OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

[DivotMaker]

Video Card: $179.99 ($149.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate)

GIGABYTE GV-N26OC-896I GeForce GTX 260 896MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125291

If I were you, I would swap the nVidia 260 for an ATI 5850....nV is EOL'ing the 260/285 lineup for the horribly delayed GT300 or "Fermi". ATI's 5850 is available now and has DX11 support if Windows 7 is on your list of upgrades....

[Rodster]

And Rod...the i5-750 is a 200 dollar processor that will absolutely CRUSH any of the Dual Cores...so it's money WELL WELL spent.

Never said it wouldn't just saying most games today are built around what the GPU can do rather than how many clock cycles are on a CPU. I'd rather throw good money after a solid GPU w/built PhysicsX than at a CPU.

Again this only applies if you already have a decent CPU. My E6750 and aged 2 year old processor still has legs. My next upgrade will be an upgrade to my also aged 7900GTO.

[dbdynsty25]

I am looking forward to it PK...hopefully the rig holds up. LOL.

[dbdynsty25]

And Rod...the i5-750 is a 200 dollar processor that will absolutely CRUSH any of the Dual Cores...so it's money WELL WELL spent.

Never said it wouldn't just saying most games today are built around what the GPU can do rather than how many clock cycles are on a CPU. I'd rather throw good money after a solid GPU w/built PhysicsX than at a CPU.

Again this only applies if you already have a decent CPU. My E6750 and aged 2 year old processor still has legs. My next upgrade will be an upgrade to my also aged 7900GTO.

But that's precisely the point. No sense AT ALL in getting a new video card (5850 like I have and Divot suggested) and then pairing it with an e6750. There will be a huge bottleneck in the processor. If he's upgrading, he is doing it right. The Core 2 e series just can't hang with the newer video cards. Makes upgrading the video, worthless.

[Rodster]

If and when i'm ready to upgrade i'll start with the video card first then see if i'm happy with the performance if not i'll go after the CPU after that. For right now most of the games I have on the PC run great so no need to change anything out.

I'm hoping to keep it for another year maybe to in it's current form. The deciding factor will be how well or how bad rFactor2 plays on my rig.

[pk500]

Oh, you poor, suffering techno peasants: I'm running games on a 2.2 mhZ laptop with a 128 MB ATI Radeon Mobility X1400.

Just a bit of perspective for the next time any of you cats feel like you have an inadequate rig. My lappy is the equivalent of a guy with a 1.5-inch penis standing in a porn audition line.

But I make it work, baby ...

Take care,
PK

[Jimmydeicide]

midget porn rules

[Rodster]

Hey guys i'm considering upgrading my rig, wanted to see what you guys think. The CPU and Memory combo is $400

I'm kind of leaning on the AMD Phenom II x6 CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103849

OCZ Flex II 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820227567

I'm looking at an ASUS M4 motherboard and a 850W PSU and probably going with an ATI 5870.

What do you guys suggest AMD or Intel?

[dbdynsty25]

Intel this round. Just get an i7 and be done with it.

[Rodster]

Thanks DB, holy sh*t a comparable i7 is like more than double the price and also requires 130w.

Any reasons why the i7 is much better than the Phenom II x6? Does the i7 perform much much better and produce less heat over the PII x6? that would justify the price. From the Newegg reviews the Phenom II x6 is a beast, looks solid for gaming and runs fairly cool and is super overclockable.

[DivotMaker]

Intel this round. Just get an i7 and be done with it.

Agreed.....

[Rodster]

Great guys, but like I said how about some reasons. The i7 that has a similar clock is more than double the price and the i7 based on the reviews i've read run somewhat hotter than the PII x6.

[dbdynsty25]

Great guys, but like I said how about some reasons. The i7 that has a similar clock is more than double the price and the i7 based on the reviews i've read run somewhat hotter than the PII x6.

Clock speed these days is pretty irrelevant. It's all about bandwidth and multipliers now! Just look at the comparison hierarchy for CPUs:

Virtually all of the best CPUs are either i5s or i7s. You never gave us a price point, you simply asked AMD or Intel. The i7s, even the lowest models will run circles around the Phenoms. It's all about price to performance tho for each person. Is it worth the extra 100 bucks for 10fps or whatever the difference is? That's for you to decide. But if you want the best for your buck, Intel is king this round. If you want middle ground, just get an i5-750...it is still better than a Phenom at just slightly more of a price bump.

I personally went with the i7-860 last year because 100 dollars difference is nothing in the grand scheme of things and if I'm going to upgrade my PC, I'm going to upgrade it. I'd rather spend the extra money and make it last an extra 6 months to a year because I bought the best processor I could afford at the time. I think it's pointless upgrading any other way.

[Feanor]

I got a Nv4_disp display error last night while playing Alien Swarm, and according to Google it might be outdated drivers, a bad motherboard, bad RAM, or my video card might be overheating.

I'm going to install EVGA Precision tonight so I can monitor the temperatures of my 320MB 8800 GTS when idle, and when playing Alien Swarm.

[Rodster]

Great guys, but like I said how about some reasons. The i7 that has a similar clock is more than double the price and the i7 based on the reviews i've read run somewhat hotter than the PII x6.

Clock speed these days is pretty irrelevant. It's all about bandwidth and multipliers now! Just look at the comparison hierarchy for CPUs:

Virtually all of the best CPUs are either i5s or i7s. You never gave us a price point, you simply asked AMD or Intel. The i7s, even the lowest models will run circles around the Phenoms. It's all about price to performance tho for each person. Is it worth the extra 100 bucks for 10fps or whatever the difference is? That's for you to decide. But if you want the best for your buck, Intel is king this round. If you want middle ground, just get an i5-750...it is still better than a Phenom at just slightly more of a price bump.

I personally went with the i7-860 last year because 100 dollars difference is nothing in the grand scheme of things and if I'm going to upgrade my PC, I'm going to upgrade it. I'd rather spend the extra money and make it last an extra 6 months to a year because I bought the best processor I could afford at the time. I think it's pointless upgrading any other way.

The Phenom II x6 3.2ghz(6 core CPU) was $296 and the Intel i7-960 (4 core) is $570. I was looking at the i7 Extreme and didn't realize it, my bad. That was $980. I have several games that are very CPU intensive so i'm looking at a CPU that can get me some more FPS.

[dbdynsty25]

The Phenom II x6 3.2ghz(6 core CPU) was $296 and the Intel i7-960 (4 core) is $570. I was looking at the i7 Extreme and didn't realize it, my bad. That was $980. I have several games that are very CPU intensive so i'm looking at a CPU that can get me some more FPS.

Dude, go with the 860...the 960 isn't worth double the price of the $294 i7-860. Again, it's not all about clock speed anymore. A 2.8ghz Quad is not going to be the bottleneck.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

[Rodster]

Thanks DB, do any games take advantage of 4 or 6 core cpu's? I still run on a E6750 and I now have it OC'd to 3.00ghz. I was even thinking of maybe dropping in a E8600 and OC'ing that badboy to 4-4.5ghz.

[dbdynsty25]

Thanks DB, do any games take advantage of 4 or 6 core cpu's? I still run on a E6750 and I now have it OC'd to 3.00ghz. I was even thinking of maybe dropping in a E8600 and OC'ing that badboy to 4-4.5ghz.

I doubt the advantage is that big for gaming, but I do notice a huge difference when it comes to compiling and encoding video. That's where you'll notice the biggest difference.

[DChaps]

I got the i7 920 last fall for $199 from micro center and I have been very happy with the performance. Right now they have the i7 930's for $199.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_produ ... id=0331303

[Rodster]

Sweet deal Don but there are no Micro Center's in SW Florida.

[Danimal]

Wasn't sure which thread to put this in so am trying here.

Anyone have recommendations for a good capture device to capture console gaming?

I've looked at Haumpage and another one whose name escapes me at the minute. Both provide an external solution that hooks up to your pc via usb. However both require you to have the pc hooked up for the storage (ie not on board storage).

[Rodster]

Hey fellas how does the ATI 5830 compare to my 9800GTX+?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814121367

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

[Rodster]

I'm posted the ATI card stuff in the wrong thread. Anyway's the new ATI 6xxx series were released and the initial impressions have been really good so far. The new 6870 is a tad slower than the 5870 (some reviews say by about 10%) but they sell for $240-260 at Newegg. I'm waiting for the 69xx series to get released, i'm curious about the price point. Those things should be a beast.

[Rodster]

Anandtech posted their review of the 6870:

Conclusion:

"The 6870 is clearly sitting at a sweet spot in terms of price, performance, and noise. It’s faster than the 5850 while drawing only as much power and yet it’s still slightly quieter. Meanwhile it completely clobbers the reference clocked GTX 460 1GB in gaming performance, although with NVIDIA’s new prices and the $30 premium we would hope that this is the case. If nothing else the 6870 wins by default – NVIDIA doesn’t have a real product to put against it."

[dbdynsty25]

Anandtech posted their review of the 6870:

Conclusion:

"The 6870 is clearly sitting at a sweet spot in terms of price, performance, and noise. It’s faster than the 5850 while drawing only as much power and yet it’s still slightly quieter. Meanwhile it completely clobbers the reference clocked GTX 460 1GB in gaming performance, although with NVIDIA’s new prices and the $30 premium we would hope that this is the case. If nothing else the 6870 wins by default – NVIDIA doesn’t have a real product to put against it."

Since they are still virtually the same price, I suppose that it's true that the 6870 would win...but you can get the 5850 for cheaper usually. Give it another month and the gap will increase.