New Old Customer

Welcome back Dynamus.

I’ll go on the anti-Aura record here for you...lol.    
Your old 2011 tower likely offers rebuild options galore and without many limitations....but building a pc into the back of a display limits absolutely everything for the sake of compactness.     You basically get a limited laptop motherboard crammed into a monitor back panel.    Small PSU, small cooler, heat...all avoidable.    Just say no...lol.

Rebuild in your old case, or choose one of the other ATX sized DS builds and you’ll get something stronger and without limitations for the next 8 + years again...infinitely more upgradeable to stay on top.    


I prepared a stronger gaming Config for you in the Lumos build around your budget...based on a better RTX 2080 Super.   No limits to upgrade potential here...and cooler.... I replaced a 2011 DS ODE build with a similar Lumos this year and my son loves it about 12 hrs a day....solid stuff.

Lumos build1.....($3,536)...Config # 2487814

Corsair Crystal Series 570X mid tower ATX case
Intel i7-9700K 8 core CPU with free Stage 1 Overclock
Corsair H115i Pro 280mm AIO no maintenance cooler with long warranty
ASUS ROG Strix Z390 -H motherboard
32 GB Corsair RGB RAM
1 TB Samsung Evo 970 M.2 NVME Drive1
2 TB Samsung Evo 960 SATA III SSD Drive2
NVidia RTX 2080 Super GPU
Corsair RM850x all modular Gold efficiency PSU
Corsair LL Series RGB Case fans



Edited by HockeyBuck - 23 Jul 2019 at 12:48pm

Originally posted by HockeyBuck Welcome back Dynamus. I’ll go on the anti-Aura record here for you...lol.     Your old 2011 tower likely offers rebuild options galore and without many limitations....but building a pc into the back of a display limits absolutely everything for the sake of compactness.     You basically get a limited laptop motherboard crammed into a monitor back panel.    Small PSU, small cooler, heat...all avoidable.    Just say no...lol. Rebuild in your old case, or choose one of the other ATX sized DS builds and you’ll get something stronger and without limitations for the next 8 + years again...infinitely more upgradeable to stay on top.     I prepared a stronger gaming Config for you in the Lumos build around your budget...based on a better RTX 2080 Super.   No limits to upgrade potential here...and cooler.... I replaced a 2011 DS ODE build with a similar Lumos this year and my son loves it about 12 hrs a day....solid stuff. Lumos build1.....($3,536)...Config # 2487814 Corsair Crystal Series 570X mid tower ATX case Intel i7-9700K 8 core CPU with free Stage 1 Overclock Corsair H115i Pro 280mm AIO no maintenance cooler with long warranty ASUS ROG Strix Z390 -H motherboard 32 GB Corsair RGB RAM 1 TB Samsung Evo 970 M.2 NVME Drive1 2 TB Samsung Evo 960 SATA III SSD Drive2 NVidia RTX 2080 Super GPU Corsair RM850x all modular Gold efficiency PSU Corsair LL Series RGB Case fans

Ha! Well this is kind of what I figured everyone would say. It is a really cool idea in theory but I agree the limits are definitely there. I am going to try and find my old build specs and post them here. See what everyone thinks would be best and contact DS about doing a little updating on my old trusty powerhouse.

Actually, hoserator agrees with HockeyBuck...lol. I agree with both that the Aura is far too limiting to give you the longevity we all seem to relish with a strong DS build.

The best part of HB's suggestion for you is that it currently comes with a $300 discount putting you well under budget with a very powerful rig. I also believe shipping is free.

Unless you are trying to grind out gaming on a 4K monitor, the GPU will give you plenty of headroom for max settings at 1440p. If you're on a 1080p monitor, and intend to stay there, the 2070 SUPER is your card of choice. Once again, exceeds the need well under budget for that resolution.

All the other parts recommended will give you very high-end performance everywhere for many years. You've done this before, so feel free to experiment with the configurator. We recommend the name brand parts as they all carry manufacturer warranties that well exceed the DS parts warranty.

You probably know 16 GB of RAM is all you need for gaming, but 32 GB is very cheap right now.

Be sure to get an NVMe M.2 SSD for your primary drive. About 5x faster than a SATA drive. NOTE that if you decide the 1TB is larger than you want for Drive C, the NVMe 512GB 970 PRO is actually cheaper than the 500GB 970 EVO right now!   

@hoserator:

I was actually flattered.

I'm thinking of having it framed, and posted on FB

Much better sir!    Now you have a strong gaming system that should last a very long time and be easily upgradeable when it’s time.    BTW Velox is available in custom paint color options....easily missed.    We don’t usually recommend the Overclocking on the GPU’s when they are just air cooled...adds more stress and heat than it does performance.   Remember that this total will qualify for $500 off!

I would recommend the Corsair AX1200i Platinum Efficiency Modular PSU (+$77) over the SilverStone model... Huge 10 yr Corsair warranty is the best.   I have this 1200w PSU and it’s been outstanding.    Has Digital control that would work with Corsair Link software to show some performance info, or you could add the Corsair Commander control module and see all of that info on all of your connected Corsair components.    

Strong dual RTX 2080 Super NVLink GPU’s.   That will slay all opponents in just about all games, and handle fast refresh rate 4K and VR very well      My thoughts here are that this is one thing that has definitely changed on us a bit over the last 8 years.    NVidia is making their single cards much stronger then they did before, and there is a bit less support out there now for dual cards in games as a result.     
If it were me, I would go with one RTX 2080 Ti (-$507) instead and you can always add a 2nd matching RTX 2080 Ti card later if you find you want or need a bit more performance with what you are doing.    The benefit is that a single card is a more simple deal to upgrade later on, generates less heat inside your case and that means the single cards intake air will also be a little cooler to help performance, and that excellent NVidia RTX 2080 Ti GPU remains at the very top of the gaming performance food chain !      Stay with the 1200w PSU to preserve your upgrade path for NVLink or more powerful GPU’s down the line.

Lastly...don’t forget the DS Parts warranty covers everything for just one year...but the warranty can be upgraded for two year Parts or three year Parts.   

Let us know what you finally order, and keep us posted on how it all goes for you...
We do like new system pictures here on the forum!   



Edited by HockeyBuck - 06 Aug 2019 at 5:18pm

Alright: Not going past the 2080 Ti...good lord.

The last thing I am wavering on is the CPU. Should I throw a couple hundred more towards that or is what I am choosing good enough?

Item 1 --- Digital Storm Velox (Config # 2514641)
1
$5,458.00
$5,458.00
Chassis
Chassis Model: Digital Storm Velox

Core Components
Processor: Intel Core i7-9800X (8-Core) 3.80GHz

Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX X299-E GAMING (Wi-Fi) (Intel X299 Chipset) (Up to 3x PCI-E Devices)

System Memory: 32GB DDR4 3000MHz Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro (RGB Light Bar)

Power Supply: 1200W Corsair AX1200i (Digitally Controlled Power)


Storage / Connectivity
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (1TB Samsung 970 PRO) (NVM Express) (Extreme Performance)

Storage Set 2: 1x SSD (1TB Samsung 860 PRO)

Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)

Graphics / Multimedia
Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11GB (VR Ready)

Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio

Digital Storm Engineering
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Corsair H115i PRO - 280mm Liquid CPU Cooler (Fully Sealed + No Maintenance)

Cable Management: Exotic Cable Management - Blue - (Cable Combs with Custom Color Sleeved Extension Cables)

Chassis Fans: Corsair LL Series (RGB Fans) (Software Controlled Effects)

Internal Lighting: Remote Controlled Advanced LED Lighting System (Multiple RGB Color Modes)

Airflow Control: Corsair Commander PRO Management Control Board & Software (1x Board)


Digital Storm TwisterBoost Technology
Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU - Up to 4.5GHz via Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0

Boost OS: Yes, Disable and tweak all of the non-crucial services on the operating system

Can't say I'm a big fan of your choice of i7-9800X over the i9-9900K for your CPU. The 9900K (note: K) is better at gaming. Higher turbo speed by a large margin, higher potential overclock, large power savings (-70W), less money. The only thing the 9800x brings to the table is PCIE lanes you're not going to use.

Also. I should point out that the PRO versions of your storage devices will not add performance anywhere near their additional cost. Just check the specs. If you got the EVO versions, you'd save $hundreds and never tell the difference. They are both warranted the same.

Look here (COPY; PASTE AND GO). You can compare the two boards feature by feature. (Don't mind that the Deluxe is not currently available at that site.) IMHO, I don't see a compelling reason to spend the extra. The differences seem negligible. I see 2 extra USB type A, 1 extra gigabit port, 1 extra PCIe slot, one LESS SATA port, and that's it.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/compare/ASUS_ROG_Strix_X299-E_Gaming_LGA_2066_ATX_Motherboard_vs_ASUS_Prime_X299-A_LGA_2066_ATX_Motherboard_vs_ASUS_Prime_X299-Deluxe_LGA_2066_ATX_Motherboard/BHitems/1344747-REG_1344750-REG_1344749-REG

If there is a board you want, and you are willing to pay the price and wait for it, DS can get anything you wish...just request it.    

Ha! Yeah I looked at it and my eyes got big until I saw the EATX.

Weird enough all of my research has shown a problem the ASUS openly acknowledged on the ROG STRIX x299-e that there is a heatsink issue that can cause total board failure and potential heat damage to supported devices.

It is unlike DS to offer a product with a known issue. However ASUS released the new version: ROG STRIX x299-xe that fixes the heatsink issue and updates the board a little. This is honestly the board I want on my build.

Also since Hose put me on the EVGA website I started looking around and really want the EVGA 2080Ti FTW3 Gaming GPU instead of a random pull from the parts box at DS headquarters.

Gonna have to talk to the guys and see what the best approach to do this is

If it's available to consumers, DS can get it for you!

I can definitely recommend the EVGA RTX 2080 Ti FTW3 Ultra...
I have the RTX 2080 FTW3 Ultra, and the massive heatsink and 3 fan cooler are the same as on the Ti version...   For a single GPU solution on air EVGA's FTW3 line is the best.   It is quite a heavy card, so you might ask DS to install a bracket to prevent card sag.   I added a simple one to level mine.   

I know right? I really like the look and specs but I have not found a really good benchmark on it yet to make sure it's as good as it sounds. But I have also been pretty busy and not out a lot of effort into it. I'll post one if I can find it tonight.