Is this a good computer?

[Thaegen]

So what do you think? Should I change something?

ANTEC P160W Performance Case
NEC 4571 16X Black DVD-RW Labelflash Technology
OCZ 2048MB KIT (2X1024MB) 400MHZ DDR Gold GX XTC
WESTERN DIGITAL 250GB-KS 16MB SATA300 7200RPM
DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra-d
AMD ATHLON64 939 4000+ SAN Diego Boxed Socket 939
ZALMAN FS-C77 FATAL1TY ALL CPU Support
ANTEC Smartpower 500WATT 2.0
MSI NX7900GT-T2D256E 256MB PCI-express 7900 GT

Thanks and greetings

[Titus]

No that not bad better then mine I would say. 7900gt that is nice!.

[rayzzz]

that thing is already a beast but if you want to go further.....you can add a WD Raptor 150gb and a sound card. Creative FATAL1TY Elite(i think it helps with gaming perormance) along with better sound quality and some decent speakers.

[Proximus]

I would change the CPU to a X2 4200+, dual core is the way to go nowdays.
I would also switch the CPU fan, don't buy anything branded as "FATAL1TY". WAY overpriced considering the performance.
I would personaly recomend either a regular Zalman or a SI-120, but that's just me.

And as allways ake sure you don't spend $ on **** you don't need.

[westy159]

Dual core is unnecessary in my opinion :wink: That machine will do you very nicely (till directX 10 and Vista come out where we will all need to buy new PCs to keep our new games running smooth). How much are you paying for it? Prebuilt or are you buying the parts and putting it together yourself?

[Proximus]

Dual core is unnecessary in my opinion :wink:

How come? It's becoming more and more common that modern games takes advantage of the the added power of a dual core cpu, just look at Oblivion, QIV and CoD2 (allthought flawed support atm) this trend will not stop in the future. Rather the opposite I would say. Allthought there's no such thing as a future proof computer, I seriously believes that a X2 will last you longer than a single core.

[Gaius Baltar]

Many of the early Dell dual-core CPUs are showing up on EBAY for rock-bottom prices...wonder why? I hear that they have problems with USB support.

[God]

Many of the early Dell dual-core CPUs are showing up on EBAY for rock-bottom prices...wonder why? I hear that they have problems with USB support.

rock-bottom prices, eh.... how much rock-bottom?

and more info on this USB support problem please.

[Incinerate_IV]

For now, single core is doing fine. Single core is still the king of gaming, even on the dual core optimized games. What dual core is really good at is muti-tasking.

[PyrrhusIV]

For now, single core is doing fine. Single core is still the king of gaming, even on the dual core optomized games. What dual core is really good at is muti-tasking.

Well yes, single core is better, but in Dual-core optimized games the benchmark differences cant be that much different. Personally, any dual core 2.0 ghz + should be able to run any games ATM fine.

Single core is still great, and less expensive. Just less future proof, sadly. I would like to see the benchmarks between an FX-60 vs FX-57...

[rayzzz]

get an Angeia physix engine card http://physx.ageia.com/footage.html

[Hadrian]

I think you'll find the FX-57 will hang so close to the FX-60 that the only way you'll see any difference is in benchmarks,and even then the differences will be miniscule,JMO.

The least of that rig's problems would be the processor! Overclock it to 2.6GHZ (which it'll do without breathing hard!) and hes got an FX-55! (that costs about $450.00 more than the 4000+)

If I was going to change that system, I would do SLI and add another mate to his 7900GT.Thaegen,if you did that,you would need to upgrade to atleast a 600W PSU though...

Vista and DirectX 10 will take years to implement across the full spectrum of computerdom.They will be intergrated into the realm,they're not gonna make current hardware obsolete overnight...

Thats a pretty good rig if your gonna build it(especially if it fits your budget!)

Thaegen,I just built one,and this is what I did:

Antec P180 Case
Asus A8N-SLI Premium
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ SD
3MB OCZ 400DDR Platinum
Tuniq Tower 120
XFX 7900GTX 512 (x2)
WesternDigital 250GB HD
Harman/Kardon 2.1
Viewsonic VX922 LCD
OCZ Powerstream 600W

[Timmius]

That's a whole lot-a-ram lol 3MB

[Hadrian]

Yes,Timmius my friend,it is.The question now, is do I take out the 2 512MB dimms and reset my timing to T1, or leave it all in at T2 timings, and hope it helps the processor to "think" better during SPQR! It was so shiny and pretty,I just had to buy 4 dimms of it!:wink:

oops! Ahem,I ment GBs, O.K. Timmius,so ya busted me.Yeah...I'm smoakin now...with my 3MB o RAM!

[Timmius]

Yes,Timmius my friend,it is.The question now, is do I take out the 2 512MB dimms and reset my timing to T1, or leave it all in at T2 timings, and hope it helps the processor to "think" better during SPQR! It was so shiny and pretty,I just had to buy 4 dimms of it!:wink:

I think it won't matter at all. At least not in gaming performance. You'll notic a degree of difference in benchmarking tools such a sandra. But I'm pretty sure you won't notic anything special in games.
Anyway, no games today use 3GB of ram. You'll probably have a higher framerate with just the 2x512MB. But as we know, it's not about the framerates when we're talking about memory.

[Hadrian]

Ave Timmius!
Do you really think the command rate won't make much of a difference? I have honestly been thinking about taking 2 dimms out to change the timing back to T1. When I bought the 4 dimms I thought as long as I didn't hit 4GB I could stay with the faster commnd rate, but when I read up on my mainboard I realized I had to go to T2 timing when all the dimm slots were filled, regardless of the amount of GBs.

Also was figuring that extra RAM would keep me from going to the page file as often,especially while playing processor straining SPQR.
Sooo, what do ya think? Am I off base or might it come in handy?

[OTZ]

You'll be better off with 2GB (1x2 sticks) @ 1T, than 4GB @ 2T. Some boards, and even windows, have a problem dealing with more than 3GB of RAM. There isn't even a program/game out there (that I am aware of) that would use 4GB of mem. As for the difference between 1 and 2T - almost negligable. It's a couple hundred points in Sandra, nothing more...very little impact in applications.

AFAIK, CPU intensive games have very little to do with the size of your page file...I may be wrong though!

[Hadrian]

Thanks for the info OTZ. The question about the impact of the command rate on gaming was bugging me (no pun intended). Not so much the size of the page file,but would the extra GB help keep my CPU from going there/utilizing my page file? Is there a way to try to avoid having to use virtual memory on the HD?

[jegui]

Thanks for the info OTZ. The question about the impact of the command rate on gaming was bugging me (no pun intended). Not so much the size of the page file,but would the extra GB help keep my CPU from going there/utilizing my page file? Is there a way to try to avoid having to use virtual memory on the HD?

Hi Hadrian,

I was wondering if there is a way of doing exactly the opposite... increasing use of virtual memory by RTW I have found out that SPQR is exagerating a memory leak problem in RTW for low spec rigs with 1Gb or less... thats why myself and others are experiencing cumulative CTDs on multiple battle scenarios

During a prolonged campaign in SPQR, the RTW engine keeps accumulating garbage in chunks of 60Mb+ physical memory for every battle played... it doesn't flush it out or make use of virtual memory that's why we get CTD's after 3rd battle because it exceeds 1Gb max of physical memory

Any ideias to help out would be appreciated

[Proximus]

Thanks for the info OTZ. The question about the impact of the command rate on gaming was bugging me (no pun intended). Not so much the size of the page file,but would the extra GB help keep my CPU from going there/utilizing my page file? Is there a way to try to avoid having to use virtual memory on the HD?

System proporties -> Advanced -> Performnce Options -> Advanced -> Change.

I wouldn't recomend this thought, all it will do is lower your systems stability while improving performence with 0%.

@jegui try to increase the size of the page file then.