PC Building Advice

Seconded - do NOT skimp on the PSU.

 

Um actually I'm pretty sure no card has even used what PCI Express 8X has to offer so these new boards are really just show and aren't necissary at this point. If anything is a bottleneck it would be the CPU.

I may also point out then buying a whole system at this point is NOT a good idea because Intel's new desktop line (Conroe) will be coming out this summer and wipes the floor with anything AMD has shown at this point. AMD of course has socket AM2 coming out this summer but probably has something up their sleaves that can match up to the new Intel chips or at least I hope so.

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=219&type=expert

 

what is the point of waiting to buy a more advanced computer system if no games even use the full potential of current hardware?

 

Someone goes to PCPER other than me?? Great!

I read that article and by looking at the prices the conroe cpu looks to be a better buy, best bang for the buck.

At least an AMD 3500+ 939 (venice core) will do you good for a few years when it comes to gaming and other multimedia apps. Heck, I still use my AMD 2500XP and plan on using it for a few more years. Hopefully, Elder scrolls 4: Oblivion will look ok on my 9600Pro AIW (wishful thinking).

 

If you are always waiting for the next new technology, you'll never get a computer. First it was "wait for directX 9 to be supported" then it was "wait until pci-e comes out" then it was "wait until the 64 bit processors are stable" then it was "wait until video cards support sli" now there's a new arctetecture comming out and everyone should wait until then to upgrade...

If you listened to all of the people who said to wait, you wouldn't have been able to upgrade your pc for the last 2 years. Technology progresses, buy what you can when you can afford it. Don't wait for "the next big thing" to come out before you upgrade, otherwise you'll never have a new computer.

 

i was going to post about conroe too, it kicks ass

 

Depends

It depnds on the circumstances. After they new chips launch in the summer there probably won't be another real speed bump or advancement for a while.

The comparison we are looking at is more like the Athlon XP vs Athlon 64. Pouring money into a top end XP rig just before the 64 chips came out would have been a bad move because their is quite a big performance difference between the two, no matter which socket (754 or 940) you look at. Going from a Athlon XP 3000+ to a 3200+ is where what your saying perfectly applies though.

 

Hm... all this is starting to make me think that building a gaming computer these days is more work than it's worth. Pehaps I should just stick to console gaming; maybe I should get an Xbox 360? The only thing with the Xbox 360 is that currently there are only a few good games for it, and it has very little support from Japan (always a bad thing). On the positive side though, there are actually games that take advantage of its graphical prowess and it's unlikely to be obsolete in the near future (unless the PS3 destroys it). What do you guys think? Maybe I should make a poll.

 

I've always been a PC gamer and I'll happily state that the PC has, and always will be, the best gaming platform. It's probably more hassle building a PC than going down to Game and buying a Xbox 360, but it's worth the research, the money and the afternoon spent building it.

 

"Best"? "Favourite" is probably more accurate. The PC has some advantages and some deficiencies compared to consoles. I was going to post that la-li-lu-le-lo (congrats on the hardest-to-remember name ever there btw) should go to whichever platform has the games that interest him, but it seemed kind of redundant. It depends on what kind of games you're after. If it's MMORPG's or RTS games or even FPS's, then the PC is probably best. If you like rhythm games, scrolling shooters, or obscure Japanese games of any kind then you're going to need a console.

 

No, I do mean 'best'. For the majority of games, the PC is the superior tool. Obviously there are exceptions, like the arcade derived games you mentioned (to which I'd also add fighting and driving games), but even saying that, arcade games are better played on an arcade machine.

Not to write off consoles entirely, but given a choice, I'd prefer to play the PC version of a game over its console counterpart. The GTA series is a good example of this.

 

The fact is that the PC platform doesn't get the majority of games released on other platforms. No Nintendo games, for one thing. You're only looking at a tiny subsection of games for which mouse control is superior to a pad (and PC pads almost universally suck, for reasons that I still have yet to grasp). There are also games which have been designed to look their best in lower resolutions on a console, and the resulting ports to PC are often look ugly - to me, like I say game preferences are largely subjective.

 

The fundamental difference between PC gaming and console gaming is that PC Gaming offers more customization, more control for the player. If you want a good, deep, rich RTS game or FPS or RPG, then you'll find one on the PC. There really isn't any limited hardware because the developer can chose to develop a game that requires a lot of PC power or vice versa. Overall, the game prefrences are subjective as Alchy just said. It's just more common to see games on the PC that require a lot of input from the user via multiple keys and mouse.

 

For me, the only thing bad about PC gaming are the American RPGs. They look nerdy and not like they are usually using the machine to its full potential.

But being able to mod the game and create your own levels, like Madhatter said, is a great reason to get into it.

 

I'm thinking about building myself a gaming PC, and I wanted to explore my video card options. The one thing I'm really unsure about is dual video cards. I was wondering, does it take a special kind of card and mobo, and does it increase performance enough to drop the cash on it?

 

Yes to particular mobo, no to performance. Adds around 20-50% performance for 2x cost.

 

What Steadster said. Get a single, decent card.

Although if the price of the dual PCI-E motherboard isn't too high compared to the single PCI-E, get one. You can always add in the second card in 18 months time when the price drops for an cheap and easy upgrade.

 

That would be a good idea right there. Although I recommend you get one of the newer SLI motherboards if you are going nVidia. The older ones tend to put both cards on a single 16x PCI express bus rather than having them run parallel, like dual CPUs run..

 

Oh, it's been mentioned a lot, but don't skimp on the PSU! Do your research and get a decent one. Don't trust the manufacturer's 'wattage' claims, they're often a false indication of actual performance. The Seasonic S12-600 comes highly recommended.

 

I have always liked the quietness of the Seasonics. Two foot away and it is hard to hear the PSU fan.