will i see a big difference?

[scope320]

Hi I'm very new to gaming. I've been playing CoD4 on my iMac from 2006. It's gotta be run on low settings (1024 x 780 with everything turned off except Model detail: Normal). It is crappy for gaming, C2D 2.16GHz processor, just 1GB of RAM and ATI x1600 128MB card. So I just ordered a new PC so I can hopefully play Modern Warfare 2 when it arrives.

I ordered one from IBuyPower with the following specs:

Intel Core i7 Processor 920 (4x 2.66GHz/8MB L3 Cache)
3 GB [1 GB X3] DDR3-1333 Triple Memory Module Corsair Value or Major Brand
NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT 512MB w/DVI + TV Out Video

I'm thinking that I will notice a huge difference. I know that my current setup sucks for anything beyond basic computer use, so my gaming (and my torrenting) is not really working that well.

I just found this forum and was hoping someone could make this n00b feel better about dropping over $1000 just now.

Thanks.

 

[racolvin]

Oh lord yes you'll see a difference.

Of course the iMac from 2006 was never really meant for gaming so its not a fair comparison by any means

 

[mpilchfamily]

Macs aren't gaming systems period. They always have sub par video cards in them. Apple doesn't even try to target the gaming market.

 

[scope320]

Yeah I figure it'll be pretty much night and day going from Mac to PC. I know this new system isn't that high end, but I'm just looking for something to play with better graphics. Plus I really could use more RAM for the other things I throw at my computer.

I just want to be sure that I can play COD WaW and hopefully COD MW2 with average settings and I'm happy. Plus I can now upgrade my graphics card if I need to down the road.


By the way, since I've been on Macs since 1993 I'm unsure. I plan on using Vista x64, is that a good move? I figure DX10 and the better handling of multicores is worth it (at least until Windows 7 is out).

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Umm, for $1000 your system isn't very good. Could you return it and build it yourself?

 

[scope320]

Nope, I have no skillz like that nor the time/patience. I'm sure I overpaid compared to building it myself (nice specs you have there) but that's ok as long as it gets the job done. We'll see when it comes I suppose.

 

[jkresh]

change the gpu, the 9600 is way underpowered for that cpu, go with a 4850 or 4870 or gtx 260, even at that resolution the difference in gpu will probably be bigger then cpu (as even your current cpu is ok for gaming, its your x1600 that is the major bottleneck)

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem
Umm, for $1000 your system isn't very good. Could you return it and build it yourself?

Ok, he's building from nothing. The cheapest I can come up with an i7 920 system that meets his specs is and including other things like a case/PSU, hard drive, DVD drive, OS, motherboard, keyboard and mouse is $1050 and that doesn't include shipping, and time to put it all together, load an OS, load drivers, make sure it all works..

So he is saving money by getting it as a whole unit.

 

[scope320]

After this thread and some further googling, I called and upgraded some things.

Now I'm getting the 9800GTX+ 512MB card, a sweet 6GB of Corsair RAM and a Corsair 650W power supply.

Based on my reading of reviews of WaW especially, I should be able to run it on Max settings, which is exactly what I want.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[racolvin]

That'll do just dandy. And I do all my gaming now on Vista x64. There are sometimes installation issues with older games but anything relatively recent shouldn't be a big deal

 

[swanysto]

I have that video card and it is pretty sweet.

 

[Zap]

Hello scope320, and welcome to Anandtech Forums.

Originally posted by: scope320
After this thread and some further googling, I called and upgraded some things.

Now I'm getting the 9800GTX+ 512MB card, a sweet 6GB of Corsair RAM and a Corsair 650W power supply.

That's much improved over the 9600 GT. In fact, if it is mostly for gaming I would go as far as to downgrade the CPU to a Core 2 Duo of some kind with 4GB DDR2 and go up to a GTX 260 video card.

However, again it is much improved over your original configuration.

 

[scope320]

Great!

Yeah I am pretty new to all this, so I didn't realize that there was such a difference with video cards. The GTX was very tempting and I really thought about throwing that in there too. I think I'll wait a bit and get something further along in the GTX family. Besides they just sent me an email saying it has been built.

 

[dmw16]

Video card is pretty crappy for the rest of your specs.

 

[TotalLamer]

Originally posted by: dmw16
Video card is pretty crappy for the rest of your specs.

ITT: Someone who reads the OP and posts without looking through the responses.

9800GTX+ isn't top-end or anything, but it's WAY better than a 9600GT, and it'll do fine.

 

[dmw16]

Originally posted by: TotalLamer

Originally posted by: dmw16
Video card is pretty crappy for the rest of your specs.

ITT: Someone who reads the OP and posts without looking through the responses.

9800GTX+ isn't top-end or anything, but it's WAY better than a 9600GT, and it'll do fine.

9800GTX+ isn't really a good choice anyway. For the same price I bet he could find a 4870 1GB.