Opinions!Post Date: 2011-06-13 |
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Mnemic 
Newbie 
Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
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 Topic: Opinions!Posted: 13 Jun 2011 at 1:27am |
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Hello everyone. I've been in the hunt for a new PC for the past couple months. Only recently has time permitted me to really, really, pursue a new rig. I must say, this website is far superior than any other I have come across! Well done!
Anyway, I've been doing some research, looking around to what route I kind of want to go, ideas, and how things work on this website. I am not tech savvy when it comes with the hardware aspect. Here is what I came up with after messing around for a couple hours: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=567281 Now as far as specifications, this is what I had in mind: Budget: 2,000-3,000 (only the rig--this doesn't count the price of the monitor/keyboard/mouse/ext...) Usage: Gaming / I do stuff with photoshop on the side, but I will most likely keep that on my laptop for the time being Expectations: As far as games, I have games such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, Starcraft, Diablo, ext. Generally, I would like the computer to run Diablo 3 (whenever it gets released) at high/max settings. I figure, being able to run Starcraft II at these settings should cover that (they should be fairly similar from what I understand). Monitor: I think this is the monitor that I keep seeing posted around (one of them anyway): http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=320-9270 I have not decided if I will get this monitor, but I will be sticking with 1920x1080 resolution no matter what I get. Special Needs: I am up for suggestions of any kind that you think would work better, but I would like to run 2x SLI vid cards and have a SSD to put the OS and a few of the games I play the most on (with the rest on the regular HD). Questions: Overclocking is something new to me. I threw the overclock at stage 2, but is it necessary to go that high with the direction i'm going, or do you think stage 1 is sufficient? I wasn't going to do any overclocking originally. From what I it looks like though, DS does it safely (and the life expectancy doesn't drop as much as I thought). Also, SilentOptions review of his rig in the reviews section caught my eye. I thought the red/blue mix was sweet that he did and I'd like to replicate that (or at least something similar). It looks like he has the fans as the blue LED color and the internal lighting as red, but like I said, im not good with this. His review is here: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=13608 Any other questions/requirements that I didn't answer, feel free to ask. Otherwise, thanks for taking a moment to help me! Much appreciated! |
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DST4ME
DS ELITE 
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
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Posted: 13 Jun 2011 at 2:00am |
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Here you go Ticket# 567301 --- $2811 (To see this build click here)
Copy of 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 2600K 3.40GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Quad Core) Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO (Intel Z68 Chipset) (Features Intel Quick Sync Technology) System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 1000W Corsair (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (120GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: 320 Series) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (64MB Cache) (Model: Black Edition) 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: 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1.2GB (Includes PhysX Technology) Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Corsair A70 Dual 120mm Fans High Performance Cooler H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue) Enhancements: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Noise Reduction: - No Thanks Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro or Deluxe Series Motherboard) 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: - 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 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty Ask DS specifically for this fan to be added to the top, so you endup with 4 x 200mm fans: haf 200mm non led fan The fans silentoptions has are not the same fans as teh fan upgrade, we con't recommend the fan upgrade option here, for the haf 942, if you want blue led fans, then ask DS to use the 200mm oen blue led fans from here: haf 200mm blue led fan silent option got the haf x which has a front 230mm red led fan stock, and he decided to go with red lighting, after he got his rig, he chagned the fans on the rad with the blue led fans. you build has some issues, you can't run sli 570 off of a 750w psu, you would be pushing the psu, and that psu has only a 2 year warranty. stage 2 lc system are no good, they get beat by a70 and noctua air coolers. I changed your ssd to 120GB if you really think you need the 160GB then change it back, remember: HDD1 = fast small drive: os/apps/games HDD2 = regular large drive: media/personal/work file storage |
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lucaslep
Newbie
Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 48 |
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Posted: 13 Jun 2011 at 3:39pm |
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hey dst4me why you get this new mobo the p8z68?? is better than the p8p67 deluxe?
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Mnemic
Newbie
Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
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Posted: 13 Jun 2011 at 11:26pm |
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Awesome, thanks for the reply DSTAME. Just the help I was looking for. I'm a work in progress, trying to learn the in's and out's of things, but it going to take some time of course!
Anyway, with the fans: Am I asking DS to add the additional fan to the top, am I just writing this in with the "special assembly/testing instructions" portion of the build options? Thanks for taking the time to look it over and help me, I appreciate it! |
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DST4ME
DS ELITE
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
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Posted: 14 Jun 2011 at 12:43am |
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@lucaslep, they are pretty much the same, but the z68 has some small feature that he may or may not use, can't go wrong with either IMHO.
@Mnemic, as far as adding fans go, I'm not clear on what you want to do yet, are you looking to have all of teh case fans be blue led or just the top ones or you don't want any led fans, keep in mind, the case comes with one red 230mm fan in the front, so I need to know if you want to change this or not, then the case has/can have 3 x 200mm fans, (2 on top, we add the second, and on on the side), I need to know if you want these to be blue led or non led. this is pretty much what you are looking at: 
just keep in mind that case comes with one 200mm fan on top, the second is the one we have to add. Edited by DST4ME - 14 Jun 2011 at 12:46am |
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RiceEatin2000GT
DS Veteran 
Joined: 02 Oct 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1699 |
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Posted: 14 Jun 2011 at 12:55am |
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i would skip the z68 platform if ur not going to use it and get the deluxe motherboard. Ive read a bunch of stuff on it and the experience of switching back and forth from integrated graphics to video card is a horrible experience along with getting it all set up. Some other concerns are the third party software that makes it all work is very wonky and doesnt handle what GPU to use. All in all to save your self some headaches me personally skip out on z68.
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DST4ME
DS ELITE
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
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Posted: 14 Jun 2011 at 1:02am |
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Thats all if you enable the sync feature, those problems might occur, if you don't do that, you don't have to deal with any of that
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If it has issues it won't pass DS's tests but I'm not sure if DS even has the sync feature enabled by default. Edited by DST4ME - 14 Jun 2011 at 1:04am |
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Mnemic
Newbie
Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 14 Jun 2011 at 3:11am |
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As far as a colored fans go, I was thinking about it, so I didn't think about addressing it. I'd go with red fans, keep it consistent if one stock fan is already red. I'm honestly not too picky (wouldn't be sad if I had non-led fans), just easily amused. I also wasn't sure what you both meant by the sync feature, so I looked it up a bit. From what I think I understand, I most likely won't worry about that feature.
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DST4ME
DS ELITE
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 14 Jun 2011 at 3:59am |
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Ok so the front fan is red led, now there is what is going on.
stock the case has fans 1/3/6 (fron/one on top/side) as far as the big fans go. so as you see from the pic from my other post, that there is another 200mm fan optional that is fan number 2. Now you said you want them all to be red, so this is what needs to happen, you need to ask DS to change side and top fan with the fan below and also add another one to the top. 200mm red led fan this will make you endup with 1 x 200mm red led on the side, 2 x 200mm red led on top, and the front is already red led so all fans are now red led. does that make sense? |
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Mnemic
Newbie
Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
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Posted: 15 Jun 2011 at 1:18am |
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Makes perfect sense. Now to do this, I would give them this link in the special assembly area when submitting my build, and asking them to make the changes. Correct? Just want to make sure I'm doing what is recommended the correct way. Otherwise, thanks again man, appreciate all the help and suggestions!
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DST4ME
DS ELITE
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 15 Jun 2011 at 1:29am |
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You can call them or in the special notes area, simply ask them to change side and top 200mm fans with this 200 red led fan:(insert link for the 200mm red led fan I posted here), and I also add one of the same 200mm red led fans to the top.
My pleasure and good luck 
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