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dudewth

[H]|G Minecraft Division Leader
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Jul 13, 2002
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Please let me know how much of an improvement I'll see going from my current rig to my planned config. I've been out of the game for a couple years now. I've been busy modding and reading about my car and have let computer hardware get the better of me. I've been reading reviews recently and am just trying to see if I'm going in the right direction.

Here's my current rig:
CPU: Athlon64 3500+ Venice (s939)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra (nforce4)
RAM: 2x1GB Corsair DDR400
Video: XFX 6800GT (256MB)
HDs: Raptor 36GB + Maxtor 300GB SATA 16MB Cache
Case: Antec P180 w/ nexus silent 120mm all around
PSU: Antec Phantom 350W
Sound Card: M-Audio something or another
DVD: NEC DVD-RW

The one good thing about this rig is it's dead silent. I have Thermalright coolers on my cpu and video card, all silent-ish case fans and a passive psu. I don't expect these same results from my planned rig, but I don't want anything too loud.

The plan is to give this rig (minus the case+sound card) to my parents if they ever move back to the US (dad's an ex-pat). I've been playing Oblivion a couple times a week recently and am not too happy with my fps, even at 1024x768 and so-so details. I don't play many video games now but I might start to if I find a few I like.

Here's the planned rig for now:
CPU: Q6600 (mild OC probably w/ Thermalright U-120)
Mobo: P965 chipset most likely, maybe P35
RAM: 2x2GB DDR2 (almost same price as 4x1GB but with future expandability)
Video: 8600GTS, 8800GTS or 8800GTX (my biggest question)
HDs: Raptor 150GB + 750GB 16MB Cache (or 2x500GB 16MB)
Case: Antec P180 (reusing)
PSU: Ultra X3 1000W
Sound Card: M-audio card (reuse) or onboard
DVD: SATA 20x DVD-RW

My biggest concern is the video card. I'm leaning towards the 8800GTS right now. Does everything look good to last me about 3 years as my current rig has? TIA.
 
I'm old also, so maybe I missed where you listed your monitor? :eek:
If your monitor only supports 1024x768, a GTX would be overkill. If mine, I'd go with a GTS 640 even at that low resolution for breathing room on future games.

Yes that setup should last 3 years easy. As newer games are released, of course the amount of eyecandy you can play with enabled will lower.
 
Kowan said:
I'm old also, so maybe I missed where you listed your monitor? :eek:
If your monitor only supports 1024x768, a GTX would be overkill. If mine, I'd go with a GTS 640 even at that low resolution for breathing room on future games.

Yes that setup should last 3 years easy. As newer games are released, of course the amount of eyecandy you can play with enabled will lower.
Click to expand...

I did forget to list my monitor :eek: I have a Dell 2005FPW. I was thinking that I'd wait a while to upgrade...but I really want a 24" that does 1920x1200. I have an HP 24" at work and I love it. That'll be a whole nother round of research as there are so many brands!

I'm definitely ok with having to lower my expectations over time. I've already coped with that with the current rig. 1024x768 wasn't my choice, I just couldn't stand the slow downs at higher resolution. With more than a few characters on screen in Oblivion I get in the single digit fps even at that resolution. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the feedback!
 
I'm running a 2407WFP on a GTX, so I'll be bias and say I love it. :p
With newer games coming out, even the GTX will be long in the tooth in 3 yrs.

So if planning on upgrading to a 24in, I'd suggest a GTX.
 
go wtih the GTX, also get a p35 board since they are pretty much the norm to go with. Also for your HD setup, its very similar to mine as I use a 150gb raptor as my OS drive and 2x750gb drives in a raid 1 as my backup setup. If your data is critical then i would go wtih the 2x500gb ine a raid or 1 x750gb right now. Try to avoid raid 0 for your data drive.
 
I know all about the waiting game, but I would wait at this point for the next line of Intel CPU's to come out in the next few months. That is exactly what I am doing even though my 3800 X2, totally sucks for gaming.

I'm also looking foward to the fun of overclocking a next gen CPU.
 
AthlonXP said:
go wtih the GTX, also get a p35 board since they are pretty much the norm to go with. Also for your HD setup, its very similar to mine as I use a 150gb raptor as my OS drive and 2x750gb drives in a raid 1 as my backup setup. If your data is critical then i would go wtih the 2x500gb ine a raid or 1 x750gb right now. Try to avoid raid 0 for your data drive.
Click to expand...

I probably will end up with the GTX if I get the new monitor. Ahhhh decisions! :eek:

I'm very familiar with RAID sets. I work for a major vendor developing servers and storage (mostly storage). I'm used to using hw SAS RAID controllers with 15k SAS drives...so SATA just feels slow, especially when resyncing. There's nothing like a controller with a 512MB cache. I'll probably retain my old 300GB drive as a backup for my critical stuff now that I think of it. All of my games and movies aren't critical, mostly just my music and I don't have too much of it.
 
eddie500 said:
I know all about the waiting game, but I would wait at this point for the next line of Intel CPU's to come out in the next few months. That is exactly what I am doing even though my 3800 X2, totally sucks for gaming.

I'm also looking foward to the fun of overclocking a next gen CPU.
Click to expand...

Yea I've been reading about the next gen procs they're coming out with. I hate the hardware industry. ;)
 
dudewth said:
I hate the hardware industry.
Click to expand...

I love it, watching people buy the latest and greatest for $3000 and complaining when in 3 months it's worth $300. :p

Anyway, @ your planned resoloution a GTX is a must, also do you really think you will ever need more than 4gb of RAM? (well, within the next 5 years). Finally I havn't heard of that PSU much before so I would reccomend going with something like the Thermaltake Toughpower 750w or perhaps the 1000w if you want to keep it for a while.
 
RoBo said:
I love it, watching people buy the latest and greatest for $3000 and complaining when in 3 months it's worth $300. :p

Anyway, @ your planned resoloution a GTX is a must, also do you really think you will ever need more than 4gb of RAM? (well, within the next 5 years). Finally I havn't heard of that PSU much before so I would reccomend going with something like the Thermaltake Toughpower 750w or perhaps the 1000w if you want to keep it for a while.
Click to expand...

haha, that's why I try to never buy the most expensive stuff. I'll get mid-high mid range every few years. The GTX is almost in that upper range though...

I don't know if I'll need more than 4GB of RAM...probably not. With the price being almost the same I figure why not.

Here's the PSU: http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTMxNywsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0

Also, the 1600W version that is on the main [H] page did pretty well.
 
Make sure you use Vista 64 bit or your wasting your money on the 4gig of ram
 
I would say wait for the x38 to come out. That way if you want to, you can use SLI with a second video card. I have the 965, and while I like the system, I have a BFG 8600 GTS OC, and though I have a 2nd PCI-E slot, I can't use it.

Also, avoid RAID 0. trust me.
 
jacuzz1 said:
Make sure you use Vista 64 bit or your wasting your money on the 4gig of ram
Click to expand...

That's the plan. MS did an event here at work and I got Vista Ultimate and Office 2007 Ultimate for free. I've just been waiting for my new computer to install them.
 
Modred189 said:
I would say wait for the x38 to come out. That way if you want to, you can use SLI with a second video card. I have the 965, and while I like the system, I have a BFG 8600 GTS OC, and though I have a 2nd PCI-E slot, I can't use it.

Also, avoid RAID 0. trust me.
Click to expand...

You're killing me. :D I see that it's supposed to debut quite soon. Maybe I will wait...and the vicious cycle starts.

I'm not doing any RAID for now, so no worries there.
 
Get a P35 M/B. If you're building a new system there is no reason to get a P965. And I can't see the X38 benefiting you since you seem to be someone who looks for mid-level "good value" purchases rather than overpriced cutting edge products.

As for graphics, either the 8800 GTX or the 8800 GTS 640MB will go with your 24" monitor. If you don't play many games or use 3D very often then the 8800GTS will be fine, but with the recent price decreases the GTX is a decent buy and will last longer. Your choice. Whatever you do, do NOT get the 8600GTS. You could run 2 in SLI and it'd still be painfully slow.

I don't think raptors are worth it compared to more modern drives that have speed and capacity.
 
Thanks, I think I read a few reviews about P35 boards from when they first came out and the argument was you don't get much more for the price...but since then they've come down. So I think they're much more competitive and might as well just get one.

haha point taken on the 8600 GTS. The ram bus width is quite a bit smaller, that was cause for concern when I was looking.

I need to just take home a prototype controller + SAS JBOD from work and call it a day.
 
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