Advice on New System

[NicolasCYOW 0]

I'm *this* close to buying a new system mainly for FS9 purposes - the P4 2.4/GeForce4 Ti 4200/512MB RAM combo isn't cutting it anymore (in fact, it has really never cut it with FS9, to the point where it's now impossible to use).I'm thinking about the following setup:# Intel Core 2 Duo Conroe E6600 2.4GHz FSB 1066, 4MB CPU# 2048MB DDR II 800 Memory 240 Pin# ASUS P5B Deluxe Mother Board w/ WiFi# eVGA GeForce 7950 GT KO 512MB DVI, HDTVplus HD, audio and all, but I'm more interested in comments on the above itemized list. Any comments on the CPU, and particularly the graphics card (open to suggestions here of course), would be appreciated. What could I expect in FS9 with such a system?Thanks,Nicolas in CYOW

[Guest wayupthere]

Looks just fine, and will give overall good performance (the amount depends on you settings in fs itself) in FS9, definatly alot better than you previous config. As to your GPU, thats a good card price vs. performance,pretty much on par with X1950 depending what game/sim is running, and only a slight notch below (barely noticeable) the 7900GTX, if you are not into getting a DX10 compatible GPU right now, then its not a bad choice.

[NicolasCYOW 0]

Thanks Davis. Nicolas in CYOW

[FTD1949 0]

Nicolas, Don't run out and buy a processor yet. Intel prices are supposed to drop at or near July 22nd. Also you might want to look at the the P35 Northbridge motherboards which will support the upcoming 45nm processors and some even support DDR2 AND DDR3. Craig

[Guest wayupthere]

Price dropping have already started in some parts of the globe, but read one page back the topic "New PC". That said though, again, whats out now has proven itself, whats DUE to come, still has to. Whether it will be good, OR bad has yet to be seen. I dont understand why NEWER is ALWAYS better in some peoples minds (not you in particular Craig). Ok granted that NMOS and PMOS combined with High-k will outperform N+P+ in combo with Si0 but still.ps: Craig, you might also want to mention when you refer people to the 45nm process, that the server market (INTEL) will be the first too be served, Desktops and way down the line, well into (late) 08, besides if you look further down the line 2009 we should be commencing production of the 32nm and 22nm spread out into 2011. I mean, one can wait and wait and wait... but keeping looking years ahead will not get you anywhere, this technological market is just too widespread, with products, upcoming and released, release-dates, schedules etc.. AND, report on the TrueQuad development.My take, get something that at this present time 1. Has set its mark positively (core2, CoreQuad to some people), 2. proven to be reliable. 3, is widely available. Upgrading is always possible in this field, but if you play it smart (and safe) you DONT do it, the moment something new comes out.Ps2: Craig, whats your opinion on Merom,Yonah or Penryn? vs. Deneb and DenebFX. Or Nehalem for that matter?

[FTD1949 0]

Point taken. No opinions. The key words in my post were "you might consider". I'm in the process of a new build and have been reading all the reviews I can find on the Gigabyte and ASUS mobos that will support the 45nm as well as DDR3 and most have been favorable (of course none with a 45nm processor). I'm still up in the air regardthe mobo purchase which will not be made until later this summer and the ASUS and Gibabyte boards(no sli) can be had for around $150 US.Do you think I should just stick with the 900 series chipset boardsand worry about upgrading the mobo 2 years down the road? I do knowthat when the first 45nm's are released I probably wouldn't be able toafford one anyway and that DDR3 has a long way to go.If you have any other thoughts on this matter they would be appreciated.Craig ASUS A8N- nForce SLI Chipset SATA RAID Dual PCIe MOBOAMD ATHLON64 3500+ CPU w/ HT TechLG GWA-4161 DVD/CDSeagate ST3160811AS 160GB Barracuda 9 7200RPM 8MB SATA II 3Gb/s NCQSeagate ST3160811AS 250GB Barracuda 9 7200RPM 8MB SATA II 3Gb/s NCQEVGA 7950 GT KO PCIe 512mb nvodngov19147-[Guru3D.com] drivers SB Audigy 22G Corsair PC 3200 400MHZ Dual Channel DDR Aspire 500W P/SWinXP Pro 32bit SP2Track IR3 w/vectorCH Yolk & RuddersFS Genesis Terrain MeshFS Genesis Land ClassActive SkyRC4

[Guest wayupthere]

I know Craig :) but even still, when having people consider it, point out the more detailed overview too. It will definatly help people beforehand.And about the new upcoming technologies:Yeah, the way I see it, is get something that works now (so you can USE it NOW), and has works fine since atleast a few months to year ago. What you and your wallet want, are sufficiently matured hard and softwareware components.Down the road you can always upgrade to the newer hardware when that has sufficiently matured. Seeing all the review(s) is nice and all, reading about how great the technology could/will be for the end-users.But fact is,all the new things coming out, ea. the 45nm procces, the new mobos, memory... it's mostly on paper for now. And if you do come across a review, that actually used a real piece of hardware that isnt even well out on the shelves at that time, its in many cases an engineering sample, and you really can't use that to build a concrete unbiased/reliable review, since from the engineering stage to market-released alot of things can and usually do change, either for good or bad depends on the manufacturer and/or piece of hardware concerned.If I were you i'd worry about upgrading to new technology, when its matured down the line, just for comparison, look what happened to the early adopters of the 8800 GPUs, enough said ;)If one wants to brag, buy everything new the moment its released, if one is smart, he/she will wait, stay content with what he/she currently has, and waits for real-world reviews from end-users since that is what all of us are when it come to it, not just from online websites. ;)

[FTD1949 0]

Makes sense to me and might save me some money too. As you can see I have and older AMD system and am in the process of purshasing components for a new Intel system. I already had the case and power supply and am waiting to make a decision on a Mobo, processor and RAM. I do understand what you're saying re: new technology and am now considering what you recommend (current tech that works). Any ideas would be appreciated re: the mobo. My budget is for one under $200 US. I don't have any immediate or future plans for SLI. ThanksCraig ASUS A8N- nForce SLI Chipset SATA RAID Dual PCIe MOBOAMD ATHLON64 3500+ CPU w/ HT TechLG GWA-4161 DVD/CDSeagate ST3160811AS 160GB Barracuda 9 7200RPM 8MB SATA II 3Gb/s NCQSeagate ST3160811AS 250GB Barracuda 9 7200RPM 8MB SATA II 3Gb/s NCQEVGA 7950 GT KO PCIe 512mb nvodngov19147-[Guru3D.com] drivers SB Audigy 22G Corsair PC 3200 400MHZ Dual Channel DDR Aspire 500W P/SWinXP Pro 32bit SP2Track IR3 w/vectorCH Yolk & RuddersFS Genesis Terrain MeshFS Genesis Land ClassActive SkyRC4

[Guest wayupthere]

Hey Graig,Yeah i personally think thats the wisest thing to do, let the new stuff mature first, then maybe a year or so down the line, another upgrade era dawns ;) By that time even more new stuff should be on the horizon, and the hardware thats new now, should be older and reduced in price and ofcourse even more importantly should be reasonably/totally be bug-free and hopefully be as stable as what most of us are used to at the moment.IMHO running behind with things in life in general isn't the best thing to do, but regarding this technology, For a regular Home-User running a year or so behind is not a bad thing. My personal mobo choices would be these, based on first hand experience and with your $200 budget in mind:DFI $129.99: (my personal choice brand)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813136034EVGA $158.99:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813188019BFG $114.99:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813189005GIGABYTE $119.99:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128012

[NicolasCYOW 0]

Thanks guys. Regarding the July 22 planned price drop on Intel CPUs, I guess I'll wait - but on the other hand, prices drop constantly on everything, and new technology arrives on the market all the time, so one could wait forever.Now, I'm back to undecided on the GPU; anybody care to offer suggestions on alternative GPUs in the same price range as the 7950GT? What about the X1950XT? The X1950 Pro? The 7600? 256 or 512 MB? There's so much on offer, and so many "schools of thought", yet I can only have one GPU!Nicolas in CYOW

[Guest wayupthere]

Hey Again hehe,I still stand by my first post, but since your now mentioning even more GPUs you might be interested in, lets first start off then by telling what resolution you are planning to run? :)Quoting Mr. Jaap :( from another thread below "the display config/resolution used remains THE determining factor." Sorry Jaap i just had to borrow your "知恵" for a sec ;)

[ABE 0]

Hi Davis,I just got my Westinghouse 37". I am using it as Monitor 1 and the Dell 27" as monitor 2. I am just curious as how do you have your 57" and 24" set, and what res. are you using. I am using 1920x1080 on both.Thanks.Abe

[Guest wayupthere]

Hey Abe,Hehe what a treat huh, having a nice large screen :) .Im running the 57" as my primary at 1920x1080,and running the 24" as secondary at 1920x1200. Both are at their native and Max resolutions and supporting 1080p HDMI.

[NicolasCYOW 0]

Davis:Right now, my hardware is such that it's limited to 1280x1024 (which suits me, but doesn't fill me with joy), so, to be sure, I'll run it higher than that. Re: the 7950 (with which I've heard there's "shimmering" issues), I found a new place closer to home but that doesn't carry the 7950, but do carry the others I mentioned. But the benchmarks I've seen generally rate nVidias higher than ATIs in FS9 (and usually the opposite in other games which I don't play, so...). I suppose one could ask, say, 32 people about GPUs and get 32 different answers. It's all rather frustrating, really!Thanks,Nicolas in CYOW

[ABE 0]

Davis,It's kinda fun , huh? I thought my 27" was big until it got dwarfed by the 37" and now my 37" is overcome by your 57". W O W !!!By the way how do you have your monitors set up physically? I have mine like a wide 'V'. I am having fun with them and I am trying to adjust reading the 37" without moving my head.(LOL). How are you managing with the 57? Tell me all about it.Abe