Decisions, Decisions

kenpomaster

kenpomaster

New Member
ok, Im currently in Afghanistan, when i get back I'm building my dream comp....money is not really an issue....What is a good mobo to use with the QX6700 and 8MB DDR2 800...I also plan on getting whatever is the best GPU on the market at the time (right now is possibly the quaddro if u can get it to work....but i dont get much time to research any of this stuff right now, kinda busy here in "the stan"). also if anyone has any general recomendations for the biggest and most bad ass computer, i would appreciate it
 
P

PC eye

banned
First you need a Welcome to the Computer Forum! http://www.computerforum.com/70672-official-welcome-thread.html And a reminder given to all members to review the http://www.computerforum.com/52038-forum-rules.html

There a few good makes as well as models of boards to consider. Asus, Gigabyte, MSI are three leading names there while some favor Abit and DFI models. It wouldn't be 8mb but 8gb for 8gigabytes of system memory. The amount of memory favored for gaming cases runs at about 2gb of performance memory. The amount of memory will also be effected by the OS you plan to run. XP only supports upto 4gb maximum.

The real performers soon to be out for video cards will be the new ATI chipped R600 models with the DX 10 ready line of Radeon models. Are you planning a custom or prebuilt system would be the main question to ask here however.
 
Mankz_91

Mankz_91

New Member
If you've got enought money, don't bother building one, have Falcon Northwest, VoodooPC or Vadim build a custom one for you. Reason being they have warranties, and basically, are completly sick in every department.
 
kenpomaster

kenpomaster

New Member
PC eye said:
First you need a Welcome to the Computer Forum! http://www.computerforum.com/70672-official-welcome-thread.html And a reminder given to all members to review the http://www.computerforum.com/52038-forum-rules.html

There a few good makes as well as models of boards to consider. Asus, Gigabyte, MSI are three leading names there while some favor Abit and DFI models. It wouldn't be 8mb but 8gb for 8gigabytes of system memory. The amount of memory favored for gaming cases runs at about 2gb of performance memory. The amount of memory will also be effected by the OS you plan to run. XP only supports upto 4gb maximum.

The real performers soon to be out for video cards will be the new ATI chipped R600 models with the DX 10 ready line of Radeon models. Are you planning a custom or prebuilt system would be the main question to ask here however.
Click to expand...

Yeah sorry about the MB thing, quick typing error, I plan on running Vista (mainly because im hoping that a service pack, or equivelent will be out by the time i get home). Thanks for the advice on the video cards, i definitely will need a DX10 compatible video card. ive been looking around at the best motherboards, both Asus and Gigabyte have some good looking ones out there, but im just not sure what all of the specs on them mean, i know i want ddr2-800, in a 240 pin config, and i want 8GB so i need 4 slots(which is pretty much the standard nowadays). i know which CPU i want so i know i need a mobo thats 775 compatible...are there any mobo's out there that have super cool stuf on them, laser beams(jk). for example ive seen a lot of them have video chipsets on them, what video chipset is the best (if any 1 can be called the best)...any help with any other mobo specs would be awesome...

i plan on having 1 500GB HD, i would hav more but my wife and i already have 2 external HD's, so we dont reall need any more than that...and i can always upgrade if i need to.

i also plan on having 2 video cards (maybe, it depends on how good the best singular video cards is at the time)

I also plan on running my home theatre and projector through my comp, projector is HD compatible and HDCP compliant and all that and pretty much has as much butt kickery as u can find out there. and i have a very nice pioneer 6.1 surround. would a better sound card help? or could i go with a cheaper one and get comparible quality?
 
kenpomaster

kenpomaster

New Member
Mankz_91 said:
If you've got enought money, don't bother building one, have Falcon Northwest, VoodooPC or Vadim build a custom one for you. Reason being they have warranties, and basically, are completly sick in every department.
Click to expand...

first of all, thank you for your advice.
yeah i could do that, but 1. that would take away all the fun of building my own computer, and 2. while i could go out and spend 2-4000$ on my comp, id rather not have to pay for the extra $500+ thats usually tacked onto custom build/high end gaming jobs....and the warranty is no big deal, a lot of parts manufacturers offer warranties, so if my RAM fries im not too worried (other than the fact that my comp will be down while i wait for the replacements).
 
D

daisymtc

Active Member
Unlimited Budget? Good.

500GB HD? no big deal
Get 2 HD with RPM 10000 to run RAID

MB: GIGABYTE GA-N680SLI-DQ6 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Or
ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX The Ultimate Gaming Motherboard

GPU: GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 x 2 Run at SLI???
 
D

darksideleader

New Member
well i think Vista only supports 4gb max but i could be wrong. Also get a nice water cooling case to really max out what you got.
 
P

PC eye

banned
For one the information on DX10 cards is often misleading. Vista already DX10 included in it and is running on a DX9 card here. So you don't need a DX10 card to run DX10. But the newer cards will most likely see DX10 as the minimum like the current models see DX9.

Is that Pioneer setup 5.1 or 7.1? For pc you would have to choose between those two. Along with the hardwares like board, cpu, memory, video and sound cards like the Creative X-FI series you will want to look over the power supply and of course the type(gaming) and style of case. For one of the larger selections of makes and models, http://www.xoxide.com/pccases.html
 
Geoff

Geoff

VIP Member
darksideleader said:
well i think Vista only supports 4gb max but i could be wrong. Also get a nice water cooling case to really max out what you got.
Click to expand...
Depends which version you get. Vista 32-Bit only supports 4GB (CPU limited, not OS limited), whereas the 64-Bit versions of Vista lets you use more.

* 32-bit versions of Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate: 4GB
* 64-bit versions of Windows Vista Home Basic: 8GB
* 64-bit versions of Windows Vista Home Premium: 16GB
* 64-bit versions of Windows Vista Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate: 128GB


you don't need a DX10 card to run DX10
Click to expand...
You need a DX10 card to run DX10's features and enhancements, but you will be able to use DX10 games/apps with a DX9 card in compatibility mode (if the given program supports it).
 
P

PC eye

banned
Many are under the impression that you "must have" a DX10 card for DX10. That's where the misconception is. The minimum for a DX9 card is obviously that version of Direct X just as the DX8 cards needed that release. But the DX8 cards have no problem running DX9. Newer games that require DX10 will most likely include the DX10 installer along with them. But those will likely require Vista to run. That doesn't sound so likely since most games cover older as well as the latest OS.

One article that goes into discussing why some people only see some 2.5gb of ram when having 4gb installed as well as actual supported amounts for the 32bit and 64bit versions is seen at http://www.vistaclues.com/reader-question-maximum-memory-in-32-bit-windows-vista/

Out of the 4gb total 1gb will be shared by the board and hardwares installed like video and sound cards. But there is always a tweak for limiting how much memory any process uses. http://www.codeproject.com/useritems/Setting_Max_Memory_Limit.asp
 
PohTayToez

PohTayToez

Active Member
kenpomaster said:
I also plan on getting whatever is the best GPU on the market at the time (right now is possibly the quaddro if u can get it to work....
Click to expand...

Quadro's are not good gaming cards at all. They may have twice as much RAM as other cards, but they have slower clock speeds. Quadros are meant for image/video editing and CAD and other memory heavy things like that... not for the average or even hardcore gamer.
 
S

Styrak

New Member
If you've got enought money, don't bother building one, have Falcon Northwest, VoodooPC or Vadim build a custom one for you. Reason being they have warranties, and basically, are completly sick in every department.
Click to expand...

They also cost a whole lot more for the same computer you could build yourself.

But the DX8 cards have no problem running DX9. Newer games that require DX10 will most likely include the DX10 installer along with them. But those will likely require Vista to run. That doesn't sound so likely since most games cover older as well as the latest OS.
Click to expand...

False, DirectX8 cards do not "run" DirectX9. They are DirectX9 compatible, yes, but none of the features in DirectX9 will be or can be used. And yes, if games require DirectX10, you will only be able to play them on Vista, but if it's like older releases of DirectX, you will be able to run A DX9 card in DX10 compatible mode. However I don't think this is the case since it's been explcitily said by Microsoft, etc, that DX10 will only run on Vista, since the architecture is so different.
 
S

Schonza

Member
Here is what I would put in a system if I had an unlimited budget.

CPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115011
RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220228 X2 so 4gb
Motherboard- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128037
HDD- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136011 X2 in a RAID 0 setup
Optical- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106049
Graphics Cards- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130078 X2 in SLI.
Case- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144128
Sound card- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102005
CPU Cooler- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118019
I don't know how much that all costs, too lazy to put prices. But that is the best system money can buy at this point in time, if you wait, when the ATi r600 cards come out, change to crossfire board and and get two of those, because they kill 880gtx's according to the benchmarks i've seen. All I can say is I wish I had the cash to throw around on a rig like this and have fun with it. :D
 
Last edited:
P

PC eye

banned
Styrak said:
False, DirectX8 cards do not "run" DirectX9. They are DirectX9 compatible, yes, but none of the features in DirectX9 will be or can be used. And yes, if games require DirectX10, you will only be able to play them on Vista, but if it's like older releases of DirectX, you will be able to run A DX9 card in DX10 compatible mode. However I don't think this is the case since it's been explcitily said by Microsoft, etc, that DX10 will only run on Vista, since the architecture is so different.
Click to expand...

Gee that's funny the old GeForce FX5200 DX8 cards had no problems "running" DX9 when it first cane out. That was before upgrading to the last AGP Radeon model in the last case.

schoning16 said:
Here is what I would put in a system if I had an unlimited budget.

CPU-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115011
RAM-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220228 X2 so 4gb
Motherboard- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128037

I don't know how much that all costs, too lazy to put prices. But that is the best system money can buy at this point in time, if you wait, when the ATi r600 cards come out, change to crossfire board and and get two of those, because they kill 880gtx's according to the benchmarks i've seen. All I can say is I wish I had the cash to throw around on a rig like this and have fun with it. :D
Click to expand...

You first have to leave a space between the last letter or character and the "http:" in order to have a link become one. :p Note the comparison between two left as they were and one corrected here.
 
P

PC eye

banned
Patroit isn't bad but Corsair XMS series, Mushkin, Crucial, Kingston Hyper X, and OCZ will work better for the high end stuff. Quad SLI? That will be fun getting that setup. The Radeon X2900s will pass the 8800s with ATI's comeback sometime. But then you would need an ATI chipset on the board.

One solid warning is not to get any supply with that brand case. That is on the foobar list for sure. For a look at the "good" and "bad" lists forever changing,

Good:
Antec(except Smart Power models) - Astec - AOpen - Channel Well - Coolermaster - Enermax(except Liberty models)
- Enlight - Fortron Source (Sparkle) - HEC - OCZ Technology - PC Power & Cooling - PowerMan
- Seasonic - SilverStone - Sunbeam - Tagan(older models) - TTGI/SuperFlower - Vantec - Zippy / Emacs - Verax - XCLIO - Zalman
- Corsair

Bad:
Allied - Antec Smart Power models seem to lack(recommend True Power or NeoHE) - Aspire - CoolMax - DEER - Enermax Liberty models - ePower - EYE-T
- KingStar - L&C - Linkworld - Logisys - PowerMagic - PowerUp - Powmax - Q-Tec - Raidmax - Skyhawk - Star
- Turbolink - Ultra - ThermalTake(complaints heard some good some ???) - Rosewill - SilenX ??? ToPower(newer models)

When I pointed out the 9700 as being more suitable for the newer Croe 2s everyone screamed "Zalman CNPS 9500!" like the one seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118003 Of course I've seen great results with the Socket 939 board here explaining the question made on this.
 
P

PC eye

banned
With a Quad SLI setup you'll need something alright! :eek: :p I figured a good 650-700w would work still but....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top