Secondary Gaming System- opinions neededPost Date: 2008-10-01 |
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Damian 
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Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 15 |
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 Topic: Secondary Gaming System- opinions neededPosted: 01 Oct 2008 at 5:20pm |
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Looking at buying a secondary gaming PC system for around $2000. We typically play MMORPGs together such as WAR and AoC, on a 24" 1900x1200 monitor. I took the basic build from one of the DS hot buy computers and tweaked where I wanted.
http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=189629 Chassis: Cooler Master HAF 932 Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Interior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Power Supply: 750W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition) Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz (1333MHz FSB) (12MB Cache) Motherboard: NVIDIA 780i Core 2 Quad (Chipset: nForce 780i SLI) System Memory: 4GB DDR2 800MHz OCZ Card Reader: - No Thanks Hard Drive 1: 300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor (10K RPM) (16MB Cache) (Extreme Speed) Hard Drive 2: - No Thanks Raid Option: - No Thanks Hard Drive 3: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Wireless Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 896MB (Includes PhysX Technology) TV Tuner: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 2 (Silent Artic Cooling Heat-sink Upgrade (Copper Heatpipes) Internal Lighting: - No Thanks Modifications: - No Thanks Boost Processor: Yes, Overclock the processor as much as possible with complete stability Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Boost Memory: Yes, Overclock memory timings (Includes Memory Fan Kit Installed) Tweak Windows: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based) 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 Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty Is this ample power? Will it support a second GTX260 video card to be installed in SLI in the future as needed? Is the RAM 800Mhz compatible with overclocking along with the processor? (DDR2 and RAM requirements are unclear; folks say match the FSB, but there isn't an option to do so) I don't expect to need extra cooling with this case/system for some overclocking; the special deal build has it overclocked with these same cooling options. |
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DST4ME
DS ELITE 
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
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Posted: 01 Oct 2008 at 5:57pm |
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I think you need a 860w psu to be able to go with 2 cards down the road.
go with visa 64bit premium ddr2 ram only goes upto 1066  but 800 is fine.
this is how the theory goes: your ram is 800MHz but thats 2 cores, actuall core is 800 ÷ 2 = 400. so your ram core is 400MHz now you need to know know your cpu's multiplier q9550 has a multiplier of 8.5. so now 8.5 x 400 = 3.4 so in theory, you should be able to OC to 3.4 with that ram. in theory Edited by DST4ME - 01 Oct 2008 at 5:58pm |
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Tyler Lowe
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Joined: 14 May 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
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Posted: 02 Oct 2008 at 12:06am |
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I just wanted to step in here and clarify how RAM speed works. Processors have cores, RAM has virtual rows and columns of registers.
DDR is double data rate RAM. What is meant by "Double Data Rate" is that the RAM sends and recieves information on both the up and down clock of each clock cycle. Because it is able to do this, it's "effective" speed is double the actual clock rate and it is sometimes refered to as "double pumped".
When you are looking at RAM, and attempting to match it to a FSB speed, the important thing to understand, is that a FSB can send and recieve information every quarter of a clock cycle- nifty huh? Therefore, it is said the FSB is "quad pumped" or effectively 4 times faster than the base system clock.
Going back to that example DST provided,
800MHz DDR2 RAM, is "double pumped" or 2 x 400MHz.
1600MHz FSB speed is "quad pumped" or 4 x 400MHz
1600MHz is therefore the highest FSB speed with which you could expect not to have any substantial memory bottlenecks and is also the highest FSB speed 800MHz RAM will support. The application of your CPU's multiplier to this base maximum clock is a rough idea only, and is more often dictated by the limitations of the motherboard and individual CPU.
A 750W power supply is capable of powering two GTX260's, however you will want to inquire from DSO when placing your order how many Amps the 12V rails on the Corsair 750W PSU supports and double check the Amp requirement for SLI GTX260.
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RGH
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Joined: 22 Sep 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36 |
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Posted: 02 Oct 2008 at 2:37pm |
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Is that the backup machine? thats pretty nice! That is better than the one that I just ordered.
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Damian
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Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 15 |
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Posted: 02 Oct 2008 at 2:50pm |
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LOL, yes, and it blows away my old P4 too. Short version is:
we paly on 2 gaming systems together, when able, but our old systems cant handle it anymore. This system will get me by solo for a few months until the new I7 chipsets are out, then I can look at a configuration for a primary liquid cooled system with SLI'd vid cards, and this one will then become the second setup. Hell of a 'hand me down' for my daughter eh? Still working out the kinks with the sales division, but may order this soon if we can get it hammered out. I dont think I could engineer a single system that could run two instances of a high end graphics online game, and split them onto two 24" monitors, and having 2 sets of keyboard/mice inputs running together. If anyone knows how to do that and save me $3000 I would be most grateful. TD |
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RGH
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Joined: 22 Sep 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36 |
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Posted: 02 Oct 2008 at 5:48pm |
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So much for "around $2,000" eh? Thats how it starts, right? Pretty much the same situation for me, our POS dell started crapping out. So I said to myself "Ok self, lets get something that is better and will last longer!" What games do you play online? Do you play with your daughter? My little girl is 3, I cant wait to get her into gaming. I would like to get my wife more into it. Wish I could help you out as far as running two complete seperate sets of interface setups off of one machine. I am sure that it is possible, with the right setup. Me and my buddies are going to play City of Heroes when we get back to the states. I want my wife to get into it, but I dont know if she is game.
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DST4ME
DS ELITE
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
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Posted: 02 Oct 2008 at 6:50pm |
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Just fyi 3.4 to 3.6 is possible with liquid cooling, with air cooling I don't know, probably around 3.2.
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