I can't believe I'm asking this...

[sperry]

...but working as a professional everyday with computers has ruined me for keeping up with PC hardware. I just don't get any enjoyment anymore working on computers and following the latest and greatest.

But, since my file server took a dump on me... and since GTR2/rFactor/etc aren't able to run at high framerates on my current rig, I think it's time (been 2 years IIRC) to upgrade the gaming box and move the existing gear into my fileserver to replace the whacked out MoBo it's got.

So I'm here asking you geekier than I gamers to validate what I'm looking at. I've already got all the accessory type stuff from my last build, so all I'm looking at is CPU, Motherboard, RAM, and a new video card. I know in the next few months that the DX10 ATI cards are coming, and that Quad Cores will be dropping in price, but frankly, I'm trying not to buy the latest and greatest... just something that will soldier on for me for the next 2 years until the next time I break down and go read tomshardware.com.

So, on to the list:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz
MoBo: MSI P6N (vForce 650i SLI)
RAM: SuperTalent DDR2-800 (2GB 4-4-3-8 CAS 4)
Cooler: ASUS Silent Square 92mm heat tower
Vid: BFG Tech GeForce 8800GTS 320MB (Factory O/C'd to 580MHz from 500MHz)

The items are just under $1100 shipped from NewEgg, which seems expensive for gear that's basically a step down from top-of-the-line... I thought this shit was supposed to get cheaper every year!

Anyway, I think this setup should give me blazing framerates in all the racing games I play, as well as all the current FPS games, and it should perform decently for the next year at least. The only thing I don't think it will do is drive the 1080p 24" widescreen flatpanel I want to buy for racing games... at least not with all the details cranked at the native resolution... but I'm making sure I'll be able to add an SLI 8800GTS in the future which might take care of that.

So, what do you guys think? Seem like a decent rig, or should I spend the $1100 on a Stebro cat-back for the SVX?

[Dean]

Welcome to being a seasoned computer professional. "Play" time is over...

I have more servers and "test" machines than I have workstations and a force feedback steering wheel I never took out of the box from 4 years ago...

I have a couple solo desktop machines around 3-4Ghz, but they are for video editing, and PVR type functions...

You other choice is to spend <$100 and just swap the server MB and get the cat back...

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Dean

Welcome to being a seasoned computer professional. "Play" time is over...

I have more servers and "test" machines than I have workstations and a force feedback steering wheel I never took out of the box from 4 years ago...

I have a couple solo desktop machines around 3-4Ghz, but they are for video editing, and PVR type functions...

You other choice is to spend <$100 and just swap the server MB and get the cat back...

Spending money on a new motherboard for a 6 year old processor seems like a waste. Especially since it doesn't fix my framerate issue with my gaming rig (30 fps with all the details turned off at 1024 x 768 is pretty low-end these days... especially when racing online where it makes a competitive difference).

Anyway, I'm looking for opinions about the specific setup listed above with regards to gaming performance. Considering your FF wheel is 4 years unopened, I'm gonna guess you don't have much firsthand experience with this particular stuff.

[Double Phister]

Scott,

I recently rebuilt the majority of my main PC. I chose the same processor you did. I also have the same amount of RAM but a tad slower at 4-4-4-12. I'm not an Nvidia guy so I don't know how good that video card is. If framerates at high rez is your primary goal then make sure the card you choose can handle that. You'r processor choice will do it just fine.

I chose a 3rd party ATI X1950XTX. I'm sure two steps down would still have been fine.

[sperry]

Well I pulled the trigger and ordered the above gear...

I also added a new PSU since the one in my current case won't do PCIe, and I decided that since I'm dropping all this money on hardware, I'm not going to spend an additional $800 on the 24" widescreen, so I got the Samsung 22" widescreen for less than half the cost. The only drawback: no 1080p HD support for PS3... but since I don't even have a PS3 or plan to get one any time soon... no big whoop. Plus I think the 8800GTS video card will havee a better shot at driving the 1680x1050 native resolution over the bigger panel.

[M3n2c3]

Most PS3 games won't do 1080p (or even 1080i) anyway. . .

[sperry]

Originally Posted by M3n2c3

Most PS3 games won't do 1080p (or even 1080i) anyway. . .

...yet. I figure by the time the prices comes down enough for me to consider buying a PS3, the game manufacturers will have figured out how to run at 1080p/i.

[Double Phister]

they already have it figured out. Ridge racer is 1080P. When they realize that people like me chose RR7 over NFS because of the resolution difference they will turn up the resolution screw.

[A1337STI]

I'm using the Antec P180 case, some high efficiency 500 Watt psu
Nforce 4 chipset Mobo with onboard 10/100/1000 lan, and 7.1 sound , socket 939 AMD 64 XP3500 (single core as there really are no games out yet that can take advantage of dual core cpus ) an ATI X1800XT 512 megs of ram. The ram speed is a touch slow on it compared to the 256 meg model. i'm able to play GTR2 in 1600X1200 with anti aliasing and stuff, but the replays get a bit choppy. oh yeah i have 2 gigs of ram. I used to have a raid controller card and 2 drives in a Raid 0, Awesome for load times on games and such. but then if the card goes out, a channel on the card, or one of the drives you lose everything. which blows.

Oh btw for the money the 7.1 cheap creative labs speaker set on new egg can't be beat. i got it for $70 and it sounds really good. just don't expect it to go crazy loud. it goes loud enough to upset your neighbors in an apartment so its enough for me.

from a quick google search, it looks like the 8800GS out benchmarks the x1950XT so i'de imagine you could play in 1600X1200 just fine I've had all NVidia cards, except this last one, and i wish i would have spent the same amount of money on an NVidia card then on an ATI one. Doh!

We should try some online GTR2 action when you get your new box setup.

[M3n2c3]

Originally Posted by sperry

...yet. I figure by the time the prices comes down enough for me to consider buying a PS3, the game manufacturers will have figured out how to run at 1080p/i.

They know, but most of them force 720p anyway. It's a matter of compromise or time for most devs. The lower the res, the more cycles they have left for other visual details. Or the less work they have to bother with trying to get the game to run at a decent framerate.

For example, Oblivion on the XB360 can be run at 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, or 1080p, depending on what you set through the dashboard. All 360 games will run at whatever res you specify. The trade-off here is that the dev has to ensure that the game is optimized to run in high res, which sometimes means that other details (such as distant texture or mipmapping detail) will be sacrificed.

On the PS3, the forced max for Oblivion is 720p. Sony did not enable the system to scale the resolution to the user's max preference - resolution is forced by the software. This is what made possible the extra detail in Oblivion's distant land textures that all the Sony fanboys have been acting so proud of. Since Bethesda knew that the game would only run at a max of 720p, they were able to squeeze a bit more detail out of the available cycles.

One of the problems with Sony's implementation is if you have a TV that is 1080i compatible but not 720p (like a 32", 4:3 CRT HDTV), you're boned. The system will not allow upconversion and therefore forces you to run at 480p. I know I'd be pretty pissed if I had dropped $600 on a system that would only run at last-gen resolutions.

So the real problem here is Sony's. They need to release a firmware update that allows full user specified resolutions. While the software devs may want to decide for us that running at only 720p is a fair trade for a little extra texture detail, most of us who have the capability of running 1080i/p would gladly give up a little detail for the higher resolution. Years of shooters on PC have made it clear that if you can't tell an enemy apart from a tree due to crappy res, you may as well not play. Microsoft has this one right; Sony needs to play catch-up.

Scott, I'm sure you already get all this, but I felt like venting about Sony a little, for those who may not be up on this silly stuff.

End rant. Not that I'm going to buy a PS3 any time soon anyway. . .

[Double Phister]

Originally Posted by M3n2c3

The system will not allow upconversion and therefore forces you to run at 480p.

So my upconverting receiver isn't allowed to upconvert the HDMI??? (I really don't know cuz my stuff is all 1080P, Just asking)

[tysonK]

So what's one step down from scott's set-up?

Right now I'm sporting:
Pentium 4 2.0 Ghz (Super Old school?)
1 GB RAM
Nvidia 6200 Video (bought this a couple months ago)

This still doesn't run freaking Titan Quest at even medium settings.

I think the video card is ok? I'd like to make/buy a system for $1000.

I already made a thread but thought I would hijack this since scott bought his stuff. ha ha. (and I won some money thank you nugget )

[M3n2c3]

Originally Posted by R4ND0M_AX3

So my upconverting receiver isn't allowed to upconvert the HDMI??? (I really don't know cuz my stuff is all 1080P, Just asking)

That's going to depend. Most HDTVs have a firmware signature (that's my best explanation; I don't know the tech term) that can be read. As I understand it, if the PS3 can't get a native 720p signal going, it will simply drop the res to 480p instead of allowing the TV to upconvert to 1080i.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by tysonK

So what's one step down from scott's set-up?

Right now I'm sporting:
Pentium 4 2.0 Ghz (Super Old school?)
1 GB RAM
Nvidia 6200 Video (bought this a couple months ago)

This still doesn't run freaking Titan Quest at even medium settings.

I think the video card is ok? I'd like to make/buy a system for $1000.

I already made a thread but thought I would hijack this since scott bought his stuff. ha ha. (and I won some money thank you nugget )

Not to burst your bubble, but those are about the specs of the system I'm replacing. Actually I'm replacing an Athlon 64 3500+, 1GB RAM, and an overclocked GeForce 6800GT... which is slightly better than your system. Well, not replacing it, but moving it over to my file server. The actual stuff that's being retired is like an AMD K6 something or other and a GeForce 2 IIRC... whatever was decent back in 2001.

[tysonK]

Those specs are what I have not what I want to buy.

But now I'm confused.

I should just buy an xbox360. Computers suck.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by tysonK

Those specs are what I have not what I want to buy.

But now I'm confused.

I should just buy an xbox360. Computers suck.

I know. You asked if the video card was okay, and I was telling you that it's actually a little behind the stuff I'm replacing, so no, it's kinda outdated.

An XB360 would actually be a decent setup as long as you only want to play console games. Since I'm playing a lot more PC driving sims than console games these days, I'm not gonna bother with a 360 or PS3 for a while. Maybe when GT5 or Forza 2 comes out... but I've still got GT4 to wrap up, and haven't played hardly and Forza 1 yet... so even then, I'm not too worried about consoles.