A few "building a new system" questions

[PygmyBBQ]

Hey everyone. I'm planning on upgrading this summer sometime. My goal is to get a mid-end gaming system which I'm not looking to do any overclocking or extra features. This system I plan on include:
Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 ($99)
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz ($224)
Video Card - SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT ($199)

Now my questions are:
1) With directx 10 coming out soon how much better will games run with it?
2) What would I need to change with this system build in order to run directx 10?
a)if I had to change my video card (pretty sure I do) would dx10 still be worth it if I
downgraded to a slower card that could run dx10?
b)overall could these changes be kept in my price range without comprimising performance?
3) What is SLi?

Thanks!

 

[KermitM42]

Watch these.

its a dx10 game and its going to be amazing, so yes games will look lots better.
you need an 8series card to run dx10, or one of the new ati cards coming out fairly soon (i forget what they're called, codename r600 i know.)

id say try to get atleast an 8800gts 320 mb.
the mobo and cpu look great otherwise.
sli is "Scalable Link Interface", basically dual video cards. it helps if you're running games on a higher resolution, but IMO isnt worth it.

 

[PygmyBBQ]

Does anyone know what the best deal is for a dx10 supported card without breaking the $250 range? Also would it be worth getting one of those cards over the $199 X1950XT?

 

[MarcVenice]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814122022, 260$ after rebates, they don't come cheaper as far as I know, and it's a reputable brand too. This card will perform well with dx10 games coming out, disregard the nay sayers who say current dx10 cards won't be able to hack it in games like crysis and the new unreal tournament. Why ? Well, if these cards can't run those games, what cards will ? The 9800 series coming out at the end of the year * if nvidia pulls it off * AFTER crysis and UT come out ? Don't make me laugh.

This card will serve you just fine for the next 2 years, if not longer. And yeah I think it's worth getting it over the x1950xt, which isn't a bad card btw. If you're worried about going over your budget, drop the e6600 for a e6420.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

I recommend the 8800GTS 320. I slightly disagree with MarcVenice because initial DX10 benchmarks for Company of Heroes, Call of Juarez and the Lost Planet demo put out some mildly depressing numbers - even for the top-of-the-line cards, so there is really no GPU out there that you would likely be able to play next-gen DX10 games at high-resolution (1600x1200+) with 'all sliders to the max, baby!'

What the 8800GTS 320 does represent is kick-ass performance and features for the price and is worth the step-up from the X1950XT IMHO. If I were you, I would make sure my next build had an 8800GTS 320 and make compromises elsewhere. If that meant stepping down to an E6420 or the E4300/E4400, I would go ahead.

Some day you might read an article on how ridiculously easy it is to gain a few extra megahertz out of your CPU - even with stock cooling and no changes to voltages. For gaming, prioritize the video first.

SLI (Scalable Link Interface) is an nVidia technology that allows two GPUs (of the same kind) to work together as one unit. It needs a motherboard with an nVidia SLI chipset (680/650/590/570/nforce4 SLI), two GPUs and great drivers to get a respectable boost in a video game. Practically, two GPUs will never equal twice the performance. 50% is considered respectable but even that isn't always guaranteed. I don't recommend it at all.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: PygmyBBQ
Hey everyone. I'm planning on upgrading this summer sometime. My goal is to get a mid-end gaming system which I'm not looking to do any overclocking or extra features. This system I plan on include:
Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 ($99)
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz ($224)
Video Card - SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT ($199)

Now my questions are:
1) With directx 10 coming out soon how much better will games run with it?
2) What would I need to change with this system build in order to run directx 10?
a)if I had to change my video card (pretty sure I do) would dx10 still be worth it if I
downgraded to a slower card that could run dx10?
b)overall could these changes be kept in my price range without comprimising performance?
3) What is SLi?

Thanks!

wait until the july 22 intel price cuts before upgrading. an e6600 is 220+ today. an e6550 will be 133 after jul22. there will be several processors in between those two in price that will give you better performance, too.

get a p35 mobo. they are pretty close in price to 965 mobos but will handle a penryn upgrade in 18-24 mos.

spend the extra $60 on 8800 gts 320 mb. It will save you a ton in the long run because you won't need to upgrade for years. If you get the x1950xt, you're going to run into a game that you HAVE TO own in 12 mos that just happens to be dx 10.

 

[PygmyBBQ]

Thanks for all the advice. The E6400 sounds like a viable downgrade in order to get an 8800gts. In july are all intel cpus getting price drops, specifically the 6400?
Also, Does anyone know much about p35 mobos? I checked out newegg and there weren't enough ratings/reviews. Would throwing out $40 be worth it for a penryn upgrade minding the fact that I usually push my comps to the grave and don't upgrade often?