pc or ps3

[Chone]

For the two posters above me, remember the guy is probably buying a legit copy of Windows and a Monitor as well as keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc, etc, which is why his computer ends up at that price.

In any case, it's definitely worth stretching your budget for a HD 3850 or heck even a 8800GT can be found for as low as $189 with rebates and $229 with Zalman coolers.

Despite what anyone else might like to tell you, neither a PS3 nor a Xbox360 are as powerful as a quad-core PC with a 8800GT.

But like I said, base your decision on games

 

[dukebound85]

thanks for the input so far!

here is the setup i am thinking of. i am able to get vista buisness and xp pro for free from my school via msdn
I also have a keyboard, mouse and display to use. my display is a 19in with a max resolution of 1440x 900
here is my setup and price via newegg


Motherboard:
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Price is 99.99

Processor:
Quad core 2.4 ghz Q6600 Price is 276.99

Ram:
Muskin 2x2gig 800 Price is 82.99

Videocard:
evga 8800gts Price is 219.99. Will I need this powerful of a vc with my current display? or will i be better off with say a 8600gts or a radeon something?

now:
MSI 8800GT 512mb Price: 229.99

Hard Drive:
WD 500gig hd Price is 99.99

Optical Drive:
Lite On Price is 35.99

Case:
Cooler Master Centurion 534 Price is 39.99

Power Supply:
FSP 450W Price is 54.99


Total Cost: 910.92 without shipping

Differences Ive added are upgrading to 8800gts bumped it up from 169.99 to 219.99 so 50

also went to a 500 from a 250 gig hd which bumped up by 40. in addition, the mb has went up from 89.99 to 99.99 in a few days. I could go back down to the componts i had and get about 820 again

what are your thoughts, any parts that would be better and cost less? thanks for the input!

 

[Eidorian]

Don't get the old 8800GTS (G80). Go for a 3870 or a 8800GT.

 

[Chone]

This card should fit you pretty good, it's substantially better than a G80 8800GTS 320MB.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329

 

[dukebound85]

This card should fit you pretty good, it's substantially better than a G80 8800GTS 320MB.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329

would you reccomend that as compared to a 3850 or 3870?

also any components ive listed that may be cheaper or anything if you were to build a computer?

thanks for your help, very appreciated

 

[michael85]

Let me put it this way :

Gamepad or Mouse+Keyboard?

I like the relaxed gameplay a gamepad offers, but then again there are people who like the accuracy and reactionspeed of a mouse+keyboard ..

I played FPS on PC with mouse+keyboard since Doom (ok, keyboard only )
And then I played CoD4 on my friends PS3.. I sucked in the beginning, but after a while it was actual good fun

So just take what you prefer.
Also, PS3 hardware will guarantee +- 7years of trouble-free gaming, while a PC will require upgrades, OS maintenance, etc.
Yes, if you have the bucks to upgrade your graphics will look better, but I just cant worry about that anymore.

 

[yellow]

Ram:
Muskin 2x2gig 800 Price is 82.99

Please note, unless you get the 64-bit versions of Vista or XP, then it will only see 3GB of that. I also read an article on ars technica about how despite having more than 2GB of RAM, most Windows executables are written to have a 2GB ceiling.

 

[Eidorian]

Please note, unless you get the 64-bit versions of Vista or XP, then it will only see 3GB of that. I also read an article on ars technica about how despite having more than 2GB of RAM, most Windows executables are written to have a 2GB ceiling.

This is correct. There are very few programs that are made to recognize a RAM ceiling beyond 2 GB in the 32-bit arena.

would you reccomend that as compared to a 3850 or 3870?

also any components ive listed that may be cheaper or anything if you were to build a computer?

thanks for your help, very appreciated

The Radeon 3850 can be found for $140-190. It's the most bang for your buck when it comes gaming. It's the cheapest performance card I'd buy. It's not the 8800GT but it's more then enough for the price.

I've had one since its launch and it performs wonderfully at 1440 x 900 and 1680 x 1050.

 

[Chone]

would you reccomend that as compared to a 3850 or 3870?

also any components ive listed that may be cheaper or anything if you were to build a computer?

thanks for your help, very appreciated

I would definitely recommend that 8800GT, not only does it have an excellent cooler (the VF1000 by Zalman I believe it is) but it's cheap as well, the cheapest HD 3850s are around $170 and they only have 256MB, for only 50$ more you are getting a card that is considerably faster, has 512MB of memory and a better cooler to boot, definitely worth it.

As for the HD 3870, it's a nice card but it's slower and more expensive than a 8800GT, if I were you I'd jump on that Zalman MSI 8800GT, it doesn't get better than that, it's factory overclocked, it has an excellent 3rd party cooler pre-installed and it's only $229! Plus MSI is a reputable brand.

 

[dukebound85]

I would definitely recommend that 8800GT, not only does it have an excellent cooler (the VF1000 by Zalman I believe it is) but it's cheap as well, the cheapest HD 3850s are around $170 and they only have 256MB, for only 50$ more you are getting a card that is considerably faster, has 512MB of memory and a better cooler to boot, definitely worth it.

As for the HD 3870, it's a nice card but it's slower and more expensive than a 8800GT, if I were you I'd jump on that Zalman MSI 8800GT, it doesn't get better than that, it's factory overclocked, it has an excellent 3rd party cooler pre-installed and it's only $229! Plus MSI is a reputable brand.

thanks ill take your advice!

 

[Eidorian]

I would definitely recommend that 8800GT, not only does it have an excellent cooler (the VF1000 by Zalman I believe it is) but it's cheap as well, the cheapest HD 3850s are around $170 and they only have 256MB, for only 50$ more you are getting a card that is considerably faster, has 512MB of memory and a better cooler to boot, definitely worth it.

As for the HD 3870, it's a nice card but it's slower and more expensive than a 8800GT, if I were you I'd jump on that Zalman MSI 8800GT, it doesn't get better than that, it's factory overclocked, it has an excellent 3rd party cooler pre-installed and it's only $229! Plus MSI is a reputable brand.

The 8800GT isn't cooler but you're right about everything else. I'm surprised to see the 8800GT drop in price. I remember the good old days of November.

 

[dukebound85]

The 8800GT isn't cooler but you're right about everything else. I'm surprised to see the 8800GT drop in price. I remember the good old days of November.

was it pretty pricey back then?

and will this card last a while? sorry this is the first time ive built a computer so its all new to me

 

[Eidorian]

was it pretty pricey back then?

and will this card last a while? sorry this is the first time ive built a computer so its all new to me

The 8800GT was around $289-319 back then. The 8800GT at ~$225 is a great deal. You might be able to get a cheaper quad core with the X3210 as well. Do you have a Fry's Electronics near you? They have some decent CPU/motherboard bundles at the cost of just the CPU.

 

[dukebound85]

The 8800GT was around $289-319 back then. The 8800GT at ~$225 is a great deal. You might be able to get a cheaper quad core with the X3210 as well. Do you have a Fry's Electronics near you? They have some decent CPU/motherboard bundles at the cost of just the CPU.

is the Xenon better than the c2quad in your opinion? As far as having a Fry's by me, I have no idea to be honest

 

[Eidorian]

is the Xenon better than the c2quad in your opinion? As far as having a Fry's by me, I have no idea to be honest

The Xeon is just a slightly better binning of a Core 2 Quad. Are you looking for a quad core in general or raw performance? The Xeon uses the same socket LGA775 like the Core 2 Duo and is intended for basic workstations and servers.

I was considering one myself but I lost on eBay by a few dollars.

 

[dukebound85]

The Xeon is just a slightly better binning of a Core 2 Quad. Are you looking for a quad core in general or raw performance? The Xeon uses the same socket LGA775 like the Core 2 Duo and is intended for basic workstations and servers.

I was considering one myself but I lost on eBay by a few dollars.

more for like movie editing, games and common computer tasks. i just want to get the best chip for the setup as they do cost about the same amount and i have a hard time differentiating the differences lol

 

[Chone]

Unless you plan to do extreme overclocking, a C2D will be cheaper and will overclock good as well, it's just that the Xeon is expected to be of better reliability simply because a Xeon is supposed to be running 24/7 as opposed to a Core 2 so that's why Xeons usually yield better overclocking results but they are essentially the same processor and Core 2 overclock pretty well anyways on air.

As for your question on the 8800GT's longetivity, it depends on several factors but that 8800GT will last you for a while, you'll just have to turn down the settings slightly with each new generation of games, if you are not a crazy performance bitch I'd say you can get a good 2-3 years out of that 8800GT, maybe even more.

 

[dukebound85]

well crap

so looking on my 8800gt box, it says it needs a "min 400W with a 12V rating of 26A)

the psu i have is a 500 12V 18A. there are two of these rails at 12V with this rating

So far it seems to work pretty well. am i ok??

are there any side effects of running this card on a low amperage setting, or will it be ok till i load it to the point it needs those extra amps and then like become choppy.


any thoughts?

i have noticed some screen tearing (horizontal) would this be a reason or what else would be causing that. keep in mind its not horible but is noticible at times

 

[JackAxe]

400 watts! The PSU in my last PC was only 450.

How many hard drives do you have in your system? You should be OK, but if you have multiple HDs, that could put a strain on your system during boot. If that is the case, you should consider going to a higher PSU. Check the power level monitor that came with your mobo and make sure it's keeping things steady. There's a GPU stress tester out their wich can be ran to make sure your systems isn't going beyond its power capacity. I don't recall the name, but a google search should bring it up.

Screen tearing occurs when the CPU is pumping out more data than the GPU can handle and this is the result of the GPU playing catch up. It simply will jump ahead, even if it's in the middle of drawing one frame. The solution would be to lower the settings or add another 400W vid card and a bigger PSU to do the SLI thing.

<]=)

 

[dukebound85]

400 watts! The PSU in my last PC was only 450.

How many hard drives do you have in your system? You should be OK, but if you have multiple HDs, that could put a strain on your system during boot. If that is the case, you should consider going to a higher PSU. Check the power level monitor that came with your mobo and make sure it's keeping things steady. There's a GPU stress tester out their wich can be ran to make sure your systems isn't going beyond its power capacity. I don't recall the name, but a google search should bring it up.

Screen tearing occurs when the CPU is pumping out more data than the GPU can handle and this is the result of the GPU playing catch up. It simply will jump ahead, even if it's in the middle of drawing one frame. The solution would be to lower the settings or add another 400W vid card and a bigger PSU to do the SLI thing.

<]=)

i have a 500gig and an 80 gig hard drive (this is a laptop one at the moment)

so pretty much the reason i have screen tearing is because i have too powerful of a cpu......how great lol

do i not need to worry about the amps? am i 6A underpowered?

 

[JackAxe]

It's always good to have more CPU than GPU. The other way around sucks, because then the action slows down and chops.

Check the power monitoring software that came with your mobo. Most will show the power usage of the CPU and if it's too high or too low. My cheese MSI had purdy little graphs. I'm trying to recall the name of a utility my friend gave me for my last system. It was really thorough and had lots of features.

<]=)