Going 'Overkill' with the Aventum IIPost Date: 2015-03-15 |
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The Mad Gypsy
Newbie Joined: 15 Mar 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3 |
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Topic: Going 'Overkill' with the Aventum II Posted: 15 Mar 2015 at 2:42am |
Suffice it to say, I'm done with cutting corners. I've tried pre-built Gaming PC's. I've tried other Custom Builders. I've been disappointed time and time again. Be it with a rig's limitations. Short lifespan, or the shortcomings of the company that made it (IE: Bad Customer Service/Tech Support). I'm not cutting corners this time. Research led me to Digital Storm. And I'm hoping that this time I'll have a PC that will serve all my needs as both a gamer and a streamer (with hopes of making a career out of it). Expectations: A gaming rig capable of handling all that I want and need. High, fluid frame-rate with as few drops as possible in games running on their highest settings. All while being able to easily handle streaming software (OBS, Ankhbot, Twitch Alerts, etc.) with as little strain as possible. I also am hoping that it lasts 5+ years without any sort of hitch. Really, the longer lifespan the better. Because I have *no* experience in building/repairing computers myself (Not to mention shaky hands), and unfortunately the local repair shops are only experienced with more simple rigs. (Neither of the two I've gone to have even heard of water cooling before...) Honestly, when my warranty runs out. I'd be willing to pay money to Digital Storm for me to send it in for repairs/replacement part installation. I would only trust them to handle their own product considering that this is their custom work. Budget: Simply put? I've got around $14500 to spend, not including taxes and shipping. Special notes: RAID 1 will be set on the 2 4TB HDD's. Not the 2 1TB SSD's. Monitor ordered will be the second in a dual monitor set up. One monitor is committed to programs and what-not while the other (the one ordered) will be committed to games. Here is my planned setup. Please give your thoughts and advice on the matter. Keep in mind: This is SUPPOSED to be overkill (while still within my budget range). Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS Aventum II Exterior Finish: Onyx Black Matte Finish with Red Stand Trim Accents: - Not Available Processor: Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 5960X 3.0GHz (Eight-Core) (Extreme Performance) Motherboard: ASUS X99 RAMPAGE V (Intel X99 Chipset) System Memory: 32GB DDR4 2800MHz Corsair Dominator Platinum DHX (Extreme-Performance) Power Supply: 1500W Corsair AX1500i (Digitally Controlled Power) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Optical Drive: Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs) (Slim Slot Loading Edition) Storage Set 1: 2x SSD (1TB Samsung 850 PRO) Storage Set 2: 2x Storage (4TB Western Digital - Black Edition) Storage Set 3: - No Thanks RAID Config: RAID 1: Mirroring: Drive Failure Data Fault Tolerance Protection (Requires 2 HDDs) RAID Card: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Graphics Card(s): 4x SLI Quad (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 4GB (ASUS Strix Edition) Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio HPC Processor: - No Thanks Extreme Cooling: H20: HydroLux Copper: Digital Storm Copper Pipe Custom Cooling System (Video Cards + CPU + Chipset) H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected Chassis Fans: Upgrade All Fans to Corsair Airflow Performance Edition (Up to 6 Fans) Internal Lighting: Digital Storm RGB LED Lighting System (Requires Thermal Management Control Board & Software) Airflow Control: Digital Storm Thermal Management Control Board & Software Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Noise Reduction: Noise Suppression Package Stage 1 (Optimized Airflow & Fan Speeds Only) LaserMark: - No Thanks Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires High-End Motherboard Selection) Boost Graphics Card(s): Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory Boost OS: Yes, Disable and tweak all of the non-crucial services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (64-Bit Edition) Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD) Virus Protection: FREE: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 Value) Office: - No Thanks Game: - No Thanks Display: Asus ROG SWIFT 27 inch PG278Q (G-SYCN) (144Hz Refresh) (2560 x 1440 Resolution) Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K95 (Fully Mechanical Gaming Keyboard) (Black Brushed Aluminum Finish) Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M95 (Laser 8200 dpi) (MMO and RTS Gaming Mouse) (USB Wired) Portable Gaming: - No Thanks Branded Gear: - No Thanks Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 15-20 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 6 Year Limited Warranty (6 Year Labor & 4 Year Part Replacement) |
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hoserator
DS Veteran We don't need no stinking "Avatars" ! Joined: 08 Oct 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 7942 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 2015 at 4:00am |
Hi,
Have an Aventum with basically the same specs. (no strix but yes to 4x980s, 512 SSD Pro on primary same on rest and have two AX1200i). It runs two monitors, 1080 and 1440 Swift and I play Starcraft II with max settings at 120-140fps. I don'k know the frame speeds of other games but all on max.- Civ V, C&C. Temps in 30-40s C and quiet. I don't think that the 4th card gets used at all but..... I have flexible tubing. I thought that if I ever had to mess with anything, the copper or hard tubing would make things harder. (Have ruined many a carburetor intake steel tube.) Have had to refill the reservoir once (70ml). Got the system in Nov '14. Arrived with a loose memory stick and an unlocked second one. (has 8x4) The loose one was changed by DS since it appeared that it was damaged- problems booting up and shutting down. Have had no major issues since that I could not fix. Most of the things I have had to do, minor, are resolved by people in this forum. They are very helpful and knowledgeable (some have a sense of humor) and more importantly, DS appears to stand behind their product. BTW, it is HUGE, you are not going to want to ship it anywhere once you get it. I had freight shipping and it used up the pallet it came in! You might want to ask DS about the Aventumm III since it might be available soon. Everybody that looks at mine laugh at the size and innards. Hope this helps. |
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ArkansasWoman777
DS Veteran Joined: 19 Aug 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4314 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 2015 at 6:02am |
I do wish to point something out you don't really need DS to tweak and disable things on the OS as it comes in bloat free and honestly you won't really know what they disabled
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"Captain Sirius Black"
Storm Trooper i5 3570k Ordered: 11-27-12 Stage 1: 11-29-12 Stage 2: 12-2-12 Stage 3: 12-2-12 Stage 4: 12-4-12 Stage 5: 12-4-12 Stage 6: 12-10-12 Stage 7: 12-12-12 |
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bprat22
DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 2015 at 6:22am |
Looks great to me. If you want the best money can buy in a case that few have, you've certainly done it.
Go for it. |
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Pacesetter
Groupie Joined: 19 Jan 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 379 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 2015 at 11:43am |
A dream machine is all about overkill. : )
It looks to me like you nailed it. I'm cautious about overclocking video cards but the strix should handle it. Enjoy the dream, the best ones don't come often! |
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Vanquish II Ultimate.
I was laying in bed looking up at the stars and wondered "where is my ceiling?" |
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michaeljhuman
Groupie Joined: 09 Jan 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 297 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 2015 at 4:11pm |
4 way SLI seems to be a waste of money. And I like spending money on gaming PCs. 3 way I can understand, because there's significant gain from 2 to 3, and if you are trying to do 4k @ 60fps in all games, heck you might need 3 way, at least until something better comes on the market than the 980.
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"The other day, I shot an elephant in my pajamas. What an elephant was doing in my pajamas, I will never know"
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DS Veteran Joined: 28 Oct 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1674 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 2015 at 5:00pm |
If you really want overkill and can wait a few weeks, the Titan X will be launching. They will have a lot more video memory and can handle dual UHD/4K monitors. The Aventum 3 also comes out sometime in the near future.
I'd change the 2 x 4TB drives in RAID 1 to a 4 x 2TB drives in RAID 10. The 2TB drives have better reliability and the stripping of the RAID configuration will improve the performance. You could actually have a larger RAID array as the chipset RAID controller will support up to 6 drives in it. Both the Aventum 2 & 3 have 8 drive bays in them. |
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The Mad Gypsy
Newbie Joined: 15 Mar 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 2015 at 11:55pm |
Unfortunately I fear the Titan X will be beyond my financial reach. Not
to mention, historically it has seemed that the Titan series as a whole
work best with Workstation Builds rather than full-on Gaming Rigs.
As for the hard-drive choices, I mostly went for the 4TB because I know for a fact that I WILL need the additional storage space. I don't know how 4 x 2TB's under Raid 10 would work, but I know for a fact that the current setup I've got logged in my configurator will give me enough room. ... For the time being, at least. -- As for my setting for overclocking and having the OS tweaked, I dunno... I trust Digital Storm in that endeavor. I doubt they'd ruin the OS with their touch-ups. And their overclocking (so they claim) is top notch and tested to ensure full stability. Though I am curious. A question to everybody: What are your experiences with DS's overclocking? Is it worth going all the way with the CPU and GPU overclocking options? I just hope it doesn't arrive with any issues or damage. Slotting back in any loose memory sticks shouldn't be too bad. ... But anything beyond that? I'd be in a panic. |
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DS Veteran Joined: 28 Oct 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1674 |
Quote Reply Posted: 16 Mar 2015 at 12:16am |
Later this week at NVIDIA's GTC, hopefully we'll get a clearer picture of what they're doing with the GM200 chip on the Titan X. Some of the latest indicators are that there will be a cut-down version in the guise of the 980 Ti.
RAID 10 is RAID 0 stripping of two sets of RAID 1 mirrored drives. If you do have a lot of information to store, then yes, I would stick with the 4TB drives. The $/GB is best at the 2TB level right now and there are performance advantages with a RAID 10. |
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Pacesetter
Groupie Joined: 19 Jan 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 379 |
Quote Reply Posted: 16 Mar 2015 at 12:19am |
MY computer was overclocked from 3.5 to 4.2 and has been perfectly stable and a big boost to the performance.
This is a pretty good description of raid 1 vs raid 10. http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2011/10/raid10-vs-raid01/ |
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Vanquish II Ultimate.
I was laying in bed looking up at the stars and wondered "where is my ceiling?" |
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ArkansasWoman777
DS Veteran Joined: 19 Aug 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4314 |
Quote Reply Posted: 16 Mar 2015 at 2:23am |
I honestly had to turn off overclock cause it gave me the BSOD when i first got it.
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"Captain Sirius Black"
Storm Trooper i5 3570k Ordered: 11-27-12 Stage 1: 11-29-12 Stage 2: 12-2-12 Stage 3: 12-2-12 Stage 4: 12-4-12 Stage 5: 12-4-12 Stage 6: 12-10-12 Stage 7: 12-12-12 |
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The Mad Gypsy
Newbie Joined: 15 Mar 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3 |
Quote Reply Posted: 16 Mar 2015 at 2:45am |
Oh geez! D: Well, hopefully they'll test the overclocking a good bit before shipping it over.
ArkansasWoman777, when would it blue screen when the overclocking was on? On boot-up? Or elsewhere? Admittedly I've never dealt with overclocking before, so I wouldn't even know how to turn it off if I had to. : l |
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bprat22
DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply Posted: 16 Mar 2015 at 2:52am |
It's not common but not unusual for a newly arrived rig with overclocking to BSOD, etc on booting or later. It's stable at the DS facility but alters a bit in a different environment. A call to DS where they tweak the voltage for example is an easy fix. Once they adjust it, the overclocking is good to go.
Hope this helps. |
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bprat22
DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply Posted: 16 Mar 2015 at 3:28am |
If you wanted to turn off the overclocking, just go into Bios, DEL key while booting, and load defaults. DS keeps their overclocking in a saved Profile under Tools tab for some mobo, to load it later.
With water cooling, loading Defaults might also mean going to Monitor tab in Bios and putting the cpu fan to ignore. With water, the cpu fan header on the mobo isn't used and will give you a warning when you boot if not set to ignore. It's all easier when your in Bios then trying to explain it. It's just a small learning curve. |
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ArkansasWoman777
DS Veteran Joined: 19 Aug 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4314 |
Quote Reply Posted: 16 Mar 2015 at 11:43am |
When i first turned it on, i'm sure it was stable though when they were overclocking it. But like Bprat said, it's stable at the DS facility but alters a bit in a different environment. Edited by ArkansasWoman777 - 16 Mar 2015 at 11:45am |
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"Captain Sirius Black"
Storm Trooper i5 3570k Ordered: 11-27-12 Stage 1: 11-29-12 Stage 2: 12-2-12 Stage 3: 12-2-12 Stage 4: 12-4-12 Stage 5: 12-4-12 Stage 6: 12-10-12 Stage 7: 12-12-12 |
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Krudd
Groupie Joined: 22 Nov 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 111 |
Quote Reply Posted: 16 Mar 2015 at 8:31pm |
I thought the CPU overclocking was worth it. Mine is at 4.6GHz stable and there was a decent amount of manual tweaking in the BIOS.
The GPUs on the other hand, not so much. They barely did anything and I was able to overclock my video cards significantly higher on my own. Let me know if you have any specific questions, or search some of my previous threads if you'd like. I built a very similarly configured system back in December. |
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Aventum II
HydroLux Copper i7-5930k ASUS Rampage V - X99 32GB DDR4 4 x GTX980 3 x ASUS PG278Q ROG Swift |
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db188
DS Veteran Joined: 29 Jul 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2115 |
Quote Reply Posted: 17 Mar 2015 at 2:33am |
search the internet and you'll find some believed to be legit performance leaks of the GM200 (titan x), cut down GM200 (GTX 980ti) and the AMD 390X. the 390X crushes the 980ti and is a better performer than the Titan X in all but power draw. and you can bet that the Titan X will be far more expensive than the 390X. oh, and the 390X is said to come with 8GB of HBM instead of the 4GB we were led to believe (could explain why they pushed back release to June). i plan on having 2 of these AMD cards (on custom water loop of course) in my new Aventum III (if DS will provide us with some ETA info...hint, HINT) build later this year. |
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DS Veteran Joined: 28 Oct 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1674 |
Quote Reply Posted: 17 Mar 2015 at 8:13am |
I think the Aventum 3 will be available (Q2 time frame) before the R9 390X (late Q2 to early Q3), so I wouldn't worry about that.
Yes, I've seen all of the rumored performance leaks...I want to see more than synthetic benchmark scores, though. For the memory with the R9 390X, I think the rumors are they'll have both a 4GB and 8GB version, like how there are with the R9 290X. |
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Clay
Senior Member Joined: 11 Apr 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 526 |
Quote Reply Posted: 22 Mar 2015 at 7:42pm |
Complete monster of a system!!
and I thought I went over board with my specs!! Edited by Clay - 22 Mar 2015 at 7:42pm |
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I7 13700KF 5.4hz
ASUS Prime z790 MoBo ASUS Dual 4070 32g ram@5200 850 Gold PSU 1TB SSD 2TB SSD 27" ASUS Monitor 144hz Razer Ornata Chroma Keyboard Razer Basilisk V2 Mouse Nari Ultimate Headset |
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