A few questions about a new order.

[stephenmfc]

Hello,

I am looking at buying the 3XS Intel X58 Core i7 - Custom PC Premium Grade. I have decided on,

System Overview

Custom Coloured Cases: *No Custom Colour Required*
CPU: Intel i7 920 2.66Ghz 4.8GT s QPI @ 3.8Ghz+ with 20% OC (D0 Step)
CPU Coolers: Corsair Cooling™ Hydro Series H50 High-performance CPU Cooler
Overclocking: 3XS System Core-Logic Overclocking*10 - 20%*
NVIDIA Graphics - Multi GPU SLI Options Available: 896MB XFX GTX 275 640MHz GPU 240 Cores 2268MHz GDDR3
Power Supply Unit: 650 Corsair HX Series Modular PSU (Single Graphics Card)
System Drives: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 7200rpm 32MB Cache
Storage Hard drives: *Storage Hard Drive Not Required*
Solid State Drives: *Solid State Drive Not Required*
Floppy Drive Flash Card Readers & Writers: Akasa AK-ICR-07S 3.5" Internal Multi Mem. Card Reader Incl. M2 Micro SD & USB port
DVD Writer: Sony AD-7240S-0B - 24x DVDRW
Blu Ray Reader Writer: *Blu Ray Not Required*
Sound Card: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio - PCI-E (x1)
Gaming Network Card: *Use On Board Network Port*
Internal External (USB) Wireless Adaptors: *Wireless Adaptor Not Required*
Case Cooling Fans: *After Market Fans Not Required - Use Fans Included with Case*
Lighting Effects: Sharkoon 4" Blue CCFL 2in1 Kit
Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32 64bit - Retail PreOrder Release 22 10 09
Software - Application: Microsoft Office 2007 - 60 Day Trial
Software - DVD Blu Ray Decoding: CyberLink PowerDVD 9 - Movie Audio Player & Decoder Software
Software - Security: *No Software Required*
Software - Hottest PC Games: *No Software Required*
TFT Monitor: *Monitor Not Required*
NVIDIA 3D Vision TFT Monitor - Requires NVIDIA Graphics Card: *NVIDIA 3D Vision Not Required*
Gaming Keyboard : *Gaming Keyboard Not Required*
Gaming Mouse Option: *Gaming Mouse Not Required*
Gaming Mouse Mat: *Gaming Mouse Mat Not Required*
Speakers: *Speakers Not Required*
Headphones: *Gaming Headphones Not Required*
Extended Warranty: Standard 3XS System Warranty - 2 Years (1st Year Onsite 2nd Year Return to Base)

I am not sure about,

Do any of these offer anything more than the others.

Case,
Silverstone Fortress FT01B-W Tower Case Black Aluminum
Silverstone TJ09B-W Black Aluminium Full Tower Case
Coolermaster RC-1100 V2 Cosmos

Memory,
6GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3, PC3-12800 (1600) CAS 8 (£109.92)
6GB (3x2GB) Corsair Dominator DDR3, PC3-12800 (1600) CAS 8 (£128.12) add £18.20

Not too sure if there is a big performance difference in the memory.

The other thing is the CPU OC, apart from heat is there any drawbacks to picking the 20% over the 10% OC. Would it be alot more noisy for example.

Thanks.

[inter8ection]

As someone who has also just ordered a new Scan 3XS build, I would have the following suggestions:

• Check out the P55 Custom OC Series, using the Core i7 Lynnfield 2.8Ghz, which they overclock
• If you don't decide use their overclocking BIOS profile (for whatever reason), the P55 2.8Ghz should prove quicker than the X58 2.66Ghz, as it is a newer chip and supports Intel's Turbo Boost tech, which will overclock a single core and switch off the other cores automatically if you are running a hungry single threaded app (like a game)
• Then consider upgrading to the ATI 5870, which is the fastest single GPU card, and supports DirectX 11 used in Windows 7
• This will be cheaper and faster than your proposed build
• If you still have some cash to spare, add an SSD system drive for the most noticeable overall system performance improvement
• Or you can add 4GB RAM to make 8GB of RAM total (Corsair XMS is fine btw)
• For the case I went for Coolermaster Cosmos (not the S model) as it has acoustic dampening built in for quieter operation. Hexus has good reviews on both the Cosmos and the Cosmos S

[stephenmfc]

Thanks for the help.

I have ordered.