building a pc

[EnFlAmE]

no computer can run crysis on max (very high), not even close. you can triple SLI the new nvidia 280 cards ($600 each) and overclock the hell out of a quad extreme and you still wouldn't be able to do very high with full AA/AF at a playable fps.

i only read the first post in the thread and saw someone say E8400 was superior - yes, it's a good chip, and the best current one for CURRENT *gaming*,

hrm?

Also for a quad to be realy effective a program needs to coded multithreaded and sadly most programs aren't coded that way yet.

[tragiK]

hrm?

Also for a quad to be realy effective a program needs to coded multithreaded and sadly most programs aren't coded that way yet.

absolutely - my justification for the quad is that if you don't plan to upgrade your entire computer in the next 2 years, go with the quad, because more and more programs will take advantage of the 4 cores, especially those that fit of rage is using. considering the E8400 and the q6600 are exactly the same price, i'd go with the one that's bound to have a longer lifespan before being obsoleted.

[Displaced]

heres a setup i could buy here for 800USD, should be a bit cheaper stateside.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 (2,66 GHz)
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3 (Intel P35)
2x 2 Gt A-Data Vitesta PC2-6400 (5-5-5-18-2T)
BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC (625 / 900 MHz)
Samsung SpinPoint T166 (500 Gt)
Samsung SH-S203B/BEBN DVD+-RW
NZXT Hush Silent Case
Cooltek CT500 PSU (500 W)

[PUNK rock]

Only thing is some of the reviews say it can't overclock. If I'm gonna be running a dual core at 1333 with potentially 8GB of ram (eventually), will I even need to overclock? It's gonna run so freakin' fast on its own.

The E8400 is an excellent choice. Overclocking is entirely up to you and your needs. If you do decide to overclock, you're going to want to look into an aftermarket CPU heatsink and fan, perhaps more case fans as well.

Only thing I didn't like about that board was the 5 PCI slots. No real need for that many. I'd try to find a board with eSATA, if you plan on getting a newer external hard drive.

[Ewan]

no computer can run crysis on max (very high), not even close. you can triple SLI the new nvidia 280 cards ($600 each) and overclock the hell out of a quad extreme and you still wouldn't be able to do very high with full AA/AF at a playable fps.

I am 100% sure it was on VeryHigh. Not 100% sure on the AA, I think it was on 2x, perhaps 4x, definitely not any more. And have no clue what the AF was on, but that doesn't make as much of a hit as AA.

Also, maybe what you said is true for a stupidly big monitor, but a 1280 x 1024 can play Crysis at very high (not maxxed out AA, but I never said that).

[Tone]

ascendtech.us click AMD computers, No OS

youll spend 400 for the same thing others are posting for 800

right now i am on a 250 dollar ascendtech computer. it has an AMD dual core 5000+ CPU

for more info go to the tech forum and click my second newest thread there.

[Displaced]

not quite, the setup i posted earlier comes to 1125.90 on Ascendtech, which is over 350 dollars more expensive, and it doesn't have all "brand name" components.

[Fit of Rage]

So I thought it was appropriate to bump this thread considering I am now typing from my new PC.

Built it in about 6-7 hours from opening boxes to typing this. Here are the final specs:

Cooler Master Centurion Case
E8400 Dual Core 3.0 GHz 1333 FSB 6MB cache
4GB Corsair XMS PC6400 DDR2
Gigabyte EP35-DS3L mobo
EVGA 8800GT 512 MB 256-bit
250GB Seagate HD 16MB cache
Lite-On 20X DVD-RW writer
19" Dell Widescreen Monitor
Vista 64-bit Home Premium

Everything worked flawlessly the first time. Installing Vista took about 30-40 minutes but no big deal there. Now everything's great. Thanks everyone for your input.

[Izor]

lol i just built mine too...

evga 680i
2x evga gtx 260 (got an 800 watt power supply but it cant handle SLI mode
Q6700
4GB corsair PC8500
too lazy for the rest...still pissed off my power supply didnt have 4x 6 pin connector for these 260's now i gotta drop another 150

EDIT: oh, a 24" monitor thats waaaayyy too huge to play ss on rofl

[Stylez]

Goto http://www.pricewatch.com for some really good savings on computer hardware and software. It's basically just a search engine on computer related appliances that lists out all the prices from various, secured, websites. I bought all my parts using it, saved a ton of money.

[404 Not Found]

lol i just built mine too...

evga 680i
2x evga gtx 260 (got an 800 watt power supply but it cant handle SLI mode
Q6700
4GB corsair PC8500
too lazy for the rest...still pissed off my power supply didnt have 4x 6 pin connector for these 260's now i gotta drop another 150

EDIT: oh, a 24" monitor thats waaaayyy too huge to play ss on rofl

I really like the evga 680i. It's not a beginners motherboard, as they really didn't have any instructions that came with it...at least the evga nForce 680i LT didn't. Has a Core 2 Quad Q9300 775 2.50 Ghz chip on it. I didn't go the 800W PS direction, as I only put a 610W SLI Silencer ATX Power Supply in my system...that and matched total of 4 gigs of Corsair Dual Channel SLI ram. Adding the 2 vid cards...went with 8600's GT over the 8800...it's a work system and not a gaming system unfortunately.

Regardless the SLI made a difference in using the design and 3D CAD programs we utilize. Would love to do some gaming on them..oh well.

My only problem has been doing MS updates...seems as if MS doesn't know if I need the 64 or 32bit updates...I have to always do them manually. Could be just a Vista bug too.

[Noah]

Congratulations on your new PC, the final specs turned out very good and I'm sure you got it cheap!

I didn't see anything about a powersupply in there, so I'm hoping you just forgot to mention it. You really need to have the power you need, or else you might damage some parts in it in a short time. General rule is to have 25% more power than your computer will ever need. I got a Corsair Powersupply 620W, and it's an overkill, but then I also know that this computer will have a long lifespand.

If you need help with it in the future, you know where to ask.

[PUNK rock]

2x evga gtx 260 (got an 800 watt power supply but it cant handle SLI mode

too lazy for the rest...still pissed off my power supply didnt have 4x 6 pin connector for these 260's now i gotta drop another 150

Nvidia has a list of PSUs that are SLi capable and would have the right amount of connections you need.

[Stylez]

If I were you guys I'd wait on getting a new graphics card. They're implementing the physics cards into the new graphic cards coming out. Basically you will be able to run Crysis and such games without all the frame loss due to massive amounts of rendering.

[Noah]

If I were you guys I'd wait on getting a new graphics card. They're implementing the physics cards into the new graphic cards coming out. Basically you will be able to run Crysis and such games without all the frame loss due to massive amounts of rendering.

I honestly don't see the need of waiting. There isn't anything announced that will require a stronger computer than Crysis, and more and more games are moving over to consoles. The 8800GT cards are cheap enough now anyway that even if you need a new one after a year, it would still be worth it. Since there isn't anything announced then it will be atleast a year before another game comes up that needs a better computer than Crysis. I honestly don't think Crysis is good enough to spend much more on my graphic card just to get better graphics.