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[Angry Grimace]

Are you sure your current motherboard doesn't already have a digital output, most do. Possibly no need to buy a dedicated sound card.

Most people just buy PC's off the rack, so to speak, and most of those don't have high-end mobo features. Check it out, but if it doesn't, 5.1 support is relatively inexpensive in motherboards.

 

[MikeE21286]

Are you sure your current motherboard doesn't already have a digital output, most do. Possibly no need to buy a dedicated sound card.

Yeah, I have a Realtek HD Audio onboard (Gigabyte 965p-ds3).....and it supports 5.1 through my PC speakers.

But I want to run into my surround receiver through optical and it does not support 5.1 that way.

 

[zoku88]

Buying the cheapest motherboard you can find for i7 is the equivalent of putting a Ferrari V12 into a Hyundai. There's no point in picking the highest of the high end if you're going to cheap out. I mean, you could in theory get the cheapest motherboard, stick 2GB of RAM in there, and it would still boot up and work, but I don't get the purpose of that.

Not really.

The Core i7 isn't really the 'highest of the high end.' Sure they're high end parts, but they're not that high end. the 920 is only $300, close to the debut cost fo the Q6600. But you didn't see everyone picking up insane motherboards then.

But so are things like AMD 4870's. That's technically a high end part. But few would justify an expensive motherboard purchase because of that. They're unrelated (marginally related, really, but that's technical stuff no one would notice anyway.)

Pick a motherboard with features that best suit you (and that doesn'tt plain suck.) There's no reason to buy something expensive just to buy it. That's just a waste of your money.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Not really.

The Core i7 isn't really the 'highest of the high end.' Sure they're high end parts, but they're not that high end. the 920 is only $300, close to the debut cost fo the Q6600. But you didn't see everyone picking up insane motherboards then.

But so are things like AMD 4870's. That's technically a high end part. But few would justify an expensive motherboard purchase because of that. They're unrelated (marginally related, really, but that's technical stuff no one would notice anyway.)

Pick a motherboard with features that best suit you (and that doesn'tt plain suck.) There's no reason to buy something expensive just to buy it. That's just a waste of your money.

Not really.

That's mostly just ignoring the fact that i7 is about 2 months old and still in the early adopter phase, and when the Q6600 came out, it was hardly the only game in town in the Core2 Socket T format. The 200 dollar X58 mobos chipsets are missing features most people would generally want if they had any need for i7 at this point. You're not gaining anything if you're gimping your feature set to get i7. You'd be better served to just get a E8400.

And graphics cards are mostly unreleated.

 

[avaya]

I'm buying my new PC in the next 2 weeks. GTX 295 seems to be my pick at the moment, I will go full SLi/X-F on the Dx11 parts coming at the end of the year.

I will be gaming at 1920x1200.

HDMI, decent top end performance, single slot (but dual!) and NVIDIA drivers. Roughly same price as the 4870x2. That'll get me through till Q4.

Anyone advise against a GTX 295?

Not really.

That's mostly just ignoring the fact that i7 is about 2 months old and still in the early adopter phase, and when the Q6600 came out, it was hardly the only game in town in the Core2 Socket T format. The 200 dollar X58 mobos chipsets are missing features most people would generally want if they had any need for i7 at this point. You're not gaining anything if you're gimping your feature set to get i7. You'd be better served to just get a E8400.

And graphics cards are mostly unreleated.

What features are they missing? The higher end set-ups main feature is Tri-SLi.

An Asus P6T deluxe is fine for almost anyone getting an i7. You can OC a 920 on it to 4.0GHz on air.

I'm up in arms about it personally, get a Rampage II, wait for that Foxconn board as recommended in this thread, or get a standard P6T deluxe which seems fine.

I'm going to go SLi or X-F but what will the others really bring over the P6T that is worth the additional money? That's the question most people ask, they are all pretty high end.

People can go and get an i7 now for reasonable (for the high end range) price.

 

[Angry Grimace]

I'm buying my new PC in the next 2 weeks. GTX 295 seems to be my pick at the moment, I will go full SLi/X-F on the Dx11 parts coming at the end of the year.

I will be gaming at 1920x1200.

HDMI, decent top end performance, single slot (but dual!) and NVIDIA drivers. Roughly same price as the 4870x2. That'll get me through till Q4.

Anyone advise against a GTX 295?



What features are they missing? The higher end set-ups main feature is Tri-SLi.

An Asus P6T deluxe is fine for almost anyone getting an i7. You can OC a 920 on it to 4.0GHz on air.

I'm up in arms about it personally, get a Rampage II, wait for that Foxconn board as recommended in this thread, or get a standard P6T deluxe which seems fine.

I'm going to go SLi or X-F but what will the others really bring over the P6T that is worth the additional money? That's the question most people ask, they are all pretty high end.

People can go and get an i7 now for reasonable (for the high end range) price.

There's a regular Standard P6T now, which has some cheaper components, less USB ports and 8+2 cycle power rather than 16+2.

The sub $250 priced models frequently don't even have SLI, as SLI is not a mandatory standard on X58 boards, just supported.

I should be putting my build together tonight. I'll let you know tonight how the install goes. Just waiting on the TRUE120, which should, but might not, come tonight.

 

[Nemo]

Yeah, I have a Realtek HD Audio onboard (Gigabyte 965p-ds3).....and it supports 5.1 through my PC speakers.

But I want to run into my surround receiver through optical and it does not support 5.1 that way.

Wait. How do you know this? I also have a Gigabyte mobo and I've been trying to get DD through optical for AGES. So you're saying the optical port is there just for shits and giggles?

 

[avaya]

There's a regular Standard P6T now, which has some cheaper components, less USB ports and 8+2 cycle power rather than 16+2.

The sub $250 priced models frequently don't even have SLI, as SLI is not a mandatory standard on X58 boards, just supported.

I should be putting my build together tonight. I'll let you know tonight how the install goes. Just waiting on the TRUE120, which should, but might not, come tonight.

The regular ones do suck, I'm not going to disagree with that.

BTW, what mobo did you end up getting for your i7 build?

 

[JimmyV]

Wow so people either seem to love or hate(find no current use, which is understandable) for the i7. So let me ask for some opinions;

I was originally going to pruchase a Rampage II with an i7(not sure which one yet) and around 6 gigs of DDR3 RAM. Would I be better off just going with a Socket 775 instead? I'm basically aiming to build a powerhouse, enthusiast computer.

 

[Angry Grimace]

The regular ones do suck, I'm not going to disagree with that.

BTW, what mobo did you end up getting for your i7 build?

ASUS P6T Deluxe, but the TRUE isn't coming until THURSDAY apparently.

Sigh.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Wow so people either seem to love or hate(find no current use, which is understandable) for the i7. So let me ask for some opinions;

I was originally going to pruchase a Rampage II with an i7(not sure which one yet) and around 6 gigs of DDR3 RAM. Would I be better off just going with a Socket 775 instead? I'm basically aiming to build a powerhouse, enthusiast computer.

It's not THAT expensive from an "early adopter" point of view, really.

The biggest upgrade in cost is certainly the cost of DDR3 RAM and the motherboards. However, it really depends on what you define as "powerhouse enthusiast." Most people would consider an E8400 with a nice GPU as powerhouse enthusiast, but maybe you don't.

I personally have an issue where if I didn't get the i7, it would have annoyed me knowing I didn't get the best and greatest, even if I blew an extra 400 bones doing so.

 

[JimmyV]

I personally have an issue where if I didn't get the i7, it would have annoyed me knowing I didn't get the best and greatest, even if I blew an extra 400 bones doing so.

Thats my problem too......thus, my dilemma =(

 

[avaya]

Wow so people either seem to love or hate(find no current use, which is understandable) for the i7. So let me ask for some opinions;

I was originally going to pruchase a Rampage II with an i7(not sure which one yet) and around 6 gigs of DDR3 RAM. Would I be better off just going with a Socket 775 instead? I'm basically aiming to build a powerhouse, enthusiast computer.

I think I'm settling on the Asus P6T Deluxe, get that and a 920, some 1600MHz memory and it will overclock to an insane speed. Rampage is overkill unless you want Tri-SLi.

For an enthusiast, running multi-GPU setups i7 will be worth it over Socket 775 since it does make a difference in that situation.

 

[zoku88]

There's a regular Standard P6T now, which has some cheaper components, less USB ports and 8+2 cycle power rather than 16+2.

The sub $250 priced models frequently don't even have SLI, as SLI is not a mandatory standard on X58 boards, just supported.

I should be putting my build together tonight. I'll let you know tonight how the install goes. Just waiting on the TRUE120, which should, but might not, come tonight.

But if you don't need all of that stuff... why would you get the higher priced boards?

You're basically making assumptions about what ppl are going to use their machines for AND what type of games they play. There are people who generally do see benefit from just having a faster CPU...

 

[drkOne]

I'm going to build my first PC and wanted some advices from the more experienced users.

(I'm from Portugal and thinking about buying the components from Scan.co.uk, all prices were converted using Google)
Case: CoolerMaster Centurion 5 - $56
PSU: 530W Hiper HPU-4M530 V2 - $65
Mobo: Asus P5Q SE, iP45, S 775 - $114
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo, E8400, Wolfdale Core - $206
GPU: 512MB Gainward HD 4850 - $194
Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 - $82
HDD: 500Gb Hitachi Deskstar P7K500 - $59

Monitor: 24" Samsung SM2443BW - $372

Main focus will be games, and the other things don't really need more than half of all this to run smoothly.
So GAF, considering my budget is around $750 w/o Monitor, what should I replace from that list?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I'm going to build my first PC and wanted some advices from the more experienced users.

(I'm from Portugal and thinking about buying the components from Scan.co.uk, all prices were converted using Google)
Case: CoolerMaster Centurion 5 - $56
PSU: 530W Hiper HPU-4M530 V2 - $65
Mobo: Asus P5Q SE, iP45, S 775 - $114
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo, E8400, Wolfdale Core - $206
GPU: 512MB Gainward HD 4850 - $194
Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 - $82
HDD: 500Gb Hitachi Deskstar P7K500 - $59

Monitor: 24" Samsung SM2443BW - $372

Main focus will be games, and the other things don't really need more than half of all this to run smoothly.
So GAF, considering my budget is around $750 w/o Monitor, what should I replace from that list?

I think you should go for a HD 4870 if you can afford it considering your prime focus is on games. You will be able to play pretty much anything out there right now with high settings, high resolutions and a good framerate with that card. The 4850 is good too, but the price difference between the two shouldn't be that big.

 

[Undubbed]

I just came back from gamestop and they had Special Edition of Crysis for 20 bucks and the regular one for 40 bucks? WTF is up with that?

Hmmm...which one to choose, which one to choose...

Also got the Withcher. Heard a lot about it so I got it

 

[Sins*]

Just bought a new computer, I get it at the end of the week but these are the specs, (not fully sure on the monitor but they're the basics)


1 Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz Quad Core Processor
1 Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L w/ PCI-E,SATA2,USB2.0,GbE
2 2GB Transcend JM800QLU-2G 800MHz DDR2 RAM
1 Lite-on IHAS120 20X SATA DL DVD+/-RW Drive w/ Nero
1 500GB WD SATA2 Hard Drive 7200 RPM (nominal) 16MB Cache (GP)
1 Gigabyte N98TOC-512H GF9800GT 512MB PCI-E2.0 w/ 2X DVI
1 420 Silver/Black Tower Case w/ 550W P4 PSU, Front USB
1 Microsoft Business Hardware Pack USB&PS/2 (Black)
1 24" Benq 1080pHD monitor

I got it all for $1200 AUD, which is pretty freakin' good.

 

[rc213]

Wow, Can't believe after all these years Half-Life 2 still gets me dizzy and sick after like 10-20mins of gameplay. :X

 

[iam220]

Wow, Can't believe after all these years Half-Life 2 still gets me dizzy and sick after like 10-20mins of gameplay. :X

Me too. You can fix this though.

http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t191.html

 

[rc213]

Me too. You can fix this though.

http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t191.html

Bless you my friend.

 

[zoku88]

Lol, I wish I had knwon that when I played through HL2... and esp portal lol

 

[rc213]

Lol, I wish I had knwon that when I played through HL2... and esp portal lol

Crap, Portal has that too? How about L4D?

 

[VictimOfGrief]

Anybody know if this bracket compatible with any LGA775 cooler or just Xigmatek models?

Dunno.

I would say that it is very YMMV depending on if it is compatible with other coolers or not.

 

[Hazaro]

Anybody know if this bracket compatible with any LGA775 cooler or just Xigmatek models?

Looks like only specific model of Xigmatek from the image and this little macro :lol

http://img.techpowerup.org/080706/Xigmatek S1284 bracket not working.jpg

 

[VictimOfGrief]

http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey

8800GT is still king.

^^ Also LOL to the above pick. :lol

 

[VictimOfGrief]

Tiger Direct--- BFG GTX 280 + Far Cry 2 for.... $294 bucks.

After CES this week, things are going to get moving in the price department of the GPU's and THEN will be the perfect time to upgrade.

 

[Hazaro]

Tiger Direct--- BFG GTX 280 + Far Cry 2 for.... $294 bucks.

After CES this week, things are going to get moving in the price department of the GPU's and THEN will be the perfect time to upgrade.

For $60 cheaper the GTX 260 is still favorable imo.
Not to mention GTX 260 prices will drop too

 

[Minsc]

http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey

8800GT is still king.

^^ Also LOL to the above pick. :lol

Thanks for pointing those out, I'm curious to see if Windows 7 will have a much quicker adaption rate than Vista did.

I'm curious, does a ATI card that is labeled as X2 have the same SLI problems as chaining 2 cards? There's some 2GB 4870 X2 or something, that's clearly distinguished differently from say 2x 4870. Just curious, in case prices drop way down and it's a single card. I don't think I want to run in to all the problems of dual or triple cards.

 

[drkOne]

I think you should go for a HD 4870 if you can afford it considering your prime focus is on games. You will be able to play pretty much anything out there right now with high settings, high resolutions and a good framerate with that card. The 4850 is good too, but the price difference between the two shouldn't be that big.

Aye. It's around £50 more, which isn't really that bad, if anything the GPU would be where I wouldn't mind spending some more to get better performance.

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[brain_stew]

Aye. It's around £50 more, which isn't really that bad, if anything the GPU would be where I wouldn't mind spending some more to get better performance.

Thanks for the suggestion!

That's the 512MB version though. The 4870 only really starts to make a difference at higher resolutions, and once you start using them the limited memory is going to start to be your limiting factor.

There are GTX 260 (216)s on Scan for around £200 and that'd be a much wiser investment, as you won't be limited by a small framebuffer and you'd still have a good bit more GPU grunt than a 4850 to go with your memory upgrade.

 

[Hazaro]

That's the 512MB version though. The 4870 only really starts to make a difference at higher resolutions, and once you start using them the limited memory is going to start to be your limiting factor.

There are GTX 260 (216)s on Scan for around £200 and that'd be a much wiser investment, as you won't be limited by a small framebuffer and you'd still have a good bit more GPU grunt than a 4850 to go with your memory upgrade.

The GDDR5 kicks ass even with 512MB, I still like the big number though :[
My 8800GTS 320MB scared me off of lower memory.

 

[brain_stew]

Thanks for pointing those out, I'm curious to see if Windows 7 will have a much quicker adaption rate than Vista did.

I'm curious, does a ATI card that is labeled as X2 have the same SLI problems as chaining 2 cards? There's some 2GB 4870 X2 or something, that's clearly distinguished differently from say 2x 4870. Just curious, in case prices drop way down and it's a single card. I don't think I want to run in to all the problems of dual or triple cards.

Yep its the same implementation (AFR which is a fundamentally broken aproach to multi GPU rendering, which sacrifices real life playability for high average frames that look good in benchmarks) just on the one PCB. There is no way I could ever recommend a multi GPU setup until AFR dies a long overdue death.

The GTX 260 (216) is the card I'd still recommend to the high end, great performance, serious bang for buck, but without suffering from the headaches of a multi GPU rig.

The GDDR5 kicks ass even with 512MB, I still like the big number though :[
My 8800GTS 320MB scared me off of lower memory.

Well see the great advantage of GDDR5 is its terrific bandwidth, but you only become bandwidth limited at higher resolutions, which is the same conditions under which you would become framebuffer limited. So, for me, you're really restricting the use of GDDR5 with a 512MB framebuffer, so the 1GB card is the only one that makes sense but of course, the superbly priced GTX 260 (216) is just too good to ignore at that pricepoint. So again, I can't really recommend the 1GB version either.

The 4850 and 4830 still come with my 100% approval though, nothing else comes close to the bang for buck they offer.

 

[Hazaro]

Well see the great advantage of GDDR5 is its terrific bandwidth, but you only become bandwidth limited at higher resolutions, which is the same conditions under which you would become framebuffer limited.

The 4850 and 4830 still come with my 100% approval though, nothing else comes close to the bang for buck they offer.

Yeah I checked some charts of the 4870, at high resolutions and it holds up to the GTX 260.
If I was building a budget comp, I'd still grab a used 8800GT for incredibly cheap though. :lol

 

[Echoes]

Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz 8M L3 Cache 4.8GT/sec QPI Hyper-Threading Turbo Boost LGA1366 Processor

6 GB (3 x 2 GB) DDR3 i7 Memory Kit

EVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 X58 3-Way SLI Core i7 Motherboard with Tri-Channel DDR3 and Tuning Utility

ATI Radeon 4870HD 512MB

Thoughts? I'll be gathering the parts starting late this month. I still haven't decided whether I should upgrade my desktop or get a new Laptop. I may go with the upgrading plan since I hate Laptops.

 

[brain_stew]

Yeah I checked some charts of the 4870, at high resolutions and it holds up to the GTX 260.
If I was building a budget comp, I'd still grab a used 8800GT for incredibly cheap though. :lol

When a brand new 4830, can be had for $90 I wouldn't look any further than that tbh. That's some insane value rught there.

Echoes as described earlier the GTX 260 (216) is the card for you to go for. Newegg usually have the cheapest prices as well, so I'd use them to source your parts.

 

[Minsc]

Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz 8M L3 Cache 4.8GT/sec QPI Hyper-Threading Turbo Boost LGA1366 Processor

6 GB (3 x 2 GB) DDR3 i7 Memory Kit

EVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 X58 3-Way SLI Core i7 Motherboard with Tri-Channel DDR3 and Tuning Utility

ATI Radeon 4870HD 512MB

Thoughts? I'll be gathering the parts starting late this month. I still haven't decided whether I should upgrade my desktop or get a new Laptop. I may go with the upgrading plan since I hate Laptops.

These are general thoughts, nothing against your build specifically, but quoting it because it applies.

Seems people are starting to think that X58 mobos are still too young for general builds. Reliability unknowns aside, why get a 3-Way SLI mobo to run just one graphics card (assuming no intentions down the road of linking them)? Wouldn't that be a waste? More importantly, is there any evidence that there ever will be a dual card solution that doesn't produce all sorts of gaming problems?

Also, why get a i7 for that matter either, especially for just one graphics card? The last benches I saw show dual cores outperforming the i7s in single card setups, or at least as a toss up. $ for $ it's probably worse.

 

[NintendoTogepi]

I really need a new PC, my laptop is pretty old (May 2005). I would get a new one, but I don't really have that many games on the horizon.

Let's see...

The Sims 3 (should run, it's a pretty ugly game for 2009)
Episode 3 (should run, the other Episodes did)
Portal 2 (should run, Portal does)

I won't be able to run them on high res graphics, but so what? I've never been a graphics whore. I guess it's probably better for me to wait until I absolutely have to get a new computer.

Here's the specs BTW:

1.6GHz Pentium M Processor
NVidia GeForce Go 6800 256MB
2GB of RAM

 

[Echoes]

These are general thoughts, nothing against your build specifically, but quoting it because it applies.

Seems people are starting to think that X58 mobos are still too young for general builds. Reliability unknowns aside, why get a 3-Way SLI mobo to run just one graphics card (assuming no intentions down the road of linking them)? Wouldn't that be a waste? More importantly, is there any evidence that there ever will be a dual card solution that doesn't produce all sorts of gaming problems?

I honestly didn't research well, and I thought of it because a friend recommended it to me. I may later use 2 SLI, but currently I just wanna game with a reliable graphics card. What do you recommend? this is my first time building a PC from the ground up, so any guidance would be highly appreciated regarding everything.

Edit: note that I'm currently running a 9600 GT, do you recommend I go SLI with another one, or should I pick a new card?

 

[brain_stew]

These are general thoughts, nothing against your build specifically, but quoting it because it applies.

Seems people are starting to think that X58 mobos are still too young for general builds. Reliability unknowns aside, why get a 3-Way SLI mobo to run just one graphics card (assuming no intentions down the road of linking them)? Wouldn't that be a waste? More importantly, is there any evidence that there ever will be a dual card solution that doesn't produce all sorts of gaming problems?

Also, why get a i7 for that matter either, especially for just one graphics card? The last benches I saw show dual cores outperforming the i7s in single card setups, or at least as a toss up. $ for $ it's probably worse.

I'll back this up as well. If bang for buck is a concern at all, a P45 based rig is still your best bet imo. A P45-DS3L or UD3P motherboard and 4GB of PC6400 RAM is insanely chepa and in real terms will offer the exact same gameplay experience as an i7 rig. Paying for future potential is hardly ever a smart move because once that potential is ready to be realised its usually insanely cheap.

I honestly didn't research well, and I thought of it because a friend recommended it to me. I may later use 2 SLI, but currently I just wanna game with a reliable graphics card. What do you recommend? this is my first time building a PC from the ground up, so any guidance would be highly appreciated regarding everything.

Edit: note that I'm currently running a 9600 GT, do you recommend I go SLI with another one, or should I pick a new card?

What processor? A GTX 260 (216) would be a great GPU upgrade btw. If you're already on a Core 2 then just buy a $20 aftermarket cooler and overclock. You'll have a damn near identical ingame experience for about 5% of the cost that way.

 

[Minsc]

I honestly didn't research well, and I thought of it because a friend recommended it to me. I may later use 2 SLI, but currently I just wanna game with a reliable graphics card. What do you recommend? this is my first time building a PC from the ground up, so any guidance would be highly appreciated regarding everything.

Edit: note that I'm currently running a 9600 GT, do you recommend I go SLI with another one, or should I pick a new card?

I'm just fishing for advice myself, so don't take anything I say with much weight... but from what I read about SLI, I almost never want to think about it. Really search and read up about the problems before thinking you might get a SLI setup. Compatibility problems aren't the only thing you encounter, I've read people having weird stuttering and just headaches in general. On benchmarks it does look nice, but I'm not sure I want to risk dealing with the problems it may bring, and rather like the idea of a less power hungry single card solution that still delivers 60 fps.

 

[Echoes]

What processor? A GTX 260 (216) would be a great GPU upgrade btw. If you're already on a Core 2 then just buy a $20 aftermarket cooler and overclock. You'll have a damn near identical ingame experience for about 5% of the cost that way.

I don't think my current system holds up that well, it was a gift from my father. It's a custom desktop from Dell, Optiplex GX620. Mine is a P4 HT, upgraded the ram to 2 GB and the GPU to 9600GT.

Edit: Thanks Minsc, I think I'll go the safe route.

 

[Frenck]

Guys, I get a CPU "overheat" warning after about 15 minutes of playing the Crysis demo on very high. I had a look at the settings and I gotta ask you, is 60° still acceptable for the CPU? Because that's when the warning goes off. The idle temperature sits somewhere around 25-30° which isn't that bad I guess.

The demo itself runs surprisingly fine (15-30 fps without AA and at reasonable resolutions)and I haven't even oc'd my CPU yet, nor do I feel the need to after the overheat warning, which sounds like a bomb alarm btw, I thought the Russians were coming back

Here are the specs:

E5200 2.5 Ghz
GF 9800 GT
3 GB RAM

The whole thing is a mystery to me because the machine is exceptionally well cooled. It's so quiet that I can't even tell whether it's switched on or not at times. Could it be a problem with the unoptimized demo or should I think twice about buying the full version?

 

[VictimOfGrief]

Guys, I get a CPU "overheat" warning after about 15 minutes of playing the Crysis demo on very high. I had a look at the settings and I gotta ask you, is 60° still acceptable for the CPU? Because that's when the warning goes off. The idle temperature sits somewhere around 25-30° which isn't that bad I guess.

The demo itself runs surprisingly fine (15-30 fps without AA and at reasonable resolutions)and I haven't even oc'd my CPU yet, nor do I feel the need to after the overheat warning, which sounds like a bomb alarm btw, I thought the Russians were coming back

Here are the specs:

E5200 2.5 Ghz
GF 9800 GT
3 GB RAM

The whole thing is a mystery to me because the machine is exceptionally well cooled. It's so quiet that I can't even tell whether it's switched on or not at times. Could it be a problem with the unoptimized demo or should I think twice about buying the full version?

What does speedfan or realtemp say your CPU temp is?

I would turn up your CPU heat warning (in BIOS) to 70C and forget about it. Some people run their chips from 70-85C and don't care about the heat.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

For $60 cheaper the GTX 260 is still favorable imo.
Not to mention GTX 260 prices will drop too

That's my under lying point though Hazaro.... if the 280's are dropping, think about the 260 prices.

 

[Frenck]

What does speedfan or realtemp say your CPU temp is?

I would turn up your CPU heat warning (in BIOS) to 70C and forget about it. Some people run their chips from 70-85C and don't care about the heat.

I used core temp and it tells me that both cores are at around 50 or 55C and it sometimes tops at 61 for a few seconds in big firefights. The CPU warning is now set to 70C and I realized that 60C was the lowest possible setting in there.

So, will the full version of Crysis be a bit less demanding CPU wise? Or should I go straight for Warhead?

The game is awesome btw. I've finally seen the light.

It's not just a tech demo after all :lol

 

[Minsc]

Choosing the right memory:
Right now DDR2 is dirt cheap. You can pick up some DDR2 800 2x2GB for about $40 bucks. Most of the LGA775/AM2+ boards support DDR2 FSB up to 1333Mhz. Obviously those that are budget minded, you can pick up some cheaper DDR2 800 and overclock it over that fairly easily. Right now I've overclocked my FSB to 1500Mhz without even really trying. Now the next big thing is DDR3 memory which is finally starting to come down in price. Some of the system boards do support a couple of channels of DDR2 AND DDR3. Make sure you check that out before placing your order and get the correct memory. The new Core i7 processors ONLY use DDR3 memory which will in turn speed up the adoption rate of DDR3 of course

So I was trying to do a little figuring out about the differences between say, slower DDR 2 800 memory, and "faster" DDR 3 1333 (or higher) memory.

It seems there's essentially no difference at all for gaming. Is this correct? Perhaps it would be good to mention that, so people don't get confused by the bigger numbers are better syndrome if it makes no difference.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

I used core temp and it tells me that both cores are at around 50 or 55C and it sometimes tops at 61 for a few seconds in big firefights. The CPU warning is now set to 70C and I realized that 60C was the lowest possible setting in there.

So, will the full version of Crysis be a bit less demanding CPU wise? Or should I go straight for Warhead?

The game is awesome btw. I've finally seen the light.

It's not just a tech demo after all :lol

I'm trying to remember... what's your OC w/ volts and what cooler are you using?

When I was playing Warhead I never got above 56C but I had a Zalman for cooling and fairly low volts on my quad core.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

Link here

 

[vumpler]

So my buddy is wanting to do a new build, his true goal is to run WoW at 1680 x 1050 with everything turned up and stay around 30-60fps

However I'm sure he wants more options than that. Anyway I say the build is decent but would rather him go with a better mobo / cpu combo and pay a little more. What would you guys suggest if he bought today?

His VC is 9800gtx that he has in his previous pc, (huge bottleneck with his old mobo/cpu)

thx all

This build is 709 before rebates, and 639 after.

Motherboard 155 (135)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130190

CPU 160

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103273

Power Supply 100 (80)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

RAM 74 (44)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145214

Hard Drive 75

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

DVD Drive/Burner 28

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173

Case 55

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

Fans 24

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185052

Heatsink 38

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103046