T
thud
Guest
Hey there guys - greetings from NC.
I have been a lurker for a number of years, but this is my first post. I have always been impressed with the amount of knowledge within the forum and the willingness of the members to help out those of us with less technical knowledge. And I do need some advice, for I am overwhelmed.......
When I read the system reviewers, I read glowing reports about all the components, but when I look at the buyer satisfaction reviews (at Newegg for example) I find 12 to 20 % of the respondents reporting DOA components or short lived time-spans on even the very highly rated parts. I know I could build a new computer for less than I can purchase one - I built my last "high end" (at least at that time) computer. There were no problems for about 6 yrs until the motherboard died - it had certainly given me my $ worth and outlived it's technical lifespan. However, the thought of having to troubleshoot potential multiple problems, plus the software integration is more than I want to go through at this stage in my life. I am therefore willing to pay for the peace of mind provided by the three year warranty and lifetime free tech support offered by a couple of the major build houses.
Here are the major components I'm considering (this is offered @ about $2000):
My primary uses for the computer will be for FSX/fs9, CFS2/3, photo editing, limited gaming and CAD. Now here are my questions/whatifs:
Thanks in advance for your consideration – in the future I promise not to be so wordy!!
Cheers - Thud
I have been a lurker for a number of years, but this is my first post. I have always been impressed with the amount of knowledge within the forum and the willingness of the members to help out those of us with less technical knowledge. And I do need some advice, for I am overwhelmed.......
When I read the system reviewers, I read glowing reports about all the components, but when I look at the buyer satisfaction reviews (at Newegg for example) I find 12 to 20 % of the respondents reporting DOA components or short lived time-spans on even the very highly rated parts. I know I could build a new computer for less than I can purchase one - I built my last "high end" (at least at that time) computer. There were no problems for about 6 yrs until the motherboard died - it had certainly given me my $ worth and outlived it's technical lifespan. However, the thought of having to troubleshoot potential multiple problems, plus the software integration is more than I want to go through at this stage in my life. I am therefore willing to pay for the peace of mind provided by the three year warranty and lifetime free tech support offered by a couple of the major build houses.
Here are the major components I'm considering (this is offered @ about $2000):
- CASE: Thermaltake Spedo Advance Full Tower Case w/ Side-panel Window
- POWER SUPPLY: 850 Watts Power Supplies (Thermaltake W0131RU ToughPower 850 Watts- NVIDIA GTX 8800 Certified)
- CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366
- COOLING FAN : Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System (Extreme Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)
- MOTHERBOARD: Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard SAS Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA w/ eSATA, Dual GbLAN, USB2.0, IEEE1394a, & 7.1Audio
- MEMORY: 6GB (2GBx3) DDR3/1600MHz Triple Channel Memory Module (Corsair Dominator)
- OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 (64-bit Edition)
- VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX295 1.7GB 16X PCIe Video Card (EVGA Powered by NVIDIA)
- HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (1.5TB (1.5TBx1) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
- Optical Drive: LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
- Optical Drive 2: SONY 16X DVD-ROM
- SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
- NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
- Extra Thermal Display : THERMAL TEMPERATURE LCD DISPLAY WITH 3X FAN CONTROLLER
- Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer
- IEEE CARD: NONE
- USB PORT: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
- FLOPPY: NONE
- SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
My primary uses for the computer will be for FSX/fs9, CFS2/3, photo editing, limited gaming and CAD. Now here are my questions/whatifs:
- I certainly respect the advice of HeyMo and others who espouse that if you don't know what you're doing, to leave it alone! In that regard, is there tutorial advice to the willing/nubee types on overclocking the i7 or would I be better served to upgrade to a 3.06 GHz i7-950 with the hefty price hit of + $290?
- An NVIDIA GeForce GTX275 1792MB 2 card SLI can be had for +$58. Compared to the single GTX295??
- An EVGA x58 E785-A1 motherboard, with a 2 card GTX280 1GB (or GTX275 1792MB) SLI can be had for the same price as the considered setup. Recommendations????
- I'm not particularly enamored with the HDD options. The 1.5TB (probably a WD Caviar Green or Seagate Barracuda) is the only 32MB cache drive offered. An additional WD VelociRaptor can be added for 300GB (+$275) or 150GB (+$170). Recommendations – (go with one of the Raptors/wait and install a Black Caviar myself/stay with a single HDD and wait for the SSD-MLC to mature)?????
- Overall system comments (to include wait a few weeks/months for Win7)????
Thanks in advance for your consideration – in the future I promise not to be so wordy!!
Cheers - Thud