Hi. I want to buy a computer soon.Post Date: 2011-10-23 |
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ashkir
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Joined: 23 Oct 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 34 |
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Topic: Hi. I want to buy a computer soon.Posted: 23 Oct 2011 at 1:31am |
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Hello there!
I've been wanting a gaming desktop for a long time. I've been using a beaten Toshiba Qosmio for years. My games freeze, the keyboard gets extremely hot after thirty minutes, and... I don't travel enough. I want to get a gaming desktop, but, I kow nothing about computers. I barely can understand things outside of basic stats and shortcuts. Motherboards, processors, core, overlock, video cards sound Greek to me. I've spent months looking around and came across many reviews mentioning Digital Storm. I think I have decided to go with you guys but, I do have some questions I'm wondering I can get answered? What will it take me to run games like The Sims 3 or World of Warcraft at ultra settings for more then a few constant hours? I can't work due to a medical illness (my heart is bad) and I fell in love with these games. I don't want freeze ups constantly and crashes, and want a full experience. I don't play games like Call of Duty or Counterstrike. I pretty much play WoW, the Sims, and Children of the Nile. Is one or two graphics cards better? I never been able to find a straight answer about this. People keep saying change all kinds of strange things to make it work. Does overclocking void warranties? Does this make my computer die faster? What are these OS tweaks? Are they worth it? Do these computers use liquid cooling? If so, what is it? Why are the cases open? Are they not enclosed and within reach? Is there a way to fix this? I have a curious dog and my toddler nephew is touchy so this doesn't seem safe. My budget is under 2,000 USD. What systems would you recommend me from Digital Storm to suit my needs? I want something that will last me a long time. It's hard to save money, and, I really want to enjoy a gaming desktop. Lower the price is, sooner I can afford it. I care more about visual appeal then sound. I like to play Netflix, sometimes in a second monitor while typing an essay or something. But, I dream of instant streaming while playing a game I know this is pushing it, but. It'd be a big plus. Dual monitor support is nice. I only play one game at a time and usually have an I'm window + browser up. Edited by ashkir - 23 Oct 2011 at 1:37am |
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DST4ME
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Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
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Posted: 23 Oct 2011 at 1:49am |
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For games like wow that don't utilize sli correctly we recommend you go with one gpu.
if the game utilizes sli correctly and you need the extra power then yes sli is better, otherwise its not. your system comes oced if you choose to and it has a 1 year part warranty with oc. oc will kill your cpu faster if your vcore is above 1.4 or temps are above 85c. your cooling depends on what you chose, it can be air or it can be lc, lc is like your car's cooling, fluid is pumped from a reservoir to the part you have chosen (cpu/gpu/mobo/etc), by going thru a water-block sitting on that part, here some heat exchange takes place where the fluid will grab the heat and then heat to a radiator, where lot of heat exchange takes place and the fluid cools down and goes to reservoir and repeats the journey. now all lc units are not the same, here air coolers a70 and noctua are king in performance till you get to stage 4 cooling, even tho there are other lc units before stage 4. not sure what you mean by why are the cases open, open where? What is the native resolution of the monitor you gonna be gaming at? |
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ashkir
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Posted: 23 Oct 2011 at 1:59am |
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What cooling system is better? I live in a high heat area. We get 100 degree weather for about 5 months of the year, 75 plus for 8.
My current screen resolution is 1440/900. I'm happy with my current resolution. I dont know how to compare cards to make choices as they seem Greek to me. Any baseline out of the box recommendations that should do me alright? |
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DST4ME
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Posted: 23 Oct 2011 at 2:54am |
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For your res sli is pointless a 560 is more then you would need.
look at ode 1 it should be a good match for you and give a little room to go up in res if you ever wanted to, and the price is way below your budget, all you need to do is add a ssd to it yourself and you will endup with a good balanced pc. Now having said that here are a few things: 1. lc or air, both use fans to help with temps, in air fans blow air on heatsink, in lc fans blow air on the rad, now with 100f temps, both will be blowing 100f temp air, thats not gonna help with cooling, you need to find a way to lower room temp or you will have all kinds of temps issues. as far as which cooling system is better, like I said, a70 and noctua are king till you get to stage 4 cooling. |
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ashkir
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Posted: 23 Oct 2011 at 3:56am |
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Hi there! Thanks for your answers.
So, this one? http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadode.asp?id=571777 I looked at some benchmark tests and the card seems to be the second best in performance which makes me happy. My current card performs so badly. :( Would this computer keep me happy for a few years in gaming? Is it upgradable or would I have to buy a complete new one? Inside my home, it's about 80F. I'm comfortable at that temperature. Always have been, I grew up in a humid area and I'm used to it. And a question about the liquid cooling, do I have to buy a liquid for it? Or is it all already done within itself? Do I ever need to open the case to do anything? What is ssd? How does that make a difference in my gaming system? I do like the pre-built option of the ODE Level 1 and it seems to meet my needs. Anything I should know about to be absolute sure? The other specializations come with the Batman game free except for the ODE series. So, I assume the ODE series does not qualify for that? -- The life-time expert customer care is for if I have a question about the product. So, if a few years down the line I need a new graphics card, etc, these guys can help me get this done? How much will they charge to replace it or will they have me do it myself? The 3 year warranty is nice! Most places don't offer more then 90 days. I really like this. :D ODE doesn't allow cooling to be customized to something you stated earlier. So will the default do fine? Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Red); is there any way to change the color from Red to Blue in the lighting or is this a done deal part? -- Let's say if my video card stops working after I have the machine for four months. How much would it cost me to get it replaced through Digital Storm? Toshiba charged me almost $500 for a 9800M GtS :/ Edited by ashkir - 23 Oct 2011 at 4:20am |
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DST4ME
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Posted: 23 Oct 2011 at 4:53am |
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yes that is the build.
at your just about most of the cards are gonna be equal in performance. this gpu should keep you happy for a few years, and you can just replace it after 2 or 3 years, ode 1 can't support sli. ok 80f is a good temp for you but its not for your pc, temps under 80f, preferably 75f or lower are optimal for pc parts. ssd = solid state drive, it has much faster speeds so it helps with every aspect of your pc's performance, from read/write to very fast loading times. not sure what I can tell you to be absolutely sure, personally I'm not crazy about the psu to be honest. ode is a prebuild with prices that are much lower then customized system so normally it does participate in other offers like Batman. --- yes DS can help you with upgrades however it will cost you a lot more than you just getting the gpu from newegg and installing it yourself, with upgrades thru DS either they send you the part (you pay shipping and part) and you change it or within the first 3 years you pay shipping to ship pc to them, you pay them for part, they install it for free and you pay shipping back to you. 3 year warranty is 3 year labor 1 year part. ode 1 comes with the a70 which as I mentioned is king till you get to stage 4 cooling. so yes it fine, however your room temp of 80f might give you high load temps not matter what you get. ode is prebuild kind of so no adjustment are allowed unless you want to pay $50 per change not counting the price of part, But lighting is something worth asking them to see if they will do it for you for free, thats an easy one to change. --- if the card stops working after 4 months, you are still under your one year warranty, you have the option of sending the gpu to DS (you pay shipping) wait for them to get it and then send you a new one (the whole thing can take upto 1 week or two), or give them your cc, let me charge your cc for the new gpu, send you the gpu (you pay shipping) and then once you get the new gpu, you send the the old one back, once they have the old one the refund your cc. In short you just pay shipping during the first year you are under part warranty so the part cost if covered,but after the first year your part warranty is over. Now if you want DS to change the gpu for you, you have to pay shipping back and forth to DS for the pc. Now if the gpu stopped working after the first year then you would pay around $400 for the card not including shipping. |
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ashkir
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Joined: 23 Oct 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 34 |
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Posted: 24 Oct 2011 at 12:13am |
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Hello. Thanks!
I will get an ODE if nothing catches my eye at Fry's. Since, I'm Californian the no sales tax doesn't apply to me and that adds an instant 10% more cost. Also the from 1,999 etc is wrong when you click it, it goes about twenty dollars higher. Will Level One allow me to dual monitor? Game on one monitor and regular browser on the other? Or will that stress it out too much? What level should I go for if I want to run Netflix + a game at the same time on dual 1440x900 monitors? |
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DST4ME
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Posted: 24 Oct 2011 at 12:20am |
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Depends on the game, but browsing on one monitor and gaming in another should be ok, but for games that use lot of gpu power, it may not be.
when you say "run netflix" are you talking about downloading or streaming a movie on one monitor from netflix while gaming on another? again depending on the game you should be ok with one gpu, at 1440x900 res I don't think you should have any problems. |
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Alex
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Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 16314 |
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Posted: 24 Oct 2011 at 12:25am |
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We fixed the price glitch that was happening. |
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ashkir
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Posted: 24 Oct 2011 at 1:13am |
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Thanks. And yes streaming on one monitor while playing a game in the other. The game I mostly play is The Sime or World of Wacraft. I'm a natural multitasker do I commonly like two windows.
I've never seen a reason to go above 1440. If I can afford it I'll go for Level 2. But, I'd probably get ODE level one as the taxes and shipping adds up to match the level 2's price. Thanks for your help. :) |
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DST4ME
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Posted: 24 Oct 2011 at 1:45am |
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level 1 is the one you want, I would not recommend level 2, not much of a gain in the performance department.
wow does not utilize sli correctly so you don't need a second gpu for that, I believe sime is the same way. the higher the res the better the image/picture/move/game will look. |
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ashkir
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Posted: 24 Oct 2011 at 2:27am |
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Hi again. Thank you. I guess I'll look into the ODE Level 1 then. The Level 2 only appealed to me for the liquid cooling which I thought might've been better due to me being used to it being 80 degrees in my home.
-- -- Are there any other builds you'd recommend I take a look at within this price range of $1500 to $1800? |
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DST4ME
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Posted: 24 Oct 2011 at 2:55am |
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that lc gets beat by good air coolers like teh a70 and noctua, as I said before a70 and noctua are king till you get to stage 4 lc.
its not possible to beat ode prices so no matter what I do you will endup with one 570, 2600k and a higher price then ode. |
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ashkir
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Posted: 24 Oct 2011 at 3:08pm |
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Thanks for all the help. I'm talking to my dad, depending on how far I can push my luck I'll try to go for the ODE 3. That's a good choice, right?
If I can't push my luck that far I'll go for the ODE 1. I looked around and the lights can be turned off so I don't have to deal with the red glow. :D I figured out the tax cost, it's going to cost me almost $200 in taxes because I'm Californian + $65 shipping + basic keyboard and speakers so I'm looking at an additional $300 put on top regardless. Edited by ashkir - 24 Oct 2011 at 7:47pm |
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DST4ME
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Posted: 24 Oct 2011 at 5:48pm |
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sli for 1440x900 res is huge huge waste.
sli for games like wow is a huge huge waste. cause in both scenarios, teh second card never gets used. If you are close to DS go pick up the system instead of shipping, get it faster and don't have to convince dad to put up $65 for shipping. Edited by DST4ME - 24 Oct 2011 at 5:48pm |
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ashkir
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Posted: 24 Oct 2011 at 5:57pm |
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In the future I may want to increase my resolution higher. Is the cooling system in ODE 3 better then level 1 or not? I'm still in an area where heat is 80F daily.
I live 5-6 hours away from Digital Storm, sadly, or I would consider going by and picking it up with my dad. Normally we just go to North Hollywood's Fry's and get a computer there, but, this time, I'm trying to convince him not something off of the clearance rack that has no warranty. What games are for SLI? I was thinking ODE 3 would've been a great choice for a computer to easily last me 5 years and future games. I'm trying not to think about this year alone, because, a new computer comes around for me every 3-7 years. |
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DST4ME
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Posted: 24 Oct 2011 at 6:35pm |
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Increasing res has nothing to do with cooling system in a pc.
as for your room temp, go back and read my first post I covered that subject there. lol ashkir you are killing me, it is now the fourth time I'm gonna say this: a70 and noctua are king till you get to stage 4 lc. so unless you see a system with stage 4 lc, its cooling is inferior to the a70 or noctua. clearance rak? not only do you get lower performing parts but you also get crappy parts, that pc is not cheap, not in the long run, you get it cheap at first but then you spend lot of money troubleshooting and fixing it when things go wrong. the beauty of buying pc from here is that you upgrade the gpu in 3 years and it will feel like brand new pc in gaming. Keep in mind going sli is not future proofing cause you can't use future dx12 and etc, and if future games need more vram, then you are not covered, best way to future proof is to get what you need now and save the money from the second gpu and then spend it on a future gpu that supports future requierments like dx12 or other versions, and future gpus will be more powerful, as is the 570 gtx to a 275 gtx for example, just fyi. most fps games use sli, but not all need it, but even the ones that do utilize sli correctly, don't need it at 1440x900 res, sli comes into play at 1900 x 1200 res and higher. |
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ashkir
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Posted: 25 Oct 2011 at 12:29am |
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My dad just left. He said he'll order it tomorrow after work! :) I'll call him to hold him to that tomorrow. XD
So, let the nerve racking half month of waiting begin... |
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DST4ME
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Posted: 25 Oct 2011 at 12:58am |
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So what you gonna order?
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