Gaming System

[hermanocabral]

hmm....

well.. im almost there... what about the ram?

isnt conroe dependent on 1:1 ratio? will i be able to run my mem @ 1:1?

 

[Bobthelost]

No you won't. No it isn't.

If you want more information on it then check out the articles on C2D and memory speed on the main site. Going from 667 to 800 only gives a 3% increase in performance.

 

[imported_RedStar]

http://tinyurl.com/m2gwj

yes! e6600's are now available in my area and 80$ cheaper than their pre-order price =) 430$ cdn.

as for memory check the thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1921071&enterthread=y

edit: and definately read this article:

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=472

 

[hermanocabral]

Originally posted by: http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=472
So it doesn?t matter much what memory speed/timings you buy, the value line will suit the Intel Core 2 system just fine, but do keep one thing in mind, as in our testing we found performance actually decreases a bit going from PC4200 (533) to PC5300 (667)!

The Core 2 has a front side bus (FSB) speed of 266Mhz x 4 (Quadruple) ?1066Mhz?, the ram is running at 266Mhz x2 (Dual Channel) x2 (DDR) = ?1066Mhz?, so with PC4200 memory and FSB are running synchronized. When you use PC5300 you are no longer running synchronous with the FSB and a memory divider of x1.25 (5/4) has to be used. The older Athlon XP from AMD also displayed this decrease in performance when running memory asynchronous due to its short pipeline, where memory latency is more important then memory bandwidth. With the Pentium 4 the pipeline was longer and the effect of running asynchronous which increased latency was masked. Core 2 technology marked Intel's return to a shorter pipeline and thus is more similar to the Athlon XP than the Pentium 4.

By running the memory synchronous to the FSB you have the least amount of latency and thus performance is at its best. Why is PC6400, which is also running asynchronous, faster then? Because the memory speed is now that much higher that it compensates for the loss of running asynchronous and overall performance does increase. PC5300 worked great with Pentium 4 but it should be avoided when running Core 2, except when you plan to overclock. PC5300/6400 will give you the extra headroom to increase the FSB while keeping memory synchronous.

sorry, my english is not that good. i read this article and in the conclusion he says that conroe will do fine with the value line. but it will lose performance with pc5300 or it will only loose performance going from 5300 to 4200?

 

[imported_RedStar]

it is just saying you get a little bit less performance from 5300 vs 4200 because 5300 memory runs asynchronous to FSB. Conroe, it says, does not like asynchronus. 6400 is asychronous also...but the performance hit is masked by the very large speed increase.

so it says: avoid 5300 ram (for conroe) UNLESS you plan to overclock. If you overclock then:

" PC5300/6400 will give you the extra headroom to increase the FSB while keeping memory synchronous.
"

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel

Originally posted by: theprodigalrebel
X1950XTX isn't out yet. September 13 is the date, I think. And X1900/X1950 Crossfire is only a good idea at 1920x1200 and above. A Crossfire setup with a 1600x1200 is NOT a bright idea.

I disagree that 1600x1200 is bad for SLI/Crossfire. The increase isn't as much as some of the higher resolutions, but there is still an increase. It's up to the buyer to determine whether that % increase is worth their money or not.

Series of Benches that show great scaling for SLI 7900GTX.

I should look for some Crossfire numbers too, but I'm pretty sure they'd be close to these anyway. The point is, yes, you're paying 100% more for a second GPU and only getting 50-90% increase. But what other component in your system can do that? None. You could pay 500% more for the most expensive CPU and get 0% increase in games at 1600x1200.

Its my fault, I should have been a little more clear. I sounded like SLI/Crossfire doesn't show any major returns at 1600x1200....they do scale real well but as your benches show, single-GPU performance is already pretty great and doesn't really need the second GPU (except Oblivion). I should have said, "SLI/Crossfire may take you from 50-60FPS to 80-100FPS at 16x12 in most games....but 50-60fps is pretty damn fine to begin with"

You only really need dual-GPU if you are in the 24-inch+ widescreen world and want everything turned maxed all the time.

isnt conroe dependent on 1:1 ratio? will i be able to run my mem @ 1:1?

Hmm...no it isn't. Most people have been having tremendous luck with C2D and have been going upwards of 450FSB with the E6300/E6400s. Those chips have very low multipliers and need the high FSBs. Since the FSB & RAM have to be running at the lowest divider (1:1), you do need great memory so that memory doesn't become the bottleneck.

Assuming you want to run an E6400 at 3200MHZ, then yes you can do it as 400x8 with your RAM 1:1 at DDR2-800. Anything higher, your RAM will have to keep up.

I'm telling ya, the build you posted above was pretty damn fine - except for the Raptors which annoy me a little With the G.Skill RAM you selected, you could easily just dial in 333FSBx9Multiplier, set memory divider at DDR2-800 and have it run at DDR2-1000. For a non-overclocker like you, this modest OC introduces you to ocing, gives you a 3GHz C2D, RAM @ 1GHz and without any requirement for excellent cooling or major heat concerns. And you will most likely only be increasing your vDIMM (RAM voltage). Or you could just buy some cheaper, value DDR2-667MHz RAM to run synchronously with this and be not able to tell the difference until you ran some benchmarks and compared stats. I think we are all looking at 5% MAX benefits in some applications...games much lower.

Even at stock, it is still a fast machine. And having that 4MB L2 is a nice thing on your mind, even if it is only a placebo effect. And it is still one-third the price of the CPU you were originally looking at.

Get the Radeon X1900XT, use it until games come out that make it run like molasses...THAT is when you sell it and buy the next-gen flagship GPU - from whoever has the best one.

 

[hermanocabral]

im going to pick the asus mobo p5w and take that raptor of the list.... with the money im saving from the raptor i can even get a better ram or psu..... maybe a sound card?

ps. im a sound maniac

 

[imported_RedStar]

i bought my x-fi extreme music for 55$ canadian (40$ instant off and 40 dollar mail in rebate)

so don't buy it for more

 

[Bobthelost]

If you've got good speakers or a decent set of cans then an XFI would be a nice extra. I'd leave the rest as it is.

 

[ForumMaster]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost

Originally posted by: sdy284

Originally posted by: hermanocabral
for psu, isnt better pick one that have 600w?

yes, you'd be a flippin idiot to put any 400W PSU in a high-level gaming rig now a days

I'd go with the OCZ 600W or 700W GameXtreme PSU's. With one of those you'll easily be good for a few years.

You'd be wasting money if you did that. Go find out how much power real computers use and then come back and tell me.

The Asus P5W Deluxe is a nice board, but do you need it? If you're not overclocking then you could get the cheapest intel made board and not notice the difference. That's what i'd recomend for you.

Then a 200GB drive it is, RAID0 doesn't help with speed for gaming, it might cut down your load times but it's not worth the cost (if you want high speed and money is no object then a Western Digital 150GB raptor drive is the obvious choice, note, this is a very uneconomical choice). Seagate are good, but make sure it's a 7200.10 drive. Otherwise pick based upon price.

PSU: Your computer will not draw more than 200W or so from the PSU if you go for a 7900GT or 7900GTX. Less than 250W with an X1900XTX. Since there is no performance difference between a 400W PSU and a 1KW PSU there is no point in wasting money on it.

If you want more opinions on this look for any of the "pick me a PSU" threads. They won't all agree with me, but a good number will, not to mention that the statistics back me up.

RAM: Changing the RAM from 667 to 800 results in a 3% performance increase (farcry), it costs about $50 more to get 800 than it does 667. It's not worth the money.

i agre with most of your statements, however, the OP wants a rig that will last 2 years. DDR2 800 is likely going to last longer then 667 so why not get it. i would get the ASUS board as it's faster but only if the OP is going to OC. i wuold wait a little for DX10 cards to comeout as that will be a major upgrade.

 

[hermanocabral]

i dont know what OP means, but i guess its referred to me... lol
will i get better OC using ddr2 800 or 667?? can i still get value ram 800 or, will i need a better one?

how much time to dx10 come out?? because i can buy a cheap gpu just to hold on, but how long will i have to wait before i can buy a new one?? and another thing: when games will in fact use dx10? i guess that will take some time before games really use dx10....

 

[Bobthelost]

800 will let you raise the FSB to 400 and keep the 1:1 ratio. 667 would only let you get to 333.

We don't know how long G80 is going to be, the current fad is to not give release dates for products or even reviews untill they are already being shipped. I'd be very surprised if it didn't come out this year. It'll probably be a DX10 card, but we don't know even that much for sure.

When will games start using DX10? As soon as vista is released. Crysis will make use of DX10, but it won't NEED it (think of it as a way to get more eyecandy in the near future). For games to need it will probably take a couple of years.

If you get an eVGA card then you can use something called "step up" where you trade the card in for the newer model at the same price point. I'd really, really go eVGA right now.

 

[hermanocabral]

yeah, im heading for evga...

and im going to pick ddr800 and asus p5w... p5w or p5b? i dont know the dfference, i guess its p5w....

 

[mrfatboy]

Ok, I am in the same boat also and have been reading up as much as I can. Here is the system I am looking at and why. Please throw your 2 cents in.

E6600 - Fast at stock, will let me play with OC'ing
P5B or DFI Infinity - good & relatively inexpensive (Infinity will need that new bios though)
2 gig Corsair xms2 800 will let me play with OC'ing
ATI x1900GS - good card,$200. I will be able to upgrade to DX10 later.