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Need a Suggestion

Post Date: 2008-06-27
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cronus212 View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote cronus212 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Need a Suggestion
    Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 3:47am
Hi I'm new to the forums and new to Digital Storm I've never heard of it before but I'm glad I found it I need a suggestion on wich rig is best for me I'm a big gamer so obviously I'm looking for performance my current computer can handle crysis fairly well on medium settings but I want for out of it if you havn't noticed my specs are in my signature and I'm looking for a price that's lower than $1500 or a tiny bit higher.
 
Thank You.
Current Computer:
<br />Acer Aspire E380
<br />AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30 GHz
<br />2.00 GB of Ram
<br />Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
<br />Nvidia 8600GT 256MB
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widdlecat View Drop Down
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Posts: 840 		  Quote widdlecat Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 4:26am
Without knowing your other gaming preferences and display resolution, I wouldn't hazard to give exact recommendations, but you definitely should be able to build a satisfactory pc on the configurator with plenty of flexibility. Playing Crysis on your current rig leads me to believe that you don't have a huge monitor and therefore can still run with a single graphics card solution. Unless you are playing AoC, I'm thinking that the ATI 4850 card would be a good choice for you. (SkyR says AoC won't run with ATI cards).

The "value and power" series all offer AMD processors that still seem to provide good performance for the money if you need a quad core. The Phenom 9850 BE should be a good performer with OC. Of course, if you choose to go with Intel, you can still get a good system, but you would have to go with a dual core for this price range (core 2 duo E8400). If you're using the pc for only games, currently dual core is sufficient, so it becomes a choice of what brand you want.

The Antec 900 case is an upgrade from the 750Si case that is worth the cost due to better cooling capability. There's enough flexibility with your budget to get a system that can be adjusted to your personal needs.
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Tyler Lowe View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		  Quote Tyler Lowe Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 4:54am
$1518
 
 
The top system is an AMD/ATI based quadcore configuration, the lower system is based on Intel core duo/NVidia. I think either one would  absolutely blow you away with the performance. My initial order to DSO was a system with a 256MB GeForce EN8600GT, after upgrading to a 96GT pair, I can say the difference is night and day.
 
Note that that is a 4870 not a 4850 in the AMD configuration, and should blow a 98GTX based system away.


Edited by Tyler Lowe - 27 Jun 2008 at 1:11pm
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cronus212 View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote cronus212 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 7:00am
Thank you widdlecat for the information what I just figured out is if I put crysis to an 800 x 600 resolution I can put the settings all to very high without the blur affects and I get about 20fps or so but does the ATI 4850 have some advantages over my Nvidia 8600GT beside it having 512mb?
 
thank you tyler for configuring this for me I'll definatley think about buying this rig:)


Edited by cronus212 - 27 Jun 2008 at 11:34am
Current Computer:
<br />Acer Aspire E380
<br />AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30 GHz
<br />2.00 GB of Ram
<br />Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
<br />Nvidia 8600GT 256MB
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cronus212 View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote cronus212 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 11:33am
ok...I noticed that was a dumb question to ask already but thanks for pointing it out I don't know everything about computers but I know enough.
Current Computer:
<br />Acer Aspire E380
<br />AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30 GHz
<br />2.00 GB of Ram
<br />Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
<br />Nvidia 8600GT 256MB
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Tyler Lowe View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		  Quote Tyler Lowe Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 12:47pm
Relax Cronus, this is a friendly forum, and you are among friends. Smile
 
I think Harleyman was refering to my post above, not attempting to insult you.
 
The HD4850 is roughly 5 to 6 times more powerful than your current card. You would be able to play Crysis at those settings at 1280x1024 at the very least. There's just no comparing the two cards.
 
I also edited my post and added an Intel/NVidia based system.
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widdlecat View Drop Down
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Posts: 840 		  Quote widdlecat Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 1:07pm
Either the HD4850 or the Nvidia geForce 9800 GTX will be an outstanding upgrade. It's a bit early to tell how the new HD4850 actually will compare to the 9800 GTX on newer games, but for current games they are pretty close.
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cronus212 View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote cronus212 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 2:04pm
Oh sorry haha little confusion there sorry harley and thank you widdlecat and tyler for the info it was really helpful.
Current Computer:
<br />Acer Aspire E380
<br />AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30 GHz
<br />2.00 GB of Ram
<br />Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
<br />Nvidia 8600GT 256MB
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cronus212 View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote cronus212 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 3:23pm
Yeah I thought you were saying an insult but yeah no problem and one thing I've noticed is tyler's build with the intel proccessor has more GHz but being that the AMD is quad core and the intel is dual core the AMD should be a bit better performance right?
Current Computer:
<br />Acer Aspire E380
<br />AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30 GHz
<br />2.00 GB of Ram
<br />Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
<br />Nvidia 8600GT 256MB
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widdlecat View Drop Down
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Posts: 840 		  Quote widdlecat Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 9:52pm
When comparing dual core to quad core, for gaming, it's all about the speed (for now). Currently, games aren't utilising multicore technology. However, eventually they will begin making use of multicore and that's when having a quad core will show its benefits over the dual core. So, it's more of a "future proof" step to go with quad core. As long as you are running at 2.5 GHz or higher, you should be in good shape. Higher is always going to be better though. That's why for the Phenom processor I recommend the BE (black edition) and then going with overclock. You should get a reasonable speed boost there. Play around with the configurator to see what you can get for your budget. Smile
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Tyler Lowe View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		  Quote Tyler Lowe Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 11:20pm
I did try very hard to fit in a BE quad and a 790FX motherboard to get the best chance at decent overclock, but at $1500, that is really tough. If you wanted to recycle your current GPU and drop in a new one down the road, you could pretty easily make a system that would be perfect to build on over the course of the next few months, but your performance in the short term would be no better than what you have right now. Of course, once you upgraded that GPU, you'd have a killer system capable of running crossfire eventually.
 
That's the way I did it. I couldn't afford what I wanted all up front, so I got the basis for a strong system, and dropped in new RAM and graphics cards as i could afford it. It's not an approach that would appeal to everyone, but it is one way to go about it.
 
example configuration:
 
Basically, all that is missing here, is better case cooling if you wanted to tackle overclocking the CPU down the road, and an upgraded graphics card. Drop another $500 over time into this system and you'll have a killer system.
 
You can do the same with an Intel based system. Widdlecat is 100% correct about current games, although your target speed is about 2.8Ghz to be honest. At 2.4GHz, you're going to see most of the benefits of having a fast CPU, but once you hit 2.8 Ghz or so, you're at about 99% of the possible benefits at any speed. Past that speed, it's your graphics cards that will be dictating your performance almost entirely.
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cronus212 View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote cronus212 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 11:35pm
I guess I could raise it to about $2000 or a little more and seeing as games arn't utilizing multi core and it takes a year or two to actually develop a game that will I guess I'll have to go with the intel and nvidia computer for now I'm going to try the build you gave me tyler but I'm going to change things around a little so the tower is the most important part at this moment right?
Current Computer:
<br />Acer Aspire E380
<br />AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30 GHz
<br />2.00 GB of Ram
<br />Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
<br />Nvidia 8600GT 256MB
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Tyler Lowe View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		  Quote Tyler Lowe Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Jun 2008 at 12:01am
I'm sorry, but by tower, you mean the case itself?
 
Oh, and at $2,000 we can have some serious fun with this configuration. That's where you start to be able to do some really fun stuff. Big%20smile


Edited by Tyler Lowe - 28 Jun 2008 at 12:02am
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skyR View Drop Down
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Jun 2008 at 12:14am
All the cases can fit all the air cooling stages.

There are a tons of options for a $2000 budget.

Here's a Nvidia one: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=161774

And an ATI one: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=161776


Edited by skyR - 28 Jun 2008 at 12:15am
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.
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cronus212 View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote cronus212 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Jun 2008 at 12:14am

wait does it depend on certain cases to have certain cooling systems or do they all fit? and I hope the $2000 is worth it:P this place is really helpful I think digital storms is going to be the company I go too buy my computers from now on.
Current Computer:
<br />Acer Aspire E380
<br />AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30 GHz
<br />2.00 GB of Ram
<br />Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
<br />Nvidia 8600GT 256MB
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cronus212 View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote cronus212 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Jun 2008 at 12:21am
I'm liking the Nvidia so far I've never been a fan of ATI for some reason but I like the intel core 2 duo E8500 3.16 GHz better than some of the quads and its just a little over my budget what I am worried about is the Hard Drive my current computer has two 250 gig Hard Drives and is the 4GB Ram neccassary? I've heard windows vista takes some of the memory so your left with less so I'm geussing it is.

Edited by cronus212 - 28 Jun 2008 at 12:22am
Current Computer:
<br />Acer Aspire E380
<br />AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30 GHz
<br />2.00 GB of Ram
<br />Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
<br />Nvidia 8600GT 256MB
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Tyler Lowe View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		  Quote Tyler Lowe Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Jun 2008 at 12:33am
Vista really is resource hungry, so running a 64 bit OS and 4GB of RAM is something that is becoming more and more popular.
 
The new ATI cards are *amazing* performers for the money. At $2k I would look at a system with an Intel core duo and ATI 4870.
 
I agree with most of SkyR's selections, but based on your comment about your current hard drive space, and some personal preferences, I would offer up this slightly modified version of his suggestion:
 
 
I can understand the feelings towards NVida's products. Check my sig, obviously, I like them too, but this latest round of cards from ATI is something else.
 
Check out this review:


Edited by Tyler Lowe - 28 Jun 2008 at 12:37am
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cronus212 View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote cronus212 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Jun 2008 at 12:46am
That's better but if I went with nvidia I'd be getting 1GB from their cards with sli but I won't argue with the price nvidia is expensive but do they have the ATI 4870 in crossfire?
 
EDIT: nevermind yes they do but it goes way over my price range hmm the 4870 seems really good now that ive read the review alright ill go with the ATI build better price and should I overclock it?
 


Edited by cronus212 - 28 Jun 2008 at 12:53am
Current Computer:
<br />Acer Aspire E380
<br />AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30 GHz
<br />2.00 GB of Ram
<br />Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
<br />Nvidia 8600GT 256MB
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skyR View Drop Down
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Jun 2008 at 1:04am
I think you have the wrong idea about how SLI works.

When you add a second card to your motherboard for SLI, it doesn't merge with the first card to double the performance. Each card is still limited to what it has so if a card had 512mb memory, it would still have 512mb in SLI. SLI splits the load between both cards. The first card would render all the odd lines while the second card would render all the even lines on the screen.

The Radeon HD4870 is an amazing card from ATI. It's priced at $299 and it rivals the GTX 280 which is priced at $649. Here is one example:
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.
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cronus212 View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote cronus212 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Jun 2008 at 1:18am
Wow well ATI is catching up pretty quickly I'd love to have crossfire for the 4870 but can't afford it my current computer can only handle crysis on 800x600 very high and i still only get about 10 to 20 fps so this would be a great improvement and thanks for letting me know how sli works:) one more question does digital storm allow you to pay in payments?
Current Computer:
<br />Acer Aspire E380
<br />AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30 GHz
<br />2.00 GB of Ram
<br />Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
<br />Nvidia 8600GT 256MB
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skyR View Drop Down
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Jun 2008 at 1:23am
Originally posted by cronus212

one more question does digital storm allow you to pay in payments?
Not at the moment, they do have plans on adding that sort of option sometime in the future. You can call your bank and possibly work out a monthly payment plan with them.
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.
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cronus212 View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote cronus212 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Jun 2008 at 1:42am
ah ok thank you all for the information it's been really helpful in picking the right computer and digital storms is now my favorite company to buy computers now:)
Current Computer:
<br />Acer Aspire E380
<br />AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30 GHz
<br />2.00 GB of Ram
<br />Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
<br />Nvidia 8600GT 256MB
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