Suggestions and Advice Needed

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   It's been 4 years since I've built or configured a system and a lot of the hardware selections are overwhelming.  I'm a gamer and I do a lot of video editing as well.  Any help in my decisions would be appreciated.

            Case: Digital Storm 750Si (Black Anodized Aluminum Finish)
Power Supply: 750W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition) 
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz (1333MHz Front Side Bus) (6MB Cache)
Motherboard: nVidia 780i Core 2 Quad (nForce 780i SLI) 
Memory: 4GB DDR2 Corsair at 1066MHz Dominator DHX (Extreme-Performance) 
Floppy / Card: - No Thanks
Hard Drive 1: 150GB Western Digital Raptor (10K RPM) (16MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed) 
Hard Drive 2: 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) 
Raid Option: - No Thanks
Hard Drive 3: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x) (LightScribe Edition) 
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Network Card: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 
TV Tuner: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer (Recommended) 
Physics Card: - No Thanks
Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 2 (Silent Artic Cooling Heat-sink Upgrade (Copper Heatpipes) 
Case Lighting: - No Thanks 
Round Cables: Enhanced Interior Air Flow (Optical Drive & Floppy Cables (Red Cables) 
User Manual: Personalized Platinum Digital Storm Binder (Includes Paperwork/Benchmarks/CDs/Manuals)
Overclock Processor: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my processor
Overclock Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
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 XP Professional (Includes Service Pack 2) 

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David Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest	Quote Reply Topic: Suggestions and Advice Needed Posted: 06 Apr 2008 at 11:26am
	It's been 4 years since I've built or configured a system and a lot of the hardware selections are overwhelming. I'm a gamer and I do a lot of video editing as well. Any help in my decisions would be appreciated. Case: Digital Storm 750Si (Black Anodized Aluminum Finish) Power Supply: 750W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition) Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz (1333MHz Front Side Bus) (6MB Cache) Motherboard: nVidia 780i Core 2 Quad (nForce 780i SLI) Memory: 4GB DDR2 Corsair at 1066MHz Dominator DHX (Extreme-Performance) Floppy / Card: - No Thanks Hard Drive 1: 150GB Western Digital Raptor (10K RPM) (16MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed) Hard Drive 2: 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) Raid Option: - No Thanks Hard Drive 3: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x) (LightScribe Edition) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Network Card: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800GTX 768MB TV Tuner: - No Thanks Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer (Recommended) Physics Card: - No Thanks Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 2 (Silent Artic Cooling Heat-sink Upgrade (Copper Heatpipes) Case Lighting: - No Thanks Round Cables: Enhanced Interior Air Flow (Optical Drive & Floppy Cables (Red Cables) User Manual: Personalized Platinum Digital Storm Binder (Includes Paperwork/Benchmarks/CDs/Manuals) Overclock Processor: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my processor Overclock Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) 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 XP Professional (Includes Service Pack 2)

SunfighterLC Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS Veteran Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1527	Quote Reply Posted: 06 Apr 2008 at 2:46pm
	1) GPU, the 88GTX is no longer being made, and vs. a single 98GTX or a GX2, it is usually slower, there are a few cases in high resolution AA enabled, where the extra memory bus, and total memory will make it slightly faster as the other two 512MB cards will run short on memory, but this is rare. So id say go with the 98GTX instead. 2) Your enchanced airflow selection only works with CD-drives, and since you have only one, youre going to be paying that fee for one cable, they will give you extra cables, but still your paying for only one that will be within your system itself. The 750i case is pretty stuffy when it comes to airflow, you may want to consider upgrading to a 850 or a 950, or if you dont want to spend that much upgrade a bit to a cosmos. Keep in mind though the original cosmos is made out of STEEL, so its pretty dang heavy. But that means its well built too. It also has sound proofing insulation and air filters. Other then that, the rest looks alright. Some might say to get rid of the raptor, its price vs the performance it gives is negligable.

Tyler Lowe Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 14 May 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Quote Reply Posted: 06 Apr 2008 at 8:42pm
	If you are doing video editing, consider a quad core. I will second the suggestions above to change over to a 9800GTX and improve the cooling selections as well. A case upgrade, or stage 3 cooling would be a good idea. The Cosmos is also not noted for good air cooling. Based on your intended use, and holding as close as possible to the original build while suggesting improvement: $2554 I tried to keep it under $2500, but missed the mark by a little bit. I dropped the memory to 2GB, as the OS you selected is 32 bit, and will not recognize all of the installed RAM if you go with 4GB. XP flies on 2GB anyway, so I figured the $$$ saved could be put to good use in other places.

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