My new machine is operational

I'll do a proper review later, and include pics (it really is pretty). I've just moved and I'm still getting the house together. Plus I want more time to fully evaluate performance. The system:

System Configuration:
Chassis: Digital Storm 850Si
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Interior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Power Supply: 1000W Corsair HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz (1333MHz FSB) (12MB Cache)
Motherboard: nVidia 790i Ultra Core 2 Quad (nForce 790i Ultra SLI) (DDR3 Only)
System Memory: 4GB DDR3 Corsair at 1333MHz
Card Reader: - No Thanks
Hard Drive 1: 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Hard Drive 2: - No Thanks
Raid Option: - No Thanks
Hard Drive 3: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x) (LightScribe Edition)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card(s): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 896MB
TV Tuner: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi FPS Fatal1ty Champion (Includes Front I/O Unit)
Extreme Cooling: Liquid Chilled FrostBite CPU Only
Internal Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Blue Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes)
Modifications: - No Thanks
CPU Boost: Yes, Overclock the processor as much as possible with complete stability
Graphics Boost: Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability
Memory Boost: Yes, Overclock memory timings (Includes Memory Fan Kit Installed)
Windows Boost: Yes, Disable and tweak all of the non-crucial services on the operating system
Windows OS: Dual Boot (Windows XP Home & Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Pre-Install Game: Crysis (Pre-Install, apply updates, and test gameplay with my system)
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Desktop 2.0 (Multimedia Keyboard + Optical Wheel Mouse)
Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse
External Storage: - No Thanks
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty

The box arrived in perfect condition. 
Once I unpacked and checked things, I saw nothing missing or broken. 
I plugged it in and turned it all on, and: problem! 
Oh nos, it won't boot! 
It got to the point where it said 'boot from disk' or something and just hung there. 
I checked the lightscribe and noticed there was no power. 
Turns out the power cable had come a little loose. 
I plugged it in, and presto! Problem solved. 
Next I noticed there's no sound. 
I remembered from this site that it's probably because I plugged the speakers into the wrong place. 
Yep, that was it. 
The mobo has the right colored plugs; it's just so attractive...but nope, they go in the plain silver ones where the sound card is. 
Having solved those issues, so far the beast has performed wonderfully. 
All the overclocks seem stable. 
The dual boot works perfectly, though once when I told the comp to restart after installing software it went into safe mode without overclocking and I don't know why. 
Another restart fixed that. 
The machine is pretty quiet. 
The wiring is all so neat and out of the way--it looks nothing like any sytem I've bought or built in the past. 
The Q9450 is running at 3.2, and I've set all my games to maximum graphics except Crysis (which is on high and I haven't tired ultra-high). 
They have all run smooth and flawlessly so far. 

I've tested the following games:

Mass Effect (mostly playing this now)
CoD4
NWN2
Quake 4
Spore creature creater
The Witcher
UT3
Crysis
Oblivion

I've sucessfully installed but not tested:

Sins of a Solar Empire
Age of Empires III
Star Wars [best of PC]

So I have a lot of gaming to do this weekend before I start the new job Monday. 
Oh, and if anyone wants to help me test one of these in multiplayer, I'm up for it! 
My lame friends only want to play MMOs. 

ETA: Forgot. What's the easiest way to check my CPU/GPU temps and my FPS?

   

Edited by Ratbreath - 09 Aug 2008 at 3:02pm

CoreTemp - to check cpu temps
EVGA Precision - to check gpu temps
FRAPS - to show fps

FanSpeed is all you need and wallah!

Originally posted by Nickdapimp FanSpeed is all you need and wallah!

actually if you check speedfan against HWMonitor and coretemp you will see that speedfan's temps are wrong.

Originally posted by Tyler Lowe There are adjustments you can make to speedfan's temps in the "advanced" options tab if they are off a couple of degrees.

perhaps but why bother when you got the other 2 apps that are right on everytime.


and the latest one makes no difference either, you can do this with any version of speedfan, the results are the same everytime.

here I just did it again just so you can see for yourselves:


Click image to enlarge


Edited by DST4ME - 11 Aug 2008 at 3:38am