Re: Advice on components for high end PC

I'm testing a couple of systems that are primarily used for multi-media
and gaming.
Good Freaking Luck !!!! Just putting together stuff based on vendor
hype is going
to cost you a lot, and you won't get the box you were after. My first
sytem is an
AMD64 3000+ with an ATI 9800 Pro video card. It has been very good up
until
recently. Now with newer games, or with top settings in Far Cry, it is
having
problems with good FPS. It will run anything and looks fine ... just
dropping in
FPS. Also, I can't nudge up the settings in CoD2, or FEAR beyond
"medium".
However with the new Catalyst 5.11 driver, I have both running pretty
well, and they
look good on the medium settings at 1024 x 768 resolution. In that
system, I have
1 gig ddr400, and I'm getting ready to up it to 2 gig. Also, I'm
testing another
system .. a Dell 9100 .. that has a GF6800GT pci-e 16 video card ... to
see the
effect of a next generation video card in a PC that is roughly
equivalent to the
AMD64. Looks pretty good. The 6800 doesn't like the Very High settings
in Far
Cry, but the High settings look super good ??? Can't explain that
either. Also,
the 6800 doesn't like AA at all. This may be a driver problem, or it
may be
the 6800 doesn't need it. I'm just beginning to explore this. Right
now, I think I'm
going to get a very nice game box by just upping ram to 2 gig, and
buying
the 6800GT. That box will run state of the art games right now, and by
the
time the Game writers up their standards, I suspect something new will
be
on the market ... probably Xbox 370.
So, my advice is to be conservative in specing out a game box. I think
you
are really overdoing it, and much of it will not be upgradable. For
top gaming
performance, I recommend:
Gigabyte 929 mobo for the AMD64 .. single cpu That ASUS mobo is
garbage
and it will start rebooting on you in about 1 year
when the caps fail.
I like the nForce 4 chipset .. but I have the
nForce 3, and it is
very stable, and very compatible with the ATI
cards. If you get
into a VIA chipset, it will not run the ATI cards
very well at all.
2 gig ddr400 .. Kingston is OK, but have vendor put it in. Sometimes
K-ram
doesn't fit well.
Sony DVD / CDRW combo ... Plextor is overpriced, and no better.
Hitachi 160 gig SATA ... no RAID .. that is old DOS-era crap and
stupid.
Instead, use disk imaging ( split C: 60 D: 100 )
and then
back that up with external USB 160 gig to copy
off the images
and even a few direct copies of email, etc
Also, the Hitachi
has low latency, and moves data quick.
Antec case: There is just no excuse in anything else because the Antec
psupply
is a gamers psupply ... 350Watt has 21amps on
12v rail, and you
need that. And the side port will keep your cpu
cooler than any
other case. The aluminum box does not hold heat
either.
Viewsonic 4ms monitor: The 8ms is OK. The 4ms is better, but you might
not
like the aspect ratio. The 4ms is nearly square.
I like it ... now.
nVidia GF6800GT pci-e 16 ... is all the card you need for modern games.
It is
still pricey, but NewEgg puts it on sale every
few weeks. As for
dual video .. the new games are being written
impossible to win
in the sp-shooters, or they are a nuisance in
squad control. There
is really no reason to build a top end box to
do just that. You
are going to have to cut back on the game
difficulty to make it
playable at all. In CoD2, 64 Krauts shooting at
you is impossible
and you won't play the game. Having to occupy
6 bodies in a
squad game is equally stupid. The only reason
to have dual
video cards .. that I can see .. is if you buy
one of those wall-
size monitors that need 2 cards to create the
entire screen.
The industy is moving towards the Xboxes with
output to TV
monitors .. and the kids don't care about
crappy resolution.
So that makes the 2 video cards just media
hype.

johns

.

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