Wake (assuming it will run under directx 9)
Battlefield
COD
MoH
 
and so on.
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Robert View Drop Down
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Posts: 133 		  Quote Robert Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Aug 2007 at 6:37pm
Also take into consideration the prices of DDR2 will go up once DDR3 becomes a standard. Look at how much 1GB of DDR1 is compared to 2GB of DDR2 currently, you get my idea.

I highly recommend upgrading to a case that is designed to promote excellent interior air flow. The EXTREME case is the absolute best, but the new Pro is also very nice. The light is a great case, don't get me wrong, but it is more esthetically pleasing than efficient.

You may consider upgrading to a 850W power supply so that in the future if you decide to throw in another GTX, you won't have to worry about being short on power.

Other than that everything looks great, good job!

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skyR View Drop Down
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Aug 2007 at 6:45pm
Alan Wake will not run under DX9 since it is a Vista and 360 exclusive.
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.
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Larry View Drop Down
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Posts: 167 		  Quote Larry Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Aug 2007 at 7:04pm
You will find that Robert, skyR and Kelly are pretty sharp in the forums.  You would be wise to listen to their counsel.  I agree with the 2 GB of ram issue, you can always add more later.  As for gaming, it looks as if your rig would do just fine with the games out now and the near future.  I also think that a higher power supply would be a benefit as it gives you more options for upgrades.  You can not go wrong with DS.
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67alecto View Drop Down
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  Quote 67alecto Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Aug 2007 at 7:40pm
Thanks for the replies.  I've found some great articles on this forum.
 
Last question - how long has Digital Storm been making computers?
 
One of my concerns is going to be long-term reliability.
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67alecto View Drop Down
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  Quote 67alecto Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Aug 2007 at 7:44pm
Originally posted by Robert

Also take into consideration the prices of DDR2 will go up once DDR3 becomes a standard. Look at how much 1GB of DDR1 is compared to 2GB of DDR2 currently, you get my idea.

I highly recommend upgrading to a case that is designed to promote excellent interior air flow. The EXTREME case is the absolute best, but the new Pro is also very nice. The light is a great case, don't get me wrong, but it is more esthetically pleasing than efficient.

You may consider upgrading to a 850W power supply so that in the future if you decide to throw in another GTX, you won't have to worry about being short on power.

Other than that everything looks great, good job!

 
That's a great point - ram for my 6 year old P4 is outrageous.
 
I'll consider that on the cases, too.  I didn't look at the overall dimensions.  I don't really see myself ever wanting/needing 2 video cards...isn't that overkill?  What are instances where I would need 2 video cards if I'm not going for the max settings?
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skyR View Drop Down
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Aug 2007 at 7:48pm
Digital Storm has been around since 2001 I believe.

Theres no reason to ever need SLI if you play at low resolutions.
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67alecto View Drop Down
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  Quote 67alecto Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Aug 2007 at 8:47pm
Take 2 - how about this
 
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Alex View Drop Down
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 15 Aug 2007 at 12:21am
That looks like a very good setup. Well balanced --- work of art! Clap
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