Config help

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   Well, I'm very close to getting a new PC and so far I love what I have seen from DS: great performing systems, price,  and customer service.  I put together what I think my next rig will look like but I have a couple of questions.

First here's the config (cut down for simplicity):

            Case: Digital Storm Twister PRO (Black Anodized Aluminum Finish)
Power Supply: 750W Thermaltake (SLI Compatible) (Silent Toughpower Edition) 
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz (1333MHz Front Side Bus) (4MB Cache) Motherboard: nVidia 680i LT Core 2 Quad (By: eVGA) (nForce 680i SLI)
Memory: 2GB DDR2 Corsair at 1066MHz Dominator (Dual Channel) (Extreme-Performance) 
Hard Drive 1: 320GB (Western Digital / Seagate) (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Optical Drive 1: DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x)
Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (nVidia GeForce 8800GTS 320MB (By: eVGA / Asus) (PCI-Express) 
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer (Up to 7.1 Channel) (Recommended) 
Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 1 (Certified Digital Storm Heat-sink)
Round Cables: Enhanced Interior Air Flow (Optical Drive & Floppy Cables (Black Edition) 
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 

Questions (bolded the parts that are referenced in each):

1.  Is the 750W overkill?  There's a possibility I may add an additional optical drive and hard drive, so if that's the case would it still be overkill?

2.  What is the real difference between the motherboards offered?  I chose the LT seeing how it's cheaper but it's based on the same chipset and is SLI capable.  Would it be amount of extra features offered?

3.  The motherboard is 1333Mhz, as is the CPU.  Does the RAM at 1066Mhz become my bottleneck for bus speed?  

4.  I hear grumblings that Vista doesn't work with SLI but have had mixed results in my own searches.  Can anyone verify, and if so, is this just an issue of getting more mature drivers on the market?

Thanks in advance to anyone who reads and keep up the good work DS :)

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kahlsted Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 27	Quote Reply Topic: Config help Posted: 24 Sep 2007 at 9:09pm
	Well, I'm very close to getting a new PC and so far I love what I have seen from DS: great performing systems, price, and customer service. I put together what I think my next rig will look like but I have a couple of questions. First here's the config (cut down for simplicity): Case: Digital Storm Twister PRO (Black Anodized Aluminum Finish) Power Supply: 750W Thermaltake (SLI Compatible) (Silent Toughpower Edition) Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz (1333MHz Front Side Bus) (4MB Cache) Motherboard: nVidia 680i LT Core 2 Quad (By: eVGA) (nForce 680i SLI) Memory: 2GB DDR2 Corsair at 1066MHz Dominator (Dual Channel) (Extreme-Performance) Hard Drive 1: 320GB (Western Digital / Seagate) (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) Optical Drive 1: DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x) Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (nVidia GeForce 8800GTS 320MB (By: eVGA / Asus) (PCI-Express) Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer (Up to 7.1 Channel) (Recommended) Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 1 (Certified Digital Storm Heat-sink) Round Cables: Enhanced Interior Air Flow (Optical Drive & Floppy Cables (Black Edition) Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Questions (bolded the parts that are referenced in each): 1. Is the 750W overkill? There's a possibility I may add an additional optical drive and hard drive, so if that's the case would it still be overkill? 2. What is the real difference between the motherboards offered? I chose the LT seeing how it's cheaper but it's based on the same chipset and is SLI capable. Would it be amount of extra features offered? 3. The motherboard is 1333Mhz, as is the CPU. Does the RAM at 1066Mhz become my bottleneck for bus speed? 4. I hear grumblings that Vista doesn't work with SLI but have had mixed results in my own searches. Can anyone verify, and if so, is this just an issue of getting more mature drivers on the market? Thanks in advance to anyone who reads and keep up the good work DS :)

skyR Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Digital Storm Apprentice Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2220	Quote Reply Posted: 24 Sep 2007 at 9:20pm
	1. No 750W is not overkill for a SLI setup. 2. The LT has less features than the A1. 3. No, your CPU has a FSB of 333MHz because it is quad-pumped (1333 / 4 = 333). Your ram is duo-pumped so it is 533MHz. If you aren't overclocking or upgrading in the future, your choice of ram is overkill.
	The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.

sundowner Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 11 Sep 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 501	Quote Reply Posted: 24 Sep 2007 at 9:24pm
	We basically have the same rig 1. The PSU you chose is perfect, it's in the middle of the recommended PSU's from thermaltake for SLI and should leave you with more than enough power to handle extra drives. 2. The more expensive MOBO FSB is 1333/1066MHz instead of 1066/800MHz, and you get a few more usb ports. Essentially nothing too different between the two unless you're a numbers freak. 3. No clue 4. SLI has had it's own issues, not even including vista in the situation. Just go to www.slizone.com and check the forums about vista vs xp.
	Pro case with extra fan Quad Q6600 2.4 OC'd 3.1! Nvidia 8800GT Asus Maximus Formula Mobo 2xgb 800mhz corsair xfire - xuntiltheendx

Tyler Lowe Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 14 May 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Quote Reply Posted: 24 Sep 2007 at 11:38pm
	1. The PSU is fine for all but SLI Ultras 2. a. The A1 revision has a fan speed control in the Bios that the LT lacks. b. The A1 revision uses a heatsink and single (optional) fan on the northbridge to cool the chipset controllers, while the LT makes use of two fans. c. The A1 BIOs options support higher levels of overclocking than the LT version (the LT version offers a more limited selection of voltages) d. The A1 has more ports, and has an LED display to show where the board faulted if it fails to post, as well as some reset switches the LT version lacks. e. A1: Black PCB; LT: Green PCB Both support 1333 FSB 3. You won't need anything faster than 800 Mhz RAM. 4. Not sure. Edited by Tyler Lowe - 25 Sep 2007 at 1:10am

Alex Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Digital Storm Supervisor Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 16314	Quote Reply Posted: 25 Sep 2007 at 1:44am
	4. Vista problems in SLI have been ironed out with Microsoft hot-fixes. All of the machines now come with those updates preinstalled.

kahlsted Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 27	Quote Reply Posted: 25 Sep 2007 at 6:22am
	Awesome help! Thanks for everyone's replies! After reading everyone's input, I think I'll get the 800 Mhz Corsair RAM which will save me more than enough to get another hard drive :) Which brings me to yet another question: Does having a RAID 1 setup cause any performance issues?

kahlsted Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 27	Quote Reply Posted: 25 Sep 2007 at 9:29am
	Another question (sorry, couldn't find an edit button for previous post). Does DS install all up to date drivers for hardware and OS? - sound card, video cards, motherboard, etc.

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