Getting a new computer. Need advice.

[Solid Dreams]

Hey get her to buy me one too =D

I just got my first video card and it's a 9800 GT, but my mobo doesn't have a pci 2.0 slot.

Bluh, gonna have to buy a mobo and figure out how to get the blasted video card out now :P

[MrRubix]

Solid Dreams: Haha, have you seen The Reactor computer?

Posting the specs for easy access, here. Would like additional thoughts/opinions!



General Spec
Brand CyberpowerPC
Model Gamer Xtreme 1010
Recommended Usage Gaming
Processor Intel Core i7 950(3.06GHz)
Processor Main Features 64 bit Quad-Core Processor
Memory 12GB (6x2GB) DDR3 Tri Channel Memory
Hard Drive 2TB (2 x 1TB) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 7200RPM HDD
Optical Drive 1 BluRay Player Combo Drive
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 1792MB PCI Express Video Card
Audio Sound card - Integrated
Ethernet Gigabit LAN
Power Supply 800W
Keyboard Xtreme Gear USB Keyboard
Mouse Xtreme Gear USB Mouse
Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Free upgrade to Microsoft Windows 7
Special Features NZXT Beta Gaming Case

Motherboard
Chipset Intel X58

CPU
CPU Type Intel Core i7
Installed Qty 1
CPU Speed 950(3.06GHz)
L2 Cache Per CPU 4 x 256KB
L3 Cache Per CPU 8MB
CPU Socket Type LGA 1366
CPU Main Features 64 bit Quad-Core Processor

Graphics
GPU/VPU Type NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
Graphics Interface PCI Express x16

Memory
Memory Capacity 12GB DDR3
Memory Spec 2GB x 6

Hard Drive
HDD Capacity 2TB
HDD Interface SATA II
HDD RPM 7200rpm
HDD Spec 2 x 1TB

Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type BD Combo
Optical Drive Spec BluRay Player Combo Drive

Audio
Audio Chipset Integrated

Communications
LAN Chipset Integrated
LAN Speed 10/100/1000Mbps

Front Panel Ports
Front USB 2

Back Panel Ports
PS/2 2
Rear USB 6
RJ45 1 port
S/P DIF 1 x Optical S/PDIF Out
1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Out

Expansion
PCI Slots (Available/Total) 3 x PCI Express x16
1 x PCI Express x1
2 x PCI

Mouse
Mouse Type USB Mouse

Keyboard
Keyboard Type USB Keyboard

Manufacturer Warranty
Parts 1 year limited
Labor 1 year limited

[MrGiggles]

Post your 3DMark score when you receive the computer. I'm curious.

[MrRubix]

Will do.

Is there anything currently much better than the Intel Core i7 950(3.06GHz), or the Memory 12GB (6x2GB) DDR3 Tri Channel Memory, or the Hard Drive 2TB (2 x 1TB) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 7200RPM HDD?

The processor seems solid but I am just curious. 12 GB RAM seems like quite a bit (my current laptop is 1 GB ram) and I don't know if something like 16 GB RAM is available or if that is even worth getting. The hard drives seem to have a TON of space, which is GREAT (my current laptop only came with like 120 GB of space... having +2000 GB sounds amazing). Not sure how good 7200 RPM is compared to what's out there.

[Nightfirecat]

7200 RPM is the standard for desktops. You can get 10k RPM now, but they come in much smaller sizes. It's usually not worth it unless you need the faster read/write speed - most people don't.

As for the RAM, it is a lot of RAM, but it means that you can multitask like fuc... Yeah.
It's basically top-of-the-line parts only, so it's basically the best thing you'll find out there, besides SLI'ing, or getting a motherboard with 2 processor slots, or whatever.

[Wineandbread]

Damn that's pretty nice. O_O
Are you gonna buy a monitor too?

Like Nightfirecat said, 7200 rpm is pretty much the standard. Faster write speeds allow some game elements to load faster, but I don't really know how much of a difference it makes. If you really wanted to be fancy, you could fish out some money for a SSD, but they're kinda way overpriced right now.

[MrRubix]

What is SLI'ing?

And yes I am going to have to get a monitor to go with this. My friends have some random flatscreens lying around, as does my mother's fiance, but at some point I'd like a huge, nice flatscreen.

[ninjaKIWI]

I'm not familiar with AMD processors really, but the only thing as far as I know that's much better than the Intel i7 950 is the 965.

SLI (Scan Link Interface) Is basically connecting two graphics cards together for better/faster gameplay and/or better images or rendering or whatever you need it for.

[MrGiggles]

Originally Posted by MrRubix

What is SLI'ing?

What Kiwi said. With ATI cards it's called Crossfire.

12 GB of RAM is pretty overkill, but you could probably increase it to 24 if you upgraded each 2GB stick to a 4GB stick.

I'm pretty sure the the AMD Phenom II's haven't really been able to compete in gaming rigs when compared with i7's. They are a bit cheaper than equivalent i7's and use far less power when idling, but they don't overclock as well as i7's. tom's Hardware boosted a 3GHz i7 to about 3.8GHz without changing the voltage at all. An equivalent Phenom II won't be reasonably stable until you drop the speed to about 3.64GHz.

Here's the results for their gaming tests.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ii,2119-8.html

So yeah, i7's are great for gaming and Phenom II's are great for, say, A/V editing.

[MrRubix]

I just want to be able to run new games on absurdly high settings and not skip a beat
I figure there are no games right now that call for 12 GB RAM or this type of video card.

[Solid Dreams]

Make sure you get at least a 24 inch monitor.

And actually, Crysis is still pretty stupidly high for requirements. I think yours will crush it without a sweat, but still.

If you wanted total overkill though, you'd want something like http://cgi.ebay.com/Core-i7-Extreme-...3A1%7C294%3A50

[MrRubix]

Wow, that's pretty insane O.o;;;

What are the Crysis reqs for the best settings?

I'm googling but not really finding much. Mostly people asking if their specs will handle Crysis maxed out. I can't find, though a "you should have these settings if you want to completely rape Crysis and have enough left over to do whatever the hell else you want"

[Solid Dreams]

#
# $1000 – AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz, ASUS M4A78T-E, Two Radeon 4870 1GB in Crossfire, 4GB RAM DDR3 1600
For 2560×1600 with medium/high settings, high/max at 1920×1200 and lower resolutions.

Even a computer that powerful is only medium/high.

[MrRubix]

Hmmm will my computer's processor (Intel Core i7 950(3.06GHz)) be able to shred that at all at its highest settings?

[Solid Dreams]

not in pure speed, but everything else, yah probably.

the 920 (2.66) outperforms most 3.x ghz quad processors.

[fido123]

Originally Posted by MrRubix

Hmmm will my computer's processor (Intel Core i7 950(3.06GHz)) be able to shred that at all at its highest settings?

Easy. The i7 has threaded cores...so it arguable has the ability of 8 cores, but not quite. It's a bit weird like that. For gaming you want to direct most of your attention to a video card. this can EASILY run Crysis at full. My card which is like half as powerful can, the NVIDEA GForce 9800GT. Also sorry to go against what a lot of people are saying but RAM doesn't make your computer go faster and you really shouldn't focus on it. You want to look for DDR3 RAM and make sure your motherboard will take DDR3 RAM (Tri-Channel if you can). 4GB will do more than good for gaming, and is probably a little overkill in itself but you should get at least 4GB so you can run 64-bit OSs. RAM is really easy to upgrade therefore if you ever run out, get another couple of gigs. You should really only be getting 8G+ if you're doing some hardcore rendering. If you have 4G of RAM, but you're only using 2 for a top end game, 2G isn't being used at all.

So basically

i7 Processor (Best one you can get really, there are 3 kinds)
4G of DDR3 Tri-Channle RAM
And this


And you have a beast of a machine.

[MrRubix]

fido

What do you think of the computer I posted above?

[Solid Dreams]

its overkill, to him.

[banditcom]

That computer would be like 4.5k at Alienware... lol

Also, 12gb ram... rofl wtf? Christ....

My computer is 2 years old and I spent around $1400 on it. I did upgrade the graphics card recently to one that was a price-point graphics card, partly because my other one was screwing up.

It's NEVER worth it to get top of the line. You can get about 90-95% of the performance and save about 1/3rd of the cost.

2tb in HD is plenty too. I have a 120gb main HD that suites me just fine for system, games, and programs. I have an internal IDE that I made into an external USB 2.0 that is 180gb (all my files like movies, songs, etc), as well as another external that I just use for backup of my main external (this one stays completely unplugged). I only just ordered a 1tb drive since I'm out of DVD-Rs and it was a nice buy for $66.50! That will go inside my computer and my main external will now be another backup.

Other than that... I haven't kept up with things at all since I bought my computer. But as MrGiggles really pushed, the most one should spend is $1500 for the computer (excluding monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, external backup HD).

Really, that's definitely enough for a long time. The only possible upgrade would be in 2 years to add the same graphics card to SLI it.

I still think should aim for ~$1500 and get a nice monitor.

[Red_Comet]

did somebody say REACTOR???? http://www.hardcorecomputer.com **** yeah.... anyways rubix if you're getting a pre-built system get it from the makers website, resellers like tigerdirect and newegg tend to mark it up because they wouldn't make money off a sale at the price the producers give it, just like it's better to go to the manufacturer for parts 95% of the time instead of a dealership as they tack on their own price to make profit.

It's a badass machine but you can get a comparable one for 255 bucks cheaper link: http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/C...y_8800_Pro_SE/ ) and still get the warranty, besides newegg doesn't have ALL that is available from cyberpowerPC, just what's profitable for them and hot on the market. If you ever need help budgeting for a new pc or upgrades talk to me.