Buying Today. Need Help with a Few Questions

I'm getting ready to buy a new PC today. Previously I've built my PCs, but I don't have the time for it this time and I've heard good things about Digital Storm, so I thought I'd give them some business.

I use my PC for just about everything and do all sorts of stuff with it. A lot of gaming, Photoshop, and even a little video editing from time to time (once a year or so on average). Those are the most intense things probably. I run all sorts of apps and like to have many processes going at the same time.

The configuration I came up with is as follows:

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS Assassin Edition
Exterior Finish: - Not Available
Trim Accents: - Not Available
Processor: Intel Core i7 930 2.8GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 FTW3 Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 12GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 750W Digital Storm Certified (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition Recommended)
Expansion Bay: - Not Available
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (2TB Seagate/Hitachi/Western Digital (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVDąR/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 22x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB HOT SELLER (Sapphire Vapor-X 100281VXSR)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Noctua Dual 120mm Fans High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i7 Processors)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Upgrade Chassis With Zalman Performance Fans (Up to 6 Fans)
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Enhancements: - Not Available
Chassis Mods: - Not Available
Noise Reduction: Noise Suppression Package (Optimized Airflow & Fan Speeds with Noise Dampening Material)
Boost Processor: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Cooling Upgrade Recommended)
Boost Video Card: - Not Available
Boost Memory: - Not Available
Boost OS: FREE: Yes, Disable and tweak all of the non-crucial services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - Not Available
Office: - Not Available
Benchmarking: - Not Available
Install/Test Game: - Not Available
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 (Xtra Large)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: FREE PROMO: 4 Year Limited Warranty with Life-Time Customer Support

Here is where I have questions.

The case: It appears that the Assassin case is SilverStone Fortress II. According to the Digital Storm website pictures (pic 1) the case is 24" high and 19" deep. According to SilverStone, the Fortress II is the reverse (19" high and 24" deep). Anyone have one of these from Digital Storm and can you confirm that their information is wrong, or is their case different and I'm wrong about it being a Fortress II?

I'm trying to figure out which case will have the least noise. I like things quiet, but I don't want to water cool.

I decided to go with the EVGA X58 FTW3 because it has USB 3.0 and I might add another video card to run in Crossfire mode later.

I've got my own audio card that I'm thinking about adding. It is a Creative Labs X-Fi Elite Pro (the one with the external controls). According to Creative's website they do have Windows 7 64 bit drivers for it. I thought I would add it if it isn't too much trouble. I've also considered going with stock sound.

I read up on the CPU fans offered and the Noctua Dual 120mm Fans had good reviews, so I decided to go with it.

Here are two more case related questions:

First, I ordered the sound dampening material, but I'm not sure if it is needed with this case. According to reviews of the Fortress II, it comes with sound dampening (but I don't know if it is as good as this). Any ideas?

Second, I ordered the Zalman performance fans. Again, the Fortress II is supposed to come with them, so I'm not sure if this is overkill, but I used Zalman fans in my last build and liked them. Any thoughts?

Here is my last question. I noticed that there is a sale on something called Microsoft Office OneNote Home and Student for $55. Does this include Word, Excel and/or Powerpoint? Since I'm a teacher I can get the student deal and this is a much better price than what I've seen around. Also does it come with a free upgrade to Office 2010?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can shed some light on these questions. I'm planning on ordering today to take advantage of the sale. I tried to call Digital Storm, but they are not there due to the holiday no doubt. I will sort it all out tomorrow if necessary, but would prefer to get these questions answered in advance if possible.

Shannon

Many thanks Alex for the quick response! That helps a lot!

Which of your cases has the least noise?

One last thing in case people were wondering why I went with an ATI (AMD) video card instead of nVIDIA. I did this because my current monitor (a Viewsonic 28" vx2835wm) does not work with my current GTX 260 nVIDIA. nVIDIA has a bug in their drivers that they haven't fixed for over a year and I'm tired of waiting.

Originally posted by sbradfor What does this do? Boost OS: FREE: Yes, Disable and tweak all of the non-crucial services on the operating system

Don't get the sound dampening material. Trap noise then you trap heat.
Also I don't recommend zalmann fans, they are very loud.
12 gigs of ram is not going to matter, I could come in the middle of the night and steal 6 gigs and you wouldn't notice a thing in gaming.
Saphire vapor 5870 isn't a reference card and doesn't have overclocking potential.
Real sata 3 isn't out yet.
Change powersupply to corsair.

If you think you need 12 gigs of ram go ahead, it's going to slow down your overclock though.
We need to know your resolution before we choose a graphics card.
Depends on what graphics card you are going to get, Corsair is a better brand and is more reliable then the generic digital storm brand.

Originally posted by sbradfor Originally posted by GosuHyunwoo Corsair is a better brand and is more reliable then the generic digital storm brand. I didn't realize it was generic. Agreed. Thanks for pointing that out.

Edited by Alex - 31 May 2010 at 4:45pm

Ah, my mistake.

Originally posted by DST4ME for cases on air go with haf or sniper, for LC system go with hailstrom, haf and sniper have the best airflow.

What makes you think the radical design of the Assassin won't be better? I know the fans are bigger on the cases you mention and the Assassin has filters (which I like), but it will also move air from bottom to top across vertical cards and it uses positive pressure. I like the design of the Assassin. Although it has been years, I've used Cooler Master cases before. They are OK, but not great.

Originally posted by DST4ME 90% of your noise comes from the gpu's fan, the case fans are quiet, upgraded fans are loud.

Excellent point. Though I have had some upgrade fans that were much better (but not here).

Originally posted by DST4ME I have not looked at the evga ftw edition, but until intel puts out the new south bridge you are not looking at real sata 3.0, you are probably missing raid and trim support, if you want real sata 3.0 support then wait for the new mobos with the sough bridge to come out, till then you can do the same with a usb3.0/sata3.0 pci card.

Again, excellent point. I just don't want to wait. I have time now, so I'm upgrading now.

Originally posted by DST4ME why 12GB of ram? are you sure you need that much? too much ram is not a good thing.

Mainly I'm concerned about having slow downs in Photoshop working with a lot of files at once. I haven't been able to confirm how much is needed in Photoshop though, so maybe this is overkill. Why is too much ram not a good thing? Timing issues?

Originally posted by DST4ME you are not going cf/sli with that psu, if you want to be able to sli with the 5870 then you need a 1000w corsair.

Is the reason that it just doesn't supply enough power?

Originally posted by DST4ME why 2GB HDD for HDD1? remember: HDD1 = fast small drive: os/apps/games HDD2 = regular large drive: media/personal/work file storage Don't fill up your HDD1 more then 50%, if think you will need more room for it then pick a bigger one, IMO its best you go with a 160GB intel ssd for HDD1 and then use that 2GB as HDD2.

This is news to me. I haven't looked into SSD drives and I barely know anything about them. The reason I picked the 2TB model is because I have a lot of files (like picture files -I'm an amateur photographer) and I usually have a lot of games installed at the same time. 160GB wouldn't be nearly enough for os/apps/games for me and SSD is too expensive. You are definitely right about two drives though. Any thoughts on what SATA to get for HDD1 that doesn't break the bank, if I go with two drives?

Originally posted by DST4ME go with a regular 5870, don't waste your money.

What makes you say this? The Sapphire has great ratings and reviews and is said to run cooler and quieter than the stock 5870.

Originally posted by DST4ME if you want better cpu cooler then go with the 14, tho 12 is great also.

Yeah, I thought about this too. Thanks for the tip. I saw it in another one of your recommendations.

Originally posted by DST4ME drop os tweak, it makes zero difference to apps and games and if you need a service that is disabled then you are short.

Excellent point.

Originally posted by DST4ME change your os to win7 pro if you want xp support.

Yeah, I agree. I didn't notice it was only $32 more!

Thanks for all the tips DST4ME! You really got me thinking about several of my choices!

Edited by sbradfor - 31 May 2010 at 6:04pm

Thanks for the added information Cretae. This is a great community I can tell already. You filled in some gaps for me. Much appreciated!

I'll be able to give some info on the fans as soon as I get mine in case anyone wants it.

By the way, how do you like your 750W Corsair? Can you hear much noise from it?

I'm leaning toward going with 6GB of ram right now, just because I'm not certain that I need it and like Cretae says, I can always add more later.

As to the Sapphire, it's not just about cooler, it's about quieter too. Like you said, the GPU tends to be the noisiest part.

Thanks for the opinions and advice DST4ME!

Originally posted by Cretae My Storm Sniper sits on the floor about 3 inches from my right leg. In dead silence, I hear just a very soft airflow sound. If I have anything else going on in the room, I don't hear noise from the case at all. I've been a geek for 25 years, and I thought loud whirrs came with the territory. I didn't upgrade since 2004, so I had no idea they could make computers so noiseless. My old rig used to annoy me from 15 feet away.

That is great to hear. I know just what you mean Cretae. Thanks!

Originally posted by Cretae You're welcome. You got 6 1/2 hrs left for the promo!!

LOL... Yeah I thought I'd pull the trigger right before going to bed. It gives me a little more time to think about it (and meanwhile I can work on getting a few more report cards done).

Just make note of that in the notes section. DS will take care of you on that. They would have to deliberately sabotage you to not give you 2 same drives. You sure you want such huge drives, though? At some point you're gonna want to defrag that monster. Seems like you're making a pretty sizeable investment in storage you won't need for many a moon.

what you choose for HDD1 is different then what is on HDD2, you don't put HDD1 and HDD2 in raid, you get two drives and put them in raid then use both for either HDD1 or HDD2.

the rest cretae explained.