New Computer

Fetus4188

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Apr 16, 2004
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Alrighty. So I've been hankering for a new computer that can play the newest games for a while now. My aim is a good gaming computer that will last me through college (3 years) under $1500. I think I have managed to come up with a system which can do that, but I still would appreciate input from the community here as to how I may improve the system or (gasp!) avoid compatibility issues. Enough of the blab, time for the goods:

Newegg Wishlist Thing



Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor

GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

HT OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card (optional)

SAMSUNG Black 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner With LightScribe Technology

Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW , SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
 
Compatability is why I hate building PCs from scratch. I suggest getting a pre-assembled PC that has been tested tons over to avoid issues. A good wishlist anyhow...though I didn't know there was already a 640MB vid card
 
Looks fine to me if it comes in under your budget. I don't like building systems myself either because you get less warranty I think, but if you know what you're doing... If you want to save money maybe go for a 320MB 8800GTS gfx card, they are almost as fast as the 640MB version, but a bit cheaper - depends what resolutions you want to play at though. Also, I am not really sure of the need for a PCI sound card... a lot of motherboards these days come with onboard surround sound that does a reasonable job - you will be hard pressed to notice the difference.
 
The problem with buying a pre-assembled PC is that I will get less of what I want, with lower performance, at higher cost, with bundled software I don't want.

With regards to the sound card: I may want to end up buying one eventually anyway, but I've decided that I will hold off and try out the on-board audio. If I feel I need the sound card its still pretty cheap and easy to add later.
 
Compatability is why I hate building PCs from scratch. I suggest getting a pre-assembled PC that has been tested tons over to avoid issues. A good wishlist anyhow...though I didn't know there was already a 640MB vid card

The 640mb card is essentially two of the 320mb cards in one, it takes up two PCI slots and is able to run as if one card through nVidia's SLI technology. Sorta like RAM.
 
The 640mb card is essentially two of the 320mb cards in one, it takes up two PCI slots and is able to run as if one card through nVidia's SLI technology. Sorta like RAM.
Nah, that's not how it works. It only uses 1 PCI-Express slot, but it takes up the space in another for the cooling system.

It's 1 GPU with 640MB of RAM. You can add another card with another 640MB of RAM to use SLI if you wished.
 
Ahh, I was mistaken then. Learn something every day.
 
The 640mb card is essentially two of the 320mb cards in one, it takes up two PCI slots and is able to run as if one card through nVidia's SLI technology. Sorta like RAM.

No definately not! It is the exact same card as the 320mb version but with more RAM. Check out the benchmarks and you will see that the 320mb & 640mb version perform nearly exactly the same except at extreme resolutions...
 
My suggestions:
Better take the 320 mb version. 640 is just a waste of money if you don't have a huge screen.
You don't really need a motherboard with SLI. SLI is something for people with too much money. A single 8800 GTS 320 will be just fine until the next generation of video cards comes out (and beyond if you don't need ultra high settings for all games).
Better take a motherboard with an intel P35 chipset. They support 1333 FSB and you will be able to upgrade your system with a better cpu in a year or two.
If you really do want to use SLI with second 8800GTS you should consider a better power supply. I doubt that 550W will suffice.
 
I strongly suggest you ignore the people who say 640MB is a waste of money. While it's true that only the highest end resolutions in TODAY'S games use it, it's ridiculous to think that's not going to increase rapidly with newer games. That'll be the fastest thing to bottleneck and the biggest performance detriment if you run out of money.

640MB is much more forward-thinking. As is having an SLI motherboard.

In 2 years, it'll be dirt cheap to add another 8800GTS to double your speed -- much cheaper than going with a new card.

GoodSarmatian: Both 680i and P35 support 1333MHz system busses (they can actually both clock much higher with ease). I'd stay away from the P35 for now -- you're paying for DDR3 which is useless right now and way more expensive. P38 will be a different story, but the 680i is the motherboard to get right now (especially for gaming). P35 is a more mainstream non-gaming motherboard (eg, only 1 true PCI-Express x16 slot and a lot of 1x, vs 2 PCI-Express x16, 1 PCI-express x8, and a lot of PCI-Express 1x).
 
Hey I was a UCLA student for a day when I was in HS. They recruited heavily at my HS.

The CPU world will change 7/22. Intel will be introducing CPU's that are 1333 FSB and discontinuing E6600, E6700 etc. You might want to check those out
as you may be able to get better performance for the price.
 
By high resolution, what do you guys mean? My current monitor is 1680x1050.
 
In 2 years, it'll be dirt cheap to add another 8800GTS to double your speed -- much cheaper than going with a new card.

I'm on my third generation of nvidia cards since getting my SLI capable motherboard. Every time I've upgraded video cards, I've considered going SLI, but it's always been cheaper and faster to sell my old card and buy a newer one.

Do you think games released a year from now will not require additional memory?

Especially new games using DX10, which will use the GPU for more things than DX9 by virtue of its larger featureset.

Yes, they'll also require more GPU speed, and will be slow regardless of the amount of memory. Take a look at current DX10 benchmarks, they don't exactly fly.
 
I'm on my third generation of nvidia cards since getting my SLI capable motherboard. Every time I've upgraded video cards, I've considered going SLI, but it's always been cheaper and faster to sell my old card and buy a newer one.
That's a very aggressive upgrade cycle for your GPU...it doesn't surprise me that the price hadn't come down yet.

Yes, they'll also require more GPU speed, and will be slow regardless of the amount of memory. Take a look at current DX10 benchmarks, they don't exactly fly.
Not necessarily. One reason DX10 benchmarks don't exactly fly is the drivers are completely new, while the DX9 ones are heavily optimized and mature.

But 320MB of RAM with 96 processors is not an optimal configuration for anything but legacy applications. It's worth the ~$100 extra bucks to double that and give yourself some breathing room...especially if you use FSAA.
 
Compatability is why I hate building PCs from scratch. I suggest getting a pre-assembled PC that has been tested tons over to avoid issues. A good wishlist anyhow...though I didn't know there was already a 640MB vid card

Compatibility is rarely a problem except with SLI or Crossfire.

Better take the 320 mb version. 640 is just a waste of money if you don't have a huge screen.

There are already many games with textures that will push beyond what a 256/320MB card can easily handle. If you want any longevity on newer games, get the 640.
 
That's a very aggressive upgrade cycle for your GPU...it doesn't surprise me that the price hadn't come down yet.

6600gt -> 7900 gt -> 8800 gts

I don't think it's ever been cheaper to get 2 of the slower cards rather than 1 of the faster ones.

Availability is also an issue, when I bought each upgrade, buying an extra card for SLI would have needed going to ebay or the like, older generations phase out pretty quick.
 
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