My first computer build - Page 3

benniemc · 06-16-2008, 12:02 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

Wendigo · 06-16-2008, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unlockthexbox

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.

You could have said you were emulating dude

i thought you were getting it solely for gaming in which as i said, it will not make a difference, but if your emulating then yeah, those programs need a shitload of memory and the 64 bit OS with extra ram will come in handy.

850w is absolutely fine, just make sure you get a quality make, such as PCP&C, Hiper, Zalman, Antec, Tagan or Seasonic, Enermax also do nice ones as well.

Smeg-T · 06-16-2008, 05:16 PM

First off, nice build. I personally wouldn't do the SLI but that horse has been through enough.

I would get a smaller, better quality PSU.

That said, not trying to derail your thread but I'm curious about the pros of 64 bit. I just built a new box, not a game machine but it could be with the addition of a good video card. I set it up so I can take the leap later this year to 64 bit but reused my XPPro from the box it replaced.

Will I see an improvement in everyday tasks? Is it more stable? I'm not gaming on it anymore and just use it for web browsing, music, ect.

T J M · 06-16-2008, 07:42 PM

I'll just echo what everybody else said--64-bit may hurt more than it'll help; 32-bit will probably be sufficient. And the PSU might be a little overkill for a pair of 9800s, 2 HDDs and a single DVD drive; then again it may not hurt if you're OC-ing. Everything else looks good.

benniemc · 06-16-2008, 11:20 PM

One thing I need to ask, is when are you planning on building this thing?

The nVidia GTX280 gfx cards are set to superseed the 9800 series, and they kick arse and they're due out soon.

Hands-On with Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 280! - nedwards - Maximum PC

There are benchmarks for the prototype, and a single card GTX280 is better than 9800GTX in SLI on just about every test they run, keeping in mind that it's a prototype card with pre-release drivers it's got a lot of potential.

EDIT: They're available now! Newegg.com - XFX GX280NZDF9 GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

fanaticalmoose · 06-17-2008, 06:01 AM

they said the GTX280 could handle Crysis (dont know if it was in SLI or not)... but thats suppose to be with everything maxed..

i would recommend getting the GTX280 over the 9800... but i think u said u were planning to get it in fall or winter... by them the prices might have fallen...

also another thing.. y not go for quad core, like the intel Q9300? why choose the e8400?

pparks1 · 06-17-2008, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smeg-T

That said, not trying to derail your thread but I'm curious about the pros of 64 bit. I just built a new box, not a game machine but it could be with the addition of a good video card. I set it up so I can take the leap later this year to 64 bit but reused my XPPro from the box it replaced.

You could take a look at this wikipedia article on 64-bit 64-bit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

64- bit operating systems allow you larger amounts of memory and "potentially" higher performance from number crunching applications which have been coded to take advantage of 64-bit CPU's.

At the present time...there aren't many applications coded for 64-bit that are typically used day to day. For these reasons, most have to run in 32-bit compatibility mode. There are still a number of device driver problems as 64-bit drivers certainly are not the norm. Finally, 64-bit OS's and 64-bit code take more RAM to run....thus you really need to purchase more RAM to have the functional equivalent of the 32-bit OS version.

In my experience, 64-bit still isn't a worthwhile upgrade for 98% of the population from a home desktop level. It's often more work to try to get running and in the end...it simply isn't faster as there aren't enough true 64-bit apps.

Will I see an improvement in everyday tasks? Is it more stable? I'm not gaming on it anymore and just use it for web browsing, music, ect.[/quote]

unlockthexbox · 06-17-2008, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fanaticalmoose

they said the GTX280 could handle Crysis (dont know if it was in SLI or not)... but thats suppose to be with everything maxed..

i would recommend getting the GTX280 over the 9800... but i think u said u were planning to get it in fall or winter... by them the prices might have fallen...

also another thing.. y not go for quad core, like the intel Q9300? why choose the e8400?

I had a look at The Tech Report - PC Hardware Explored which is where I get my reviews from and for me I might go with a 9800GX2 because it will be cheaper than the GTX 280, I just hope the drivers get better. This video card is actually 2 gpus so maybe 2 9800GTX's in SLi will equal the same power or not it's hard to tell. Im still not completely decided but Im not going with something brand new. The benifits of waiting is that I will be able to afford the xxx or blackhand edition, SLi should be cheap and have better motherboards, the drivers should be better by then and the GTX 280 is really good but I don't need the latest from nvidia.

About the quad core extremes like the QX9650, I'd like one of those but they are too expensive at the moment while the 8400 gives the best value performance per dollar (if you check the value review).

Something else I'd like to talk about is that I have a Pentium 4 2.8 GHz, 1GB Ddr ram, 7600GT, an old Asus P4V800-X, 80 gig hard drive for xp, 320 for vista. I dual boot Windows XP Home and Windows Vista home premium with all updates. Most of my games are on vista home premium and most of my software is on XP. Why is it that XP keeps running out of virtual memory and is alot slower taking 10 minutes to boot while vista is working like a charm? It's great that all my drivers worked on vista, the only things that don't are my third party webcam and gamepad. I know that alot of people actualy prefer their old system with XP but I actually prefer Vista but there is one serious problem: I can modify, view and delete files using XP for looking at the Vista hard drive but it is very difficult to modify, view and delete files on the XP drive when using Vista. Could you please help me so that I don't have to give files and folders permission all the time? Thanks alot for your help, now I understand 64-bit better now.