New Computer, Need Input

Budget: $2500 (preferably lower, really not looking to go over)

This is for the computer alone, not including any peripherals.

Expectations: Run the latest and greatest games at maxed out settings, including capability to handle 2560x1600 without dropping into choppy levels.

Usage: Gaming, streaming HD video content, music creation, other general use.

Special Needs: I don't want anything too loud, so proper cooling solutions that provide necessary performance with minimal noise would be ideal.

The only DS system I've come across thus far that fits my needs is the ODE Level 3, but I've yet to extensively tinker with the various custom configurations myself (every time I start the price starts wildly skyrocketing and I get put off by it). Seeing as how the price on the ODE is relatively in line with building one's own computer, I've decided to just save some time, energy, and future peace of mind by purchasing a prebuilt. So... any custom configurations that anyone can come up with that can best either of those two systems at a comparable price would be great.

Lastly, I'm not exactly DYING to get my computer right now, so if you see any future hardware (Ivy Bridge, GTX 600 series, AMD 7000 series, etc.) as being particularly worth waiting for, I'd like to hear your reasons. Otherwise, I'll pull the trigger sometime in the near future.

Thanks to all who help!

Edited by Alex - 27 Oct 2011 at 12:53pm

Hi Boss Man,

You just can't beat the ODE-3 price and performance. You can get a custom system with a single 570 for $2400 and a SLI 570 system for $2800. A custom system will have better PSU, SSD, Mobo, Case/Air Cooling and Faster Hard Drive.

So if you are limited by budget it is the ODE-3. It has good equipment and top performance. The Custom has great equipment and top performance. The Custom offers better upgrade ability in the future due to a bigger power supply.

Frank

I may know what I want, but I fully recognize that I'm still new to the online process. For that reason, I wanted to see if someone more familiar with DS could be able to spec out a better configuration than I myself was able to at my designated price range.

If nobody could (which seems to be the case), my second reason for asking is because I wanted to have a few other takes on whether Ivy Bridge and either the 7000 series or GTX 600 series were worth the wait in their opinion. I've heard too many conflicting release dates for them to have a good mental map as to the future release schedule.

Finally, DS released the ODE sometime early this past summer if I'm correct, and the original specs were a tiny bit different than the current levels on offer.

http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/Digital-Storm-ODE-Gaming-Rigs-Come-Water-Cooled-and-Overclocked-3.jpg/

As such, I am weary of buying right now if they plan on releasing an ODE version 2.0 with Ivy Bridge and next gen GPUs sometime late next spring. However, I don't even know if they plan on continuing the ODE line at all, but I'd assume they would as it seems to be wildly popular. My thinking, I guess, is that I'd much rather my system be the latest build offered for closer to 12 months after I purchase it, as opposed to only a few months. That being said, if the gains from Ivy and the 600 (or 7000) series would be minimal, I may as well just bite the bullet now.

As for tri SLI, my thinking is that by the time I'd need to add a third card in, there would already be a more cost effective performance solution in utilizing two newly released cards in a dual SLI format as opposed to three older ones in tri SLI.

Yeah, but I strongly believe that when I plan to upgrade my GPUs (possibly 15 or more likely 27 months from now) that would be either the AMD 8000 series or GTX 700 series cards if I choose to upgrade sooner rather than later, or it would be the AMD 9000 series and the GTX 800 series cards that I would be installing as replacements. Not sure if the naming strategy will remain the same, but you get my point I assume. So, I'd prefer to dual SLI my future theoretical GTX 770 or AMD 8970 (or whatever they end up being called) than install a third GTX 570 at that date, or perhaps wait the extra year and then do the GTX 870 and AMD 9970. Obviously I would upgrade my PSU drastically out of necessity whenever I choose to install my new cards.

As for softpedia, I'm not even familiar with the site, the link was merely the first I came across on a simple Google search that had the initial launch chart for the ODE pricing structure that I was looking for, so I posted it to illustrate the slight changes that have been made in its already short lifespan. Reason for this of course being that I was trying to get an idea as to whether the ODE would receive a mini-refresh when new GPUs are released in a few months, or if they will overhaul the whole thing once Ivy Bridge hits the streets.

My thinking is leaning more towards your own, in that I don't really want to take the plunge just yet with new GPUs so close to launch, but with the ODE being a prebuilt with no customization options, you'd be at the mercy of DS and whatever cards they choose to include with the new builds. Fingers crossed, I guess...

Sorry, I totally forgot to include my note at the bottom . We try not to have users post our competitors and their products on our forums, as we're a business after all and we can't be hosting such things.

Edited by Alex - 28 Oct 2011 at 12:50am

No worries. I usually make a response and make a note about it, I was probably doing five things at the same time.

Yeah, I've pretty much just about decided to sit tight for the moment. When the 570s arrived they offered the same performance as the 480s for $150 MSRP less per card, so I could be looking at some big potential savings by getting GTX 660 SLI or just upping the performance and going with the GTX 670 SLI at roughly the same configuration price as now. It really just depends on which cards DS chooses to incorporate into its new ODE builds when they are released.

Sidenote: Aside from unoptimized garbage like Metro 2033, I don't think there are currently any games on the market or soon to be released that really crush a strong dual SLI setup. Even with full tessellation, DX11, AA enabled, and at 2560x1600 a 570 SLI setup can maintain a respectable 30 fps. Not that I really care about playing Metro 2033 in the first place, haha.

That what you have 4(!) 480s installed for? The gaming apocalypse?

Surely you're running multiple monitors or using it for something other than just gaming.

Fold? Not familiar with that. Googled it and got this:

http://folding.stanford.edu/

That what you're talking about? What does an individual computer contribute to the process? Why did you decide to get involved?

Alex, will Digital Storm be implementing the recently announced AMD 7970 or 7950 into any of its ODE builds at the start of 2012 or will you guys simply wait until Nvidia comes out with its 600 series cards (probably in conjunction with Ivy)?

Also, will there be any chance of the prices of current ODE builds shifting to reflect their arrival?

Not sure to be honest, it will depend on their prices and the performance ratio compared to the current ODE offerings.

Edited by Alex - 03 Dec 2011 at 10:18am