I'm buying a new computer.

Scythe

<div class="IPBDescription">Vet my parts pretty please.</div>You know the drill ladies and gents. I post the specs, you make fun of me for spending too much money. Fallout 3 and Far Cry 2 are coming up and I want to be ready.

<u>CPU:</u>
Intel ATX E8600 CORE 2 DUO/3.33GHz/6MB/1333FSB/LGA775
$335.00

<u>GPU:</u>
Asus EAH4870X2 2G R700 DDR5 PCIE2.0 DVI HDTV HDMI
$695.00

<u>Motherboard:</u>
Anything really. Probably Asus.
$250.00

<u>RAM:</u>
4-8 gig of something DDR3 1333MHz
$300.00

<u>PSU:</u>
1KW something
$250.00

<u>Sound Card:</u>
Asus Xonar D2
$199.00

The only major problem I have is that it's only a dual-core machine. I'd like to go for quad if at all possible. The only decent quad-cores on the market presently is AMD's Phenom, which seem to suck a bit, or Intel's C2D + duct-tape, running at a lower clock.

Motherboard... It's a motherboard. Other bits go pluggy-pluggy. Two PCI-Ex16s not required as I don't give a damn about SLI, since it doesn't allow more than one monitor. I'm assuming crossfire is the same. Two monitors are a MINIMUM for me.

I'm leaning towards 4 gig of memory, since the 1333MHz DDR3 stuff is still pretty pricey.

The sound card is a bit odd, I know, but I want a MIDI input and an oxygen chip that can mux a signal together for my external 5.1 decoder.

Suggestions? Ridicule?

--Scythe--

Codeman

Last I heard, Intel's siamese-twin quad core thing beat the crap out of AMD's effort.

Kouji_San

4870 X2 vs GTX280, price wise you're at a forkroad as the performance is not that much different. Add to this the fact that the X2 is a dual core card that probably is not fully supported by some games...

Also due to mem bandwidth and speed the GTX 280 has effectively the same amount of memory the 4870X2 has.

I dunno, I wouldn't want to rely on a dual core power guzzling card for performance, I got myself a 4850 512MB as a followup from my X850XTPE (to get shader 3.0+) But then again I play games at 1024*768 (preferbly in a window, I hate alt+tabbing) or 1280*1024.


Also I haven't looked into it, but is a quad core finally comming trough on their speed these days? I remember when I got my Intel core 2 duo was just as fast and in some cases faster then quad and also has much more OC room.

Ah well just my thoughts <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />

remi

For gaming a dual core CPU generally outperforms a quad core CPU... That's why I have my lovely Athlon64 x2 rather than the Phenom.
Games are not well suited to multithreading. (Which is why a greater clock speed with only two cores outperforms a quad core of a slightly lower clock speed in game tests)

lolfighter

True.
Also true: Few home user programs can put a quad core through its paces. A dual core processor will most likely have power to spare for almost everything the average home user throws at it.
ALSO true: If applications start gaining major performance boosts from multiple cores soon, current quad cores will stay in the race longer than current dual cores.

Take from that what you want.

remi

Also if you happen to be a 3d modeler and you have a lot of complicated renders... quad does better. (Rendering is well suited to multithreading)

<!--quoteo(post=1688906:date=Sep 26 2008, 08:35 AM:name=lolfighter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lolfighter @ Sep 26 2008, 08:35 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1688906"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->ALSO true: If applications start gaining major performance boosts from multiple cores soon, current quad cores will stay in the race longer than current dual cores.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
My opinion is that by the time software learns to do well on a quad core system you're going to be on the market for a new CPU anyways.
So I wouldn't fret about getting a quad core, you're probably better off with a dual.

Kouji_San

1366 pins Socket B anyone...

If you wait for the new stuff, you're going to be waiting your whole life!

SkulkBait

Everything in your list consumes way too much power. Is destroying the earth really worth being able to play Crysis?

Seriously though, I have no useful input. Low power computing is where my new computer fantasy money goes nowadays.

Scythe

After some 'vestigation, I'm now considering:

Intel CORE 2 QUAD Q9550/2.83GHz/12MB CACHE/1333MHz FSB/LGA775

I'm trying to decide on a choice for RAM. I'm possibly tending towards 4 gig of DDR3 1333MHz, probably G.Skill.

--Scythe--

spellman23

As far as RAM goes, pure size tends to trump speed. Well, at least if you're doing stuff like video editing. If your CPU can't even access the RAM fast enough, it's a waste to get higher speed.

I also recommend trying to find lower power versions and an efficient power supply. While more expensive up front for their performance, you save boatloads of money on your energy bill. And electricity prices are still on the rise.

It is also true that we don't nearly take advantage of the multi-core systems, except for games like SupComm. It's because programming in threads is a pain and introduces so many more and worse errors than even memory bugs. So, going quad isn't as big of a deal, you're gonna be paying for some serious overhead unless your programs are designed for it. However, if you're rendering lots of stuff, many editing programs are taking really good advantage of behind-the-scenes pre-rendering power.

Other than that, looks like a fairly solid rig. Make sure you have enough cooling for all of power.

Scythe

I expect new games and programs are going to start being built from the ground up with multiple cores. Crysis and CoD4 are two that're specially tailored to run on two cores. Supcom is about the only game around that uses more than two.

The two main unknowns at present are ram and a mobo.

Power consumption isn't much of an issue for me, so long as it doesn't cook me alive.

--Scythe--

Scythe

So I put together my new tiny god yesterday. It runs Crysis on everything high, with all the trimmings, at 43FPS in the GPU timedemo.

The GPUs also max out at 93 Celsius. This mofo runs HOT.

Also, the Asus Xonar D2X? Best damn sound card in the world. I'm serious, it's so damn nice. The digital optical connectors are hidden INSIDE the core of the digital copper RCA plugs. Like, in the core. They give you little adapters to plug into them. I set it up with an (included!) optical lead to my external Yamaha DTS decoder+amp and the wee DTS light on the amp came on. It sounds incredible.

--Scythe--

lolfighter

I must take a look at that sound card. I need a better one. How's the input? That always seems to be a weak spot. Half the sound cards I've ever used just couldn't boost the mic signal enough.