My New Pc Configuration tell me your opinions

[odomike 0]

Realistically-speaking, I'm not sure if you would notice a difference or not unless you benchmark the two brands against each other. (Who really sees a difference between 160 fps as opposed to 180? Or those minute differences on how vectors are drawn and pixels handled? And even if you could... would it matter that much to warrant the change?) You COULD go back to your mobo with NVIDIA chipset and throw in a SLI configuration instead of a Crossfire one, but I suppose you could give ATI a try.

 

It IS an expensive trial though...

 

Good to see that the 2600XT is a nice choice... DX10 support AND PCIe.

 

Now come to think of it. I read a review of someone who bought an MSI RX2600XT Diamond Plus Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 OC Edition HDMI HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card at NewEgg. Below is what he has to say about this ATI GPU powered card and an nVIDIA 7800GS/GT

 

Well its DX10, its ATI, its a Good Card, looks beautifully designed. I can run Lost Planet on 1280x1024 on all high at 30+ FPS, but my 7800gt struggled on 1024x768 on medium.

Now this is a plus for this graphics card and I am not looking back on that. You can read the review here http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

 

I think you guys should have a peep at this card's specs before crucifying it. Has GPU core running at an amazing 850MHz and Memory clock at a sky-rocketting 2.3GHz. If you get an nVIDIA card at that spec with DX10, I bet you aint gonna get that for $200.

 

Judging from this, I decided to compare the two GPUs and there prices. I found out that the 7800GS supports DX9.0c while the 2600XT supports DX10. Apart from that, the 7800 happened to be on the higher side for the price and that is one thing I am trying to be conscious about despite going for the maximum possible performance.

 

So, why cant I get better gaming and graphics rendering performance for lower cash? I bet everyone would wana do same too.

Edited September 7, 2007 by odomike (see edit history)

[rayzoredge 2]

Got it. As I've said, consider your options. But of course, you were one step ahead of me. Good to know.

 

That is actually quite a deal if you can get better performance out of the 2600XT as opposed to the 7800GT. I didn't actually look at any benchmark info, but like I said before, I don't think you'll be able to see a difference when it comes to similar cards of different brands.

 

Looking at comparisons now... but I think you'll be correct to say that you'll be paying more for an NVIDIA equivalent than for the ATI that you have now.

 

Just off of NewEgg...

 

There really couldn't be any comparison for an NVIDIA equivalent as the card you provided uses GDDR4-type VRAM, and there are no NVIDIA cards that match most other specifications of that card that use GDDR4. (I settled for GDDR3 in this case, although I'm not sure if there is that much of a difference.) All those cards are similar to your ATI card with the exception of GDDR4-type memory.

 

Of course, their prices fluctuate between $100-$210.

Notice from jlhaslip:

Merged Topic

[odomike 0]

This is not just a benchmark by some software that provides you with a synthetic benchmark result, but a real life gaming experience by someone who has used this card and noticed the goodness of the GPU. You know, I am not even buying ony one of the HD2600XT card. I am buying two of 'em cards so that I can use then on Crossfire mode.Now, imagine what it would look like to use two HD2600XT (512MB of GDDR4) with DX10. Your gaming is gonna be real kooooolll.I can only wonder at what the graphics will look like in there combining it with the Q6600 Quad Core which I will be O'Cing to 3.4GHz or more considering the fact that I am gonna be using a case which has been refered to as an EXTREEM GAMING CASE 'cos its got a lota cooling.Well, thats gonna be a real computing experience.And BTW, I have added a Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE Sound Card and Creative Inspire P7800 90 Watts 7.1 Speaker - Retail to the list to make everything complete.

Edited September 7, 2007 by odomike (see edit history)

[rayzoredge 2]

I almost feel excited for you.How sad. Looks like you've got it down, man. How much is this beast going to run you now?

[Saint_Michael 3]

Man some serious posting been going on about this topic, however, I disagree with the huge monitors go dual monitors since you got a powerful set up to handle two monitors. Also Odo I bought my case and power supply separately and the prices were still cheap. Then referring to what Watermonkey said 700 would be necessary for what your trying to do now with this set up.As for a chip set question is has to do with compatibility issues, meaning that the chip set is design in such a way that you could put any type of gfx card made by that same chip set company and not have any problems. One more thing don't get a open box Motherboard because that means it has been used and repair and put back on the market again, I would get it brand spanking new so not to have any possible problems in the future with the system.

[csp4.0 1]

I just found it
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
here is proof that some crazy guy from a commercial company (HP-Voodoo) has made a computer that has a 680i Chipset and just put a couple'la ATI cards in there, there is proof. But I would still stay on the safe side and just buy a 8600GTS is you're on a budget or go all out and buy a 8800Ultra like what I'm doing (they are actually quite cheap, can get them for US$570 from newegg.

[odomike 0]

Man some serious posting been going on about this topic, however, I disagree with the huge monitors go dual monitors since you got a powerful set up to handle two monitors. Also Odo I bought my case and power supply separately and the prices were still cheap. Then referring to what Watermonkey said 700 would be necessary for what your trying to do now with this set up.

 

As for a chip set question is has to do with compatibility issues, meaning that the chip set is design in such a way that you could put any type of gfx card made by that same chip set company and not have any problems. One more thing don't get a open box Motherboard because that means it has been used and repair and put back on the market again, I would get it brand spanking new so not to have any possible problems in the future with the system.

 

You've got a very good point there Saint. Never thought about the dual monitors. But since you've mentioned it, I am gonna put that into consideration this time. Actually, I have decided to buy the case and the PSU separately. I prefered an Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail and going for a 680W PSU (APEVIA ATX-AS680W-BL 680W Power Supply - Retail) which I believe is gonna power the computer very well. BTW 680W is just 20W short of 700W and thats fine enough.

 

I am not going for the 680i SLI motherboard again. I never wanted to face any risk after installing this PC. I have shifted to a P35 Motherboard this time and the mobo was certified by ASUS to be working with Crossfire. Don't think it works with SLI cos they didnt specify that.

 

I am buying a retail mobo. Changed from the open box verrsion to the retail version. Thanks for that advice Saint. But I am still using the same mobo. Only changing from OEM to retail. Everything I am buying in there are all Brand New from Box.

 

I just found it http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ here is proof that some crazy guy from a commercial company (HP-Voodoo) has made a computer that has a 680i Chipset and just put a couple'la ATI cards in there, there is proof. But I would still stay on the safe side and just buy a 8600GTS is you're on a budget or go all out and buy a 8800Ultra like what I'm doing (they are actually quite cheap, can get them for US$570 from newegg.

No no no!!! I aint going for any expensive risks in here concerning this computer. You dont spend your money on risks...do you? BTW, will a single 8600GTS outperform a HD 2600XT on CrossFire? I have had a look at the specifications and all what they support and tahts why I finally landed myself with the HD 2600XT from MSI.

 

I believe that this aint no bad configuration. Because of your advices, I have shifted form the X1650PRO which supports DX9.0c to the higher HD 2600XT which I belive will serve my purpose.

 

And I have also added a FM/TV tuner to the configuration too. It is a SAPPHIRE 100204L Radeon Theatrix 650 PRO (lite retail) - Retail. I guess I might add the dual monitors which Saint suggested. But then, I am not going down on the size. Instead, I am gonna make it a dual 20" Wide Screen LCD. I bet that would be real cool.

 

 

And refering to the question about the final price for this computer, everything in there is costing me a huge sum of $1,805. Which, if converted to my currency (Nigerian Naira) is amounting to N234,650. Now, this aint no small amount of money, but I wanna make this a one time buy and then stop bothering myself about buying a personal desktop for myself.

 

OMG! I have forgotten about the Dual monitor stuff. If I hve to add the 2nd monitor, everything will land at $1945 which is equal to N252,850.

 

WOOHOOO!!!

Edited September 8, 2007 by odomike (see edit history)

[Saint_Michael 3]

With the case interesting that they put the power supply at the bottom, just make sure your power supply doesn't have any vents underneath or you might have to prop up that power supply so to get 100% proper ventilation. However, I don't see much of a problem with ventilation but double check anyways when you do receive the parts. As for the power supply I would say that a good start but to be safe set everything up but with exceptions; plug in one hard drive, 1 monitor, gfx card, no tuner card. Basically what I am trying to say is install everything for a basic set up just to see how well your computer is doing and then one component at a time connect them to the power supply and then turn it on to check for problems.

[syncn21 0]

I guess your configuration is pretty well, but the only defect i find is that 500 power supply is quite Low for this high end configuration

[tdktank59 0]

Alright i don't know where you sit in all of this but i kinda skimmed over all of it...

 

First off... This computer will be for gaming?

Second... Whats your Budget?

 

Im also going to just state it like this

 

Intel is leading right now i dont know how the new Barcelona will match up to it due to the fact that there are no benchmarks yet

 

Also if you plan on arguing a point (well you can since it will be your money) i suggest you do some research and not just look some some numbers and say heh i want that one... even tho you dont know wtf your talking about...

 

Trust me when i say this do your homework and you wont be sorry...

 

I spent somewhere around 3 months researching what i wanted in a new computer before i bought it in April of 2007.

I have no regrets about my computer at ALL none because i did my homework and found the best parts for the money at the time. And since your ordering from an online source most likely you have a wealth of parts to choose from all being diffrent in every little way even tho some might look the same...

 

Some sites to learn more about stuff would be

http://www.anandtech.com/

https://hardforum.com/

 

 

 

As for the computer you have selected i have some suggestions you may or may not take into heart...

 

CPU: Back when i built mine the quads were still in the upper $800+ range so i was like no thats pretty much my budget...

But now that the quads are litteraly $50 more than the 6700 why not go for 4 cores? I wont argue this point becasue of the price diffrence but back then it would have gone like this

 

There are no programs out for the general public (your casual gamers and such) that will and can utilitize all 4 cores so go for a E6600 is what i would say since they were already planing on going for a $800 cpu...

 

And now that we really dont know where AMD will be with there new release and where Intel will be with there new release both happening withing the current year... Its really hard to choose... AMD will have a NATIVE quad core for sure while intel is still rolling out the non native quads (2 dual cores on 1 chicp instead of 1 quad) So in respect to that the AMD will be faster compared to intel.. But then you also need to look at power consumption where intel is just totaly wooping amd at...

 

Intel has the better price for speed/temp/power for the buck while amd is traling behind somwhere in the distance...

 

So chooseing a CPU at this time is a hard choice you need to choose the path you want and stick to it...

 

MOBO: Pretty much get a nice chipset 4 240pin ddr2 slots dual channeled and enough slots to fit your needs... You dont need to get a super high end board when a lower middle of the water board can handel everything you need...

So here the question

Do you plan to overclock? How many GPU's do you want to have? Do you have any extra pci, pci-e x1 cards to put into the machine?

 

RAM: Id have to say this is the most important part next to the graphics card in a system... at least for a gaming rig...

I would recomend that what ever you do dont go under 2gbs in todays day and age even if its just for browsing a web at some times... especialy with Widnows VISTA (i hate vista so i wont talk muich about it) which is a memory hog in its self... so 2 gbs will save you but if the game you want requires 1.5gbs and it was for xp plan on at least 2gb for vista...

 

Gets some cheap fast ram no need to spend 140 bucks on a gig of ram you can get some really nice packages of 2gbs for about 80 bucsk now!

 

GPX: In my opinion the most important part of the whole machine i build my machine around this and the rest jsut falls into place... I wont state waht i bought in here ill save that for later on... but in frank the gpu is where your center of attention must rest if you plan to game or do anything graphical above just browsing the internet...

 

From what I understand since i kinda gave up reading about things after i bought my machine (atis cards came out right after i bought my computer i decided to skim over some of them) For the most part unless you went to the TOP of ati's lineup and spent about $600 bucks on the card And the top of the line ati card just barely beats the top of the line nvidia card

 

however atis cards are higher hd quality than nvidias are so theres your trade off... I personally like nvidia more than ati and i also know more about them but from what i was getting the ati cards are not that hard to beat even in crossfire...

 

OS: Win XP hands down i don't like to talk about windows (GAY) Vista since its a memory hog and is made for IDIOTS who don't know how to work a computer... unless you want to talk Linux id stick with Windows XP at least home id go pro for the extra 50 bucks or w/e it is...

 

PSU: Make sure you get a reliable and have enough power in your power supply DO NOT get one that comes with a case unless it happens to be a high end one which i highly doubt... but you never know... so lol

 

Make sure it has good rails and high efficiency

 

heres a nice website too lookup how good a psu is http://www.jonnyguru.com/

 

CASE: Depending on how much room you have where the computers going id get a big case they can allow for more room later on and especially with all these HUGE graphics cards you need the big cases. Make sure it has 120 mm fans and not 80 or 90mm fans they spin faster and are alot louder than the 120's

 

 

Other than that its extras to add to the system... and i dont care or know much about them since its pretty much up to the user...

 

 

 

 

 

Now onto what i have just so you can see how this can comapre to other things...

 

CPU: E6320 1.86 ghz oced it to 3.0 ghz can go higher but havnt done it... (i waited for the 20's becasue i wanted the 4mb l2 cache which means more time between the cpu having to talk to another source to get stuff)

MOBO: Gigabit DS3 (Highly oc board for pc enthusiests at a low price only downside is 1 pci-e x16 slot so only 1 gpu)

RAM: 2gb (2x 1gb) DDR2 800 G.SKILL hk ram

GPU: 8800 GTS 640mb

PSU: XCLIO GOODPOWER 500W

the rest should not matter to you...

 

in the end my system cost me $1,100 US (i rounded it a bit so it would be some nice numbers...) I do not regret anything i put into my system as of yet but you know what i shouldnt ever. I bought what was the best bang for the buck at the time i bought it... i also had to make sacrifices because i wanted a higher end graphics card to place games with which is why i had to upgrade for my old computer thats now our houses server... I also made sure id have room to upgrade later on without having to replace everything...

 

Suchj as the CPU i looked at where Intel was going and since the product was FAR supirior to anything that amd had out at the time i went with them instead of AMD... I also went for a 4mb l2 cache instead of the 2mb and i got a mother board that was easy to overclock with so i woudlnt have to replace my parts as soon instead i could oc and maybe get another 6months to a year out of the machine... And since i wasnt planing on having 2 gpus i was able to get a cheaper power supply that could support 1 gpu no problem...

 

 

 

 

 

So now to help you with your computer since you probably want to know some stuff here...

Since you plan on running 2 gpus get a nice pus i sujest a corsairs 620watt its a very powerfully and stable psu and can run sli, crossfire with ease.

 

for the graphics card i would recomend getting a 8800 GTX and possible adding a second one down the road unless you are doing some super graphics intensive things... right away... I have the GTS 640 and im running eveything on highest settings and still getting high fps there is really know need for 2 at the moment unless of course you truly need it its more or less jsut saying hey ive got 2 of these cards in sli... or course if your running 2 monitors at high resolutions you might want 2 but thats up to you...

 

Onto the mobo it all depends on how many gpus you want... all game manufactures are going to make the games for the lower end 8600 graphics cards if not even lower... but the games can scale up for the higher end cards with the settings and such... so keep this in mind

 

Id look at getting a board with 2 pci-3 x16 slots so you can add that second one if u want to I recomend a EVGA board (any of them) or some of the high end ASUS boards or even Intel

 

for ram at least 2 gigs MIN!!!!!

 

hard drive i dont know how much porn (you might not but i was using it as a joke so dont take it litteraly) you like to download but id get at least a 250 gig or maybe get a 500 gig

if you have the money id get a raptor and a 500 gig run the os and any games off the raptor and use the 500 for file storage

 

for a case get a nice big on antec 900 works i have a xion stacker its a huge case and the new cards fit nicely

 

If you need any other help feel free to ask here or via pm im more than happy to share my knowledge...

 

 

 

O btw for a monitor do not get a 16ms response time.. get a 5ms or a 2ms somewhere around there... the cost about the same...

[csp4.0 1]

EVERYONE IS WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!
I understand you very well, spending money to use buy that ATI GPU on a nVidia chipset is awfully risky, but if something goes wrong you should be able to RMA'it or something. But if it is risky why would HP mass produce it?
You know how everyone says that dual core is enough, that quad core is too much? THEY ARE WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Didn't you see that demo on intel's home page saying why you should get quad-core? they had the game Ice-Storm-Fighters on and show how it looks with 4 cores and how it looks with 2 cores, my goodness the 2 core simulation was so laggy it looks like my computer playing SupCom
And with SupCom in mind, it is designed to take advantage of more cores, there are mods to make it use all 4 cores as well
here is a link with some random dude talking about why you should get quad core:
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
and last of all, NO 1 8600GTS will not overpower 2 2600XTs
and if you would tell us your budget, it would be really helpful in deciding what graphics card you should get
GA-N680SLI-DQ6
Ok I lied, this is the last one. Don't get that motherboard, it doesn't support Quad-Core processors even though it says so, V.1 of the BIOS does not support 4 cores, so you'll need an older CPU to start it if it comes with V.1 of the BIOS. I recommend this mobo as V.1 BIOS supports quad core processors
Remember "Dual Core, Do More" and "Hard-Core, Quad Core" and don't forget "Dual Core processors open the door to gaming" but... "Quad core processors blow the door right open"

Edited September 10, 2007 by csp4.0 (see edit history)

[soleimanian 0]

your computer hardwares are very good, it's brands are excelent. but nVIDIA is beter than ATI,

[odomike 0]

First off... This computer will be for gaming?

Second... Whats your Budget?

 

The computer isnt meant for any particular job. It is meant to be able to undertake any task thrown at it irrespective of whatever field it is coming from. My budget? I am looking at anywhere between $1,300 to $1,750. Anything that falls in there will be fine with me.

 

Actually, I have been doing quite some research concerning this computer because I dont want something I will buy and it wont be able to do some of the things for which it was bought. I have spent about 2 weeks+ on this research. I know why I wanna buy it from an online store. Like you said, I have access to a vaariety of products from different manufacturers and that means I can select from any.

 

And now that we really dont know where AMD will be with there new release and where Intel will be with there new release both happening withing the current year... Its really hard to choose... AMD will have a NATIVE quad core for sure while intel is still rolling out the non native quads (2 dual cores on 1 chicp instead of 1 quad) So in respect to that the AMD will be faster compared to intel.. But then you also need to look at power consumption where intel is just totaly wooping amd at...

 

Intel has the better price for speed/temp/power for the buck while amd is traling behind somwhere in the distance...

I have never been an AMD fan in my life. It aint like I hate AMD or anything of that sort, but I just love Intel for some reasons. I prefer Intel because their processors have a lower tendency of being baked while in use. In most cases that I have seen, the mobo goes bad instead of the processsor, which I think is preferable since the CPU happens to be more expensive than the mobo.

 

Did you say something about power consumption? OMG!!! I hate AMD for that. Can you imagine that the later Opterons use as much as 260W of power? That is what I call outrageous power consumption. Imagine where you are using that kinda CPU in a computer with the sort of configuration as the one I am building? I guess you are gonna need a 1000W (1KW) PSU to power taht PC. I aint praying for something like tht.

 

MOBO: Pretty much get a nice chipset 4 240pin ddr2 slots dual channeled and enough slots to fit your needs... You dont need to get a super high end board when a lower middle of the water board can handel everything you need...

So here the question

Do you plan to overclock? How many GPU's do you want to have? Do you have any extra pci, pci-e x1 cards to put into the machine?

 

I am going for an ASUS P5K LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail mobo. It has dual PCI E x16 slots. I cant be talking about using dual ATI GPUs on Crossfire if I aint gonna buy a mobo that supports that very feature.

 

RAM: Id have to say this is the most important part next to the graphics card in a system... at least for a gaming rig...

I would recomend that what ever you do dont go under 2gbs in todays day and age even if its just for browsing a web at some times... especialy with Widnows VISTA (i hate vista so i wont talk muich about it) which is a memory hog in its self... so 2 gbs will save you but if the game you want requires 1.5gbs and it was for xp plan on at least 2gb for vista...

I know everything about Windows Vista's RAM consumability. it just doesnt utilize the RAM, it gulps them. I am actually going for 4GB of RAM just to make sure that this is one computer that can understake any task. Well, I am gonna be using Windows Vista (as I am already using it on my laptop ATM) and Windows XP Professional x86/x64 (but most likely the x64 version because the x86 versiob of Windows does not suport more than 2GB of RAM.....too bad). And I guess I am gonna go find the 64bit version of Vista too so that I can utilize the full RAM there too.

 

talking about the PSU, I believe a 680W PSU should be able to carry a computer with that config comfortably. I am going for a APEVIA ATX-AS680W-BL 680W Power Supply - Retail which is quite good 'cos everyone who has bought it is rating it quite high.

 

The case I wanna buy has quite a lota room within for anything you wanna put in there. It is called Antec Nine Hundred. They are refering to it as a gaming case because it is well ventilated for any hardwares you stack in it. it is carying 3x 120mm and 1x 200mm cooling fans. Has quite lota perforations around it. You need to have a look at this casing to undersand tha reason why I went for it. I know very well that there is gonna be a lota heat generation in there and a good ventilation will be required.

 

EVERYONE IS WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

I understand you very well, spending money to use buy that ATI GPU on a nVidia chipset is awfully risky, but if something goes wrong you should be able to RMA'it or something. But if it is risky why would HP mass produce it?

You know how everyone says that dual core is enough, that quad core is too much? THEY ARE WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Didn't you see that demo on intel's home page saying why you should get quad-core? they had the game Ice-Storm-Fighters on and show how it looks with 4 cores and how it looks with 2 cores, my goodness the 2 core simulation was so laggy it looks like my computer playing SupCom

And with SupCom in mind, it is designed to take advantage of more cores, there are mods to make it use all 4 cores as well

here is a link with some random dude talking about why you should get quad core:

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

and last of all, NO 1 8600GTS will not overpower 2 2600XTs

and if you would tell us your budget, it would be really helpful in deciding what graphics card you should get

GA-N680SLI-DQ6

Ok I lied, this is the last one. Don't get that motherboard, it doesn't support Quad-Core processors even though it says so, V.1 of the BIOS does not support 4 cores, so you'll need an older CPU to start it if it comes with V.1 of the BIOS. I recommend this mobo as V.1 BIOS supports quad core processors

Remember "Dual Core, Do More" and "Hard-Core, Quad Core" and don't forget "Dual Core processors open the door to gaming" but... "Quad core processors blow the door right open"

Did you say HP mas produced mobos with nVIDIA chips with support for crossfire? hey thats quite a good story for people like me. Though I aint goning for the 680i SLI mobo again. I dont want complications at all concerning this computer. Decided to go for another mobo with an Intel P35 and with support for ATI crossfire. At least a certified one is better than taking unnecessary risks.

 

Yea, I know that one 8600GTS cannot outperform 2x HD 2600XT. I have read a lot of real life reviews about this particular Graphics card and what I read is actually what is giving me the confidence to go ahead with this dual GPUs using the HD 2600XTs.

 

Some people say that going Quad is crazy. Even my friends down here where like..."Oh men, what the hell are you gonna be doing with your PC? Run a Yahoo! server? Shouldnt you buy 2x Core2Duo instead of one Quad Core?" Well, I told 'em I prefer the Quad core 'cos it wil still outperform any Duals you bring inclusing the Xtreem Dual Cores.

 

So far, I only have one friend in support who said it is better to have all the performance in one system than having several with lagging performances.

 

I am one person who dont joke with performance where my personal computers are concerned and the more reason why I am going for this quad core. I hate it when I have to wait for any computer to respond to any command I give it.

 

Listed below is a list of all the Hardwares I have selected @ Newegg with their respective prices...

 

Processor: (Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - OEM) $280

Motherboard: (ASUS P5K LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail) $135

RAM: WINTEC 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Memory (x2) $160

HDD: (Open Box: SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD403LJ 400GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s - OEM) x3 (1.2TB) $210

VGA: (MSI RX2600XT Diamond Plus Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 OC Edition HDMI HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail) $330

CD/DVD: (LITE-ON 20X DVDąR DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model) x2 $66

Monitor: (Niko NIKO-2017MAAW Black 20" 16ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor) x2 $340

PSU: (APEVIA ATX-AS680W-BL 680W Power Supply - Retail) $110

Case: (Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail) $130

Speakers: (Creative Inspire P7800 90 Watts 7.1 Speaker - Retail) $90

Sound Card: (Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE Sound Card - OEM) $28

FM/TV Tuner: (SAPPHIRE 100204L Radeon Theatrix 650 PRO (lite retail) - Retail) $65

Keyboard+Mouse: (Logitech Cordless Desktop EX110 967561-0403 Black 102 Normal Keys 12 Function Keys USB + PS/2 RF Wireless Standard Keyboard Mouse Included - Retail) $30

 

Final price for now is $1,945

Edited September 10, 2007 by odomike (see edit history)

[tdktank59 0]

EVERYONE IS WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!I understand you very well, spending money to use buy that ATI GPU on a nVidia chipset is awfully risky, but if something goes wrong you should be able to RMA'it or something. But if it is risky why would HP mass produce it?
You know how everyone says that dual core is enough, that quad core is too much? THEY ARE WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Didn't you see that demo on intel's home page saying why you should get quad-core? they had the game Ice-Storm-Fighters on and show how it looks with 4 cores and how it looks with 2 cores, my goodness the 2 core simulation was so laggy it looks like my computer playing SupCom
And with SupCom in mind, it is designed to take advantage of more cores, there are mods to make it use all 4 cores as well
here is a link with some random dude talking about why you should get quad core:
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
and last of all, NO 1 8600GTS will not overpower 2 2600XTs
and if you would tell us your budget, it would be really helpful in deciding what graphics card you should get
GA-N680SLI-DQ6
Ok I lied, this is the last one. Don't get that motherboard, it doesn't support Quad-Core processors even though it says so, V.1 of the BIOS does not support 4 cores, so you'll need an older CPU to start it if it comes with V.1 of the BIOS. I recommend this mobo as V.1 BIOS supports quad core processors
Remember "Dual Core, Do More" and "Hard-Core, Quad Core" and don't forget "Dual Core processors open the door to gaming" but... "Quad core processors blow the door right open"

My god dude... Of coruse Intel will advertise that there quad cores are better and of course they are but dude read everything i said....

i was saying back when i bought it the price to preformance wasnt worth it... but now the low end quad cores prices in at just over $300 i belive... well 280 i guess from the creators post...

ANd Hp will market ati becasue of a deal that ati and hp made...

Before you critisize what i had to say or anyone else for the matter dive a little deaper into the subject matter and learn how the world works...

companies advertise there highest selling products and there most expensive products and sale items... other than that they dont really advertise the rest...





Now to the guy buying the computer

I highly recomend the corsairs over the apeive i dont know much about the apeive but meh i doubt its underrated but i know for a fact that the corsairs is one kickass power supply that you wont be sad you bought when running sli/corssfire

As for the graphics card i really wish i could tell you more about how atis cards are compaing up to Nvidias... but heh i dont think you will be dissapointed ither way!

as for the mobo i really dont know...


If you do end up switching some stuff around and EVGA is a possiblity i highly sujest you go with there brand over anothers...
They are normaly the fastest and i know for a fact they have 1 of the highest rated supports for there porducts


Anyways good luck with the computer

[odomike 0]

My god dude... Of coruse Intel will advertise that there quad cores are better and of course they are but dude read everything i said....

 

i was saying back when i bought it the price to preformance wasnt worth it... but now the low end quad cores prices in at just over $300 i belive... well 280 i guess from the creators post...

 

ANd Hp will market ati becasue of a deal that ati and hp made...

 

Before you critisize what i had to say or anyone else for the matter dive a little deaper into the subject matter and learn how the world works...

 

companies advertise there highest selling products and there most expensive products and sale items... other than that they dont really advertise the rest...

 

I understand your line of arguement my friend. I have always been an Intel fan all my computing life. You know, I have my personal reasons why I wouldnt wana go for an AMD. one of which is the fact that AMD processors are power hungry chips. Compare an Intel Xeon QC processor and an AMD Opteron CPU, the xeon takes about 120W-150W while the Opteron gulps a whooping 260W. Now, if all that should go to the CPU only, what would the remaining hardwares in the computer utilize?

 

Apart from that, AMD CPUs have a higher tendency of getting fried while in use. I am a system techie and I have seen this happen a lota times. Not once nor twice, but many times. that nevertheless, AMD is still good in its own way. You know, comparing the Intels and AMDs, you find out that the Intel processors have higher mutimedia capabilities than their AMD counterparts. I have mede a lota comparisms, both real life and synthetic comparisms, so I know ahst I am saying.

 

It will take an AMD Athlon XP +3200 about 1.6 times the time it will take an equivalent Pentium IV to render a high definition video. I have to put all these things into consideration while thinking of the kind of CPU to buy for my upgrade. Like I said in an earlier post, I want this computer to be able to handle any task thrown at it. And I mean any task at all.

 

I highly recomend the corsairs over the apeive i dont know much about the apeive but meh i doubt its underrated but i know for a fact that the corsairs is one kickass power supply that you wont be sad you bought when running sli/corssfire

 

As for the graphics card i really wish i could tell you more about how atis cards are compaing up to Nvidias... but heh i dont think you will be dissapointed ither way!

 

as for the mobo i really dont know...

 

 

If you do end up switching some stuff around and EVGA is a possiblity i highly sujest you go with there brand over anothers...

They are normaly the fastest and i know for a fact they have 1 of the highest rated supports for there porducts

You have to understand something. Cosair might be good but there are still other good products out there. Yes, a lot of people do recommend Cosair, possibly because they hve made their nme in making very good products, but I wanna use this particular PSU because people who have bought it really rated it very high considering the fact that it has a high Current (Amperage) output in the +12V power rail and I really love that cos' I generally make a lot of connections in my PC.