new pc

[Jeff]

Hey, thinking of buying a new gamers pc or building my own, upgrading
from a p4 360. Having trouble with what I want for a processor, money
isn't really an issue but I do want to get the most bang for my buck,
hoping somebody can answer a few simple (hopefully) questions.

I was thinking about a core 2 ex6800 (2933/266) but the benchmarks
I've seen (maybe I'm reading them wrong?) seem to be saying it's only
slightly faster than a core 2 duo 6700 (2600/266). Is there something
I'm missing or am I paying 600 more for a minor speed increase? My
understanding of the new quad cores is games have to be written to
take advantage of them, is that correct?

Also, thinking about a 8800 GTX (768) single, but I'm unsure if I
should go for SLI or if it's a waste of money. In a single config is a
600 watt power supply enough juice for the GTX? or should I shoot
for a 750.

Thanks,
Jeff
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Paul]

Hey, thinking of buying a new gamers pc or building my own, upgrading
from a p4 360. Having trouble with what I want for a processor, money
isn't really an issue but I do want to get the most bang for my buck,
hoping somebody can answer a few simple (hopefully) questions.

I was thinking about a core 2 ex6800 (2933/266) but the benchmarks
I've seen (maybe I'm reading them wrong?) seem to be saying it's only
slightly faster than a core 2 duo 6700 (2600/266). Is there something
I'm missing or am I paying 600 more for a minor speed increase? My
understanding of the new quad cores is games have to be written to
take advantage of them, is that correct?

Also, thinking about a 8800 GTX (768) single, but I'm unsure if I
should go for SLI or if it's a waste of money. In a single config is a
600 watt power supply enough juice for the GTX? or should I shoot
for a 750.

Thanks,
Jeff
(e-mail address removed)

Well, the ratio between 2933 and 2600 is 1.128x. And you'd expect less
than perfect scaling, so you'd expect to see a bit less than 12.8% more
performance, for $600 more. Many people get that by overclocking.

You can buy a big ass power supply, an SLI motherboard, then buy just
one 8800GTX and try it out. If you still cannot keep all settings on
max, you could then buy a second card, having put the infrastructure
in place to do the job. Something like a Silencer 750W for a power supply
perhaps (12V @ 60A). 8800GTX could be in the neighborhood of 145W a
piece, which is 12V @ 12A. So two cards would use 24A of the total of
60A. And the slack there, allows room for the day when some software
manages to draw more current than that.

You can find some power supplies listed here:
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

Maybe some day a quad will be a necessity, but unless you like
to multitask extremely (like render video and play Gothic3 at
the same time), most of the time two or three cores will be
idle and just wasting electricity and heating up the room.

Actually, wasting electricity is good this time of year. Right
now, it is -24C outside, with a wind chill of -39C. The computer
room is the warmest room in the house

Paul

 

[kony]

Hey, thinking of buying a new gamers pc or building my own, upgrading
from a p4 360. Having trouble with what I want for a processor, money
isn't really an issue but I do want to get the most bang for my buck,
hoping somebody can answer a few simple (hopefully) questions.

I was thinking about a core 2 ex6800 (2933/266) but the benchmarks
I've seen (maybe I'm reading them wrong?) seem to be saying it's only
slightly faster than a core 2 duo 6700 (2600/266). Is there something
I'm missing or am I paying 600 more for a minor speed increase?

It's definitely not worth 600 more, not even 150 more for a
gaming system. If you're itching for the best performance
per $, you'd be better off just replacing the CPU (& board
again, if it is also required) sooner on your next
replacement cycle.

My
understanding of the new quad cores is games have to be written to
take advantage of them, is that correct?

Yes, even dual cores have very limited usefulness on most
games. Actually the CPU isn't even the bottleneck on most,
considering you really only need a playable framerate which
often depends more on the video card.

Also, thinking about a 8800 GTX (768) single, but I'm unsure if I
should go for SLI or if it's a waste of money.

What resolution are you going to run?
For most people, it's a waste of money, but then if you're
comtemplating this much money, I'd have to expect you have a
pretty nice monitor- or should at least consider one.

Get a board that can support SLI then you can add the second
card later if desired.

In a single config is a
600 watt power supply enough juice for the GTX? or should I shoot
for a 750.

Depends on what make and model PSU, 600W <> 600W in some
instances with different models. A good 600W with high &
accurately rated 12V current would suffice, but a little
higher would be wise for SLI'd... so you might have to
anticipate a little how likely you might be to go SLI or
just splurge on the larger PSU now just in case. I don't
know what your case is like but SLI'd cards dump loads of
heat too, it can make for a pretty noisey or more expensive
to cool system, if not both.

 

[Jeff]

Well, the ratio between 2933 and 2600 is 1.128x. And you'd expect less
than perfect scaling, so you'd expect to see a bit less than 12.8% more
performance, for $600 more. Many people get that by overclocking.

You can buy a big ass power supply, an SLI motherboard, then buy just
one 8800GTX and try it out. If you still cannot keep all settings on
max, you could then buy a second card, having put the infrastructure
in place to do the job. Something like a Silencer 750W for a power supply
perhaps (12V @ 60A). 8800GTX could be in the neighborhood of 145W a
piece, which is 12V @ 12A. So two cards would use 24A of the total of
60A. And the slack there, allows room for the day when some software
manages to draw more current than that.

You can find some power supplies listed here:
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

Maybe some day a quad will be a necessity, but unless you like
to multitask extremely (like render video and play Gothic3 at
the same time), most of the time two or three cores will be
idle and just wasting electricity and heating up the room.

Actually, wasting electricity is good this time of year. Right
now, it is -24C outside, with a wind chill of -39C. The computer
room is the warmest room in the house

Paul

Awsome, thanks for the response sir. I think I am going to get the SLI
motherboard in case I decide to upgrade to two cards at some point.

Know what you mean on the cold weather too heh.

 

[Jeff]

What resolution are you going to run?
For most people, it's a waste of money, but then if you're
comtemplating this much money, I'd have to expect you have a
pretty nice monitor- or should at least consider one.

Thanks for the response. I was planning on buying a VIEWSONIC VP2130B,
it seems to be getting good reviews, 22 inch lcd, non widescreen
(which I like) Native resolution is 1600x1200.

I've got a Viewsonic 21 inch crt currently but it's too bloody big and
I need the desk space. p

Get a board that can support SLI then you can add the second
card later if desired.

Yep that's what I think I'm going to do.

Spent a bit looking through websites and came up with the following;

X Discovery Mid Tower
Apevia 680W Power Supply
Asus P5N-SLI nForce 570
Core 2 Duo 6700 (2.66)
4 Gigs of Ram
1 8800 GTX 768 meg
1 10,000 rpm 160 gig drive
1 7200 rpm 320 gig drive

Wasn't really sure what was the best motherboard for that processor,
just went with one that somebody wrote a positive review on, ditto on
case. Open to suggestions if anybody has any.

Thanks much,
Jeff

 

[kony]

X Discovery Mid Tower

The last Aspire case I saw in person was a bit
disappointing, thin metal and a bit crudely shaped plastic,
thin paint... you get the picture, that it looks better in a
picture than in person or in actual use.

Generally I would suggest something (in the expected price
range considering the rest of the parts) with at least 1.0mm
steel or 1.2mm aluminum sheeting, a rear 120mm fan, a lot of
front intake area, and drive racks with not only enough
positions, but those not so tightly spaced that to install
multiple drives you wouldn't be left with some space between
them for airflow. Beyond that, it's a jungle out there, no
way I could guess what looks good to you.

Apevia 680W Power Supply

No offense meant but that's junk, avoid it. Most name-brand
PSU in 600W or higher will be better. It has not only a
questionable rating but the quality control is marginal at
best, poor construction in general even worse than many
generic psu.

As for what to get instead, well it depends a bit on budget
and whether you wanted to opt for the higher capacity you
might want (need) for higher capacity SLI'd high-end video
cards. A decent high capacity PSU suitable for this isn't
cheap, about $130 is typical ballpark though prices can vary
and go up from there. If you want a random suggestion, try
a Corsair HX 620W as some people rave about them - but I
don't have one so I can't confirm anything.

There are several "PSU Lists" online, here's one of them.

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=136602&page=1&pp=20

Asus P5N-SLI nForce 570
Core 2 Duo 6700 (2.66)
4 Gigs of Ram
1 8800 GTX 768 meg
1 10,000 rpm 160 gig drive
1 7200 rpm 320 gig drive

Wasn't really sure what was the best motherboard for that processor,
just went with one that somebody wrote a positive review on, ditto on
case. Open to suggestions if anybody has any.

I try to avoid motherboard recommendations, it's impossible
to forsee all the variables in what you might want for
features or gotchas arising later. That board does have a
larger userbase so best might be a bit more research on it,
a web forum like
http://forums.pcper.com/forumdisplay.php?f=62
may have a monster thread that has a ton of info about it
all nicely compiled into one place.

 

[Paul]

Thanks for the response. I was planning on buying a VIEWSONIC VP2130B,
it seems to be getting good reviews, 22 inch lcd, non widescreen
(which I like) Native resolution is 1600x1200.

I've got a Viewsonic 21 inch crt currently but it's too bloody big and
I need the desk space. p


Yep that's what I think I'm going to do.

Spent a bit looking through websites and came up with the following;

X Discovery Mid Tower
Apevia 680W Power Supply
Asus P5N-SLI nForce 570
Core 2 Duo 6700 (2.66)
4 Gigs of Ram
1 8800 GTX 768 meg
1 10,000 rpm 160 gig drive
1 7200 rpm 320 gig drive

Wasn't really sure what was the best motherboard for that processor,
just went with one that somebody wrote a positive review on, ditto on
case. Open to suggestions if anybody has any.

Thanks much,
Jeff

At least you won't lose that case in the dark

http://www.atxcases.com/products/uploadedimage/X-DISCOVERY-BK-0_500.jpg

P5N-SLI comments here (Asus hosted forum)

http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx?board_id=1&model=P5NSLI&SLanguage=en-us

Also, according to the Asus CPU Support page, a P5N-SLI motherboard must
be revision "2.00G" to support Core2 Duo. And in a retail situation, it
can be difficult to verify the revision number. If you phone a big Internet
seller, their phone staff are probably not in the same state, as the
inventory, so they cannot open the box and verify it. I would stick with a
motherboard that doesn't have a revision number issue. THe deal with
the revision 2 boards, is they chance the Vcore regulator design, to
meet VRD11 regulator design spec.

(Use CPU menu)
http://support.asus.com.tw/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

Also, for any prospective motherboard, download the user manual before you
buy. That allows you to verify things like the available BIOS settings.

Paul

 

[DaveW]

You are right about the EX 6800 being only a few percent faster than the
much cheaper 6700.