Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Ulala on July 14, 2007, 11:04:23 pm
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Hi guys,
It's finally that time again when I can afford to upgrade my computer. Since I'm still on AGP, IDE, and socket939, it's time to say goodbye to this old rig that has served me well and build myself a whole new one. So, here's what I've come up with and I'd like any opinions or feedback I can get. Thanks everyone! :)
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.asp?ID=7488807
hopefully the link works and the wishlist shows up or whatever.
Thanks again.
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it usually takes them about 24 hours to get posted. anyway make damn sure everythings still in stock when you place your order. their refund process, if it works at all and they dont jack you, can take over a month, thus tieing up your funds for a long period of time.
one thing i had a problem with was the so called "high performance gaming memory" i bought was incapable of running at its rated speed. try to buy memory that is approved by the mobo manufacturer.
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Thanks for the advice, hope the list shows up soon.. I'd like to order and get things underway! :nod:
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Your link doesn't work. Just post a list of the stuff here instead.
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(http://oregonstate.edu/~cornelic/newegg1.JPG)
(http://oregonstate.edu/~cornelic/newegg2.JPG)
Here's the links to each product in the same order as they are in the photos in case you want to view the details of a specific product:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827106070
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811129017
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16821152005
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822148140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16824009094
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817153038
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16823175103
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16826104178
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231098
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813130081
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835118003
I'm not entirely sure of the RAM, and I'd considered getting the 680i instead of the 650i motherboard, but couldn't really decide. I also kinda guessed on the power supply. I like the mobo because it can take 8 gigs of RAM, SLI-compatible, and quad-core compatible. Do you think I should get 2gig sticks instead of 1 gig sticks?
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The board and memory looks decent. I don't really know much about those particular ones. In general though, the P35 boards are better choices if you don't need SLI (and SLI should only be a serious consideration if you're planning to buy the second card in a few months). As for memory, the D9 chips are still the ones to get for 1GB sticks, but I'm not sure which packs come with them.
Instead of the 8800GTX, you're better off spending slightly more for this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127288), which is significantly faster with its 660mhz frequency. It will be great in current games, but expect mediocre performance in future DX10 games.
TT power supplies are somewhat hit or miss. If you're spending that much, get this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009) instead. I'm guessing this is for future proofing, as you only need something in the 550-600W range for that setup.
That monitor is okay but you can do better. Go for this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009105&Tpk=al2051w) instead. It's not as fast but has far superior image quality with its MVA panel and refractive coating. Although given the rest of your system, I would suggest going for the best, which is still this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824002320) even after 16 months.
The 9500 lags behind most other coolers these days and is a poor choice for that price. The Tuniq Tower is a much better performer and can be found for a similar price.
The G5 is probably a better choice than the MX518, if only for the better driver support (the 518 drivers are a little buggy and don't have a profile system). They recently released an updated G5 with an extra side button, although it's still missing the third small button on the top.
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Thanks for the advice, CP! Much appreciated, I'll make adjustments accordingly. What do you think about this monitor instead? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009111
Downside is I'd have to wait for it to come back in stock. Free shipping is always a plus though, assuming it sticks around long enough. I'd budgeted for about $2000, but could probably scrounge up enough for a $2500 system, just to give you an idea of my budget. Thanks again for your thoughts.
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id spend a little extra and get the e6700 instead. good processor.
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Thanks for the advice, CP! Much appreciated, I'll make adjustments accordingly. What do you think about this monitor instead? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009111
Downside is I'd have to wait for it to come back in stock. Free shipping is always a plus though, assuming it sticks around long enough. I'd budgeted for about $2000, but could probably scrounge up enough for a $2500 system, just to give you an idea of my budget. Thanks again for your thoughts.
I'm guessing you're referring to the AL2016WSD, which is the only one that's OOS on the list. The viewing angle means it's a TN, so it won't look nearly as good as the AL2051W I linked to earlier despite being priced higher. The AL2051W is actually quite an amazing deal at the moment and is better than some LCDs that cost twice as much.
If you're going over your budget, you can cut back on the power supply unless you're planning to get another video card soon (and even then it will probably be fine). The Corsair 620W is a great choice for $120 on Buy.com. You have to use Google Checkout to get the full discount though.
Also, note that the MSI 8800U comes with Company of Heroes, so if you factor that in, it's the same price as the GTXs.
id spend a little extra and get the e6700 instead. good processor.
They both top out at about the same level when overclocked. It's not really worth paying extra for it unless you're sticking with stock speeds.
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Hmmm, odd, the link doesn't work because the monitor isn't on the site anymore. Anyway, it was an Acer 22" widescreen, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 16.7mil colors, dunno about TN but prolly was anyway. I'll consider the other one you mentioned, but I really liked the idea of a 22" rather than just a 20". Here, to prove I'm not crazy, I even have a screenshot cause I still have a window of it open from a couple of days ago:
(http://oregonstate.edu/~cornelic/newegg3.JPG)
See? SEE?! I'm not hallucinating. It was there. :nervous:
Can you give me an example of memory with the d9 chips you mentioned? I'm not sure what you're referring to. (I suddenly feel so computer illiterate! doesn't happen often) Do you think 4gb of RAM be worth it rather than 2?
I would like to get another video card in the near future, the sooner I can the better. I probably won't be upgrading again for a long while after this (unless something in the machine dies) and would like to get it all done asap. Would an SLI setup like that just get bottlenecked elsewhere though?
Planning on overclocking or I wouldn't bother with the TTower heatsink. That thing looks massive.
Even with suggested changes, I'm still within budget by a few hundred. Thanks again for all your input. :)
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The 22" monitors are essentially all low end models and the 160/160 viewing angle confirms it's a 6-bit TN. The 20" ones are overall much better, as most of those are xVAs and IPSs with the same resolution. If you want something larger, look at the 24" ones instead.
What OS(s) are you planning to use? If you aren't planning to upgrade for a while, it's probably worth getting 4GB of memory (two 2GB sticks), but at the same time a 32-bit OS will only be able to use about 2.5GB of it with the video card you have. Driver support on Vista 64 is currently patchy (XP 64 is even worse) and I wouldn't recommend using it as your sole OS.
The Micron D9 chips are basically the top overclockers for 1GB sticks. This (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231090) and this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146567) use them from what I remember. I don't think there is anything equivalent for 2GB sticks, although in most programs, the memory speed isn't all that relevant beyond a point anyway. If you want to get 4GB, most of the 800mhz packs they have should work well enough. The G.skill one seems to be priced well.
There won't be any real bottleneck with two 8800Us (in fact, that might be the only way to play some of the DX10 games at max settings on current cards), but SLI has its own set of problems. There are still a number of odd bugs and game compatibility issues you'll run into. The Vista SLI driver support is also poor and it's been that way for quite a while, so you'll have to stick with XP for now.
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I'd planned on Vista Ultimate. Shame things are still patchy, I'll plan on dual-booting with trusty (ha) XP.
Ugh, don't think I can spend $500 on a monitor so no 24" for me. I'll take your advice though and go with the 20" AL2051W. I'm pretty sure I'll be glad I did. :) If it's a good deal, perhaps I should just order it now? Newegg doesn't offer shipping discounts (lame!) for ordering everything at once anyway.
I'm thinking of this for memory now: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122
With 4gb I won't have to upgrade for awhile, but will be able to with the extra slots in my mobo, assuming I ever needed to.
Would this mobo be better? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130080
Or is it more of a gimmicky thing with the creative sb x-fi, etc, etc..?
Finally, I know there's always some great new thing on the horizon that's going to blow everything that's currently the latest and greatest out of the water and drive down prices like crazy.. but would I be proverbially shooting myself in the foot by ordering this stuff now instead of waiting for a month?
Thanks again for walking me through this CP.
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Glad I could help.
The integrated X-fi on that board is actually a great addition, but it's way too expensive. You can get a separate X-fi and a cheaper board for the same price. There aren't any major differences between the 650i and 680i boards in general. The 680i has more PCIE lanes and the ability to use higher memory voltages, but neither one really overclocks any better than the other (the P35 beats them both).
The memory looks fine. That is the one I was referring to earlier; was just too lazy to link to it. :p
Nothing much is going to be out in a month. The AMD Barcelona is due in September, but it's increasingly looking like it's going to be a huge letdown. However, Nvidia is supposed to bring out their next gen G92 in November, which is around the time the major DX10 games will start coming out. It's worth considering getting a cheaper card (8800GTS 640 or 2900XT) right now and upgrading at that point, as those cards run current DX9 games very well and performance in the upcoming DX10 games is very much an unknown quantity at this point. So far, it doesn't look good at all in the few DX10 games out now. Two of the MSI 8800Us should run the DX10 stuff well, but you might also end up spending a lot more than you have to (and you may find SLI itself to be more trouble than it's worth like I did).
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Hmmm, good things to consider. Maybe I'll wait for November to roll around, and by then I'll have more money saved up for a bigger monitor... hmmm, gonna think/sleep on it. Thanks again for taking time to give me input CP. :yes: