Sell computer or upgrade...

N

noteworthy

Gawd
Joined
Jun 6, 2004
Messages
523
My computer its pretty good but the video card is definately lacking. I can't play COD 4 with any settings cranked or I drop down into single digit frames.

Current setup

Dell XPS 410
Dual Core 1.86 GHZ (E6300 I believe)
3 gig of ram running dual channel
320 gig hard drive
nvidia 7900 gs
triplehead2go digital running three LG 19" lcds
win xp mce 2005 blah blah blah
375w psu

I also have a file server on the side running:
athlon 64 bit 3000
1 gig of ram
1.3 TB of storage
cheap agp card
win xp pro blah blah
550w psu

I am probably considering selling my TH2G because I really don't use it for games and I could get a software fix to run my three monitors - hope to get around 275 for it since it cost me 320 bucks - this can go towards new hardware.


Either:
Buy a new video and psu for my dell xps system. I was thinking along the lines of the 9800 gx2 and a psu that pushes around 550-600w made for sli/crossfire. This would cost about $320 dollars


Or:
Sell my XPS410 and replace the motherboard,cpu,ram,vid card in my server to be my new gaming machine. my server basically just hosts my data so if my system gets wiped out my data is not lost.

I was looking at the phenom cpu/mobo 2x2gb ram, and that vid card for around 750 dollars.

What do you guys think?
 
You need a faster CPU, at least 3GHz to start getting the best out of 9800SLI or the new faster cards.
So you can keep your ram and motherboard if it supports the CPU you wish to buy (ie E7200 / E8400 if you want 45nM).

If you are happy with your second PC, keep it and put a few spares into it.
Its a shame you cant give it your old CPU, but hey.

If you get a new hard drive, get one of the 320GB per platter drives as they are very fast, practically silent and damn cheap.
The most common is the Western Digital 6400AAKS, I have the Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB.
 
Yeah I might just sell my file server and buy a new cpu and video card with psu. Are quad cores really worth it or would I be better off with a higher clocked dual core.


I haven't built computers or really kept up with parts since the day the athlon 64 was released.


Looking at this:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor - OEM $185 I know the quads run a bit hotter might have to upgrade the cooler. I read that you an run the quad core 2 chips after updating the bios on the dells as long as the fsb is the same which is it. 1066 mhz
 
It depends what you can get for your money (if that matters) and how much any extra power use affects your choice of PSU.
Theres not a lot in it for most games with both CPUs running the same speed. Quad is slightly ahead.
However you are likely to get a fair bit higher overclock out of a dual core so its not quite cut and dry.
for the mostpart, the extra speed from a more overclocked dual wont give any benefit but that may change.
There are a few games that do benefit well from Quad cores though and I'm sure more are coming.
So I would hedge my bets with a good overclocking quad if I was buying now.

PS I have an E8400 @ 4.1GHz and love it.
Luckily I dont have a reason to change yet but I know its coming, hopefully not for a year.
 
there really isn't too much different from the days of the good old athlon, just slightly higher voltage demandments from different components. i would say definately sell your dell, as it would not really be worth upgrading it...

you could go for something like this:

e7200 or e8400 if you want a faster chip and a higher OC, or Q9550/Q9650 if you wanted a quad.
at least a P45 motherboard, such as the gigabyte EP45 DS3L
2GB or 4GB of at least 800mhz ram (3GB in that dell is pretty damn pointless as it is hardly an improvement over 2GB)
nvidia or ATI card of your choice (look to the graphics section of the forum for advice) such as the GTX260, HD4850/70, or even a 4850X2 or 4870X2
a secondary GPU, such as an ATI 3450 or Nvidia 8400GS (Nvidia would mean physx support if you wanted it) This would only be necessary if you still wanted to run tri 19"ers** and you would also need a mobo with multiple PCIE slots, such as the EP45 DS4P
WD 640GB drive
a new DVD drive of some description
Corsair HX620/520 depending on your requirements
your choice of case to put all of the above into

do remember that Nehalem is coming out early next year, so you may consider waiting even just so that you buy the S775 stuff at a lower price if you don't want to go nehalem.

**: personally i would prefer to have 2 bigger screens, or even 3 screens in an arrangement such as: 19" - 24" - 19", where you run a game on the 24"er (off your primary card) and itunes or msn or whatever on the 19"ers. (this is what i have wanted to do for yonks :D) off the secondary card (8400GS or 3450 or whatever)
 
EVGA 256-P2-N733-LR GeForce 8400 GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814130316
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy

XFX GX260NADDU GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814150310
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy



Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound


CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF - Retail
Item #: N82E16820145197
Return Policy: Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy


Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115037
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835186134
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS4P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
A-DATA 2GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) Model PD15 2G

*

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS4P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813128346
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy

*

A-DATA 2GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) Model PD15 2G - Retail
Item #: N82E16820211340
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy


I have the hard drives in my server I can use - 1.3 TB and the power supply should be fine.
I love my monitor setup.

Heres a picture -
http://www.aliceband.net/images/extra/wide2.jpg

What do you guys think?

Total comes out to - $890 after shipping zero interest for a year - I can turn around and sell my xps, triplehead2go, and add a bit of cash in that time easy.
 
personally, i would keep everything from the xps except the mobo, case, and psu. I would transfer the ram, hd, cpu, and video card into a new case w/ a new mobo so you can oc. The e6300 should be able to do at least 3.0ghz
 
Thanks I've made the changes...


Will order it late tonight. Waiting for anyone else's suggestions.. still talking to people.

Dont worry about that power supply in the case. I have a nice one in my server I will switch it with...
 
Quick Question...

Is a GTX 280 worth the 170 dollars more than the GTX 260? Almost twice the price!
 
If you're gaming at a resolution of 1920x1200 then yes it is. Otherwise, not likely.
 
I'll probably play a few games 3072 x 768 but most will be run on a single monitor since anti-cheat software considers widescreen gaming in first person shooters cheating.

The GTX260 should work out nice.
 
Adakos said:
:confused:

Does it? What anti-cheat software are we talking about?

I know punkbuster used to have a problem with widescreening, but I was pretty sure they fixed it.
Click to expand...

COD kicks for 81353 I believe. Using widescreen fixer.

FOV changes beyond 85 are not allowed on servers. FOV should be around 130-140 for a surround setup.

Also battlefield 1942 kicks with this latest punkbuster update. 81005 or seomthing like that.

Really bothers me that they enabled this pb crap. Worry about aimbots/no-recoil/minimap, not three screen views that you paid for... You dont punish a guy for having a better video card with a ping of 9 on a server...
 
Just wanted to update you guys... got everything assembled and installed win xp already. Currently copying over my data and installing games! Flawless install except the GTX 260 has about a quarter of an inch clearance from one of my 500 gig hard drives.


System specs

E8400 3ghz stock so far
4 gig dual channel
GTX 260
8400 geforce gs
2x500 gig sata hard drives
1x620 gig main drive
triple 19" LG lcds


Very sexy boot time and monitors :)

Can't wait to play COD4 cranked up.
 
you can get 620GB hard drives? why did you not go for 640GB's like i suggested? they are a helluva lot faster than the 500GB drives

and the 8400GS may well limit your gaming potential for 3072x768
 
soundguy said:
you can get 620GB hard drives? why did you not go for 640GB's like i suggested? they are a helluva lot faster than the 500GB drives

and the 8400GS may well limit your gaming potential for 3072x768
Click to expand...
I've never seen a 620GB HDD... so its most likely a typo, with 320GB being the more likely size than 640GB (6 is above the 3).

I think the 8400GS is to supplement his GTX260 in powering 2 out of the 3 monitors.

Where's the pics!?!?!? :(
 
Yeah the 8400 just powers one monitor on the side... I haven't really taken any pictures yet but will soon.

I did start assembling at 8 pm. I stopped working on it at 3 am copying over my programs and data.

I will probably try softTH to link all three together. When you do this it uses the primary card to drive all monitors. The GXT260 will do all the processing and the 8400 will just serve as a signal sent to the monitor.


It is a 640 gig drive. Also my ram is showing up as 2.75 gigs with the dual channel 4 gig. I know this is because it is a 32 bit OS. I know this is an oversight but anything over 2 gigs is somewhat overkill anyway. When I had two gig chips and two 512 chips it showed up 3 gigs not 2.75 gigs...


As far as the computer it should be running at a bus of 333 x multi of 9 for the 3 ghz. If I push the FSB up to 444 and multi of 9 I'm looking at almost 4 ghz? I want to burn in the system a while before I start to OC.

As far as the case the rosewill is great. Compact but seems to keep the parts cool enough. The powersupply is junk that was with the rosewill case but my zalman 600hp is holding up great with the requirements of the gxt260, 8400, three hard drives, plus the extra 12v for mobo and the added4 ports to the atx power.

I plugged in that rosewill powersupply into my file server and powering two hard drives and a cheap video card plus the athlon 64 socket 775... I smelled something funny. Maybe it was just breaking in but I turned off the system.


Pictures to probably be uploaded tonight.
 
No need to burn in the system, unless you want the AS5 to cure, but its up to you.

/*------------- <cut n paste> -------------*/
Formulas for Intel platform @ 1:1 settings: (base FSB speed is SDR, or single data rate)
c × [Base FSB speed] = CPU Clock speed (c = CPU Multiplier)
2 × [Base FSB speed] = RAM speed (DDR: double data rate)
4 × [Base FSB speed] = Effective FSB speed (QDR: quad data rate)

On Intel platforms, running the RAM higher than a 1:1 ratio with the CPU is, for the most part, useless, so don't bother trying to do so. If the BIOS does it for you, just let it. All you need is a 1:1 config, though. Here's some possible clock speeds (as always with OC'ing, your results will vary):

E8400: 9 × 333 = 3.0Ghz, DDR2-667 << STOCK
E8400: 9 × 400 = 3.6Ghz, DDR2-800 << Easy OC
E8400: 9 × 433 = 3.9Ghz, DDR2-866 << Nice OC
E8400: 9 × 466 = 4.2Ghz, DDR2-933 << Good OC
E8400: 9 × 500 = 4.5Ghz, DDR2-1000 << Great OC
E8400: 9 × 533 = 4.8Ghz, DDR2-1066 << WOW OC
/*------------- </cut n paste> -------------*/
 
man, thats what i was trying to suggest with changing your monitor setup, use the GTX260 as your main, and the 8400 as your secondaries... whatever, sounds like it'll work well however you have it setup. now on to the OCing...

why only 1 640GB drive? did you already have the 500GB's?
 
I've had the two 500's in my HTPC. I just use them for network storage - media, etc.

I clocked my CPU at 4 ghz - Ram is running around 890 mhz. I could probably squeeze more out easily. Temp at idle is 47 C on CPU, 43 on MOBO.

For some reason my multi was at 8.5, bumped it up to 9 and then the bus up enough to hit 4 ghz.. about 440-445 mhz.
 
Running 15 minutes straight on Prime 95


Temp1-mobo- 48C
Temp2-cpu-66C
HD0-43C
HD1-50C
HD2-50C
Core0-76C
Core1-76C

peak that I saw... core fluctuated down and back slowly, cpu temp hanged aroudn 63C normally.
 
I wouldnt run my hard drives that warm.
As an indicator, my drives are currently idling at 23C max, room temp is 17C.
 
76C? thats rather high. 63C is much better. :p Intel's suggests keeping it under 60C at full load.
 
Probably need to work on case ventilation a little. Add a fan on the front of the case on the hard drives...

Still haven't taken pics but should soon. It's really tight in the case.
 
case doesn't look too bad... you've even done a pretty good job with cable management...

should be a good upgrade from your dell, so nice job on that. hope you enjoy that tri-screen goodness...
 
Is that heatsink fan pulling or pushing air through the HSF? If pulling or pushing in that particular spot, move the fan to the front of the heatsink and have it push air through.
 
Thanks for the comments.


I know about that heatsink! I was going to turn it the other way but the blades extend past the casing and would hit the heatsink if I put it on the other side. It's pulling air through the heatsink. Odd design. I would have figured pushing air would be more efficient.
 
The fan should be pushing air through the heatsink. Your heatsink is rotated, though. It should be facing the front of the case. The fan mounted on the heatsink should push air through the heatsink, and the rear case fan should pull that hot air out of the case. So you basically need to rotate it 180º.
 
For some reason it felt like air wasn't being pushed through that heatsink. I'll rotate it later this week.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top