Questions for the vets

1. replace the side 230mm fan with 4 x 120mm fans. and I'm not sure if they replace the top 230mm fan with 2 x 120mm fans, but keep in mind you can't change/add things to prebuilds.

2. led fans are different brand and louder.

3. nzxt is a nice fan controller, but keep in mind you can't change/add things to prebuilds.

4. Noctua is easier to manage if it breaks down and it should have a longer life.

5. windows tweak is pointless.

6. for gaming above 1600 x 1200 res, you won't notice any gains in games from 3.6 to 4.0GHz.

7. for 1900 x 1200 all you need is 2 x 275, anything more then that is a waste of money and you will not notice any gains from it.

2 x 275 is pretty much like 2 x 285.

2 x 275 beats 1 x 295.

3 x 275/285 gives the same performance as 2 x 295, but this setup is only for people with 2560 x 1600 res or higher, any lower and you will not see any difference from 2 x 275.

8. Yes you can mail in your parts for them to install, you will have to play labor, that is different from part to part.

I like extreme 1, the only thing I don't like about it is the psu 750s. If it was 1000w you would be good to go.

what I don't like the about the extreme 2 and 3 are:

1. 295 gtx, I like 2 x 275 better cause they have better performance, specially in games that don't support sli.

2. 1200w psu, the 1200w psu can be loud and has some heat, a 1000w is what I would like.

so its a tough choice for you, personally I would rather just config and get what I want.

its more but if you want room to grow:

Here you go Ticket# 323183 --- Price: $2587 (To see this build click here) Price after current promotion $2387

Copy of Specifications:
Chassis Model: Cooler Master HAF 932
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Interior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 LE Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified by mushkin enhanced (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 1000W Digital Storm Certified (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition Highly Recommended)
Card Reader: - 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 20x / 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 275 896MB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-U12P High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i7 Processors)
Liquid Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a H20: Stage 3 Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Red)
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - 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: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Tweak Windows: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) With Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon
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
LCD 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 - 18 Aug 2009 at 4:55pm

the 295 is in internal sli, its basically 2 cards, it has the performance of a 260 GTX x 2, so for games that don't support sli, you will basically be using a 260 GTX as you will have to disable the internal sli of 295 via Nvidia cp, or even if you don't disable it, you will still be getting a performance of a 1 x 260.

Lot of people don't know that 295 is in an internal sli.

Originally posted by Phoolish Count me among those that had no idea. I am sure I read about it when they came out, but I did not remember. How about the 285? Is that internal SLI? So I guess the next question is how many games now and in the future do not support SLI? How odd that a 275 can be better than 2 or more 295s

Maybe in certain situations, but unless I'm mistaken, quad sli/tri sli is still the most power thing available at the moment.


Edited by busdriver01 - 18 Aug 2009 at 5:39pm

@Phoolish 285 is a single card, no internal sli. but its only 4 fps better then a 275, making the 275 the obvious choice and why we like them so much, cost less and best performance.

@busdriver01, games don't recognize the cards, the cards run the games, so your performance is not based on what the games gives you based on what card it recognizes, instead your performance in games is dependent on what the card can offer.

games like wow and some others out there don't support sli and it does not look like they will in the future either.

quad/tri sli is only powerful to games that support them, for a game like wow, they mean nothing.

hope that clears it up

Not so sure about that, the wow community is getting bigger I don't play myself but lot of people do.

the 750w is great however if future GPUs have the same power need as a 285 GTX then going sli on a 750w is not a good idea. I forgot to mention that the exterem 1 also comes with micro mobo, which means it can only dual sli.

adding gpus to your system does nothing to the warranty, needless to say the new part is not covered under their warranty.

adding new gpu is very easy.

Edited by DST4ME - 18 Aug 2009 at 7:32pm

The 1200w is a CHIEFTEC PSU, seems quiet from what I can tell in the warehouse.




Edited by venom - 19 Aug 2009 at 10:34pm