New build QX6700 Dual 8800 GTX help reqd

PeakOutput

&#8364 wrote: »

What's the real risk of that peak? Has it happened to you? I was prepared to take the chance, considering it would be coming to a home not a business address.

i got a hardware sofwatre combo called serato scratch from the states for 450dollars instead of 600euro and that did not get stopped for vat but i bought a bike when i was much younger top of the range bmx for 1300dollars and that did(understandably so) which added about 300euro to price of thing i was not expecting

i reckon its 50-50 but i would say the business resident thing is the exact opposite seen as most business's would be registered for vat and therefore they dont pay vat themselves

JackieChan

I'd say the chances of been nabbed are even higher than 50-50.
Of the last three items that me or a friend has had shipped in from the states in the last month, 2 were subject to customs. The one thing that wasn't was a <10 dollar Nokia data cable.
I would assume +21% on those items and compare prices based on that....

Anti

ITs not worth the risk with customs. Unless you have a friend in the states who can take delivery for you and privatly ship it.

DanGerMus

i've had two packages posted to me in the last few weeks from US one worth $153 other was $69.55. Neither got caught. I did hear once from someone that if it's below a certain amount customs dont bother but that could just be pub talk bullsheiser. But it was a pretty low amount E50 i think. so they'd be gettin 10 from that. I'd say it depends on the size of the package a bit too, they just assume that small package = less value. I'm sure they have some kind of sampling system cos there is no way they could get everything. Even so it might be cheaper to get it shipped including the tax.

Flaccus

Not sure what mobo you went with but the only 680i mobo that does not have the 300-320fsb limit with quad cores is Revision A1 of the EVGA 680i. A bit pricey though. Only place that has stock I can see is Scan.co.uk and they charge 60euro to deliver.

Best heatsink is now supposed to be the Thermalright Ultra 120 extreme. After that the Ultra 120 and Tuniq are tied.

One other thing, the fan on the EVGA mobo is noisy, and those heatpipes are not worth a damn. Same on all 680i boards. I would replace the Northbridge sink with a Thermalrigh HR05-SLi and add a quiet 120x25mm fan, and I would replace the Southbridge sink with a Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II. Stil have room for sli. If you are going with an Asus 680i mobo, you could also look into replacing the rubbish mosfet sinks witha pair of Thermalright HR-09's.

Regarding RAM, the Crucial DDR2 PC5300 has pretty decent Micron DM9H chips and overclocks as good as the more expensive Corsair 8500 stuff. Cheap too.

SwampThing

€>sense, how did you get on with the build?

€>sense

Picked up a dell 710 H2C on the dell outlet for €3072 in the end.

More or less satisfied with it:

QX6700 oc-ed to 3.2 guaranteed factory overclock
dual 8800 GTX really quiet - can't hear them
2 x 150GB raptors in Raid 0 - (whatever dell have done these are as quiet- if not quieter - as any other HD's I ever had)
sound blaster x-fi extrememusic
dvd - rw, dvd rom (noisiest componenent in the system)
2 Gb Ram - don't know what type
nvidia 590 mobo

The 1000w psu makes a strange crackling noise under load - kinda like a bee buzzing or something - its not loud but a bit annoying. This is a known issue and dell are unlikely to do anything about it. Never kicks in while I work, only have heard it when a game makes it work hard! (Far Cry with everything maxed out at 1600x1200 is a thing of extraordinary beauty). So its tolerable.

The H2C unit is not silent - but it is quiet the oc-ed qx6700 is low 20s or low 40s depending on the tool measuring at idle, and low 40s to low 60s under load (gaming not all 4 cores loaded). It makes a funny sort of trickling gurgling noise combined with a low fan noise - but is not noticeable either at rest or while gaming.

I like the look of the machine its huge aggressive looking and very well built. The case actually appears to be double walled with some kinda foam in between, but I haven't pulled anything apart to really investigate.

It has a handy 13-in-one card reader in front and leds front and back - the back ones are very useful for connecting things while its under the counter. The case fans are powerful and jet engine noisy while on full, but you only hear the jet when you switch on for a sec, then the fan controllers kick in and they're barely audable.

A couple of nits - it had no floppy drive or modem, and the irish spec H2C had a 500GB storage drive but although this was supposed to be a cancelled order, the 500GB drive wasn't included. These are however small issues and Dell customer care may sort them for me.

There is 24/7 special XPS customer care, based in Derry, these guys are actually good and easily resolved driver and Raid issues for me.

The really big issue of course is the slower mobo and memory: the new 720 has addressed this with a 680i mobo and corsair oc RAM, afaik I can upgrade to these for a fee later and retain the warranty.

So on balance, I'm happy. I'm a non-buzzing PSU, modem, floppy and storage drive from happy, but reckon Dell will come good on most of them or at least €100 will go a long way to resolve them. The mobo and ram speed issue I'm trying to be philosophical about, yes I could have waited for a 720 on the outlet, but when would that come about? or I could have built an equivalent to the 720, but my pricing was heading way above €3200 if using european suppliers.

I reckon I've value for money, support and warranty and delivery of a finished system in 10 days that without upgrading will get me a couple of years gaming before the slower RAM and mobo are noticable!

Thanks guys for all your help.