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Rig Setup, any thoughts?

Post Date: 2007-12-30

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SoonToBeSamuraiken View Drop Down
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  Quote SoonToBeSamuraiken Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Rig Setup, any thoughts?
    Posted: 30 Dec 2007 at 8:55pm
Here's my rig that i planned out, with included specs:

Total Price with Instant Savings: $4,330.00

Direct Load URL: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=107454

Specifications:
Case: Digital Storm Twister ULTRA (Black Anodized Aluminum Finish)
Power Supply: 620W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz (1066MHz FSB) (8MB Cache)
Motherboard: nVidia 680i Core 2 Quad (By: eVGA) (nForce 680i SLI) (A1 Revision)
Memory: 4GB DDR2 Corsair at 800MHz XMS2 (Dual Channel) (Extreme-Performance)
Floppy / Card: - No Thanks
Hard Drive 1: 74GB Western Digital Raptor (10K RPM) (8MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed)
Hard Drive 2: 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Raid Option: - No Thanks
Hard Drive 3: 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Optical Drive 1: DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x)
Optical Drive 2: DVDアR/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x)
Network Card: Linksys Wireless-N 300Mbps (Supports 802.11n/g/b)
Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (nVidia GeForce 8800GTS 640MB (By: eVGA) (PCI-Express)
TV Tuner: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE (Up to 7.1 Channel)
Physics Card: Ageia PhysX P1 128MB
Cooling: Liquid Chilled CPU & Video Cards (Madusa Purple Liquid)
Case Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Blue Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes)
Round Cables: Enhanced Interior Air Flow (Optical Drive & Floppy Cables (Blue Edition)
User Manual: Personalized Platinum Digital Storm Binder (Includes Paperwork/Benchmarks/CDs/Manuals)
Overclock Processor: Yes, Overclock the processor as much as possible with complete stability
Overclock Video Card: Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability
Overclock 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 Ultimate
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Protection: McAfee Internet Security (Includes: AntiVirus, FireWall and AntiSpyware)
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Pre-Install Game: - No Thanks
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech G7 Laser Cordless Mouse (High-Speed Gaming Grade)
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty
Support: Lifetime Toll-Free Platinum Care Technical Support

My question to those of you who know what you're doing better than i...is this good for the money?  If not, how could i make it cheaper without taking a huge performance hit in games?

4GB of ram...in a 32 bit OS.  Does that work? I had heard somewhere that it didn't and that i needed a 64 bit OS.  Any recommended way to change that setting so that all 4GB work in a 32 bit OS?

THe dual 640mb cards were cheaper than dual 512s...not sure why.  I have a 30" LCDx2 and plan on running Crysis, etc, and still be stable (playing at at least medium settings) for the next 4 years or so (assuming we're not using Water as RAM that near in the future or something).  Anyway, do these cards work?  Any thoughts?

I'm horrible at hardware so i'd rather thave them overclock it than me do it.  I once nuked a motherboard right out of it's packaging Ouch

For any game enthuisiasts out there, if you want, build a rig and posty a linky ^^

(I'm not sure on shipping options but i live overseas, so i'll problably have it routed here, but i'm glad they offer water cooling because it gets extremely hot sometiems where i am)


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skyR View Drop Down
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  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Dec 2007 at 9:26pm
You just need a motherboard that supports 4gb of ram for it to work. But a 32 bit operating system can only address up to 4gb of memory so you won't see 4gb of ram because other devices such as your graphics card need memory to operate as well.

Picture it as a bucket full of water (water being the ram & bucket being 32 bit os). To add more stuff, water has to overflow to make room for it. The only solution to this is upgrade to a bigger bucket (upgrade to 64-bit).

SLI 8800GTS 512 is cheaper by like $30. I would recommend the GTX if you aren't going to upgrade at all for 4 years.

Digital Storm does ship overseas for a price. Just call them to find out how much and to place your order.

This is what I came up with: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=107544

why do you need 1tb of space? =\



Edited by skyR - 30 Dec 2007 at 9:41pm
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.
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commast View Drop Down
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  Quote commast Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 31 Dec 2007 at 12:13am
  I would upgrade the RAM to the 1066 mhz Dominator ( some apps maybe able to utilize the extra bandwidth).

  Put the 2 500GB HDD in a Raid 0 array for better performance. May need to think about the Raptor though, it's fast but from what i heard the Raptor tends to die faster than a standard HDD.

  Get rid of the PhysX card, it's not going anywhere. Remember the Voodoo card ???

  Don't need the McAfee security suite. There are better programs (ZoneAlarm Security Suite) and most are free too if you want to install separate programs.


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  Quote Solo Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 31 Dec 2007 at 8:30am
Yeah please do not get McAfee.  I use AVG 7.5
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  Quote Samuraiken Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 31 Dec 2007 at 10:23am
@Solo - Good call.
 
@Commast - As for the 2x500gb HDD's, i would slap them in a Raid 1 array for redundancy.  I've had 3 external 500gb HDDs die in the last year.  Good call on the PhysX card though.  I think as far as RAM goes i'll just take the 64bit OS and the 4gb there of 800.  It'll be OC'd anyway so i'm sure it's not that big of a difference is it?
 
@skyR - wow, better than the rig i came up with, AND it's a few hundred $ cheaper.  My hat's off to you!  Nice explanation of the 32/64bit reasoning.
 
 
Another question:
Processors:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz (1066MHz FSB) (8MB Cache)
or
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.00 GHz (1333MHz FSB) (4MB Cache)
 
The price difference being a measly $16. 
It's faster, but lacking cores, and while the FSB is larger, the L2 is lower...i'm not an expert or anything but i remember pulling information in (via osmossis on PC Gamer magazines under the pillow, of course) that L2 is a bit more important than the processor speed itself due to bottlenecks and whatnot.  Feel free to nuke the hell out of this post if i'm wrong...that's what i came here for!  I'm going for the Quad, i was just curious what the differene was (learning while buying, awesome).
 
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  Quote Solo Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 31 Dec 2007 at 4:23pm
In my opinion, if you are just going to be playing games I would go with Duo.  If you're going to do some crazy editing or multitasking then WHy not the quads.
 
 
 
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  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 31 Dec 2007 at 7:11pm
Originally posted by Samuraiken

Another question:
Processors:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz (1066MHz FSB) (8MB Cache)
or
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.00 GHz (1333MHz FSB) (4MB Cache)
 
The price difference being a measly $16. 
It's faster, but lacking cores, and while the FSB is larger, the L2 is lower...i'm not an expert or anything but i remember pulling information in (via osmossis on PC Gamer magazines under the pillow, of course) that L2 is a bit more important than the processor speed itself due to bottlenecks and whatnot.  Feel free to nuke the hell out of this post if i'm wrong...that's what i came here for!  I'm going for the Quad, i was just curious what the differene was (learning while buying, awesome).
 


I would have to agree that L2 cache is more important than the speed. You can't add more cache but you can easily adjust the core speed.

Don't worry about the CPU much as the GPU is the major factor in determining gaming performance.
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.
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Samuraiken View Drop Down
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  Quote Samuraiken Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Jan 2008 at 9:27pm
Waiting on them to get back with my email about how to set up installment payments ($1500 every two weeks for 6 weeks), since i don't want them to charge the full thing from the order page (but it didn't have an option for installments, to say that my bank will send them the money).
 
That and shipping to Japan.  But other than that, ready to go! lol
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  Quote Solo Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Jan 2008 at 10:20am
where at in Japan
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Samuraiken View Drop Down
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  Quote Samuraiken Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Jan 2008 at 6:43pm
Uruma City (It's in Okinawa)
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  Quote Samuraiken Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Jan 2008 at 9:11pm
Dave from DS emailed me and said he'd let me know what the charge is.  Hopefully it's not much but...lol compared to how much each rig costs it's nothing, right?
      -= DS Twister ULTRA =-
    -= Intel Core2 Quad 6600 =-
   -= 2.4GHz/1066FSB - L2 8MB =-
-= SLI 2x GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB =-
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  Quote Samuraiken Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Jan 2008 at 9:12pm
Btw, Registration is MINE! Clap
      -= DS Twister ULTRA =-
    -= Intel Core2 Quad 6600 =-
   -= 2.4GHz/1066FSB - L2 8MB =-
-= SLI 2x GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB =-
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