New PC

glynf

I am thinking of buying/building a new PC, mainly for gaming & CAD work. Its been a while since I had a gaming desktop, but crysis has got me intrested again:)

This is what I configured on the komplett site, and thought some of you lads could give me a few opinions on what I have selected:
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Gigabyte Triton GZ-XX1CA-SNB Black

Fortron/Source Epsilon 700W, Blue Fan,

ABIT AW9D, I975X, Socket-775, SATAII,

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz Socket

Corsair Value S. PC5300 DDR2 2048MB

Point of View GeForce 8800GTS 640MB,

Western Digital Raptor 150GB SATA

Samsung SpinPoint T166 320GB SATA2

NEC DVD±RW burner AD-5170 IDE Black OEM,

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Eng

Saitek PZ08A Gamers Keyboard Backlit UK

Linksys Wireless-G PCI 54 Mbps 802.11g

This comes in about 1700, about what I plan to spend. The plan is to upgrade the CPU later on, and add a second graphics card.

Things I am not sure about are highlighted in red. If I was to buy this lot(or similar) somewhere else and assemble myself-is it worth it financially, or is the hassle factor (different parts from different suppliers etc.) wort it?

Mant thanks.


G.



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8T8

Okay well the only big issue is the motherboard;

* Intel chipsets are only supported by dual GPU from ATI graphics cards.
* NVIDIA only support dual GPU on their own brand NVIDIA motherboards.

So that means change to ATI if you want dual cards or change to NVIDIA motherboard of which the MSI nForce 680i is a reasonable choice (supports all current Core 2's as well).

The RAM is fine but DDR-2 533/667/800 is very cheap now you should be able to afford the 800 variety.

The PSU is a generic one it should do the job okay if it's within your budget get one of these instead, higher quality, quiet and can easily handle the load.

glynf

Thanks for that, I take it all PSU's are similar size wide, so will go with what you suggest, the nvidia board & memory as well.
Thinking of a Dell E228WFP monitor to go with it-brings the whole lot in under 2100:)

8T8

Yup the PSU's are standard sizes.

dazftw

6700's are about 300 now arent they? I paid 280 for a 6600 with the prices cuts you should be able to afford a 6700? Unless you want to overclock?

glynf

Heh,

Change of plans again...not arsed w/komplett, (do not like stroppy staff doing me a favor answering the phone).

Now thinking about an Alienware-I know more bang for buck by self build, but I don't have time, like the idea of an extended warranty, and the case looks better than anything else available imo.

So I have a few more questions:

1. Is there a noticeable performance gain with a 10,00rpm drive vs. a 7,200rpm? Thinking of a 150Gb for primary, & 500Gb 7200rpm for storage.

2. Graphics wise(and cash wise!), the options are a 640Mb 8800GTS vs. 2 x 320Mb 8800GTS' in SLI, is the performance gain with the SLI setup worth it, or would I be better off going with the 640Mb & buying a second one when prices come down a bit?

3. If I bought a second 640Mb 8800GTS down the line, would it have to be the exact same vendor (XFX, Leadtek etc. ), or are all similarly spec’d cards compatible?


Thanks again.

DanGerMus

Best option is to go with the best single card you can afford. 2 320mb8800 gts would cost same as a single 768mb 8800Gtx. The single Gtx would be the better performance by far. Double cards does not mean double performance, neccassarily.
The 640 mb 8800gts would be the best choice of the lot as regards performance to price ratio. And will do you for a long time.
Also what kind of Monitor and resolution are you using?
Im pretty sure that they have to be the exact same cards. Even though all the 640gts...etc are supposed to be the same i think you might be taking a chance mixing brands.

glynf

happygandalf wrote:

Best option is to go with the best single card you can afford. 2 320mb8800 gts would cost same as a single 768mb 8800Gtx. The single Gtx would be the better performance by far. Double cards does not mean double performance, neccassarily.
The 640 mb 8800gts would be the best choice of the lot as regards performance to price ratio. And will do you for a long time.

Decided on that then, montior is a 22" dell (E228WFP 1680x1050), so it should be able run most games at v.high settings at this res. with respectable fps. rate I am happy.