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New Build + Question

Post Date: 2010-11-26
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Sneakerz View Drop Down
Groupie
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Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 09 Jul 2008
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Posts: 386 		  Quote Sneakerz Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: New Build + Question
    Posted: 26 Nov 2010 at 5:30am
Hello all. After having waited for quite awhile, I have decided to finally order my new DS computer. I have a quick question though in regards to my choice in motherboard and would like some additional input. A few things first. I chose the stage 4 liquid cooling because it gets extremely cold where I live (SD) and just the other day it was -35 degrees outside so the house is kept fairly warm. I also plan on doing additional overclocking. Another item I seriously considered was the GTX 480 vs 580 dilemma. The GTX 580 has increased an additional $200 due to price + demand. So I figured the GTX 480 is still a great card and should last me until its time to upgrade to the next best graphics card and couldn't justify the additional $200 for the GTX 580.
 
Computer Use: Gaming, video editing, photoshop. Resolution is 1920X1080 and budget was $2600 give or take a little.
 
Regarding the ASUS Sabertooth motherboard. After reading a few reviews there was one area of concern that ASUS did respond to and it is in regards to the Network Controller. ASUS stated that to help cut down costs, they went with a PCI Network Controller vs the traditional PCI-E Network Controller and this obviously had some network pit falls. Reading a review from Legit Reviews the network controller with this ASUS Sabertooth performed approximately at 752Mbps as opposed to normal onboard Network Controllers that performed at 942-945Mbps. My question is, as with this being a gaming computer, would it be wise to upgrade to the EVGA X58 SLI 3 motherboard with a better Network Controller so my online games do not suffer from additional latency?
Here is my config:
 
Ticket Number: 462071
Total Price with Instant Savings: $2,489.00

Direct Load URL: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=462071

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master 942 HAF X
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth X58 (Intel X58 Chipset) (Features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 750W Digital Storm Certified (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition Recommended)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (80GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: X25-M MLC Edition) (Extreme Performance)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Hitachi/Seagate (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 4: Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System: CPU Only
H20 Tube Color:Green Tubing with High-Performance Fluid (UV Lighting Reactive)
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (UV) (Creates Glowing Effect for H20 Tubes)
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Cooling Upgrade Recommended)
Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows 7 CD)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Install/Test Game: FREE: Hot-selling game with a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 or above graphics card
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Large)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: FREE PROMO: Life-time Expert mer Care with 5 Year Limited Warranty
Intel Core i5 6600k @ 4.6
240GB Samsung SSD
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Hybrid
Corsair Hydro H80i GT
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!ender_ View Drop Down
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Joined: 24 Oct 2007
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Posts: 4219 		  Quote !ender_ Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 26 Nov 2010 at 8:55am
looks pretty good but at your budget and as a gamer i cant see justifying an LC'd cpu over more video power, just doesnt make sense
a cpu running at 4.2-4.5 typically wont game any better than one running at 3.8
and for the money you would save, you could get another 480
hell... with todays black friday sales, you could get 2 480s for about 350 each and just install them yourself
usually i advise against that kind of idea, but in this case it could save you almost $400...thats hard to resist
 
as far as a mobo, im an ex-asus fan, id get the evga sli3 personally just because i know more about it and it sounds like even a quick search gave your a reason to avoid it
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Sneakerz View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 09 Jul 2008
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Posts: 386 		  Quote Sneakerz Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 26 Nov 2010 at 9:44am
Typically I would heed your advice about getting dual 480s but every review I have read and from constant member responses, its generally best to go with one single powerful video card. SLI and Crossfire are very picky when it comes to certain games.
Most of the games I play are CPU dependent like WoW and stuff. So a high OC will definitely help. Granted anything typically above 3.8 you won't notice much of a difference and its really only for bragging rights.
 
And while yes liquid cooling probably isn't necessary, it gets very hot in my house especially during the winter when temperatures outside are -45 with a wind chill. I'm sure that air cooling would suffice but I have always wanted a nice liquid cooling setup and I found it to be within my budget this time so I thought I would treat myself.
Intel Core i5 6600k @ 4.6
240GB Samsung SSD
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Hybrid
Corsair Hydro H80i GT
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!ender_ View Drop Down
DS Veteran
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Joined: 24 Oct 2007
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Posts: 4219 		  Quote !ender_ Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 26 Nov 2010 at 10:06am
yea... except for when you can get a 2nd of the single powerful video cards for less than half its asking price compared to the one you want
 
i come down pretty hard on SLI in my guides/posts, but thats because of its cost : performance.. and one of the only things with a worse cost : performance than SLI is ... liquid cooling... which, in case you didnt know, wont cool any lower than ambient(room temperature), and unless you buy some aftermarket fans... it will be louder than the noctual air cooling, adding more to the cost
 
so: way more expensive and louder for what gain with gaming? Zero.
if you want that instead of an overall gain of at least 60% increase in gaming performance then go for it, its your show
 
and sli works in pretty much anything(including WoW) now except very old releases. but lets be honest, you could play wow on an i5 chip with a single 460 and be fine, so its not really the basis for any comparison
 
 
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