2400-3000 build SLI

Dreadnought will give you more room to upgrade/expand latter on as it's a larger case but the ODE 3 is a very solid machine. Picking hardware is really focused around the resolution you are going to be playing at. Below are two builds that are centered around a 1900x1080 resolution, like you would find on a lot of 23" to 25" monitors. That's the size you would be looking at in your price range of $200-$300.

Build 621365 = $2865

Build 621366 = $3272

The only difference between the two is the first one #621365 is the 2600k platform and #621366 is the 3930K platform. I did both since you said you are going to be doing things like rendering and may need the extra CPU power.

They both have the following:

*Deluxe series MOBO for their respective platforms

*120GB SSD Intel main/OS drive

*500GB WD Caviar Black seconday HDD

*Stage 1 4.0GHz - 4.4GHz CPU overclock with a Corsair A70 CPU Cooler

*x2 570 1.2GB SLI

*Win7 Professional

I went with only the 570's in SLI because again I do not know what resolution you will be playing at but at 1900x1080 either set up should kill most of what you can trow at it but leave you with the room and tools to do more later on.

The Dreadnought will better accommodate things like x3 SLI in terms of available room and has nice air cooling for the GPUs with the nice big 200mm fan blowing fresh air directly on to the GPUs. It also has 2 USB 3.0 front ports, compared to only 1 USB 3.0 front port on the ODE 3 case and for someone who does photo/video rendering you probably have or will have devices that use 3.0.

One note on that, I have checked with DS support directly and all the HAF X cases come with mid-board cables for the front 3.0 ports. When the HAF X first launched MOBOs did not have mid-board 3.0 connections so those front panel ports actually got wire through the back of the case and connected to the 3.0 ports on the back of MOBOs, it's why the case has 3 holes in the back instead of just the normal 2 you would see for water cooling tubes. Since then MOBOs now come with 3.0 connections and mid-board. Cooler Master would send free cables to people who had already bought the case but new cases now come with them standard, so you are good to go on that.

The Graphite series 600T case with the ODE 3 is a nice case, so I'm not trying to knock it.


Edited by jmaster299 - 23 Nov 2011 at 1:26am

Most important thing about a monitor is its panel, right now there are 2 major ones, TN and IPS, IPS has superior picture quality/clarity.

here is a great IPS panel:

Dell UltraSharp u2312

if the apps you use make use of a 6core cpu then the 3930k is the way to go, or if you have a very high res and need tri sli ability, or you just want the latest tech and money is not a huge issue.

but if you have no use for the 6 core and don't need tri sli ability then you don't need the x79/3930k, but we can't tell you any of that till we know the res of the monitor.

a70 and noctua are king till you get to stage 4 cooling.

unless you want a quadro gpu I would not go with a workstation.

jm299's build are ok I would drop the 500GB WD BC and go with 1TB BC, we recommend the 1TB for its speeds, the 500GB does not enjoy the same speeds.

change your oc to stage 2 oc, its the sweet spot for these platform, just Ask for vcore lower then 1.4 for your oc.

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

for the monitor I mentioned you just need dual sli with the changes I mentioned, and for your work I believe you need more ram so:

Here you go Ticket# 621386 --- $3,087 (To see this build click here)

Now I'm not 100% sure but I think some of those apps do take advantage of a 6 core cpu, so if that is the case I would recommend going with the x79 platform:


Here you go Ticket# 621385 --- $3,703 (To see this build click here)


with both case you still have to:

Ask for vcore lower then 1.4 for your oc.

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

so now you tell us what you think.

if you want to game on 2 of those monitors then you want sli 570 2.5GB, ode does not have that.

we recommend gpu upgrade every 2 to 3 years so that the pc feels new in gaming, but then in the future if you want to upgrade the sli to future cards and they have needs of a 580 sli the 800w from ode 3 can't do it.

also my config has better, case, mobo, psu, ssd, hdd, cpu cooler and os.

last don't forget, ode 3 has 8GB of ram, my config has 16GB of ram for your apps.

What kills a cpu is its voltage (vcore), above 1.4 you are speeding the cpu's death, below 1.4 your cpu will out live your pc. keep in mind you have a 1 year warranty from DS.

Edited by DST4ME - 29 Nov 2011 at 12:30am

Monitors is upto you really, you can't lose with either of those.

1900 x 1200 and 1920 x 1080 are pretty much the same as far as gaming goes.

Edited by DST4ME - 01 Dec 2011 at 2:56am

People with sli 1.2GB are maxing it out, you can checkout the game section of the forum and checkout the bf3 thread, but if you want the 2.5GB version go ahead.