Hey Oldtimers!

mtb856 · Apr 28, 2008

Been about 4 years, but I'm back!

Decided I'd hop on the forums a few weeks ago and just poke around.... now I've got the old fire back, had to go shopping for a system to oc again :beer:

It's been a while so I thought I might ask yall's opinion before I actually purchased any of this... so if you wouldn't mind pointing out any criticisms/alternative purchases I'd greatly appreciate it!

1 XCLIO Windtunnel Fully Black Finish 1.0 mm SECC Chassis ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

1 ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

1 EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

1 PC Power & Cooling S610EPS EPS12V 610W Continuous @ 40°C Power

1 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core

1 OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2RPR800C44GK - Retail

1 Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3250310NS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

1 Sony NEC Optiarc Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615/B2s - OEM

1 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM

1 ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

Subtotal: $1,099.90

ratbuddy · Apr 28, 2008

Don't bother with the GTS-320, it's oldtech. A good match for the rest of your components would be a GTS-512, shouldn't cost more than $80 more than the GTS or so.. Otherwise, nice looking system. Any reason for going with an IDE optical compared to SATA?

EWBatOVAclockin · Apr 28, 2008

Meh I love my 320 GTS, it owns. If your not going to be doing intensive gaming then don't worry about upgrading. And if you don't need those SUPER ULTRA CRAZY resolutions either then that card will do just fine.

Everyone just wants the best, and if thats what this rigs is going to be, then so be it! Also, I have no overclocked my card yet, but def. plan on doing it.

PEACE

Oh and go for a TRUE 120 cooler instead of the one listed. If you lap both your CPU and TRUE, you will be able to get good temps with fair noise.

mtb856 · Apr 28, 2008

Okay, I'll have to dig around the egg and check out the video cards some more and do some price checking, I'd just looked at a few reviews and it seemed decent for the price. As for the drive, it was 17 bucks and all I use it for is to load the occasional program haha so it was one area where I decided to spend less money.

@EWB

I run 1680x1050 (21" widescreen) so not too crazy, but to be honest I'm playing games on a 4 year old dell laptop with an ATI 9600 mobile so at this point anything will probably look awesome lol. Thanks for the info on the HS though, I'll have to check that one out.... are Thermalright HS's still any good? I used to have one of those on my 2.4C way back in the day but wasn't sure how they competed anymore.

ratbuddy · Apr 28, 2008

mtb856 said:
Okay, I'll have to dig around the egg and check out the video cards some more and do some price checking, I'd just looked at a few reviews and it seemed decent for the price. As for the drive, it was 17 bucks and all I use it for is to load the occasional program so it was one area where I decided to spend less money.

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=548&card2=475 will give you some idea of the magnitude of the difference.. 320's obsolete unless you game at 1024x768

@mu5fear · Apr 28, 2008

Drop the GTS all together, spend the extra bucks and go with the Ultra. But I'm an ATI guy myself, so don't worry about my input. Cuz I'd be saving myself $150 and going with the HD 3870 512DDR4 card, get all the performance without that burning sensation coming from your empty pocket. I run Assasins Creed maxed out, no lag whatsoever

CGR · Apr 28, 2008

If you are going to get a GTS, get the new version with 512mb memory.

Personally an 8800GT or 3870 will be fine if you dont require super high reses to game.

mtb856 · Apr 28, 2008

@mu5fear said:
Drop the GTS all together, spend the extra bucks and go with the Ultra. But I'm an ATI guy myself, so don't worry about my input. Cuz I'd be saving myself $150 and going with the HD 3870 512DDR4 card, get all the performance without that burning sensation coming from your empty pocket. I run Assasins Creed maxed out, no lag whatsoever

Yeah, I was actually an ATI guy too... had a hard modded 9800 Pro -> XT back in the day lol. I noticed this 3870 was about the same price... is this about what you were talking about?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102719

Nebulous · Apr 28, 2008

Nice choice in parts. Going to be a killer system :thup:

I got rid of my evga 8800GTS 640 (G80) and picked up a new MSI 8800GT 512 (G92). Extremely impressed with it. Fast and silent.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=557338

Welcome back!

Shadowmonk · Apr 28, 2008

Welcome back, another vote for the GTS 512 though, i love these cards and i play at 1680x1050

mtb856 · Apr 28, 2008

Nebulous said:
Nice choice in parts. Going to be a killer system I got rid of my evga 8800GTS 640 (G80) and picked up a new MSI 8800GT 512 (G92). Extremely impressed with it. Fast and silent.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=557338

Welcome back!

Thank you sir

and that is one sweet looking card, love the heatpipes on it... I might have to put a window in my new case to show that off lol. I can't do too much internet surfing at the moment (at work) but I'll check your thread out when I get home, thanks for the input

Nebulous · Apr 28, 2008

Anytime

muhuhuh · Apr 28, 2008

I'd forego the 8x00 series of cards altogether and get a 9600GT for ~$115 after rebate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261002

Any reputable benchmark review site says it keeps up with the 8800GT at nearly 100 bucks less and beats the 8800gts 320MB at about the same price. something to think about!

ratbuddy · Apr 28, 2008

muhfuhkuh said:
I'd forego the 8x00 series of cards altogether and get a 9600GT for ~$115 after rebate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261002

Any reputable benchmark review site says it keeps up with the 8800GT at nearly 100 bucks less and beats the 8800gts 320MB at about the same price. something to think about!

Ugh. I'm like a crusader against misinformation today. The 8800GT can be had for $150 after rebate. Not 'nearly 100 bucks more' ... The GTS-512 can be gotten for well under $200 these days as well, and represents a great value. The 9600GT is a great value card as well, but it's NOT able to 'keep up with' an 8800GT. It's around 15% slower.

muhuhuh · Apr 28, 2008

ratbuddy said:
Ugh. I'm like a crusader against misinformation today. The 8800GT can be had for $150 after rebate. Not 'nearly 100 bucks more' ... The GTS-512 can be gotten for well under $200 these days as well, and represents a great value. The 9600GT is a great value card as well, but it's NOT able to 'keep up with' an 8800GT. It's around 15% slower.

Really? Because all the sites that review the 9600GT say it keeps up except for a couple games (Crysis being the most glaring mismatch, but then it was only by a bit:

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/images/articles/1205979829pYsXc0oloq_6_4.gif

I dunno, if you're squeezing dollars out on a fixed budget, I guess you can sacrifice someplace else to get the 8800GT. I got the 9600GT b/c, like mtb said, he's stepping up from really old platform (he's gaming on a laptop with a mobility Radeon 9600), plus I was on a budget crunch, but wanted something a step up from the 8600GT (which was my second choice).

Nebulous · Apr 28, 2008

ratbuddy said:
Ugh. I'm like a crusader against misinformation today. The 8800GT can be had for $150 after rebate. Not 'nearly 100 bucks more' ... The GTS-512 can be gotten for well under $200 these days as well, and represents a great value. The 9600GT is a great value card as well, but it's NOT able to 'keep up with' an 8800GT. It's around 15% slower.

You are correct.

The 8800GT (G92) has 112 Stream Processors. All of the 9600GT's have only 64. That alone made me go for the 8800GT right off the bat.

The 9600GT is a nice card, too bad they neutered it by slashing 1/2 of it's stream processors

. Hell the 8800GTS 640 (G80) which an older card has 96.

EWBatOVAclockin · Apr 28, 2008

Everyone is bashing my new gfx card and it's making me sad. Oh well I will still pwn all of you at Gears!

Anyhow, after listening to there side I would have to agree and go ahead and get the GT with 512mb. The card I bought (320 version) is now 100 bucks after rebate. So I'm sure the 512 isn't that much more expensive... With that in mind, does any one know what I can do to return my card to get a newer GT version???? I bought it through newegg btw.

THANKS for any help!

PEACE

w2richwood · Apr 28, 2008

welcome back nice picks for your system you might think about one more harddrive and raido them
Rich

mtb856 · Apr 29, 2008

How much of a difference do you "feel" with raid 0 hard drives? I've heard they're faster, but it is that noticeable of a difference?

I've got to wait for my next two paychecks for the rest of the stuff, but the case/psu should be delivered today! I think I'll probably end up going with the 8800GT like everyone's been saying...thanks for the input yall

Big Lar · Apr 29, 2008

Welcome back

I vote for the HD 3870 here, not the fastest kid on the block but sure looks good. RAID0 is great, but if 1 drive goes...well hope you have a backup.

Larry

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