My first computer build - Page 2

Mr. Xbox Elite · 06-15-2008, 01:24 PM

Pictures!

fanaticalmoose · 06-15-2008, 01:47 PM

keep in mind he is getting DDR3 ram, which aint cheap like DDR2, but has come down price lately...

also for the saying SLI is a waste of money, it depends on who you are and what resolution you play at... the larger the resolution is then SLI is worth it.. but if its below 1920x1200 then it is a waste of money... same with crossfire for ATI.

Wendigo · 06-15-2008, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fanaticalmoose

keep in mind he is getting DDR3 ram, which aint cheap like DDR2, but has come down price lately...

also for the saying SLI is a waste of money, it depends on who you are and what resolution you play at... the larger the resolution is then SLI is worth it.. but if its below 1920x1200 then it is a waste of money... same with crossfire for ATI.

Its not just a case of resolution, the large majority of games don't even support it fully, plus the higher you go, the more unstable it becomes, trust me, i run two computers off of SLi and have reviewed it for several computer forums.

And also, even IF you were running at high resolutions you still would only be getting 30% extra, SLi has and never will be cost effective.

unlockthexbox · 06-15-2008, 02:10 PM

Ok first of all Im getting the 1000watt for upgrading in the future, If I was to get 850 watts I may not be able to upgrade. Secondly I'm going for 64-bit so I can upgrade in the future if needed. Thirdly these cards use PCI express 2.0 and 2 cards equal 2x the power, 3 cards equal 2.8x. Check any of the review websites and they will show that 2 cards are alot better than one. Also Im thinking of getting this probably a few months before christmas when things should be cheaper because I need to save up for a plane ticket and accomadation to Witchita, Kansas.

Wendigo · 06-15-2008, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unlockthexbox

Ok first of all Im getting the 1000watt for upgrading in the future, If I was to get 850 watts I may not be able to upgrade. Secondly I'm going for 64-bit so I can upgrade in the future if needed. Thirdly these cards use PCI express 2.0 and 2 cards equal 2x the power, 3 cards equal 2.8x. Check any of the review websites and they will show that 2 cards are alot better than one. Also Im thinking of getting this probably a few months before christmas when things should be cheaper because I need to save up for a plane ticket and accomadation to Witchita, Kansas.

What do you mean the realistic websites or just the SLi fanboy websites?

Listen, i really suggest you do your research because honestly, you don't have a clue.

For a start, why would you need to worry about having a 1000w PSU for upgrading when PC components are becoming more and more economical by the day?

Second, there is virtually no difference between 64bit and 32bit OS, i know, because i run 32bit and 64bit Vista

Thirdly, SLi may use two times the power, and on paper it may seem, like it has two times the power, but it doesn't. i have no idea what reviews you have been looking at, but two times the power does NOT mean twice the performance.

I know this, because i run SLi myself and have been building computers for 5 years now and have been an IT technician and reviewer for 2 years

The cons of SLi VASTLY outweigh the pro's.

Listen, its your money mate, you do what you want to do with it, i am only offering my opinion.

unlockthexbox · 06-15-2008, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wendigo

What do you mean the realistic websites or just the SLi fanboy websites?

Listen, i really suggest you do your research because honestly, you don't have a clue.

For a start, why would you need to worry about having a 1000w PSU for upgrading when PC components are becoming more and more economical by the day?

Second, there is virtually no difference between 64bit and 32bit OS, i know, because i run 32bit and 64bit Vista

Thirdly, SLi may use two times the power, and on paper it may seem, like it has two times the power, but it doesn't. i have no idea what reviews you have been looking at, but two times the power does NOT mean twice the performance.

I know this, because i run SLi myself and have been building computers for 5 years now and have been an IT technician and reviewer for 2 years

The cons of SLi VASTLY outweigh the pro's.

Listen, its your money mate, you do what you want to do with it, i am only offering my opinion.

Your wrong. 64-bit you can upgrade the ram, 32-bit it's limited. On this review (ask me for the website if you must) on Crysis 1920x1200 with the highest setting which I'll be using, 3 9800GTX has an average of 27.6 fps, 2 9800GTX has an average of 27.2 while 1 card has an average of only 13 which would be hardly playable. 13x2=26 so both 2 way and 3 way SLi are more than 2x better. This might only be just 1 example but Im sure there's more. No it is not a sli fanboy website. What have you got to say about that then?

pparks1 · 06-15-2008, 04:21 PM

Couple of points that I would like to make...being an IT guy professionally for the past 10 years and into computers for nearly 20.

32-bit OS's are limited in that the cannot fully address 4GB of RAM. So, until you get to that point...it's not an issue. Plus, you aren't likely to be moving up to 8GB of RAM with a RIG such as this. Regardless of how much you spend now...it will be outdated in 2-3 years...it's just the way things go. Keep in mind that with a 64-bit OS, the OS code is 2x the size in RAM. So, you really need 4GB to really be equivalent to a 32-bit OS with 2GB of RAM.

Personally, I find SLI to be a waste of money. My friends have invested...I have not. I've never seen the point, and I've never had any regrets.

As far as your math goes, it's 2x as many frames....but either way 26 frames per second isn't that awesome. I'd back down the graphics just a tad...you likely won't see any difference...and you would get far more FPS. I certainly wouldn't spend 2x as much on video cards to jump from 13 to 26 FPS.

Wendigo · 06-15-2008, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unlockthexbox

Your wrong. 64-bit you can upgrade the ram, 32-bit it's limited. On this review (ask me for the website if you must) on Crysis 1920x1200 with the highest setting which I'll be using, 3 9800GTX has an average of 27.6 fps, 2 9800GTX has an average of 27.2 while 1 card has an average of only 13 which would be hardly playable. 13x2=26 so both 2 way and 3 way SLi are more than 2x better. This might only be just 1 example but Im sure there's more. No it is not a sli fanboy website. What have you got to say about that then?

Err, yeah, 64bit does take more memory than 32bit, but the performance difference is minimal seeing as the 64 bit with 4GB or Ram only really equates to the same as a 32 bit os with 2GB of Ram

seeing as almost all games only need 2GB to run, so having 4GB is basically not making a difference.

27 FPS in Crysis is not really going to be playable especially when you get to a certain part of the game which i won't spoil for you, at that stage the FPS would probably drop to about 10FPS.

You can't play Crysis flawlessly on the highest settings anyway with ANY setup, so why even bother, the game is still going to look good on high/med, so why get two cards, when one card would play it fine?

Plus, Crysis is shit when SLi is enabled, it barely supports it unless you change the rendering mode and a whole host of other settings.

SLi is unreliable, like i said, the majority of games don't support it.

Listen, whatever floats your boat, if you want to go down the SLi route, do it, i have myself and i found it disappointing at best and a complete waste of money.

The return on performance just does not warrant buying two cards, all i am saying is you would be better off buying one card and and still having a fuck off powerful computer whilst lining your pockets with money to upgrade in the future.

You always regret blowing a load of money on a PC, for the first week you are like wooo this is ace, and then you realise you could have built a much better computer if you had waited.

I am not trying to piss on you parade or anything, i am just trying to make a suggestion that will benefit you, its upto you to take my advice or leave it so chill, we are all computer geeks here

Oh and PParks, i know you know your stuff mate, so thanks for backing me up on the SLi front.

unlockthexbox · 06-15-2008, 11:45 PM

Ok I get what your saying, so If I only get 1 graphics card it might be the 9800GX2 and a good motherboard but that card doesen't have good drivers and it costs alot so I think I might stick to one 9800GTX and go SLi when the cards are alot cheaper. I'll get a 850 watt PSU which should give me plenty enough power. If you want pictures then go to any online computer store. One thing why I wan't to go 64-bit is because I like emulating and all the good emulaters are using that now like Dolphin.

benniemc · 06-16-2008, 12:01 AM

Here's my 2cents;
- SLI is a waste of money, you don't get double the performance so why spend double the price?

- 32bit Windows should be discontinued with Windows Vista, they're limiting the upper memory threshold on desktop PCs, and I blame MS for not pushing 64bit harder. Hell, i've even seen some hardware vendors sell 3Gb memory kits, just for 32bit Windows because everyone is scared of 64bit Windows. The drivers are there, the latest game support is there, and it's only going to improve so why not use it? Yes, the footprint is bigger, but fuck, with machine specs like that I don't think you'll notice that much, and every machine currently on the market is fully 64bit capable.

Up your RAM to 4Gb and go with Vista Home Premium 64bit, you can run XP/Vista 32bit on the machine to, it just won't use the extra 800Meg RAM (If you go with XP32bit as dual boot use the /pae extension on your boot loader (boot.ini), and you'll be able to use all 4Gb RAM, just windows won't tell you that you are). You can dual boot, to compare the differences.

For more info on PAE (Physical Address Extension) see Physical Address Extension - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia