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The end of the p4/new comp.

4K views 93 replies 12 participants last post by  SCHUMI_4EVER 
#1 ·
So, i'll follow the trend and create a "new rig/computer" tread of my own, if you people haven't grew tired of these already ;)

After being on the same system since around 2002 or so, i am going to boldly go where no (or many) men has before, and upgrade.

Since my current machine, which were an awesome beast in the stone ages, now is quite lacking in every imaginable compartment, and i have done all i can of it in terms of optimising and playing with things like oldblivion, now i need to catch up :)

I did switch from a gf4600Ti to a gf6200 a few weeks before and it opened up the door to pixelshader 2.0 which i lacked, and many games have started to require for many years ago :p and it opened up my eyes again.

I am on a slight tight budget, but i will do my best, with some pointers i hope, which is the purpose of this thread :)

I need to change it all, since i lack pci-e and sata currently.

I have figured out a mobo, and a powersource of about 600 watts.
And some pc6400 ddr2 ram, which i hope is ok. I will get 2 gb.

Then comes the alternatives.
I don't care much about chasing pcsx2 performance, and i won't overclock.
But i need power for the modern pc-games atleast :)

So i am thinking about whether i need to go for a: e8400, 8500 or 8600
And a GF9600GT, 9800GTX+ or GTX260.

I preferably play my games in 1280x1024, and i never use AA or AF since i believe them to be overated.

Any suggestions?
 
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#2 ·
#3 ·
My advice is to wait till next week before deciding anything. CES is right around the corner, during which a ton of new tech will be announced or released.
For the prices to drop a bit you mean? :)

Well, since i have sort of "waited" all these bloody years already, a week or two wouldn't make a difference.
 
#4 ·
The e8500 is the best price/performance point out of those three.

Motherboards are always going to be a highly opinionated thing. If you do not intend to overclock you have a lot of options. I use an Intel DP35DP board. It's very basic but it works great.

For a video card, the 8800GT/9800GT is a good value on the nVidia side. I don't know what AMD's offerings are really.

For DDR2 memory I use plain old Mushkin DDR2 modules that are low voltage for the DP35DP (1.8v). I can also recommend Corsair RAM, I am a fan of their stuff and they also make the lower voltage type. You may want to look at how much 4GB costs compared to 2GB, because RAM prices have really dropped and in the US the price difference between 2GB and 4GB is very small. If this is going to be a long-term investment you may as well get 4GB.

For these parts you won't need a 600W power supply. I have this setup with 8GB RAM and I get by with a 430W Seasonic power supply. My "estimated" full load is under 300W.
 
#6 · (Edited)
The e8500 is the best price/performance point out of those three.

Motherboards are always going to be a highly opinionated thing. If you do not intend to overclock you have a lot of options. I use an Intel DP35DP board. It's very basic but it works great.

For a video card, the 8800GT/9800GT is a good value on the nVidia side. I don't know what AMD's offerings are really.

For DDR2 memory I use plain old Mushkin DDR2 modules that are low voltage for the DP35DP (1.8v). I can also recommend Corsair RAM, I am a fan of their stuff and they also make the lower voltage type. You may want to look at how much 4GB costs compared to 2GB, because RAM prices have really dropped and in the US the price difference between 2GB and 4GB is very small. If this is going to be a long-term investment you may as well get 4GB.

For these parts you won't need a 600W power supply. I have this setup with 8GB RAM and I get by with a 430W Seasonic power supply. My "estimated" full load is under 300W.
Some good pointers there, thank you!.

I am debating the ram-amount with myself, mostly because i don't really feel like i will be needing more - but as time moves forward any "i will only need.."-estimations will make you feel like a fool. :lol:

Whatever amd or ati would offer, i would still go for intel and nvidia, since i put my trust in their stability - my old gear being alive without replacements all these years for instance.

Since i don't get a 8800gt here anymore, i think it now stands between the 9800gtx (+ or no +) and the gtx260 to be a bit more "fresh".

Maybe a e8500 would be closely as good as a e8600 since i wouldn't overclock either, i'd have to think about that.

A great thanks to the information about powersupply wattage, that is were i have been most clueless, and the less i can go the better for my economy :)

Yeah well, i suppose something new and fancy and affordable might present itself too :)
 
#7 ·
Since you are on a budget I say E8500 + 9800GTX+

If However you can squeeze it in there's even more eyecandy to be had from a GTX260 Core216.
 
#8 ·
That is were it feels i will land eventually, since the difference between e8500 and e8600 is quite small i guess.

If i am lucky i will be able to squeeze out an gtx260, what's with the core216-suffix bu the way?
 
#9 ·
It's a newer better version of the card with slightly more stream processors which costs pretty much the same as the older regular one.
 
#10 ·
Ah, well then there is of course no good reason not to go with that version :)
 
#11 ·
Ah, well then there is of course no good reason not to go with that version :)
 
#12 ·
Now i have finally ordered, but i had to go a bit lower even due to budget-restraints.
And i will have to wait with ordering a "real" grfx card until the end of next month aswell.
Anyways, for those interested, this is what i ordered: (Sorry for the swedish-links)

Case: https://www.inet.se/datorkomponenter/datorlaador/ace-gears-4-500w/6900250/

Motherboard: ASRock Motherboard - Product - G31M-GS - Overview

Memory: https://www.inet.se/datorkomponenter/internminnen/2048mb-a-data-ddr2-800mhz/5304299/

And CPU: https://www.inet.se/datorkomponenter/processorer/intel-core-2-duo-e8400-3-0ghz-1333mhz/5309884/

---------------------------------------

Hopefully this will be a stable enough base to replace the trustworthy P4 machine i am sitting on right now :)

Next month i will go for either a gf9800+ or a gf260gtx+.
 
#13 ·
Ugh, that case is a little on the thin side...so you will have to watch your cooler choice for the processor.

There is no GTX260+ by the way, but there are overclocked versions and there is a GTX260 Core216 (I doubt that there are any regular GTX260s left though) + there's now a GTX275 as well. Keep in mind though that once again you case is not the biggest and I am not sure how well these big cards will fit.
 
#15 ·
Ugh, that case is a little on the thin side...so you will have to watch your cooler choice for the processor.

There is no GTX260+ by the way, but there are overclocked versions and there is a GTX260 Core216 (I doubt that there are any regular GTX260s left though) + there's now a GTX275 as well. Keep in mind though that once again you case is not the biggest and I am not sure how well these big cards will fit.
I will use the original cooler that comes with the boxed processor, since i won't overclock. but thanks for the pointers about the case and so, it is good to keep in mind. :)

i where thinking about this one later, as for grfx:
https://www.inet.se/datorkomponenter/grafikkort/xfx-geforce-gtx-260plus-896mb-pcie/5408342/
 
#16 ·
Oh I see, XFX label there overclocked cards either + or XXX, yeah that's a great card...I have no idea how well it will fit though...cuz it will reach all the way into the front of your case..you might end up with unusable bays or even an have to remove/cut something out, my case at 485mm is deeper and my GTX260 already comes close to my bays so yours with 445mm will definitely see the card run into the bays.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I have never been a fan of AA or AF, back in the day i mostly played at 1600x1200, instead of 800x600/1024x768 with AA or AF.
A higher res gives more than AA or AF does, for the quality.
As the years has went by, i had to settle for 1280x, and then 1024x or even 800x.
but nowadays i am lucky if i can even run the game, mostly because of pure PS (pixel shader) requirements of which my old card couldn't handle even 2.0.
Now i have gf5900, and where ecstatic over how i could "max out" ut2004.

That is how behind i am today, and why this system will open up alot of the things I have been missing out on, even if the latest stuff won't run like a charm :)

Oh I see, XFX label there overclocked cards either + or XXX, yeah that's a great card...I have no idea how well it will fit though...cuz it will reach all the way into the front of your case..you might end up with unusable bays or even an have to remove/cut something out, my case at 485mm is deeper and my GTX260 already comes close to my bays so yours with 445mm will definitely see the card run into the bays.
Oh bummer, then i might need a new case when i grab that card, if there aren't any similar-in-performance nvidia-cards that doesn't take up as much space :)
 
#19 ·
I am afraid everything from nVidia is rather large these days, and ATI cards are barely any shorter so the days of smaller cases are pretty much numbered and these days you need something nice and wide and deep, helps for cooling as well as there's more space for airflow.
 
#21 ·
even those are big by the standards of small cases though...for instance my GTX260 absolutely dwarfs my X850XT in it's mini-tower.
 
#23 ·
0_o...and the Centurion is not even that small a case...it's certainly a fair bit deeper than the one PRep chose...
 
#26 ·
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