High End PC

Hello all,

I have configured the following PC. I believe it to be amongst the best possible however i have a few questions.

But first of all,

My main uses for this PC would be:

Gaming (possibly multiple clients at once)
Bluray Writing/Playing
Video Encoding
Video/Photo editing
Word Processing

In general i like to multitask, and i also like to leave the PC running. It can get pretty hot around the PC in the summer, ranging around 20-30 degrees Celcius (the room)

I also plan to have a two monitor setup, most likely at 22-24 iches, 1920x1080 or 1920x1200

Once the technology gets fleshed out i may upgrade to a triple monitor Nvidia 3D setup but that is not really planned for now.

So my questions are:

1) is the 8gb 2000mhz RAM better than the 16gb 1600mhz RAM i have selected?

2) is my HDD setup so that i can have the SSD for OS/programs such as photoshop and 4GB of Raid 0 File space? Is that what Raid 0 does: meld the two 2GB HDD into one 4GB?

3) is there any incompatibilities between any of the parts? For example 1000W is not sufficient for SLI or not enough cooling for the 4.9-5.2ghz OC.

4) this would be my first liquid cooled system and i am under the impression that it will be sufficiently cool in the summer etc while also allowing overclocking of the processor to high but stable numbers. Also, it takes little maintenance to keep running. Is this all true?

5) i live in canada, so what is a rough estimate of the brokerage fees that would be placed on a PC such as this one? Also, does having to cross the border add to the shipping time?

6) is the P67 motherboard 'old tech' compared to the x58? i really do not understand the differences and clarification of that would be appreciated.

7) is this system ready to upgrade to the Nvidia 3D in the future should i choose to? has anyone had any experience with this?


The PC is below:

Ticket Number: 573896
Total Price with Instant Savings: $5,797.00
  
Specifications: 
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - SilverStone Raven 3
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 Maximus IV Extreme (Intel P67 Chipset) (New & Improved B3 Revision Without SATA 3G Issue) <b></b>
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX (High-Performance) <b></b>
Power Supply: 1000W Digital Storm Certified (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition Highly Recommended)  <b></b>
Expansion Bay: Internal Digital Media Card Reader (Black) (NOTE: Disables 2 Front USB Ports) <b></b>
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 2x (2TB Western Digital (7200 RPM) (64MB Cache) (Model: Black Edition) (SATA 6Gbps) <b></b>
Set 1 Raid Options: Configure HDD Set 1 to a Raid 0 Config - Stripe Performance (Requires Two HDDs) <b></b>
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (160GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: 320 Series) <b></b>
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: Blu-Ray & DVD Writer/Reader (Burn + Play Blu-Ray & DVDs) (12x BD-R) (Lite-On iHBS112) <b></b>
Optical Drive 2: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x) <b></b>
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 3GB (PhysX) (EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR) <b></b>
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional <b></b>
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 6: Sub-Zero LCS Dual Loop: CPU & Dual SLI/CrossFire Video Cards <b></b>
H20 Tube Color:Blue Tubing with High-Performance Fluid (UV Lighting Reactive) <b></b>
Chassis Airflow: Upgrade Chassis With LED Performance Fans (Blue) (Up to 6 Fans) <b></b>
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue) <b></b>
Enhancements: Scythe Kaze Master Temperature Display & Fan Controller (Requires Chassis Airflow Upgrade) (KM01-BK) <b></b>
Chassis Mods: HailStorm & 950Si Case Only: CPU Processor Area: Drill and Mount a Side Window 120mm Fan Blow-Hole <b></b>
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 3: Overclock CPU 4.9GHz to 5.2GHz (Requires Extreme Series Motherboard) <b></b>
Boost Video Card: FREE: Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability <b></b>
Boost Memory: Memory Fan Kit Only (Does not include memory overclocking service) <b></b>
Boost OS: FREE: Yes, Disable and tweak all of the non-crucial services on the operating system <b></b>
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (64-Bit Edition) <b></b>
Recovery Tools: Advanced Recovery Kit (40GB Hard Drive Partition of Image With OS & Drivers) <b></b>
Virus Protection: McAfee Internet Security 2011 (Virus, Spyware , Spam, Phishing, Firewall, Online Backup Protection) <b></b>
Office: Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student (PC Attach Key PKC) <b></b>
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Install/Test Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: Mad Catz Cyborg R.A.T. 7 Gaming Mouse (Model: CCB437080002/04/1) <b></b>
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Large) <b></b>
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

Thanks in advance for any replies and help!

Thanks for the reply!

Based on this information i am probably going to revise my config, however, i am a bit confused with the whole dual and triple sli thing in regards to the nvidia 3d.

Also, i am not sure what you mean by deluxe mobo, i do not see this in the options for mobo.

And to clarify my question 2)

I am really asking what RAID 0 does, but since i will place the SSD in set one, that question is no longer relevant. Instead, i will ask this: what is the difference between an 2x 2TB set of HDD for set 2 vs 1x 2TB set of HDD for both set 2 and 3? Would they both end up with 4GB total space and does the 2x option combine them into one drive in some way?

Originally posted by Crunchbite Thanks for the reply! Based on this information i am probably going to revise my config, however, i am a bit confused with the whole dual and triple sli thing in regards to the nvidia 3d. Also, i am not sure what you mean by deluxe mobo, i do not see this in the options for mobo. And to clarify my question 2) I am really asking what RAID 0 does, but since i will place the SSD in set one, that question is no longer relevant. Instead, i will ask this: what is the difference between an 2x 2TB set of HDD for set 2 vs 1x 2TB set of HDD for both set 2 and 3? Would they both end up with 4GB total space and does the 2x option combine them into one drive in some way?

Thanks for all the help so far

Here is another newbie question lol

Am i better off with

3x SLI Triple (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB (PhysX) (Overclocked Edition)
or
2x SLI Quad SLI (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 3GB (PhysX) (EVGA Classified)
or
2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 3GB (PhysX) (EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR)

each being roughly the same price.

What is really throwing me off here is the fact that 2x of something is a quad but 2x of the other is a dual. Looking at the specs, the GTX 580 and 590 seem quite similar, so i dont understand how 2x of one could be better than 2x of the other so much that one is a quad and the other is only a dual. To top things off, there is an option for a SLI 4-way, being much more expensive, but how is this any different from a SLI quad?

Note: I am sticking with nvidia because the more i read about their 3D vision kit the more i like it. (Yes im a sucker for marketing )

I know as i post and post it seems that i know less and less, but please bear with me as this is all very expensive and i want to be sure i am getting exactly the right pc.