New Rig...

First off a HUGE kudos to !ender_ for the Buying/Posting Guide. It was a big help towards the decisions for the new computer. I had posted a rig in the past but never got to buy it due to waiting for a new little baby in the family (money issues obviously)... Now I think I am on the path and have a few questions... Firstly to outline the budget, uses and needs:

Budget - Want to stay below $2200 and do not require a monitor, mouse or keyboard

Uses - Prob 65% gaming and the rest networking movies, music, pictures and the like. The current computer connects to 2 external HDD that house all my movies etc and network to my laptop downstairs to play through the HDMI cables onto the LCD big screen. The other HDD houses the backup to all of the pictures that we take (my wife and I are amateur photographers but love taking a lot of photos). For gaming I play Starcraft II, Saboteur etc and my monitor (HP w2338) runs at 1920x1080. Would like to run games at this level but cannot currently due to antiquated system.

So the plan is for this to replace that computer and provide me with a good gaming experience at the same time. I plan on running the new system as follows: Primary SSD for Windows and some games, Secondary for all other information and documents (movies, music etc). The first External HDD as a backup to all the photos etc and the second will become one that stays in our fire safe with only essential information backups using Genie Backup.

http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=440059

Alright so here are my questions:

Cooling - Is that stage 1 going to provide sufficient cooling (above and beyond) what is required? In my original builds earlier this year I was going to go Noctua NH D14... Confirm this is not compatible with my build above due to mobo? Why is that by the way?

SSD - Would it be wiser to get the 80Gb Intel X25-M SSD so that I can put a few games on it plus all apps and still have space left over? Or for the money and performance should I stick with the 40Gb and place all games on the secondary drive?

Power Sources - I am from Australia and living in the US for 3 years on exchange with the USN. So therefore when I head back to Oz I will need the power source to be able to accept 240v. Is there a switch on this power source to distuinguish between them?

Are there any other changes that you would make or thoughts on future upgrades (SLI and another power source) that would make sense. Thanx in advance for any help!

i thought that of games but any bit of speed  helps I guess.

I do not really need the blue ray player because i never watch movies on my desktop computer upstairs... Just wireless through the desktop to the laptop then onto the tv. in future (when I buy a house) I think I will cable the connection between them as wireless networks are ok but think I could get faster with cable.

i didn't think that power source would be enough for sli later either (think i might need the 1000w). realistically i cannot see myself going the sli route though so prob a null point

Thanx !ender_... Those explanations make a lot of sense. I think I will end up going for the 80Gb specifically for SC2 and if there is room for others.

I thought that the big upgrade would be video later on however thinking more realistically I think the SLI route will not occur so that is why the 750W choice. I will add it in the notes for them to make sure that it will be compatible when I head back to Oz.

I will remember the tshirt and game as well... Was thinking of the lighting front and was wondering about the lighting as I read through your build. I am guessing that I can just add that in the notes as well... I assume that they will place them wherever it suits best?

One last question - are extra fans really that big a deal for this build and the fact that I am using a 932 or are the stock ones going to suffice as well? I like your clear ones - very nice touch!

Hey guys,

Sorry for asking yet another set of questions... But I have come up with a bit more money for the build and now have a MAX of 2500 for the build so I have changed my config slightly - Larger SSD (still Intel) and added a 1200W power supply for poss SLI later one...

Here is the new build: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=443483

One question I have as well is with regards to the fans... Would I be better off getting the upgraded Zelman or the LED fans OR would I be better off going and getting some of my own higher end fans once the rig arrives? I just want to make sure that I am getting the best cooling possible along with less noise (I know not always acheivable but I'd like to think that I can have my cake and eat it too). On a side note with the LED fans will DS set them up for best cooling and best look as I have requested Red Fans with Blue Internal...

For the HDD, am I right in thinking the I could prob just go for the 32 cache instead of the WD 64? For the difference I could drop down to the 32 and upgrade the mobo to the FTW3 edition and stay under 2500 - Would this be a smart move?

Just trying to wrap everything up before I call and make the order (prob mid week)... Thanks again or all the help.

JT


Edited by AussieJT - 26 Sep 2010 at 8:57am

I personally thought the HAF fans were going to be enough - just wanted to make sure.

Thx for the info ref mobo - makes sense and not something I had looked into!

On the SLI front - I have done some reading into dual SLI but have always come across people saying that 1 of the latest cards (in this case the 480) will be better than SLI with 2 older cards (in this case the 470)...

Might have to do a bit more in depth reading to figure out which one would be better - or just get the single 480 now and get a 2nd 480 later on?

Alright have done a bit more reading and I think that the SLI route is going to be the right way forward... What I have found now is some contradictions into how much power is really needed to power SLI 470s... Nvidia says that each one will require around 230W so that is 460 total... Should a 750W power supply not suffice?

I guess like you said though a single 480 is simpler and some games (although I would suggest very few) would have issues with SLI... and I suppose if one card were to fail then I would have another until it was replaced...

750 is technially enough, 1000w is reccomended especially, like justin said, if you want to OC

Edited by !ender_ - 26 Sep 2010 at 5:03pm

If your getting 2 gpus you should look into tri monitor gaming. You can basically game widescreen with three monitors. It looks awesome and i'm definitely getting it with my rig but 3 hd monitors are expensive so i would just keep it in mind for upgrading in the future.

Yeah, if you're going to game across three monitors you'll have to turn graphics settings down and I suspect turn AA off completely, even with an SLI system.

Originally posted by JJJJ_Shabadoo Yeah, if you're going to game across three monitors you'll have to turn graphics settings down and I suspect turn AA off completely, even with an SLI system.

How does AA look? I've been stuck with this crappy as hell laptop for the past few years and didn't really good games till a year ago so never been able to turn on AA. Right now to use MW2 at a semi decent state i have to turn everything off/low and put the resolution down to 800x600 (on a widescreen screen).

1: probably not, most mobos come with 2 sata cables from what ive seen, so since you have 2 hdds already this may be unlikely. i'd ask about that. or just take the sata cable thats already on the HDD and use that....

Edited by !ender_ - 01 Oct 2010 at 8:55am

can of air duster from walmart, one can should last a minimum of 2 cleanings once every month or 2, take the case outside when its semi-windy and remove both side panels, blow out everything ESPECIALLY the gpu fan and CPU heatsink/fan as well as you can, seal it up and put it back at home

cheap gigabyte ones and my asus maximus came with only 1 hooked up +1 extra from DS when i ordered a couple years ago

Well my rig is still at level 5... After one week I would have thought that it would have made it past this? I assume that they are swamped with work or else something has come up with the rig that needs some fixing!

haha stage 8. once i'm waiting for my rig i'm going to have to like block digitalstorm from my computers hosts file or else i'll be posting like every half hour with stuff like why has it been at stage one for a hour!! lol but i'll save that stuff for twitter.

yea if its more then a week you can email alex and ask whats the holdup if you want. he might give it a push if its stuck or tell you why its taking so long.