I am in the market for a new PC and have rediscovered DS.  I have just finished chemotherapy and I am unable to build myself a system that I would have liked before the treatments.  This is going to be a top build with the best processor, memory, power supply, SSD and motherboard available.  I do have a couple of questions since I have been out of the purchasing market for some time.
1. If given the choice between the ASUS Rampage IV and the EVGA X79 FTW, which one would you choose?
2. Can I specify that I want EVGA video cards?  What manufactures are being used?
3. Does the power supply come with all cables that are not being used at the time of the build?
4. I have never had a liquid cooled system before and I am hesitant about keeping it maintained.  Basically is there anything that I would need to worry about?  I am used to more fans the better.  How high the system could hover off the ground was a sign how well the cooling was performing.

Right now I would guess around $5000 is where I would like to spend but it will not be the determining factor.  Less would be better but I am not worried if it goes a bit higher.  I already have a 30" monitor, G15 keyboard, G930 headset that I am currently using.

Any comments for useful suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks

Maybe it is just me and I am currently not able to get this straight in my mind.  Concerning video cards and the configuration page you will see something like this:

2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB (Includes PhysX)
This telling me that there are two GTX 680 video cards running in SLI mode and each card has 2 GB on board.  The 2x and Dual to me is saying the same thing.

Now if you look further you will see something like this:
2x SLI Quad SLI (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 4GB (Includes PhysX)
What is this telling me ? Two cards or four cards?

You will also see:
1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB (Includes PhysX)
This makes perfect sense to me.

So on the configuration page you have 1x and 2x.  Dual and Quad listed.  Where are the Triple SLI configurations?  What if I were to want Quad SLI 680 cards and not 690 cards?  Am I just not seeing something of the configuration page?

Getting confused.

2x (cards) dual SLI because each card has one GPU.
The 690 has dual GPU's so 2x (card) is now a quad SLI.
So in essence one GTX 690 is running in dual SLI because of the 2 GPU's onboard.

Hope this clarifies.

Hi JerryW......    Welcome to the forums.

Edited by bprat22 - 11 Oct 2012 at 7:44am

I am not DS but you can OC the 3820 to stage 1 OC. (4.4/4.5)

If you go with regular LC the maintenance is not much. Some don't do anything till they see a problem. Others drain and refill the reservoir once a year. Some just top of the reservoir as it needs more fluid. You can use distilled water so easy to change if you want to. We have a lot of members with the regular LC and I don't see anyone complaining about maintaining their system. An occasional question on how to maintain it or about a problem. Not getting full LC because it is to much work is not valid in my opinion.

Frank

Here is a full LC system with the 3930K CPU and 4Gb GPU. You should consider increasing the warranty to 4 or 5 years. The 3 year warranty only gives you 1 year of parts replacement.

Configuration: 736419 Cost: $4930

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS HailStorm Edition
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 3930K 3.2GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Six-Core)
Motherboard: ASUS Rampage IV Extreme X79 (Intel X79 Chipset) (Features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s)
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 2133MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 1200W Corsair Pro Gold Series (CMPSU-1200AX) (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (180GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: 520 Series)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: ASUS Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs) (Model: BC-12B1ST)
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 680 4GB (Includes PhysX)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 6: Sub-Zero LCS Dual Loop: CPU & Dual SLI/CrossFire Video Cards
H20 Tube Color:Red Tubing with High-Performance Fluid (UV Lighting Reactive)
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro/Deluxe/Sabertooth 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 Professional (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows 7 CD)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
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: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Large)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

Some really interesting suggestions.  Not much different than what I have played around with on the configuration page.  I admit, I got a little crazy on one build and it was around $10k. 

It looks like you can not omit a video card from the system build or specify which manufacture you would like to have. 

What are your thoughts on getting the cheapest video card being offered and then purchasing exactly what I want from a different vendor?  I have had some really bad experience in the past from substandard parts being used on a couple vendors.

Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge that is the question.  Should I wait since 2013 is just around the corner?  I know what your thinking.  Get the motherboard, cheapest processor and then upgrade the BIOS and the processor when it comes out.

That is enough babbling from me at the moment.  Again, thanks for the comments and suggestions.  I am reading them all.

Configuration number: 736653

Cost $4995

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS HailStorm Edition
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 3930K 3.2GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Six-Core)
Motherboard: ASUS Rampage IV Extreme X79 (Intel X79 Chipset) (Features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s)
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 2133MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 1200W Corsair Pro Gold Series (CMPSU-1200AX) (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (240GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: 520 Series)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: ASUS Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs) (Model: BC-12B1ST)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 3x SLI Triple (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB (PhysX) (Overclocked EVGA)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 Extreme Performance
H20 Tube Color:Red Tubing with High-Performance Fluid (UV Lighting Reactive)
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro/Deluxe/Sabertooth 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 Professional (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows 7 CD)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
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: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Large)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty


Edited by Kaleliar - 12 Oct 2012 at 1:39am

Yeah. From my understanding they will install any hardware you want within reason, for purchase cost + installation.

Okay, here is one build.  Note this test run to work out what I would like.
Curious about the upgraded fans with it stating up to 6.

Ticket Number: 736733
Total Price with Instant Savings: $5,572.00

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 3930K 3.2GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Six-Core)
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth X79 (Intel X79 Chipset) (Features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s)
System Memory: 64GB DDR3 1600Mhz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) <b></b>
Power Supply: 1200W Corsair Pro Gold Series (CMPSU-1200AX) (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) <b></b>
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (240GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: 520 Series) <b></b>
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: ASUS Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs) (Model: BC-12B1ST)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 3x SLI Triple (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB (Includes PhysX) <b></b>
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 5: Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System: CPU & Chipset <b></b>
H20 Tube Color:White Tubing with High-Performance Fluid (UV Lighting Reactive) <b></b>
Chassis Airflow: Upgrade Chassis With Zalman Performance Fans (Up to 6 Fans) <b></b>
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (White) <b></b>
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro/Deluxe/Sabertooth 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
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 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

Okay, with adjustments.

I am not ready to pull the plug just yet.  I just watched a YouTube review of the case and I am not sure I like it.  I don't like thumbscrews that well.  The cpu opening for the mounting brace on the backside looks rather small for future upgrades.

Through the years, I learned to go ahead and spend the extra money and get what you want.  It would be dumb blind luck to get say 16GB and then add 16GB later and they match.  The machine I currently have only supported up to 8GB.  It came with 2GB and I thought I would upgrade later.  When I did upgrade the sticks didn't match and they ran at the slowest speed. 

LC just makes me nervous because I am unfamiliar with the whole process.  It would be really cool ( made a pun ) to have LC on the video cards as well.  I need to do some more research to see exactly how to install, remove, setup and replace a LC video card.  It is one item that is more likely to fail before anything else in the system that I have experienced.

What is this I see ?? Maybe I need to wait and see what is coming down the pipe.

Counting Down: A New Upcoming Gaming PC

Edited by JerryW - 12 Oct 2012 at 5:40pm

Correct me if I am wrong. On a LC system it is just not a matter of removing the video card and replacing it. Don't you have to drain the system. Make sure the tubing is all dry. Remove the clamps, zip ties and tubing. Pull the card. Replace the card. Hook everything back up. Somehow make sure everything is water tight. Refill the cooling system.

This is something I've never done before. I was in IT/Tech Support/Novell-Groupwise Admin/Internet Security for the 30 some odd years I was employed. (medically disabled now) Yes, I am getting old.

Originally posted by FrankW Hi JerryW, Order quick disconnects on the cooling tubes and you won't have to drain the system to change out a GPU. There is definitely more to do to change out a GPU but not overwhelmingly with quick disconnects. Look in the DS support videos. They have one that shows how to use the quick disconnects. You can also get drain connectors at the bottom of the case for draining the system. Frank

To order the quick disconnects would just be on the comment section at the bottom of the configuration page? Meaning there is not an option on the LC cooling or tube selection when setting up the build.

Gesh.. I feel like a newbie.

Is there a link to that video. I've seem to come across them all except for the one I am looking for. Even one dude dress up in a costume named Gabbers. Very Odd

Hi JerryW,

Here is a couple of photos. I will look for the video.

Frank

Quick Disconnects


Drain Connections


Edit: I don't see a video or thread on using the quick disconnects. Alex can you help us out?

Frank

Edited by FrankW - 13 Oct 2012 at 9:47am

Thanks bprat22, that youtube may be what I was thinking about.

Frank

I don't believe our team made a video on the quick disconnects yet. But, we could install them if you would like them? Each connector will cost about $25 and you'll need two so $50 a connection and you'll need two per loop so that will be roughly $100.

first off there is no need for chipset liquid cooling unless you are an intense oc its just more money for no gain