New Rig, Looking for Advice/Help

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   Hey guys, came here looking for some advice and a little help. I've been researching gaming computers for about the past 2 weeks now and with all my research I've been most impressed from mainly all the customer ratings and reviews from DS, and am pretty set on DS being my next gaming rig. Here is my situation, I am currently deployed and will be heading back to the states in about 3 months. My laptop got destroyed while I was over here, and I will be getting the full amount I paid for it back, $1250. I figured this would be a good time to just go ahead and get a real nice gaming desktop to hold me down for a few years. The computer I am using is having trouble pulling up the custom computers menu, so what I am asking for is maybe one of you guys could throw some specs at me. Just to put it out there too, I do know a little about computers, but not a whole lot. This is my first custom computer that I will be putting together, I've been trying to do my research to learn more and expand my computer knowledge, but I have a long ways to go haha. So any advice you guys can throw me would be much appreciated.

Also one more question. My last computer was an Alienware...no comment. One problem I had was that the stock fans it came with didn't keep the computer temp low enough and ended up frying the motherboard. Was really not happy when that happened, my main question is. Ultimately, Liquid Cooling vs Fan Cooling? Is there that much of a difference in temperature. I know it would depend on the company, I'm just wondering. Don't want to end up going through what I had to with Alienware.

Alright, looking forward to the feedback.

1) For a new monitor I'm looking between 20"-24", I've always played on 1024x768

2) Budget: 3000-3500

3) I will be getting whole new everything  (keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers etc)

4) General use to be done on the computer. Gaming, mostly WoW, and other online games. Other side things: College Classes, Web Surfing, Music.

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Birdo Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 Jan 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9	Quote Reply Topic: New Rig, Looking for Advice/Help Posted: 06 Jan 2010 at 8:36pm
	Hey guys, came here looking for some advice and a little help. I've been researching gaming computers for about the past 2 weeks now and with all my research I've been most impressed from mainly all the customer ratings and reviews from DS, and am pretty set on DS being my next gaming rig. Here is my situation, I am currently deployed and will be heading back to the states in about 3 months. My laptop got destroyed while I was over here, and I will be getting the full amount I paid for it back, $1250. I figured this would be a good time to just go ahead and get a real nice gaming desktop to hold me down for a few years. The computer I am using is having trouble pulling up the custom computers menu, so what I am asking for is maybe one of you guys could throw some specs at me. Just to put it out there too, I do know a little about computers, but not a whole lot. This is my first custom computer that I will be putting together, I've been trying to do my research to learn more and expand my computer knowledge, but I have a long ways to go haha. So any advice you guys can throw me would be much appreciated. Also one more question. My last computer was an Alienware...no comment. One problem I had was that the stock fans it came with didn't keep the computer temp low enough and ended up frying the motherboard. Was really not happy when that happened, my main question is. Ultimately, Liquid Cooling vs Fan Cooling? Is there that much of a difference in temperature. I know it would depend on the company, I'm just wondering. Don't want to end up going through what I had to with Alienware. Alright, looking forward to the feedback. 1) For a new monitor I'm looking between 20"-24", I've always played on 1024x768 2) Budget: 3000-3500 3) I will be getting whole new everything (keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers etc) 4) General use to be done on the computer. Gaming, mostly WoW, and other online games. Other side things: College Classes, Web Surfing, Music.

DST4ME Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758	Quote Reply Posted: 06 Jan 2010 at 8:53pm
	Alienware, Dell, HP and etc are different kinds of a company then DS, here you get the top of the line stuff that they may not even offer. as for liquid cooling, one of many reasons that we love DS is that they build the pc practially witht he same parts as if me and you were gonna go to the store and build you a pc, so in short the frostchill/subzero LC systems here are top of the line and will give you great temps, they are not even comparable to AW or Dell and etc. Air Cooled System: Here you go Ticket# 371342 --- Price: $2387 (To see this build click here) Price after current promotion $2387 Copy of Specifications: Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master HAF 932 Exterior Finish: - Not Available Trim Accents: - Not Available Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core) Motherboard: EVGA X58 3X SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports Triple SLI or CrossFire) System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 1000W Corsair (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) Expansion Bay: - Not Available Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) Set 1 Raid Options: - Not Available Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 22x / CD-Writer 48x) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: 1x ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Noctua Dual 120mm Fans High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i7 Processors) H20 Tube Color:- Not Available Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Red) Enhancements: - Not Available Chassis Mods: - Not Available Noise Reduction: - Not Available Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Requires Air Cooling Upgrade) Boost Video Card: - Not Available Boost Memory: - Not Available Boost OS: - Not Available Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition) Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based) Virus Protection: - Not Available Office: - Not Available Benchmarking: - Not Available Install/Test Game: - Not Available Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks External Storage: - No Thanks Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-10 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty --------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- Liquid Cooled System (Cpu/Gpu): Here you go Ticket# 371346 --- Price: $3404 (To see this build click here) Price after current promotion $3104 Copy of Specifications: Chassis Model: Cooler Master HAF 932 (Black OPS Edition) Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core) Motherboard: EVGA X58 3X SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports Triple SLI or CrossFire) System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 1000W Corsair (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 22x / CD-Writer 48x) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: 1x ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 6: Sub-Zero LCS Dual Loop: CPU & Single Video Card 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: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Requires Air Cooling Upgrade) Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Boost Memory: Memory Fan Kit Only (Does not include memory overclocking service) Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition) Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based) Virus Protection: - No Thanks Office: - No Thanks Benchmarking: - No Thanks Install/Test Game: - No Thanks Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks External Storage: - No Thanks Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-10 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty --------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- Liquid Cooled System (Cpu): Here you go Ticket# 371345 --- Price: $3054 (To see this build click here) Price after current promotion $2754 Copy of Specifications: Chassis Model: Cooler Master HAF 932 (Black OPS Edition) Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core) Motherboard: EVGA X58 3X SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports Triple SLI or CrossFire) System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 1000W Corsair (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 22x / CD-Writer 48x) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: 1x ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB 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: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Requires Air Cooling Upgrade) Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Boost Memory: Memory Fan Kit Only (Does not include memory overclocking service) Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition) Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based) Virus Protection: - No Thanks Office: - No Thanks Benchmarking: - No Thanks Install/Test Game: - No Thanks Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks External Storage: - No Thanks Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-10 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty Edited by DST4ME - 06 Jan 2010 at 8:54pm
	Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers

Birdo Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 Jan 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9	Quote Reply Posted: 08 Jan 2010 at 12:15am
	Hey DST4, I appreciate the builds. Have a few more questions. I understand that there will be new graphic cards coming out this summer for ATI and NVIDIA. I get back in mid April, if they were not out by then, you think it'd be worth waiting for the new cards to come out? Also I was wondering the difference between the HAF 932 and HAF 922, the only thing that I could really guess would that the HAF 932 would be better for a LC PC. Last question. I read in another post that LC is pretty unnecessary if room temperature is below 75 degrees. For the majority, mine would be. Since all the Sub Zero systems are mostly $600+, would it be better to go ahead and just upgrade your fans/fan system and then drop that money elsewhere in the tower? Edited by Birdo - 08 Jan 2010 at 12:20am

DST4ME Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758	Quote Reply Posted: 08 Jan 2010 at 2:36am
	if your room temp is below 75f, then all you need is the air cooled system I posted, the extra fans will not make a difference for you, which is why I didn't choose them, they are also loud, its best that you just save that money, there really isn't anything you can add that you will see performance from, my configs are tight, if you want spend it on something, then get a veloci or better yet ssd as HDD1 and put the 500GB as HDD2. HDD1 = os/apps/games HDD2= media/work/personal file storage. if you can wait, then it does not hurt to see what your options are. 932 is a full tower while 922 is mid tower, this means that 932 has more room to grow and bit better airflow, I would really go with 932 for the room, specially with these new gpus.
	Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers

Raif Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 07 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 712	Quote Reply Posted: 08 Jan 2010 at 5:55am
	most of the new gpus can't fit in mid towers because they are too long. going with a full tower is always recommended of you have the room. besides the obvious better airflow. LC if not necessary for room under 75 deg F but LC gives better temps under load. air is def cheaper. if i were you i would get the air and choose a ssd drive if that was in the budget (same cost pretty much)
	2.5 Ghz Core duo Nvidia 9500 gt 3 gb 1033 Mhz ram if we can't answer a question shoot a e-mail here. [email protected]

Birdo Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 Jan 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9	Quote Reply Posted: 08 Jan 2010 at 9:21am
	I'll admit that a SSD is much faster as far as response and load times. But the price is asking for too much, I mean, the only real difference I see in having a SSD would be faster times booting up and loading contents for games. But only by a few seconds, maybe a few minutes. Plus you'd have to get a secondary HHD with the SSD just so you could have the storage space. It just seems like one of those things that would be convenient if you could afford it, but not a necessity. Because overall, it won't affect game performance. But really in the end, it all depends on the person and the budget they have. Oh and also, I should of asked the difference between all the cases, I got that the 932 is a full tower while the 922 is not. What about the Hailstorm and Sniper? I noticed they were a little more expensive. Do they just have more room or are they designed for specific things such as LC, etc? Edited by Birdo - 08 Jan 2010 at 9:26am

DST4ME Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758	Quote Reply Posted: 08 Jan 2010 at 3:55pm
	ok lets clear a couple of things up. first I said go with ssd cause if you spend money on that you will at least see some performance gain, spend it on fans or anything else and you are wasting your money. second, no matter what setup you go with, you always want: HDD1 = fast driver for os/games/apps HDD2 = slower bigger drive for file storage. this goes for any setup, the reason is that you want to keep your os drive simple and clean so it scans, backsup, defrags, searches very quickly and also if something happens to the os drive you don't lose all your files. so no matter if its ssd or HDD, the best thing to do is have 2 drives, one for os/apps/games and the second bigger/slower drive for file storage. don't forget that faster HDD/ssd speeds do help bootup time but you also get faster read and write times also. hailstorm is the corsair case, its a full tower, sniper is a mid tower. for LC you always want a full tower.
	Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers

Raif Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 07 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 712	Quote Reply Posted: 08 Jan 2010 at 6:06pm
	another thing thats great about ssd is the cache i think it is 120mb vs.16/32 on traditional hdd. so if your multitasking or intense gaming it is better. this allows you to do more before reverting to your hdd for more info. doing that creates a bottleneck and will slow you down so if you have the $$$ for build #2 or #3 and you are willing to spend it take build one put ssd on os and push 500gb to hdd2 if you do not feel the benifits of ssd are worth the $ then don't spend it on it. if you choose LC you will need to maintain it... top off fluids a couple times a year, check for liquid movement every so often, and flush and replace every few years. we are all here to help you, we do not work for ds. we are just customers/enthusiests who enjoy helping others
	2.5 Ghz Core duo Nvidia 9500 gt 3 gb 1033 Mhz ram if we can't answer a question shoot a e-mail here. [email protected]

Birdo Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 Jan 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9	Quote Reply Posted: 08 Jan 2010 at 9:59pm
	Oh okay, see I thought all SDD would do is give you a faster boot up time and a few more little benefits. As far as the cache goes, 120mb vs16 or 32, it could make for faster transition time? Like say I had a game opened up, but every so often I'd minimize it check something on the web, maybe you could give me an example if that is completely wrong haha. Nah that is why I really like this forum because you guys arn't trying to sell anything, just giving advice from hands on and personal experiance. I just ask a lot of questions because I really don't know a whole lot, I do my research, but I like to ask people as well haha.

DST4ME Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758	Quote Reply Posted: 09 Jan 2010 at 1:36am
	cache is were commands or data is stored, stored stuff can be accessed faster, making tasks for the HDD take less time. thats in a general way of speaking.
	Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers

Raif Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 07 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 712	Quote Reply Posted: 09 Jan 2010 at 1:46am
	yes you can play your game and do your college work at the same time with no problems with a ssd. you wont even notice a change in performance in terms of the ssd also you don't need to defrag them. just scan it for virus ect. also i hear they back them selves up too not completely sure on that though Edited by Raif - 09 Jan 2010 at 1:48am
	2.5 Ghz Core duo Nvidia 9500 gt 3 gb 1033 Mhz ram if we can't answer a question shoot a e-mail here. [email protected]

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