Need help with a few Config Choices.

Hey Everyone,

I am looking into getting a PC very soon and there was some final choices i wanted some advice on. I will post my goals, my question, and finally the PC setup i am thinking of rolling with.

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to help me with this ahead of time :)


The Goal :)

Play Lord of the rings online at 2560 x 1600 resolution on my 30 inch dell.

Ultra High settings, every single thing maxed out.
16x AA.
DirectX 10.
FPS ALWAYS above 30 preferably 60, but thats near to impossible at max everything on at the above resolution.

the SSD Hard drive is strictly for LOTRO and wow. LOTRO benefits from them greatly due to extremely long load times for their high textures.

Here are some questions i have about individual config options.

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Video Card - 4870x2 at 215$ or GTX295 at 465$.. i am leaning towards the 4870 due to the value of it being 1/2 the cost.

Case - Antec 0$ or the Haf 932 +70$

Sound Card. Onboard 0$ or Razer Barracude AC-1 130

Extra Fans  - 0 or 63$

Nvidia ESA - is this really worth the 50$ ?

Windows Boost-  35$  same thing, really worth the $ i normally run MSCONFIG and shut off all apps and services at startup already.

OS - Vista Home 64 for 0$or Vista Ultimate 64  15$ or Ultimate with 7 Upgrade 83$ . for the OS as along as i can lock my workstation as needed, i dont think i would use the extra features.


-------- Here is the proposed setup---------------------------



Chassis Model: Antec Nine Hundred Two
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Interior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 LE Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1333MHz Digital Storm Certified by mushkin enhanced (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 910W PC Power & Cooling (Dual/Triple SLI Compatible) (Silencer Edition)
Card Reader: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (60GB Solid State (By: OCZ) Vertex Series (Model: OCZSSD2-1VTX60G)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 1.792GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Razer Barracuda AC-1 (Recommended)
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: V8 Cooler Master High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i7 Processors)
Liquid Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a H20: Stage 3 Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue)
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Requires Air Cooling Upgrade)
Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Tweak Windows: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) With Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Install/Test Game: - No Thanks
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-10 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty



Edited by augdawg - 16 Jul 2009 at 1:39pm

Hey DST thanks for the advice.

in alot of the benchmarks i saw the GTX295 and the 4870x2 come relativly close (around 15 20% in the GTX295's favor.)

I am currently running on ultra high in the game with an 8800GTX, but i often go from 60 FPS to 20 or 10 due to various circumstances. Thats why i have the debate between the 2 cards. if the 8800GTX that i currently have can do it poorly, maybe the 295 is way overkill ?

Lotro does support SLI and crossfire now, its the only MMO out there that actually get the benifit. It certainly didnt at release, but they made the changes about a year ago.



Thank you for your advice on the ESA and the windows boost. As for MSCONFIG i only used it to turn off stupid services, not all applications especially Antivirus. I've been working in Helpdesk/Networking for about 9 years so i have a good handle on PC's.

Thanks for your advice.

You are totally correct with that, disable services. I have just used it to disable apps on windows startup. IM, Quicktime etc etc.

So i wonder what is actually involved in their windows tuning ? Does that just include turning off Aero :P

I'll consider going with the 2 or 3 275's. i have seen a few other people going with the same thing.


This is my current setup, so i am comparing from that.

30' dell monitor
amd dual core chip 2.6
Nvidia evga 8800 GTX
4 gb of ram
7.200 rpm HD
on board nic - i know, i never thought it would suck so bad.
Windows XP, sp 3. - NO dx10 .


Edited by augdawg - 16 Jul 2009 at 5:43pm

ya know, 2 x 4870x2 is wildly cheaper than 3 x 275 given the clearance thing. And if you consider the 2 x 275 1796mb is like 60 bucks cheaper than 2 x 4870x2 then it's almost worth the jump to the 4870x2's.

well 1 4870x2 is 215, while 2 275's is 415 ish. only a 200$ difference.

DST do you know any sites that have done benchmark testing with 275's in SLI. everything i can find just has it as a stand alone. I usually go off what Toms hardware says and a few other random sites i google.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality/F.E.A.R.-2,1325.html

I turned everything up to ultra high, and 4x aa last night on my current rig. it can maintain 40 DPS in all but the most crowded places. So i think regardless of what video card solution i go with, i should be able to accompish my goal.

oh and i downloaded CC cleaner, pretty nice tool there. definetly a keeper.


Edited by augdawg - 17 Jul 2009 at 10:28am

Thanks Sarah i will :)