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| Thread ID: 74604 | 2006-11-28 22:18:00 | Building a new PC - some questions. | Miami Steve (2128) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 502834 | 2006-11-28 22:18:00 | Hi all, I am preparing to build another computer (built one about 2-3 years ago). I have been doing some searching, getting prices and trying to pick the components I feel will be the best for me. I want a computer that can be used for games as well as business apps - games like AOE3, COD2 and Flight Sim X for example. So far I have a list of options as follows: Mobo : Either ASUS P5B Deluxe or P5B-E CPU : Either Intel Core 2 Duo 1.86GHz (E6300) or 2.13GHz (E6400) RAM : 1Gb DDR2 800 Graphics : ASUS 7950GT 512MB or ASUS 7900GT Extreme or ASUS 7600GT Extreme HDD : 320GB SATA2 Monitor : Philips 190B7CS 19" LCD What I would like advice/opinions on is: 1. Is it worth paying extra for the E6400 CPU over the E6300? 2. Why is a 7950GT 512MB virtually the same price as a 7900GT Extreme 256MB? And which is better value for money? 3. Is it worth saving some money and putting in the 7600GT Extreme? 4. Does anybody use the listed monitor for gaming and is it suitable? 5. I am looking for recommendations for a case and PSU to complete the system. Thanks in advance |
Miami Steve (2128) | ||
| 502835 | 2006-11-28 22:38:00 | 1. Imo, not really. If you are bothered about extra performance, just overclock 2. Unsure, but get the 7950GT 3. 7600GT is no way as good as 7950GT 4. I wouldn't reccomend that for gaming... but I don't know much about LCD's 5. Enermax.. I have heard they have really good quality PSU's. Make sure you do get a good quality one. I would reccomend about 600w so your psu can handle any future upgrades (such as dx10 graphics card) Case... Depends what you like really. Lan-li are apparantly excellent cases, and look nice, but are rather... expensive. I quite like the look of this one: www.ascent.co.nz Here is a good place to compare graphics cards: www23.tomshardware.com They also have a cpu chart if you are interested to see the difference between E6300 and E6400 |
mejobloggs (264) | ||
| 502836 | 2006-11-29 01:54:00 | The GeForce 7950GT has 24 pixel pipelines. The Radeon X1900XT has 16 pixel pipelines or technically 48. Both graphics cards feature a single texture mapping unit and 8 vertex mapping units. The GDDR3 memory of the Radeon X1900XT is also clocked 50MHz higher while the G71 core of the 7950GT operates 75MHz slower than the R580 of the X1900XT. The end result is a 1.6GB/s memory bandwidth advantage for the Radeon X1900XT. In essence the 7950GT is just an overclocked 7900GT but it does come with 512MB of onboard memory. Benchmarks for the 3 here: xtreview.com Case doesn't matter - its personal taste, just make sure it has a decent power supply such as Enermax. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 502837 | 2006-11-29 01:59:00 | Hi all, I am preparing to build another computer (built one about 2-3 years ago). I have been doing some searching, getting prices and trying to pick the components I feel will be the best for me. I want a computer that can be used for games as well as business apps - games like AOE3, COD2 and Flight Sim X for example. So far I have a list of options as follows: Mobo : Either ASUS P5B Deluxe or P5B-E CPU : Either Intel Core 2 Duo 1. 86GHz (E6300) or 2. 13GHz (E6400) RAM : 1Gb DDR2 800 Graphics : ASUS 7950GT 512MB or ASUS 7900GT Extreme or ASUS 7600GT Extreme HDD : 320GB SATA2 Monitor : Philips 190B7CS 19" LCD What I would like advice/opinions on is: 1. Is it worth paying extra for the E6400 CPU over the E6300? 2. Why is a 7950GT 512MB virtually the same price as a 7900GT Extreme 256MB? And which is better value for money? 3. Is it worth saving some money and putting in the 7600GT Extreme? 4. Does anybody use the listed monitor for gaming and is it suitable? 5. I am looking for recommendations for a case and PSU to complete the system. Thanks in advance Humm, Well I just built me a new one. It uses a E6700 Duo, 2GB Dual Channel Ram @ 800Mhz, 2x320GB SATA2 setup as RAID0, Leadtek 8800GTX video card that requires 2 power connections. Total cost for my PC without monitor/keyboard/mouse was just on $4000. Very nice. Can play Oblivion with everything turned on full and encode videos for my PSP at the same time with no lag at all. However FSX is another kettle of fish. The best I have managed to get out of this is 20fps with it at 1600x1200x3 2. Eye candy and such does not matter much to frame rates with FSX. Autogen does and you need a lot of tweaks to get good frame rates. My machine with only 1GB Dual Channel ram was simply awful but the extra 1 GB made it. You certainly need 2GB ram if you wish to play this one. My suggestion. Build as big as you can afford because it will be out of date a week after you build it and the games are always taking more and more resources to run. |
Big John (551) | ||
| 502838 | 2006-11-29 02:52:00 | Thanks for the replies so far. I've taken a look at the various reviews of the video cards and it seems that the 7950GT (512MB) is ever so slightly faster than the 7900GTX (256MB), so I will probably go with the 7950 as they are much the same price. I'm still keen to get feedback on the suitability of the monitor for gaming, or alternatives if it is not the best (price up to $450). As far as cases are concerned, I'm not interested in side-windows and flashing lights etc, but I do want a reasonably inexpensive case that is easy to work with and has good accessibility and cooling. Sounds like Enermax is the way to go for a PSU. |
Miami Steve (2128) | ||
| 502839 | 2006-11-29 03:24:00 | As far as cases are concerned, I'm not interested in side-windows and flashing lights etc, but I do want a reasonably inexpensive case that is easy to work with and has good accessibility and cooling. I just brought a Generic Overclockers Brand from Ascent Technology with a 450W PSU. Has a back fan and a side fan the cools the CPU nicely. Cost $96 |
Big John (551) | ||
| 502840 | 2006-11-29 03:40:00 | for about 250$ more you can get a Leadtek PX 8800GTS 640MB DDR3. and it would be worth it, if thats what your wondering, as the 7 series cards will be much of what the 6 series is now within the next 6 months. |
jesse_jax (9283) | ||
| 502841 | 2006-11-29 03:50:00 | Thanks for the replies so far. I've taken a look at the various reviews of the video cards and it seems that the 7950GT (512MB) is ever so slightly faster than the 7900GTX (256MB), so I will probably go with the 7950 as they are much the same price. I'm still keen to get feedback on the suitability of the monitor for gaming, or alternatives if it is not the best (price up to $450). As far as cases are concerned, I'm not interested in side-windows and flashing lights etc, but I do want a reasonably inexpensive case that is easy to work with and has good accessibility and cooling. Sounds like Enermax is the way to go for a PSU. Ignore the made of money people telling you to buy a 8800GTX. Some people don't take budget into account. Yes its a nice card but you asked about 2 in particular. Can't help you with the monitor, looks OK to me but you could askk here: www.gpforums.co.nz |
pctek (84) | ||
| 502842 | 2006-11-29 04:26:00 | Ignore the made of money people telling you to buy a 8800GTX. Some people don't take budget into account. Yes its a nice card but you asked about 2 in particular. Can't help you with the monitor, looks OK to me but you could askk here: It's more than a nice card. It is the next generation of the NVidia and outshines the 7 series by far. If you can afford it then get it. If not then simply don't. He was asking about resources to play games and one he mentioned was FSX which is known to need this sort of thing to get the best out of it. Sure it will work with eveything turned down but it looks a whole lot better with it turned up. It all comes down to what your budet can afford. He asked so that he could get options. Thats what we are here for. |
Big John (551) | ||
| 502843 | 2006-11-29 04:34:00 | It's more than a nice card. It is the next generation of the NVidia and outshines the 7 series by far. If you can afford it then get it. If not then simply don't. He was asking about resources to play games and one he mentioned was FSX which is known to need this sort of thing to get the best out of it. Sure it will work with eveything turned down but it looks a whole lot better with it turned up. It all comes down to what your budet can afford. He asked so that he could get options. Thats what we are here for. I am grateful for all suggestions but the 7950GT will be pushing the budget as it is. If somebody convinced me that I shouldn't touch the 7950 but get the 8800 instead, I would do it, but other than that I couldn't bring myself to spend that much on a video card. |
Miami Steve (2128) | ||
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