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Critique on my setup needed

Post Date: 2007-10-30
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Chris View Drop Down
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  Quote Chris Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Critique on my setup needed
    Posted: 30 Oct 2007 at 4:45pm		 
Case: Digital Storm Twister VALUE (Black Edition)
Power Supply: 500W Thermaltake (Silent PurePower Edition)
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 4600+ 2.4GHz (Dual Core) (1 MB Cache)
 w/HyperTransport 
Motherboard: Asus M2N-Plus SLI (Vista Edition) (nForce 5 series SLI
 Chipset)
Memory: 2GB DDR2 Corsair at 800MHz XMS2 (Dual Channel)
 (Extreme-Performance) 
Floppy / Media: Sony 1.44MB Floppy (Black Edition)
Hard Drive 1: 320GB (Western Digital / Seagate) (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM)
 (SATA) 
Hard Drive 2: - No Thanks
Raid Option: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Network Card: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL
 / Network Connections)
Modem: - No Thanks
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8600GTS 512MB (By: eVGA / Asus)
 (PCI-Express) 
TV Tuner: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer (Up to 7.1
 Channel) (Recommended) 
Physics Card: - No Thanks
Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 3 (Silent Artic Cooling (TwisterBoost
 Overclocked) 
Case Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Blue Edition) (Cold Cathode
 Tubes)
Round Cables: - No Thanks
User Manual: Personalized Platinum Digital Storm Binder (Includes
 Paperwork/Benchmarks/CDs/Manuals)
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home (Includes Service Pack 2)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image
 Based)
Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: Logitech 2 Piece (Black Edition) Amplified Speaker Set 
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty
Support: Lifetime Toll-Free Platinum Care Technical Support

cost $1224

so, some questions i have:

I'm getting this computer as a gaming computer, so with that in mind,
will this run the games out now? and most games in the near future?
regardless of settings, i'd like to be able to pull a decent framerate
on all of the newer games.

Also, i'm on a pretty tight budget, are there any downgrades i could make
that wouldn't affect me too negatively?  also, are there any significant
upgrades that i could make that wouldn't break my bank?
i'm considering upgrading my graphics card from the 8600 to the 8800, but that's almost a $100 jump

Finally, my room gets extremely hot during the summer (95 degrees+)
would the cooling option i've selected allow for some small overclocking
while still keeping my computer cool enough during the hot summer?
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skyR View Drop Down
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Digital Storm Apprentice


Joined: 08 Oct 2007
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Oct 2007 at 4:49pm
$100 to upgrade from the 8600 to 8800 is crucial if you want decent FPS in games like Crysis.

8800 GT isn't on the options yet but it will be priced similar to 8800 GTS 320MB, so ask for it over the phone or wait until it is on the list. The 8800GT is a total beast.

Unless you are running an awesome sound system or have amazing ears, get rid of the sound card and put that money into a better processor. A better processor will increase your FPS more than having a dedicated sound card.
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.
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Chris View Drop Down
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  Quote Chris Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Oct 2007 at 4:53pm
OP here: one other thing i've noticed, there's a promotional offer going on for the 7000 series GeForce, would a Geforce 7900  GTX 512MB work better than a GeForce 8800 GT 512MB?
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skyR View Drop Down
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Digital Storm Apprentice


Joined: 08 Oct 2007
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Oct 2007 at 4:55pm
Nope, the 8800GT is by far better. The 8800GT priced at $279 is almost on par with 8800 GTX ($500).
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.
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Chris View Drop Down
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  Quote Chris Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Oct 2007 at 5:09pm
Alright, one final question: The intel core 2 duo E6750 2.66GHz (1333MHz Front side bus) (4MB Cache) costs about the same as the AMD athlon X2 6000+ 3.0GHz (Dual Core) (2MB Cache) w/Hypertransport

I noticed both cards scored fairly similar on the mark 06 graphics test, is there a significant enough difference between them so that I should choose one processor over the other?
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skyR View Drop Down
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Joined: 08 Oct 2007
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Oct 2007 at 5:12pm
Go with the E6750. The Intel Core 2s perform better than AMD Athlons atm.
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.
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Chris View Drop Down
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  Quote Chris Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Oct 2007 at 5:31pm
Ok, thanks again for the quick replies, I've decided on
http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=90941
it's about $150 over my $1200 budget, but I figure it'll be worth it in the end
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Soba453 View Drop Down
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Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 21 Oct 2007
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Posts: 13 		  Quote Soba453 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Oct 2007 at 8:09pm
Originally posted by skyR

$100 to upgrade from the 8600 to 8800 is crucial if you want decent FPS in games like Crysis.

8800 GT isn't on the options yet but it will be priced similar to 8800 GTS 320MB, so ask for it over the phone or wait until it is on the list. The 8800GT is a total beast.

Unless you are running an awesome sound system or have amazing ears, get rid of the sound card and put that money into a better processor. A better processor will increase your FPS more than having a dedicated sound card.


The 8800GT 512 just went up on the options! yay!
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Crulend View Drop Down
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Joined: 03 Aug 2007
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Posts: 191 		  Quote Crulend Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Oct 2007 at 8:26pm
The 8800GT is by far the best performance per dollar card out now.  I don't get Nvidia's sales strategy, but it's a win/win for gamers.
1KW Thermaltake
C2D QX6800 @ 3.46 Ghz
4 GB Corsair DMTR @ 1066
2x8800 GTX in SLI
2x150 Raptors in RAID0
2x500 Caviars in RAID0
Creative XtremeGamer
Samsung 305T 30" LCD
Creative S750 7.1 700W
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