I have finally settled on a gaming PC. · 6:12am Mar 9th, 2015
I have set my sights squarely on Digital Storm's Vanquish II Level 4 configuration.
Intel Core i5 4690K 3.50 GHz (Codename Devils Canyon) (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core)
GIGABYTE Z97X-SLI (Intel Z97 Chipset)
8GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series
600W Corsair CX
DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
1x SSD (120GB Samsung 850 EVO)
1x (1TB Seagate (7200 RPM) (64MB Cache)
High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB (Includes PhysX)
Integrated Motherboard Audio
High Performance Aftermarket CPU Cooler with Large Fan and Copper Pipes
Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz
Microsoft Windows 8.1 (64-Bit Edition)
3-year labor, 1-year part warranty
Lifetime US-based tech support
All for $1399, some serious bang for the buck. No more expensive than my Asus G73 laptop I bought four years ago. And what's more, this is ripe for upgrading. The Z97 can take a second GPU, and the first thing I'd probably do is swap out the 970 for a 980 when I have the spare cash, then add another one when I can afford it and an upgraded power supply.
Me and Brady both agree that it'd be wisest to get upgrading experience before we spend $3k+ on a more customized, exotic system.
Not a bad setup.
I have absolutely no idea what does that mean at all.
Hey Twilight Could you help translate this?
2861588 Yeah, the only part that would push it past $1600 most likely is the lack of monitors. I'm already as set as I could be on peripherals.
2861591 That's the configuration of the desktop. The parts.
Differences between the 980 and 970 are not worth it. Just SLI two 970's for great justice. I'd also suggest 16 gigs of ram if you plan on using rapid with your SSD. And I also recommend spending a smidge more on case fans. Air is your friend. It's not like a beer fart.
I hope it's an aftermarket 970. They have a lot more kick for nearly no extra cash.
2861604 well, this will beat my low end Alienware lappy, but when I get a new MB with a much improved GPU and a matching batshit insane i7, as well as the 1TB SSD I want...
2861670 5820k?
I would settle for a goot R9 290X (Asus Strix or A Saphire modell) for SLI/CF, the GTX 970 is less future prove. And the GTX 980 simply costs to much in my opinion.
What sort of Monitor you had in Mind? For a simple FullHD you need no CF/SLI, ost games will run maxed out, or nearly maxed out.
IMPORTANT: The GTX 970 have not the specs on the NV Page, these are Proven WRONG. The card can only adress 3.5GB of its RAM or it gets really, really slow. This is especially a problem with future Games.
Also the Chip only has 56 ROP's and 1.75MB of L2 Cache.
If you pick your parts and put them together on your own (ist's like LEGO), you could go near 1000$, with the same parts.
The last thing is something, If you have some 'Nerd' friends near you, they might love to to that:D
2861673
Playing like it's meant to.
2861673 ?
its 3:30 in the morning... I am close to passing out...
you talking about a model #?
2861655 I cannot change anything. That is Digital Storm's pre-configured rig, and they are priced to move. Rest assured, once I know how to upgrade something, it will be done, case fans included.
Can get much better parts or similar for way less but then you need to build it but the case for sure is better in this build http://puu.sh/gsTYc.png That being said building is not for everyone, and you need the tools to get it done. I would go a little different in parts but tried to keep it close to that pre-built.
Nice system. be careful of that over clocking though, and make sure the defrag program is set to NOT defrag the SSD. that will reduce its running life considerablely
2861884 They stress test everything and make sure everything's stable.
2861820 I would like upgrading experience (which I plan to do here) before I plan to build one from scratch.
I don't want to have to RMA something on my very first gaming desktop. That would put me off building future ones.
The extra cost, for me, is worth it in those last two items: the free labor if I have to return it for repairs, and the lifetime US-based tech support, if I feel I can do something over the phone. Last thing I want to do is talk to some fucker in India that I can barely understand.
2861655 According to some reviews, the "3.5 GB" fiasco is most prevalent in SLI'd 970's, so I don't think I'll be going that route.
2861918
Good. *WolfGrin* I would just hate to see you spend that kind of money then have it go up in smoke because of the overclocking
2861814 Already bought it then? What made you go with them?
2861962 And maybe by the time you upgrade again to 980's fixed 970's or something else will come out. Who knows!
I'm just happy you are joining the herd. Your sexy sarcastic ass needs to be here!
2861686 You're welcome.
And I'd still get a 970, considering it's the most bang for your buck as it stands. Still, considering my 770 is overclocked to the point it's almost a 780, I think I can wait. 16 gigs of ram saved my ass from stupid memory management blue screen I was getting from my SSD.
Wah, I have a 770. crawling in my skin. These wounds, they will not heeeeeeaaaal.
2862550 No, not yet.
Post-purchase support, customer reviews, and a A+ BBB rating have convinced me to choose Digital Storm?
2862717 wait, are they overclocking it from 3.4 to 4.4? Or 4.4 with turbo boost? regardless, sexy. Better have a good CPU cooler with that.
And the first thing I'd do is go to 16 gigs of ram. Other than that, you're sexy and good to go.
2862903 If I'm reading it correctly, from 4.0 to 4.4.
And that build comes with an aftermarket cooler, plus it's stress tested for 24 hours before they send it to me.
2861927
Yeah I totally understand that.
2862903
Agree Ram is a good first upgrade 16GB is pretty overkill for most people.
2863002
Wish they said what the actuall cooler was, looks like from pics a coolermaster variant, and what RAM OEM it was.
2863232 I would entirely disagree. Most games are recommending it now, and more so if he's going to be running his SSD in Rapid mode, as that will drain some ram as well. 16 should be the norm for gaming rigs now.
2863002
They Overclock Base clock to 4.0 and Turbo to 4.4, all in all the same Clock speeds as the i7-4790k.
As for the testing, you cannot test if it works flawless all the time, you only can see if it does not work flawless with the tests.
2862675
The R9 290X is hardly 5% slower than an 970, and faster in UHD:D
A 770? Oh, nly one?
2861962
Especially with SLI it's really problematic, but even without, there are Games that won'r run smooth on that Card, no mather what. (Ofthen those with own streaming of megatextures ans such things, cause they see a 4GB Card, but then there is not 4GB of space on it to put data)
Right know there are very few Games, but as soon as NV does not put a game-ready driver for every new big Game anymore, the Card will be (in my opitnion) worth nothing anymore.
Yes, I hate the 970 since that fiasco. NV has proven me right about them: they lie everywhere just to sell, even on the spects.
2863232
16GB of RAM Overkill
I must disagree, there aren't many games who profit from more of 8GB yet, but there are already some.
I got myself 32GB @ Quad Channel, thats Overkill
2861689
Yes, specificly the i7-5820K for the So. 2011-3 Mainboards. I already build one of those with 16GB (4*4) DDR4 Memory.
The Memory costed nerarly as much as the CPU
3K System? *droll* Intel Hex core and 2 Graphic cards, big SSD and about 6TB of HDD Storage. Already build one of those for myself (4-5K), and It's sure fun gaming. But right now I'm Waiting for the next Graphics card Generation to double the fun
2864654 I've gotta work with what I have as a base, and not what I would dream of. I am certain that a tower could be built that would make my dated AW14 seem like a sand covered abacus from the year 2500BC, but I would have no place to set it up, due to my living arrangements. I actually need a laptop due to the fact I just do not have the space for anything bigger.
That being said, I can upgrade what I currently have, and it would give me double the computer overall. (Much better CPU, GPU, double the RAM, and double my storage, as well as much faster access to said storage for quicker loading.) While it won't ever be a dual 6 core setup with twin Titans, 32GB, and a baseball team's worth of SSDs in RAID0, it will be plenty for what I need and desire to do with my machine.
2864068
2864654
I I'm just saying many don't get close to it, I also have 32GB and usually don't break 16GB unless I'm virtualizing an os among other things. Although chrome is normally around 10. The cost of 24 and up is almost like the area of diminishing return.
2864859 Can you answer me this? If dual-channel memory motherboards handle two sticks of RAM best, why are there four slots?
2864863
As long as you have 2 or 4 it will be dual the four slots allows you to get more gb with smaller dims 16gb dims are very expensive. Two sticks is maybe slightly faster than four of the same kit but it's negligible. Two makes for better compatibility, and expandability. Higher speed and lower timings makes a bigger difference. My 32gb is faster than my 16gb kit.
2864882 So if I was after 16 gigs of memory, there'd be almost no difference between 2 8gb sticks and 4 4gb sticks?
2864884
No except that it is good to not mix even same kits as they may not work well with each other of not manufactured at the same time so if that is with two of same kit then one kit of 2x8gb is better for the long run. If you get a decent set and a decent brand then normally if you run into this the brand will rma them and replace both kits with a set that was manufactured close together so they should have similar firmware and be compatible. It's more convenient then anything. It is slower but by how much depends on the chip. It's normal the compatibility issue first before speed.
Hope this makes sense.
2864894 I believed that made sense. Not sure what I want to upgrade first when I get this thing; the video card or the RAM.
2864895
If your sticking with a 1080p monitor at 60hz then the 970 should be enough for now. It's better than my 2 780s and I have three screens and my main is 2560x1400 (I game on this one).
2864906 Yeah, not sure if I want to SLI two 970's. The 3.5 GB thing has a greater chance of coming into play then.
Who knows, by the time I'm ready to buy, maybe the Titan X will have knocked the 980's down in price just a little.
2864909
The Titan x will be 999.99 and up I dint think it will change the 980 in price much. The 970 might go down though. We are still waiting for amd to release their power hungry card. My friend has a 970 and has no issues with the ram thing. It seems the slow down is not much in real world performance anyways. Sli it might be worse.
2864919
999$? It sure looks more like 1300$
The Prizing of the 980 and 970 won't go down with the new cards a lot. The new Cards will simly cost more than the old ones.
The Slowing on avg FPS isn't the big problem with the GTX 970, the frametimes are. as soon as the critical value is reached, the frametimes start to jump around, making the card some times even worse than a normal Dual CF/SLI Combination.
2864919 Well, the Vanquish II comes with a 970, so if I want to SLI right out of the gate, I'll buy another 970 (or two overclocked ones from a third party).
We'll see. Right now I just want to set enough aside to get the rig, then I'll worry about upgrading.
2864923
Yeah get what you can afford now and deal with it later.
2864921
Yeah haven't been looking into pricing much, and the framerate thing for the 970 sucks but it is what it is. Does lose nvidia a lot of trust points though.