Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: mia389 on November 08, 2008, 09:38:28 AM
-
Its time for a new PC. I was looking at a alienware pc. I know I could get by cheaper by building one but have never attempted. I play lots of PC games and I always have to run them at the lowest settings. I want my new pc to be able to play games great with no need to turn settings down.
My current pc, I have added memory and a video card. That is the only experience I have had opening the case in a pc. I would like to keep it under $3,000. Should I attempt to build one or go to a local computer store and have them build one?
If you suggest building one, can someone post a build sheet for me. ( in my budget range) I do have a monitor already. It would be great to play AH at 60fps with all settings turned up on high resolotion pack. That is my goal.
-
Search the "hardware and software" thread for new builds. There are a number of good set put together with links to new egg for parts and everything. For $1000-$1200 you could build a screamer that would stay ahead of the games for a couple of years. Far cheaper then an Alienware box.
-
For $1200-1500 you can build something that will play all your games well and will easily handle AH. For $3000 you can be on the bleeding edge of technology. So as far as builds go you're saying that money isn't an object.
I built mine for about $2000 but that included a monitor, mouse, keyboad, speakers, power strips, cables, etc., etc., etc. as I kept my old machine and mostly built based on bang for the buck. I run AH at 60 fps (monitor refresh rate) steady.
I'm not saying don't spend the money because you can build a really nice machine but want you to realize that you don't need to in the world of builds like you might buying pre-built.
-
Thanks for the replies guys. I found your pc you built BaldEagle. What are some good websites to find parts? Also did your system run good with out overclocking it?
-
Newegg.com
TigerDirect.com
mwave.com (never used them)
Those three should give you almost eveything you need. I went a step further with cable management and hit a couple other websites.
-
Build it. Like the others have said you can build a killer box for far less than you would spend buying one.
It's not that hard to do if you have upgraded RAM or a vid card you can build your own computer.
Toms hardware has good reviews and info on components.
http://www.tomshardware.com
I like newegg for parts.
http://www.newegg.com/
You might also check out tiger direct sometimes they have better prices than newegg.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/
-
Baldegle built a great machine but go with the E8500 cpu. I also prefer ATI. Frankly if I were building another I would use the Radeon 4850 or 4870.
-
Thanks for the replies guys. I found your pc you built BaldEagle. What are some good websites to find parts? Also did your system run good with out overclocking it?
I bought everything at newegg.com. I don't have my system OC'd right now and it runs great.
A couple of things I'd upgrade if I were building it at this point:
CPU (I'd get an E8400 or an E8500 which were'nt available when I built mine)
GPU (I don't think the 8800 GTS 512 is still availabe. I'd get a 9800 GTX+ or the GT260/GT280).
Motherboard (I'd look at the 790i or 790i FTW with a corresponding upgrade in RAM)
I'd also consider a 300 Gb WD VelociRaptor HD.
One last thing; I don't think my build posts include the fact that I've added an Arctic Freezer 7 Pro aftermarket CPU cooler. It's well worth the price.
[EDIT] Oh, and my case is no longer available. I'd consider the Antec 900.
-
Great info guys. I have lots of pc stores around. I am going to see if I can get started today. I live in Silicon Valley so I would think they would be competitive. Heres what I will look for.
Antec 900
EVGA NVidia NForce 790i
E7500
Kingston HyperX DDR2 800 2x1Gb
9800 GTX
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W PSU
300 Gb WD VelociRaptor HD
Seagate 200 Gb ATA HD
Seagate 160 Gb ATA HD
Asus SATA 20x DVD+R DVD Burner
Asus SATA DVD-ROM
Will that memory still work with the 790i ?
-
Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP3 English for System Builders 1 Pack CD - OEM
$139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116515
Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 Wolfdale 3.33GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8600 - Retail
$269.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115054
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail
$74.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166
Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$269.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136260
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148274
ASUS Maximus II Formula LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$269.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131319
SAPPHIRE 100251SR Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
$519.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102768
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
$134.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009
Acer P243WAid Black-Silver 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP Support - Retail
$319.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009125
Logitech G15 2-Tone USB Wired Standard Gaming Keyboard - Retail
$89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126034
Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB + PS/2 Wired Optical Gaming-Grade Mouse - Retail
$39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104178
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$109.9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional 70SB088600002 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card - Retail
$139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102019
LG Black 6X Blu-ray Disc Burner & HD DVD-ROM Drive SATA Model GGW-H20LK - OEM
$219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136155
Logitech G51 155 watts RMS 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers - Retail
$129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121012
TOTAL: $2,849.85
S/H: $14.76 (Most items Free S/H)
GRAND TOTAL: $2864.61
-
Note to wife: This would be the best Christmas gift ever!
-
Great info guys. I have lots of pc stores around. I am going to see if I can get started today. I live in Silicon Valley so I would think they would be competitive. Heres what I will look for.
Antec 900
EVGA NVidia NForce 790i
E7500
Kingston HyperX DDR2 800 2x1Gb
9800 GTX
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W PSU
300 Gb WD VelociRaptor HD
Seagate 200 Gb ATA HD
Seagate 160 Gb ATA HD
Asus SATA 20x DVD+R DVD Burner
Asus SATA DVD-ROM
Will that memory still work with the 790i ?
You will want to go to DDR3 memory with the 790i. I'd probably go with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104040
Don't get these:
Seagate 200 Gb ATA HD
Seagate 160 Gb ATA HD
They were just old drives I had lying around. If you want more storage space get a Seagate SATA drive in whatever size fits your budget.
BTW, did you mean to say E8500? And don't forget the OS. I'd get Windows XP Pro.
-
Yes I meant E8500! I might use the HDs off my old pc. Thanks for the update on memory
-
Yes I meant E8500! I might use the HDs off my old pc. Thanks for the update on memory
Don't use your old HDs. If you look at what's available you'll find ATA drives are disappearing fast. ATA 133 drives are down to only a handful of models.
-
Don't use your old HDs. If you look at what's available you'll find ATA drives are disappearing fast. ATA 133 drives are down to only a handful of models.
I think he meant as storage. If you notice he's looking at a VelociRaptor as his primary boot drive.
My old ATA drives work just fine as storage drives.
BTW, if you don't want to spend the premium for the VelociRaptor, then get a Seagate 7000 RPM SATA as your primary drive but I'd keep it under 500 Gb (I personally think 250 Gb is optimum for a non-partitioned drive) and then add drives for storage as needed.
-
Great info guys. I have lots of pc stores around. I am going to see if I can get started today. I live in Silicon Valley so I would think they would be competitive. Heres what I will look for.
Antec 900
EVGA NVidia NForce 790i
E7500
Kingston HyperX DDR2 800 2x1Gb
9800 GTX
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W PSU
300 Gb WD VelociRaptor HD
Seagate 200 Gb ATA HD
Seagate 160 Gb ATA HD
Asus SATA 20x DVD+R DVD Burner
Asus SATA DVD-ROM
Will that memory still work with the 790i ?
Mia, get the e8400 or the e8500. I beg you!
-
BTW, if you get this thing built with the parts we've discussed I guarantee you will absolutely love it.
Plan on about 3 hours assembly and another 5 hours installing software and getting everything tweaked where you like it depending on how much software you have to install.
-
I went to the computer store a couple of blocks away and they are going to build it for me. After I bought all the hardware from them they charged me 60$ to put together. They are also putting XP home in for me. It will be done within three days. My HD I went with, is the 300 Gb WD VelociRaptor HD. I also had them add a 250gb for storage. I went with the 9800GTX. It was 80$ cheaper than the ATI. If I need to upgrade in the future I can always put a better one in. It sounds like I should have no problems.
When I download AH, should I store it in VelociRaptor drive or my extra storage drive? I did not get any AntiVirus software either. Any recomedations? I dont think I have any antivirus on my current pc and have no issues. I do us ad-aware though.
-
BTW, if you get this thing built with the parts we've discussed I guarantee you will absolutely love it.
Plan on about 3 hours assembly and another 5 hours installing software and getting everything tweaked where you like it depending on how much software you have to install.
Great, I can not wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cant wait to see AH they way its meant to be. I will be able to the bases now when I am over them at 10k lol. I used to have to get low for them to apear since I had my settings set so low. My new pc will help my bombing I hope. Easier to line up on a base you can see :D
-
Here is my build sheet. I forgot to say they didnt have the sound card so Ill get that later.
eVGA nForce 970i Ultra LGA775 349.95
Antec Minuet 350 Slimline PC Case 69.95
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16 192.95
KIngston KHX HyperX 2GB kit 229.00
Geforce 9800GTX DDR3 PCI 209.95
PC Power&Colling Silencer 750W 149.95
VelociRaptor 300GB HD 315.95
Seagate 250GB HD 55.95
Asus DRW LightScrive SATADVD/RW 42.95
Instal 60.00
XP Home 93.96
Total 1791.50
Tax 147.80
Total Order 1939.30
-
You want to put all your games and programs on your raptor as this is your fastest drive as it will improve your performance. Store your Music/Photos/documents on the 160gb HD.
As for Anti-Virus I recommend NOD32. I've been using it for a while and it does a good job and isn't too bad of a system hog.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832114005
-
When I download AH, should I store it in VelociRaptor drive or my extra storage drive? I did not get any AntiVirus software either. Any recomedations? I dont think I have any antivirus on my current pc and have no issues. I do us ad-aware though.
Put all of your programs, AH included, on your boot drive (the VelociRaptior). Put things like documents, movie files, music files, back-up's,etc. on the storage drive.
As to antivirus are you behind a router? I am. I use the McAfee suite as it's provided at no charge by Comcast as an Internet cable subsriber but I leave it turned off all the time as it's fairly intrusive. I update it twice a week and run a full system scan once a week. I haven't had a problem yet. A lot of people here recommend Nod32.
-
Here's a comparison shop for you from newegg. Of course I'm not exactly sure which part number parts they are putting in your system so I guessed, but it looks as though you would have saved about $400 (you probably wouldn't have to pay tax at newegg). $250 on the parts alone.
On the downside you would have had to pay shipping, you would have gotten the parts by the time you will now get a completed system, you would have had to spend 4 or so additional hours building it yourself, and you wouldn't have a place to bring it back to if anything went wrong.
Still, even at that it's a better deal than buying pre-built.
Update Antec Minuet350 Piano Black Steel MicroATX Slim Case Computer Case 350W 80PLUS Certified Power Supply - Retail
Model #:Minuet350
Item #:N82E16811129039
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
$109.99 $109.99
Update EVGA 132-YW-E180-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #:132-YW-E180-A1
Item #:N82E16813188031
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
$329.99 $329.99
Update EVGA 512-P3-N873-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Model #:512-P3-N873-AR
Item #:N82E16814130376
Return Policy:Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
Mail-in Rebate
$204.99 -$12.00 Instant $192.99
Update PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS750QBL 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
Model #:PPCS750QBL
Item #:N82E16817703019
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Mail-in Rebate
$249.99 -$115.00 Instant $134.99
Update Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail
Model #:BX80570E8500
Item #:N82E16819115036
Return Policy:Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
In Stock
$189.99 $189.99
Update Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KHX16000D3K2/2GNR - Retail
Model #:KHX16000D3K2/2GNR
Item #:N82E16820104064
Return Policy:Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
$149.99 $149.99
Update Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #:WD3000GLFS
Item #:N82E16822136260
Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
Mail-in Rebate
$269.99 $269.99
Update Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #:ST3250410AS
Item #:N82E16822148262
Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
$54.99 $54.99
Update ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T - Retail
Model #:DRW-2014L1T
Item #:N82E16827135156
Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
$35.99 $35.99
Update Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP3 English for System Builders 1 Pack CD - OEM
Model #:N09-02215
Item #:N82E16832116511
Return Policy:Software Return Policy
In Stock
$89.99 $89.99
Subtotal: $1,558.90
-
Good post Eagle. I will not show that to my wife :D I am telling her I am saving money!! Im glad you guys talked me out of the Alienware.
-
Mia, you will love that system. I think you did well on pricing too if you're having it assembled.
-
you could have gotten a gtx260 for the price of that 9800... There is an MSI GTX260 for $199 after rebates at newegg.
I guess you're making some of the cost back with a $60 build fee though... I hope they have good warranty and service.
-
Look at ATI 4830(Graphics card)...... Just released... Only $129... Best bang for buck by numerous reviews! Better than 9800gt!
(http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?topic=251453.0)
-
That 9800 rip off ! :furious
-
AFter being less than satisified with the nvidia 8600 I've switched to ATI and am quite satisfied. I know others swear by nvidia and that is just fine.
-
Regardless of the talk about pricing I still think you got a pretty good deal. You only paid about a $200 premium buying it at a store once everything is factored in and hey, the store needs to make a profit too.
Please come back and tell us how you like it after you get it up and running.
-
$70 more for a lesse card makes no sense Baldeagle.... Don't want to disagree with your expetise but the reviews say this ais a no brainer.
-
Regardless of the talk about pricing I still think you got a pretty good deal. You only paid about a $200 premium buying it at a store once everything is factored in and hey, the store needs to make a profit too.
Please come back and tell us how you like it after you get it up and running.
I agree. I mean it is truly custom built. I think you could pay $2,500 to $3,000 for a comparable system. I've looked at other ready made systems. Usually they cut back somewhere. Maybe on the Power Supply or the ram, or on something else. You did well Mia.
-
Regardless of the talk about pricing I still think you got a pretty good deal. You only paid about a $200 premium buying it at a store once everything is factored in and hey, the store needs to make a profit too.
Please come back and tell us how you like it after you get it up and running.
I am thinking I will get it tomorrow. The waiting is killing me. After I install the programs and tweak XP I will download AH and see how it runs. All settings are going to be turned up to max. I have always locked frame rates at 60 but I am going to see what it gets without locking them. My old PC was running about 20-25 FPS.
-
I am thinking I will get it tomorrow. The waiting is killing me. After I install the programs and tweak XP I will download AH and see how it runs. All settings are going to be turned up to max. I have always locked frame rates at 60 but I am going to see what it gets without locking them. My old PC was running about 20-25 FPS.
I lock mine in AH at 60. In my racing games I run ~150 fps consistantly with all settings maxed... sometimes higher and they are more graphically demanding than AH. If it starts to tear lock them.
-
Mia again the 4830 at $129 and the 4870 at $175 are much better cards!!!!!!
-
That and velociraptor is not worth the pricetag for gaming use. All it can do is shave 1 second off your _loading_ time while having no effect on framerates.
You can build a raid 10 with comparable performance AND double redundancy for less than the price of one velociraptor. I wouldn't buy one for home use. Running MySQL database, maybe.. But not for games.
-
The only area where I could have seen a better decision is the area of your Operating System. Windows XP Pro would have been a better choice. Nice comp. :aok
-
Mia again the 4830 at $129 and the 4870 at $175 are much better cards!!!!!!
The ATI 4870 benchmarks 0.007% better than the 9800 GTX on the Tomshardware charts. I don't think that qualifies it as much better although it is $20 less.
-
Hey let the guy be...He didn't go drop money at Alienware that should say something. At any rate I think he did pretty good on selecting his parts and having someone build it for him. I know when I was in that business I absolutely loved putting custom systems together since most of what we did were just assembly line deals that I sold to customers.
When and if he ever gets tired of the 9800 he can buy something else then. Besides the price he paid is probably just a small amount higher than what the store paid for it a few weeks ago.
-
I like ATI cards. As stated earlier in this thread, I think, I had and nvidia 8600 card that just wasn't up to it. So I gave it to my mom. Well she had issues with the driver and we installed a new ATI 3870 and no more issues. Howsoever, I know Baldegl likes his nvidia card and I learned later that if you are going nvidia get one 8800 and above.
-
How is this for premade?
Apevia X-SniperG Mid-Tower 420W Case
Gigabyte GA-EG31M-S2 Intel G31 Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8400 CPU
(2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory
ATI Radeon HD 3850 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card
LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer
Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD
PS2 INTERNET MOUSE W/ WHEEL
(2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition w/ Service Pack 3
3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS 24/7 LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
PRICE: $696.00
-
How is this for premade?
Apevia X-SniperG Mid-Tower 420W Case
Gigabyte GA-EG31M-S2 Intel G31 Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8400 CPU
(2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory
ATI Radeon HD 3850 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card
LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer
Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD
PS2 INTERNET MOUSE W/ WHEEL
(2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition w/ Service Pack 3
3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS 24/7 LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
PRICE: $696.00
Only downsides I see to that are:
1) The power supply that comes with that case is REALLY iffy. Some of Aprevia's higer end PSU may be good, but I Newegg'd that power supply and its cost is $14.99. That just spells trouble. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148033
2) The board is a micro ATX, I'm not a fan of them IMO for expansion reasons.
Every other part seems to be rock solid (no brand on the RAM?). I would stick the extra money into a name brand PSU and maybe a better motherboard. If you're going to buy/build a computer I'd select components that are on par with each other in quality.
-
How is this for premade?
Apevia X-SniperG Mid-Tower 420W Case
Gigabyte GA-EG31M-S2 Intel G31 Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8400 CPU
(2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory
ATI Radeon HD 3850 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card
LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer
Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD
PS2 INTERNET MOUSE W/ WHEEL
(2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition w/ Service Pack 3
3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS 24/7 LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
PRICE: $696.00
I'd add a sound card to it too.
-
Expansion? What is that? (Laptop user for around ten years) ;)
Better power supply makes sense. Another $50-70?
Sound card? Is it really necessary with the E8400? How much for a card that actually frees up processsor cycles?
-
How much for a card that actually frees up processsor cycles?
$90
-
If you like to listen to music, hear EAX effects in games, or have a good speaker system, a sound card is going to be a very nice improvement. I've never heard a good onboard sound chipset.
-
Expansion? What is that? (Laptop user for around ten years) ;)
Better power supply makes sense. Another $50-70?
Sound card? Is it really necessary with the E8400? How much for a card that actually frees up processsor cycles?
Yes, It still helps to get a sound card.
-
Ahhhh Bald. Didn't see the test results I looked at musta been AMD's propaganda. All the results were AMD's......LOL. Saw a independent test and it looks like Nvidea 9800gt actually may outperform the 4830 but none the less they look very close. Still most pro's are saying it is a best buy! Just making a $ recommendation here sir!
-
Mia again the 4830 at $129 and the 4870 at $175 are much better cards!!!!!!
BTW, the 4870's on newegg are $250-300. Where are you getting them for $175? Can you post the link?
-
LOL it was a global trading website forget it. I was doing so much research on them, I didn't pay attention that that price was insanely low!
http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/ati_4870.html?src=ibdm_d03p0023e02r70&ibdm_kw=ati+4870
-
I recieved my pc today. It is great!!! I loaded up AH with all settings up and was running 60fps. Weird thing was, when I locked it at 60fps I was running 32fps. Ran nice and smooth though. Also am running with the high res pack
Thanks agian guys for your advice
-
Have fun, and don't trip with the increase in speed. :P
-
I recieved my pc today. It is great!!! I loaded up AH with all settings up and was running 60fps. Weird thing was, when I locked it at 60fps I was running 32fps. Ran nice and smooth though. Also am running with the high res pack
Thanks agian guys for your advice
What kind of monitor do you have?
Check the Nvidia control panal and see if your video card is locked at the monitor refresh rate.
You'll also want to tweak all your video settings and should be able to run them very high. I run 16x anti-aliasing, and 4x anistropic filtering for instance without a hitch although there's not much difference between that and 8x/2x. The offline arena is a good place to tweak out your video card.
Glad to hear you like it.
-
I thought I recall someone from HTC saying that AH doesn't utilize AF. Correct me if I'm wrong.
-
My monitor is an older dell lcd monitor. I think its 4 or 5 years old. I am running game and windows in 1280-1024. Refresh rate at 60. I can not believe how sharp the instrument panels in the planes look. I am thinking a bigger monitor will be coming soon.
-
LOL, and so it begins.
-
I run a 2 monitor setup. My main is a 20" Viewsonic that's about 18 months old and my secondary is my first LCD, a 4.5 year old 17" Hercules Prophetview (one of the best 17" LCD's in its day). When I got my Viewsonic and hooked them up next to each other, it is like night and day difference in quality. The 1000:1 contrast ratio and higher brightness specs are very visible in the Viewsonic. Also a 5ms response time is virtually no ghosting as compared to the 20ms of my first LCD.
With the money you saved on having the computer built for you, a 22-24" LCD will make it even more worth while.
-
My monitor is an older dell lcd monitor. I think its 4 or 5 years old. I am running game and windows in 1280-1024. Refresh rate at 60. I can not believe how sharp the instrument panels in the planes look. I am thinking a bigger monitor will be coming soon.
I bought an LG 22" widescreen monitor. 2ms response time and 10000/1 contrast ratio. Beautiful monitor and the price on it has dropped almost $100 since i bought mine (upper $200's now).
And now with AH supporting widescreen... :rock
Here's the unit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005109
-
:aok :aok :rofl
Note to wife: This would be the best Christmas gift ever!
-
I recieved my pc today. It is great!!! I loaded up AH with all settings up and was running 60fps. Weird thing was, when I locked it at 60fps I was running 32fps. Ran nice and smooth though. Also am running with the high res pack
Thanks agian guys for your advice
1st I think you got a very good deal for a "store bought" build. Not only do you not have to worry about RMA's etc but you should have all drivers current and any/all conflicts resolved plus a 24 hour or longer "burn in" & a warranty. If you have any issues of any kind immediately take it back and have them look at it and give you a written receipt as well as a written explanation of both the issue and the steps taken to correct the problem. Do not accept a verbal "we'll look at it".
-
1st I think you got a very good deal for a "store bought" build.
Not only that, think how much he saved in sticking plasters and dollars for the swear box by not building the thing himself. :D
Enjoy the new machine. Reading this thread has got me thinking about doing some completely unnecessary upgrades to my own box.