From ABS to DS: A short talePost Date: 2008-04-05 |
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sk 
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 Topic: From ABS to DS: A short talePosted: 05 Apr 2008 at 4:08pm |
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Hello.
So, a few years back I bought a great rig from ABS. However, I was somewhat disappointed with their custom service and support. The issue that I had did get resolved (RMAd video card) but it left a sour taste in my mouth. About a year after purchasing the rig, I needed to use the DVD recovery disk. However, that failed. Real pain. So now, I'm looking to get my next gaming rig (for Q3 of this year; fallout3, stalker:cs, left for dead, startcraft2, etc). and I decided I'd probably go w/ABS again, since overall, my experience wasn't that bad. However, they've taken down their forum, and are only offering pc's starting at 2.6K and up w/not enough options. I was put off by that and began my search for a new company. After a TON of searching and reading, I came upon DS. I read through the forums, online reviews and took the shop tour. I've priced out a few rigs since coming here, from 2.5 - 3K. I'm not going to be purchasing my rig until the last moment, maybe prior to Fallout3's release of June 15th, so I'll probably order on June 1st. So, my configuration has a dual boot. Since I really hate vista but if I'm not mistaken, DX10 only runs on vista. So, is everyone moving to vista for gaming? Any feedback on my setup is appreciated. I'm sure some of this will change, since I'm not going to be ordering for about a month and half. - sk Case: Digital Storm 950Si (Black Anodized Aluminum Finish) Power Supply: 750W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition) Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz (1333MHz FSB) (12MB Cache) Motherboard: nVidia 780i Core 2 Quad (nForce 780i SLI) Memory: 2GB DDR2 Corsair at 1066MHz Dominator DHX (Extreme-Performance) Floppy / Card: - No Thanks Hard Drive 1: 150GB Western Digital Raptor (10K RPM) (16MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed) Hard Drive 2: - No Thanks Raid Option: - No Thanks Hard Drive 3: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x) Optical Drive 2: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x) Network Card: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (nVidia GeForce 8800GTS 512MB) TV Tuner: - No Thanks Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE Physics Card: - No Thanks Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 2 (Silent Artic Cooling Heat-sink Upgrade (Copper Heatpipes) Case Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Blue Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes) Round Cables: - No Thanks User Manual: Personalized Platinum Digital Storm Binder (Includes Paperwork/Benchmarks/CDs/Manuals) Overclock Processor: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my processor Overclock Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Overclock Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory Tweak Windows: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Dual Boot (Windows XP Home & Windows Vista Home Premium) Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based) Protection: - No Thanks Office: - No Thanks Benchmarking: - No Thanks Pre-Install Game: - No Thanks LCD Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: Logitech 5.1 System (Black Edition) (Model X530) (Includes Subwoofer) Keyboard: Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard Mouse: - No Thanks Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty Support: Lifetime Toll-Free Platinum Care Technical Support |
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SunfighterLC
DS Veteran 
Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1527 |
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Posted: 05 Apr 2008 at 4:42pm |
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Most people will complain about your sound card, most disreguard the audigy and say either you go Xtreme-gamer or mobo sound. I cant remember the reason for it, but it was a pretty good one lol.
Other options for your graphic cards could be:
2x9800 GTX (about the same price, but faster overall cards, not much faster, but faster indeed/Slightly better at cooling then the 88GTS, and allows for triple SLI in the future if you want it, PS upgraded needed for that though)
1 GX2 (little bit slower then 2 98GTX cards and about even/situtationally slower/faster to the 88GTS SLI, but 102 bucks cheaper vs 2 98GTX, single card configuration, heat problems, youd need at least a 1000W PS to get a second one for quad sli)
You may want to consider stage 3 air cooling should you plan to overclock in the future, It kinda has a bad descritpion but on top of the name brand fans you get more of them, as many as is reasonable in your specific case.
You may want to reconsider your hard drive option, or at least add a large storage HD for a second HD, most people with raptors ive been hearing feel like there is little performance increase, and they wish they had just a larger hard drive instead. 150GB might sound alright to you, but lets say 20GB for each OS, so youd come out with maybe 110ish GB, and that will disappear faster then you think, especially because games arnt getting any smaller.
Just some things to consider before you buy. Edited by SunfighterLC - 05 Apr 2008 at 4:43pm |
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Richsi
Groupie 
Joined: 23 Mar 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 129 |
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Posted: 05 Apr 2008 at 5:15pm |
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I would consider Stage 3 cooling (I saw it and its awesome, fans everywhere!) and for sure a 1000watt PS. I'm still up in the air about the Graphics cards, I heard the 9800GTX's are gone by this year?? What's that all about? Well that's my input! GOODLUCK
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Richsi
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Bill the Cat
DS Veteran
Forum Bitch!
Joined: 27 Aug 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1150 |
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Posted: 05 Apr 2008 at 5:32pm |
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Damn, I must be starting to hallucinate. I've had to change this twice cause every time I read you config spec, it's "different"....
 I have a Raptor boot drive. Personally, I don't think it's worth the cost, particularly dual booting without a larger second drive. So..., I'd ditch the Raptor and get a bigger 7200 RPM drive.
A 750W PSU may be a little small with the SLI. Talk to DSO about this.
I don't feel the need for a dedicated sound card. Your mileage may vary.
You might want to throw in an extra fan or two to suck air out the top of the TJ9. You don't request overclocking. If you're planning to do it yourself, that another reason to look at more fans and Stage III cooling.
If you're not going to overclock, 800 MHz RAM is plenty fast enough. Edited by Bill the Cat - 05 Apr 2008 at 5:43pm |
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3.6 GHz E6850, 4 GB RAM, GTS 250, TJ9, Win 7 64-bit
4.4 GHz i7 3930K, 16 GB RAM, GTX 670, 550D, Win 7 64-bit |
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sk
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Posted: 05 Apr 2008 at 10:48pm |
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SunFighterLC - Good points. I have to google around and learn a bit more about the video cards available. Thing is, this setup will probably change in the next month..maybe, maybe not.
Richsi - Both you and SunFighterLC suggest the stage 3, so stage 3 it is. Bill the Cat - Good points. Yeah, I'll ditch the dedicated sound. I had OB in the past and its worked fine. There is a possiblity I'd do some audio engineering, so I may need to get a better card, but thats in the future. To address the HD issue, here's my thoughts. This is purely a gaming rig. I use *nix/osx for my work. So, the 150gig Raptor is dedicated to games and OSs. I had a 74gig Raptor on my previous rig (w/a 250G second HD) and that worked well. Also, do you think its worthwhile to have DS overclock your cpu/memory/video coard? One major concern I have is Vista. Do I have to run Vista? I figured dual booting is safe because I can run my games in XP and any game that *requires* Vista..well, I'd have it. Hey guys, thanks again for taking the time to post. - sk |
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Bill the Cat
DS Veteran
Forum Bitch!
Joined: 27 Aug 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1150 |
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Posted: 05 Apr 2008 at 11:34pm |
So, your "previous rig" had 170+ Gig of disk space that you weren't using and won't miss?
Just a HD data point: My Raptor has a 50 Gig XP partition and a 97 Gig Games partition. After seven months, the XP partition is only 1/4 full. The games partition is half full. So, you may be right. You could probably get away with putting XP and Vista onto 25 or 30 Gig partitions each and still have 90 to 100 Gig for games. But first, why be cramped when there is no real benefit to the Raptor? Second, that doesn't leave much room for illegally downloaded MP3s and porn.
If $ is real tight, I still think you should spend the bucks on a bigger 7200 rpm drive instead of the Raptor. If it's not, get a second drive.
Vista seems to work perfectly from some and is a constant pain in the ass for others. Eventually everybody will use Vista, unless Mr. Bill (Gates; not Cat) is serious about Window 7 appearing next year. Not likely..... Anyway, you will probably want Vista someday. Today, frankly Vista is alot like the Raptor. There are no real benefits, but there seem to be some real drawbacks to using it.
I waited over a year and a half before I swithed from Win98 SE to XP. It will be at least that long before I switch from XP to Vista.
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3.6 GHz E6850, 4 GB RAM, GTS 250, TJ9, Win 7 64-bit
4.4 GHz i7 3930K, 16 GB RAM, GTX 670, 550D, Win 7 64-bit |
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sk
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Posted: 06 Apr 2008 at 12:12am |
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Bill the Cat - Good point. So, yeah, all my movies and music are on my work osx box.
Im thinking about doing a raptor and secondary drive. Still not really sold on Vista though. Are any games coming out that will require it? - sk |
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Tyler Lowe
Newbie 
Joined: 14 May 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
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Posted: 06 Apr 2008 at 12:31am |
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I'm not sure about "required" but Bioshock sure did look sweet with the DX 10 enhancements enabled. Vista works fine if you have a machine capable of handling it. I have a dual boot. I use XP maybe once a week, sometimes, less than that. Yes, XP is fast, fast, fast on my rig. Vista feels like XP used to, which is to say very fast and responsive.
That sound card does not have an onboard dedicated APU, so it relies on your CPU. This is why you would be better off with onboard sound. Same sound quality only the onboard is 7.1 vs audigy's 5.1 channels, zero driver issues, and free with your motherboard. Sounds good to me.  I would suggest giving in to your urge for a second drive. Storage is cheap. |
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jimbo
Groupie
Joined: 30 Aug 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 162 |
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Posted: 06 Apr 2008 at 12:52pm |
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Audgy and Vista, appears there is an additional cost for driver update to be fully? enabled to run with vista. i.e. Creative wants just under 10$ for the update. Updating the X-FI is free.
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Life's too short
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