New System??

[DGauld]

First of all, hello to everyone! This is my first post, so break me in nicely

At the moment, Im looking to build a brand new ultimate game eating system, and Im not terribly sure about the best stuff to stick together to do this.

Im currently running a Vaio laptop, based on the following spec:
AMD Athlon XP-M 2200 (approx 1.67GHz)
256Mb PC2100 Memory
16Mb GeForce 4 420 Go (yah, it really sucks, its a mobile graphics card, and hence, no updated drivers since Sep 2002)
40Gb Hitachi drive
Toshiba DVD-RW

Anyway, Im moving on from my laptop, which is about 13 months old now, and just doesnt have enough juice for the latest games, so Im hoping to build a new desktop system. Im looking at the following stuff, as a basis:
AMD Athlon 64 3500 (S939)
Asus A8V Deluxe
1Gb Corsair PC3200 (Matched 2x512Mb)
GeForce 6800 GT
SATA drives (not sure what size)

I would really appreciate comments from anyone that uses any of this stuff, or any advice on better components to get.
Also, this whole memory thing is really complicated, if I run the Athlon 64 3500, what speed of memory should i get, and whats the deal with all the 2-2-2-5 stuff?
Anyway, this is my first post, and Id really appreciate all the help you guys can offer!

Cheers

DGauld

[Punto]

you're a lucky man, i've just spent a month or so researching pretty much the same system

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=28035

there u go

[Kezzer]

I've got 2 x 512MB of Corsair XL Pro. 2-2-2-5 is the memory timings. I'd suggest you go to the Corsair website and find out about it (cba to find link). 2-2-2-5 is basically the tightest you're going to get. A 6800GT is the way to go as most of them clock to Ultra speeds. It might be worth the wait for 64-bit since nForce4 is due to come out at xmas/new year but that's quite a while away yet. Also, the nForce4 boards will feature SATA-II which can trasnfer data (burst rate) at 300MB/sec (as long as you have the complient drives to go with it mind you).

Surely you're going to need a TFT and speakers as well?

[DGauld]

yeah, i already have speakers for my laptop, just Creative Inspire P380 (its only 2.1, but its all I need for now, dont wanna irritate the parental unit huh!)

as for TFTs, im looking for something that is 19", other than that i dont really know where to start. ive heard alot about analog vs dvi, but is there really any difference? also, what thes minimum speed (e.g. 16ms or 25ms or whatever) i would want it to be, for serious hardcore gaming?

DGauld

[GingerNinja.net]

yeah, i already have speakers for my laptop, just Creative Inspire P380 (its only 2.1, but its all I need for now, dont wanna irritate the parental unit huh!)

as for TFTs, im looking for something that is 19", other than that i dont really know where to start. ive heard alot about analog vs dvi, but is there really any difference? also, what thes minimum speed (e.g. 16ms or 25ms or whatever) i would want it to be, for serious hardcore gaming?

DGauld

First off - nice spec and pretty much identical to what I have specced out.

HARD DRIVES - For the SATA versions of the Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 drives - cheap as chips (well, maybe not Corsair stuff).
Personally, I am going for 2 x 160GB to run in RAID 0 (Windows and Program Files) and 2 x 80Gb to run in RAID 1 (for Documents & Settings).

SPEAKERS - don't bother. I have a wife and 3 kids who don't appreciate the sound of gunfire, so I have some Sennheiser headphones which are much better than low volume speakers.

DVI - Yep - better picture etc. Go for a GT card with Dual-DVI outputs as this will come with DVI -> DSUB converters and means you get the benefit of being able to use two DVI panels.

TFT's - 19" flat panels don't display at 1600x1200, they simply show an enlarged 1280x1024 image. If you want to display and game at 1600x1200 you would not only need an ULTRA card, but the 20" ViewSonic VP201S as well. Considering that the Ultra is £100 more than the GT and the ViewSonic is just under £800, I think you need to decide which is the priority - desktop real-estate or gaming in style!

You would be much better suited sticking to a 17" flat panel (which is the same as a 19" CRT monitor) with a 16ms refresh rate and the ability to PLAY GAMES at 1280x1024, which your new set-up will allow you to do.

I would go for the new Sharp LL-171G-B for around £300 inc VAT from Order247, which is currently on the Custom PC Elite list and has knocked off the Iiyama ProLite E431S. Although it only has a 20ms response time, it's a gorgeous screen and IMHO better than the Iiyama as it has a REALLY small bezel and you cannot see the speakers (which you can on the Iiyama) but they are useless 1W jobbies anyway.
----------------------
SPECIFICATIONS: Display type: Active Matrix TFT Dimensions (mm): 374 x 236 x 438 (W x D x H) Colour: Black and silver Weight: 5.6kg Connections: D-SUB, DVI, headphone Viewable screen size: 17in Maximum resolution: 1,280 x 1,024 Contrast ratio: 430:1 Response time: 20ms Extras: 2 x 1W integrated speakers, D-SUB and DVI cables
----------------------

Hope this helps and DO let us all know what kit you eventually get (it might help me make up my mind!)

[DGauld]

TFT's - 19" flat panels don't display at 1600x1200, they simply show an enlarged 1280x1024 image. If you want to display and game at 1600x1200 you would not only need an ULTRA card, but the 20" ViewSonic VP201S as well. Considering that the Ultra is £100 more than the GT and the ViewSonic is just under £800, I think you need to decide which is the priority - desktop real-estate or gaming in style!

You would be much better suited sticking to a 17" flat panel (which is the same as a 19" CRT monitor) with a 16ms refresh rate and the ability to PLAY GAMES at 1280x1024, which your new set-up will allow you to do.

Basically, a 19" TFT shows a 17" image, but stretched? So it wont look as good?

Does that mean, its either a 17", at 1280, or a 20" at 1600?
Correct me if im wrong, but thats either £600 or £1200 roughly? Hmmmm, its a toughie.... Is there any point in 1600x1200 resolution anyway?

Personally, what would you guys choose? My original estimate for the whole pc was upto £2000... but if that huuuge 20" TFT would make any amount of difference, it may well be an investment!

BTW, isnt a 6800 Ultra, just an overclocked 6800 GT? Couldnt you just overclock a GT to use with the 20" Viewsonic?

[DGauld]

ooh, just checked ebuyer, theyre offering the Viewsonic 20" for about £680.... i think i may be persuaded... what do yous think?

[GingerNinja.net]

OK - Let me tackle both of your threads

I stand corrected. An overclocked GT SHOULD (in theory) be able to game at 1600x1200. Why is this important? TFT's have a native resolution. This is the best resolution that the panel will run at. Go to PC World and see if you can change the display settings on one of their PC's. Even changing the resolution on a 17" panel from 1280x1024 to 1024x768 results in some loss of definition and blurring.

I have 2 x 19" NEC panels at work and they run at 1280x1024 (well, 2560x1024). I have my PC there set-up the same as my home 12" panel and I see the same number of icons along the side and use the same size wallpaper - it all just looks slightly bigger on the 19". I don't have MORE desktop, just slightly bigger!

Funnily enough, someone on the Custom PC Forums is having the same problems that you are deciding what panel to use.

Additionally, if you look at the data collected by Valve via Steam (as discussed by Phil Wand -PC Zone's "Wandy" - last month), most gamers don't even game at 1280x1024 - 1024x768 is the current king esp as most games have this as their max resolition (my main love "Enemy Territory" is one such beastie).

What you need to ask yourself is this:

Why do I want to run my PC at 1600x1200?

If you do a lot of graphic work (like me) then you will be crying out for this resolution. Why haven't I switched? Becasue I feel sure that my games would look pooh trying to run at 1024x768 on a 20" panel which really wants them at 1600x1200.

[BUFF]

OK - Let me tackle both of your threads

I stand corrected. An overclocked GT SHOULD (in theory) be able to game at 1600x1200.

I should flaming well hope so - I've been running 1600x1200 for games for the last couple of years
Of course it depends upon the game, textures, FSAA settings etc....

[GingerNinja.net]

I should flaming well hope so - I've been running 1600x1200 for games for the last couple of years
Of course it depends upon the game, textures, FSAA settings etc....

I was basing this purely on the FPS obtained by CPC when playing Far Cry maxed out at 1600x1200 - although (again apologies!), I think about 50fps or so is playable.....

[DGauld]

weeeell, im not too into the whole overclocking thing (yet ) so id rather stick to stock hardware, esp my graphics card, dont really want to fry a £300 board!

let me get this straight, with an Athlon 64 3500+, 1gig of ddr400 and a geforce 6800gt, would that allow me to play at 1600x1200? particularly in the following games:

farcry
doom 3
half life 2 (if and when it ever appears)
the sims 2 (lol, dont ask)

im not too bothered about totally maxing settings, but would expect them to be pretty high at 1600, for that *extra* gaming edge. are there any articles or sites i can look at to see what kinda performance you can get for different setups?

[GingerNinja.net]

Yep - go for the Galaxy Glacier card or the XFX Dual-DVI version which comes with Doom3 if you don't have the game.