Help with custom buildPost Date: 2009-08-21 |
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Asangard 
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Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
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 Topic: Help with custom buildPosted: 21 Aug 2009 at 5:13pm |
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This will be my 1st custom built PC, so I am looking for advise. I have done quite a bit of research on different companies and have decided to have DA build it. I have set a budget of $5000 including a monitor (not included in build below). Any comments or suggested changes would be welcomed. One requirement is to make sure it is upgradeable.
Questions that I have:
1. I have incluced the liquid cooling for the CPU and GPUs. How much of a benifit is there in liquid cooling the GPUs and is it even worth it?
2. What would be the better keyboard, Logitech G15, G19 or Razer Tarantula? (Interesting note: the Razer Tarantula and Razer Lachesis mouse are cheaper from DA than from Razer)
3. Looking for suggestions on a really good gaming monitor. (22in or 24in)
4. Would you recommend different speakers than the Logitech 5.1s from DA?
5. Is the APC1300VA backup surge conditioner adequate for this build?
6. What case would you recommend? By the time I place the order, the Hailstorm with be availabe.
Ticket #324359
Copy of Specifications: Purchase date in aprrox 5 months. Yes, I am aware things can change between now and then.
Thanks in advance
Edited by Asangard - 21 Aug 2009 at 5:22pm |
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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DST4ME
DS ELITE 
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
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Posted: 21 Aug 2009 at 5:45pm |
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1. LC on GPU is not needed but it will get rid of lot of noise. its nice to have.
3. look for a monitor that has the same Viewing Angle, both vertical and horizontal, and above 170°, depending on how much you want to spend, you can get a good 24" for about $500 or so or you can get a great one for around $1000, so depends on your budget, I'm not that great with monitors either. 5. Yes. 6. if LCing the GPUs to with hailstorm, if not I love the HAF it has great airflow that hailstorm does not have. Now I myself was going to go with the HAF originally but then since I'm going LCed all the way around I'm going with hailstorm myself, since airflow does not matter much when you have LC on CPU/GPU. Here you go Ticket# 324393 --- Price: $4140 (To see this build click here) Price after current promotion $3790 Copy of Specifications: Chassis Model: Digital Storm 950Si Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Interior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core) Motherboard: EVGA X58 LE Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports SLI or CrossFire) System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified by mushkin enhanced (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 1000W Digital Storm Certified (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition Highly Recommended) Card Reader: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 896MB (Includes PhysX Technology) Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional (PCI-Express Slot Based) Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 3: Specialized FrostBite Separate Dual Loop System for CPU & Two Video Cards Liquid Color:UV Blue: Medium Glowing Non-conductive Fluid (Requires H20: Stage 3 & UV Lighting) Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (UV) (Creates Glowing Effect For H20: Stage 3 UV Fluid) Enhancements: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Requires Air Cooling Upgrade) Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Boost Memory: Memory Fan Kit Only (Does not include memory overclocking service) Tweak Windows: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) With Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based) Virus Protection: - No Thanks Office: - No Thanks Benchmarking: - No Thanks Install/Test Game: - No Thanks LCD Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: APC 1300VA Uninterruptible Backup Surge Conditioner (Recommended) Speakers: Logitech 5.1 System (Black Edition) (Model X540) (Includes Subwoofer) Keyboard: Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard Mouse: Razer Lachesis Gaming Mouse (High-Speed Gaming Grade) External Storage: - No Thanks Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-10 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty I put the 950si in the system since you have to add $75 to that to get the price of the hailstrom. Edited by DST4ME - 21 Aug 2009 at 5:46pm |
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Asangard
DS Veteran
Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
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Posted: 21 Aug 2009 at 5:56pm |
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Thanks for the quick reply. One of the other things I have been considering is Dual OS, as my current system is XP PRO and I have a lot of apps. I am not sure how they will run under Windows 7. |
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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DST4ME
DS ELITE
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
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Posted: 21 Aug 2009 at 6:09pm |
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I think I'm gonna stick to vista 64bit till sp1 for win7 comes out.
but since we are talking hailstorm, and it has those hot swap bays, I'm gonna tell you what I'm gonna do is install one OS on one drive and the other OS on another drive, that way they are independent, you don't have to worry about any conflicts between the OSes and boot sectors and etc., and with the hot swap bays, its gonna be a cinch to switch between the 2 OSes. |
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Asangard
DS Veteran
Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
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Posted: 21 Aug 2009 at 6:24pm |
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Good idea. I should be able to use my current drive with XP Pro on it and all my apps. No having to transfer stuff. I have a backup drive in my current system so I can just leave that in it.
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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DST4ME
DS ELITE
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
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Posted: 21 Aug 2009 at 6:39pm |
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actually, unfortunately you won't be able to do that, that XP will not work in another system since all the drivers and specs are different. you can install XP in the new system and build it from that and swap with that but you can't just take an OS from one PC and put it in another.
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Asangard
DS Veteran
Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
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Posted: 21 Aug 2009 at 7:01pm |
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Forgot about that. Thanks again for your help. I do have my XP Pro install disks. Still, not as much work as having to transfer all the data from my current drive. |
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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DST4ME
DS ELITE
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
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Posted: 21 Aug 2009 at 7:19pm |
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Well there is a way of transfering it actually but it is some work, if you want I can post the steps, it doesn't work everytime either, but it does most times.
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Asangard
DS Veteran
Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
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Posted: 21 Aug 2009 at 11:13pm |
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I have transfered data between my laptop and desktop quite a bit. I had a volunteer position with the RPGA for 2 1/2 years, which required me to travel to a lot of conventions.
I used a network cable with a pin reversed on one end. This way I could connect my laptop directly to my desktop. Then I created a network between them. Next I created a shared folder. This allowed me to copy data from one computer to the shared folder, then copy it out of the folder to the other. Worked great for data transfers. Not very good for transfering programs though. I am always open to new ideas. Edited by Asangard - 21 Aug 2009 at 11:21pm |
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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DST4ME
DS ELITE
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
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Posted: 22 Aug 2009 at 12:41am |
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I'm talking about moving your OS and all, and not just some files.
 
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Asangard
DS Veteran
Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
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Posted: 22 Aug 2009 at 1:38am |
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Excellent, always open to learn something new. |
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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DST4ME
DS ELITE
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
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Posted: 22 Aug 2009 at 3:14am |
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well first you have to clone your hdd, then:
quite complicated, but it works most of the time. The non-ACPI routine. After you've cloned (not just installed XP) the old drive onto the new hd, install it in the old rig as the primary boot device; unplug the old. Then: Find out if the new mobo supports non-ACPI operation. Check its' specs; almost all do. If so, print this out - and good luck! OLD SYSTEM Remove and uninstall all the current drivers (video, sound, chipset, ide) from Control Panel - Add/Remove. Find Device Manager (Start - Run - (type in)devmgmt.msc - Enter). Expand the Computer value - double-click ACPI Uniprocessor PC - driver tab - Update driver. Choose to "Install from a list or specific location (Advanced) - Don't Search. UNCHECK THE BOX "Show compatible hardware". Select "Standard PC". Click Next & OK. You will get a Restart prompt. NO! "DO NOT RESTART". While still in D/M (Device Manager), delete the rest of the hardware whose drivers you didn't find in C/P relating to the above list only. Shut down and do not turn it on until you've completed ALL the hardware swapping in the old rig; or installed the drive in a new machine. NEW SYSTEM Turn on and bootup. XP will load & redetect the entire hardware config. Probably will reboot a couple of times. After you get a quiet desktop, Start - Run - (type in)cmd.exe - Enter Type this in: set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 Type: devmgmt.msc View tab - Show hidden devices. The old stuff will have transparent icons. Select, right-click and Uninstall all of these EXCEPT the ones inside "Non-Plug and Play Drivers" and "Sound, video and game controllers". Reboot. Back into D/M - expand the Computer value. Double-click the first Standard PC - driver tab - Update driver. Choose "Install from a list...." - "Don't search....". Uncheck "Show compatible hardware - Select "Advanced....(ACPI) PC". Next - OK - Restart. XP will now detect again. When done, reboot. Back into D/M - expand Computer - right-click Standard PC - uninstall. Reboot. Back into D/M and get rid of the transparent icons again, as per three paragraphs above. Reboot. Check the new mobo cd documentation. You may want to install all the NEW drivers again if that is part of their instruction for XP operating system. This is a bit old so some of the stuff might be a bit different. Edited by DST4ME - 22 Aug 2009 at 3:15am |
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