First Gaming PC - Need AdvicePost Date: 2012-02-11 |
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youch 
Newbie 
Joined: 11 Feb 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4 |
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 Topic: First Gaming PC - Need AdvicePosted: 11 Feb 2012 at 1:51pm |
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Budget:
$2000 Expectations: Something basic I can upgrade over time to stay current. Usage: Mostly play lotro. Looking forward to GW2 if it ever comes out. Tired of slow load times and minimum graphic settings. Special Needs: One dell 19" wide dell ultra sharp monitor for game, a second cheap 19" for vent. Stability and low noise more important than overclocks and tweaks. SSD would be nice if it can fit in. Specifications: Is the ODE Level 1 a good place to start? Would I be better off with a custom build? Will I be happy at $2000 or should I increase the budget to $2500? The ODE3 is nice but I don't think the SLI will make a difference with LOTRO. Let me know if I am wrong. |
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bprat22
DS ELITE 
DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!)
Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
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Posted: 11 Feb 2012 at 2:34pm |
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Hi youch... welcome to the forums.
For your budget and no sli the ODE 1 is hard to beat., but it has no upgrade potential which you mentioned. The motherboard and power supply are limited. The ODE 3 gives you sli 570's and SSD and will serve you well in your games for a long time.. Even though it's sli, you might want the power in a year or two. For upgrade potential meaning a great mobo, power supply and cpu cooler this config works, but is only a single gpu compared to ODE 3 Config # 654042 Cost $ 2433 Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master 942 HAF X Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Quad Core) Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 Deluxe (Intel P67 Chipset) (New & Improved B3 Revision Without SATA 3G Issue) System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 1050W Corsair Pro Silver 1050HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (120GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: 320 Series) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (500GB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition) Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1.2GB (Includes PhysX Technology) (EVGA Edition) Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Corsair A70 Dual 120mm Fans High Performance Cooler 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: - No Thanks LaserMark: - No Thanks Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz 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: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Large) 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
The psu is tops, the A70 cooler outperforms and is more reliable than what ODE 3 has and the HafX case is tops in cooling. But your getting better parts but no sli 570's. It's all about the budget.  Bottom line is...for sli 570 go ODE 3. For a better config because of parts but only a single gpu, but can sli in the future go with this custom config. If you want to stay under $2000 then ODE 1 will serve you well If I had only $2400 to spend I would go ODE 3. If I had only $2000 then I would go ODE 1 and add the SSD yourself. Hope this helps and Good Luck
Edited by bprat22 - 11 Feb 2012 at 2:44pm |
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youch
Newbie
Joined: 11 Feb 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4 |
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Posted: 11 Feb 2012 at 8:31pm |
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Ahh....I see what you did with your build. Thanks for the info. Will give it some thought.
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youch
Newbie
Joined: 11 Feb 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4 |
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Posted: 12 Feb 2012 at 5:28am |
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Can someone be in the same room as the computer, watching TV as I play? Or is it too loud?
How effective is the DS noise suppression L1 and L2? Cases like Enix and Raven seem to have lower noise levels. Is the noise level really beter? Will stuff burn out without the better cooling of HAFX? |
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bprat22
DS ELITE
DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!)
Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
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Posted: 12 Feb 2012 at 6:22am |
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Gaming rigs will make more noise than a typical off the shelf pc that has a single fan in the back for cooling. In a quiet room it can be heard, but when I game I don't even notice it. Depends the size of the room, if you sit right next to the rig watching tv, etc. Everyone has a different tolerance to noise. I personally don't find the ODE case very noisy at all and the HafX is about the same.
The noise suppresion kits do nothing IMHO, but slow fans a little decreasing their effectiveness and the material just catches dust. The noise graphs you see are not accurate. The HafX case we recommend because they have large 230mm and 200mm fans that spin slow. Larger fans can spin slow and push the same air and a slower fan is quiter. The other cases use 120mm fans that spin faster and make more noise. The cooler you keep the parts the longer they last, especially cpu and gpu. They won't burn up but won't have the same life. Lots of talk about gaming rig noise, but most of the noise in the HafX and ODE 600T cases because of the 200mm fans comes from the graphic cards cooling fans, which is a product of a gaming rig. The case fans you have to put your ear to to hear. Any case here will do the job. It's just some do it better. If someone hates the HafX for looks etc, then the 690 2 Advanced, just as an example will work, but not as well because of fewer and smaller fans, smaller interior to move air. Hope this helps and doesn't just confuse. Good Luck Edited by bprat22 - 12 Feb 2012 at 6:27am |
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youch
Newbie
Joined: 11 Feb 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4 |
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Posted: 12 Feb 2012 at 8:28am |
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Perfectly understandable, Thanks!
Lots more questions...I need to understand a few more things before making a purchase :) SSD The ODE3 comes with the Corsair SATA 6Gbps as opposed to the recommended Intel Model 320 120G. The corsair seems to have better specifications but I see lots of recommendations for the Intel. Was the Intel recommended because of reliability or am I misreading the specs? PSU The ODE3 comes with the 850W and the recommendation above was for the 1050W. Is there more going on than just the wattage specification? What factors would stress the 850W and push me up to the 1050W? |
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bprat22
DS ELITE
DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!)
Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 12 Feb 2012 at 8:50am |
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I personally do not have alot of SSD experience but the intel 320 has historically a better track record. I don't think you can wrong with either.
The custom config has the 1050 HX, the added size to give someone all the added upgrade they might need in the future for sli. The HX has a 7 year warranty and tells of the manuf. confidence in the quality. But, DS with the 800W has added another 2 years to Corsairs 3 year warranty which does make it a good deal. Tough to tell what future gpu's will need for power. HX is a better quality ps. To price the ODE line-up as aggressively as they do they can't give the best parts. The parts are good and in most cases should last for years, but others are willing to go to a custom config, and pay the price, for a top end power supply, a case with better cooling and the A70 cooler which is also tops. I think for the money the ODE 3 and 4 are impossible to beat for the performance. Others will argue to go custom like above. Depends on your budget. I help with custom configs to give options but, if I had $2500 and $3500 I would do the ODE 3 or 4 and up the warranty to 5year labor/ 3year parts or better and let DS worry about any parts issues. Just me Edited by bprat22 - 12 Feb 2012 at 9:15am |
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