Ok kids..

[+JuggerNaut+]

**Final**



**Processor** Intel Q9550: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115041 (seems to be a good value and easy to OC)

**Video Card** EVGA 01G-P3-1285-AR GeForce GTX 285 SC Edition 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI (Superclocked Edition Overclocked at 675MHz Core/2538MHz Memory) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130446

**Mobo** GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128359

**PSU** PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817341011

**RAM** (2)G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) = 8GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231166

**Case** Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129043

[obsidian]

I'm waiting to buy some upgrades too. For $1000, would that also have to include stuff like PSU, case, hard drives, etc. or do are you going to salvage a bunch of existing stuff? That could determine whether you will be able to get something like a Core2Quad or Phenom2, or something like a Core i7 (which I have my eye on).

[+JuggerNaut+]

yeah, i need everything - hence box and guts. if i have to spend more, so be it.

[Captain]

http://www.quake3world.com/forum/viewto ... 13&t=39339

That came to $970 CDN after shipping and tax

For the video card though, I'd go for something a bit beefier. Possibly a GeForce GTX 260 216SP. My rig is just over a year old and still runs all of the new games perfectly at max settings, including Crysis. Nvidia just recently released the GTX 295. I think they plan on releasing 45nm cards this summer so prices might be coming down for the 200-series.

[+JuggerNaut+]

nice - i'll take a closer look at those parts this morning when i'm awake. those prices CAD?

[Therac-25]

http://www.quake3world.com/forum/viewto ... 20&t=37543 (For some reason, I posted it in the ETQW forum...)

Built that in the summer. Sans case and new monitor, it was ~$1100 CAD (didn't keep track exactly). I'm sure it's less now, esp the video card. The only things not on that list in the box were the case, the optical drive and the internal flash card reader.

For the case, I got one of these in December to put it into. Note: Putting a GTX 260/280 sized card into that case requires surgery. Had to cut some chunks of steel out of the hard drive mounts and floppy mounts with a dremel in order to get everything to fit. I'm pretty sure the 8800/9800s will fit without surgery, though -- it was designed to take an 8800/9800 sized card.

Aside from all the meat, I seriously recommend getting one of these for you new box:

[lvlshot]http://img.mmtech.pl/allegro/z_p/zestaw1/CZYTNIK%20KART%20SAMSUNG%20SFD-321F%20T4UB.jpg[/lvlshot]

[obsidian]

My recommendation for you:

Intel Core2Quad
Radeon HD 4870 or nVidia GeForce GTX 260
Some compatible mobo, probably an Asus or EVGA or something.
2-4GB of RAM, cheap these days and easy to upgrade in the future if need be.
Corsair HX620W or TX650W (HX being more expensive and modular, TX is normal)
Hard drives are cheap, so spend whatever is left in your budget on as big of a drive you can get, 500GB-1TB
Whatever case that strikes your fancy.


I'll be savaging all my old drives and case and I have about a $1500 budget. Currently waiting a *little* while longer since triple channel memory prices are expected to drop as supply catches up and nVidia is also expected to ship out some new cards in Q1. But my wishlist at the moment includes:

Intel Core i7 920
Asus P6T X58 Deluxe
3x2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
Corsair HX620W PSU
nVidia GTX260 or something

That's currently about $1400 CND (say 1200 US?), add a couple hundred more for case and hard drive so if you find yourself with more of a budget, it's a good idea to spring for the brand new architecture as well.

[+JuggerNaut+]

thanks therac for the linkage and yes, i do want a card reader. the external ones are mostly shit.

obsidian - thanks for that list. now you have me wondering if i should wait for the triple chan mem prices to drop and the newer nvidia card..... DAMN TECHNOLOGY. i'll toss together a list in the next day or so (most likely sat) and post it up for opinion.

thx again everyone.

[Foo]

now you have me wondering if i should wait for the triple chan mem prices to drop and the newer nvidia card..... DAMN TECHNOLOGY.

My magical PC upgrade rules:
-Always buy what's good currently, because something's always 'just' around the corner
-Always buy what's well priced currently, because everything will always be getting cheaper
-Always buy what plays **todays** games well, because when future games need better parts, they'll be cheaper to buy by then
-Never buy based on future upgrade potential. When the time comes you'll just buy new parts again

[+JuggerNaut+]

oh, you mean common sense ;O

i'm such a sucker for new tech tho, but you're right, i keep waiting. that's why my current box is *gasp* mostly 4 years old.

[Foo]

oh, you mean common sense ;O

Sense only becomes common if enough people grok it

[obsidian]

Yeah, buy what you need when you need it. I'm only waiting because I know that I don't want to upgrade just yet anyway. Both financially and for other reasons, I have to wait at least a couple of months. So until that time, I'm trying to re-immerse myself with the latest technology so I've been putting stuff together in my head for fun. The system I listed above for you should be around what you are looking at in terms of price/performance.


The only thing confusing me these days are video cards. There are a multitude of manufacturers and models. eVGA for example makes half a dozen GTX260's all with different clocks. Any reason not to get the cheaper card with slower clock and just overclock it yourself? Any difference between brands (they all seem more or less based off of the reference designs)?

[+JuggerNaut+]

oh, you mean common sense ;O

Sense only becomes common if enough people grok it

you sneaky fellow, you.

someone answer obsidian's question please, kthx.

[Captain]

The only thing confusing me these days are video cards. There are a multitude of manufacturers and models. eVGA for example makes half a dozen GTX260's all with different clocks. Any reason not to get the cheaper card with slower clock and just overclock it yourself? Any difference between brands (they all seem more or less based off of the reference designs)?

Factory OCed cards are guaranteed to run their respective speeds stable and without a hitch. The success of overclocking a stock card depends on the rest of your hardware, for example the quality of your motherboard, your PSU's efficiency, and the airflow in your case.

My advice is to go stock because it's very easy to surpass factory overclocked speeds. Besides, factory overclocked cards aren't meant to exceed their default speeds and may become unstable if you try to push them. I learned this with my XFX 8800GT XT. Its 640MHz core clock is 40MHz faster than a stock 8800GT, but the most I can push it is 675/1650/950. I had to leave the memory at 950MHz because even a 5MHz increase would cause artifact freezes in games. The stock 8800GT on the other hand can be pushed past 700MHz

[obsidian]

Thanks Mazda. My current 6800GT ran at 350MHz/1000 stock, but I could easily push it to 420/1200, well past the Ultra speeds. I know it depends a lot on luck so as long as the current cards are all quite good for overclocking that's all I need to know.

Also after some further investigations, actual revisions seem to be another difference. According to GPUReview.com, there's the original GTX260, GTX260 (216 Shaders), and the new kid GTX260 (55nm). So I guess it's good to know which one you are actually getting inside the box.

[Captain]

You could go for the 55nm 216, combining the advantages of the newer architecture and more stream processors

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku= ... cture=eVGA

This card will chew and spit out any game you throw at it, especially at higher resolutions. I don't see a point in investing in the higher-priced 200-series.

[+JuggerNaut+]

looks like the same card, mazda?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130434

cept a lot cheaper.

[obsidian]

Same card, but in US dollars. Though it's still cheaper on Newegg.ca ($320)

[Captain]

Yep, that's the one. Great price too.

EDIT: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?s ... cture=EVGA

Only $300 and in stock too. I just might buy this right now with NCIX's price match

[+JuggerNaut+]

hmmmmm

[Captain]

I just ordered that card for $307 and a Q6600 for $199 CDN

[obsidian]

Intel price cuts... GO JUGGS GO!:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10145 ... 7-1_3-0-20

[+JuggerNaut+]

egads, a myriad of them. suggestions?

[Captain]

For price/performance, Q6600.

[+JuggerNaut+]

i'm willing to spend a little more if it's worth it.