New Gaming PC

[peter_h]

This is an expensive month! Apart from buying a new car, I've also just got a new gaming PC from cyberpowersystems.co.uk

Antec P183
Intel Core i7 920 (liquid cooling)
6gb Ram BODY PC12800 DDR3/1600mhz Triple Channel Memory
128 GB SSD drive for Windows 7
1TB drive for data
NVIDIA GeForce GTX275 1792MB

Tried to design a system which was quiet and fast. Although I can hear the fans when playing Crysis at maximum settings.

Need to thing about some new PC games ...

 

[Andy.]

Its going to fly, but I wouldn't fancy footing the bill for it!

 

[JackoR26]

Some PC that mate

Would love to see what that runs like

 

[Brazo]

Very nice! Have been told Windows 7 isn't optimised at all for SSD has this changed?!?!

 

[lewisniven]

im contemplating a new rig too, RAGE is out next year and Doom4 the year after so I might wait a bit though.

 

[Darren S]

What mobo did you go for, Peter?

D.

 

[David]

lol. windows 7 is the only OS optimised for SSD. just make sure u get a good ssd and it'll be lightning.

 

[Brazo]

lol. windows 7 is the only OS optimised for SSD. just make sure u get a good ssd and it'll be lightning.

My IT guy told me it wasn't in the least bit optimised and a 5400rpm would be faster! Looks like I need a new IT guy! Although who do I now believe!

 

[David]

i run windows 7 on an ssd......believe me, it's faster than a 5400

lol weird IT guy...


http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/05/05/support-and-q-a-for-solid-state-drives-and.aspx

 

[Louism]

How much did you pay dude cos im lookign for one too

 

[H182]

Nice, I'm looking at getting a similar spec soon, but building myself. Would be interested in how much it cost to see if its worth just buying one.

Lol at the SSD being slower.

 

[McBunny]

the new i7 860 seems to be a better bet than the 920 now faster in some ways and just as fast in the rest

 

[Munson]

Meh. You should have got a GTX295

 

[Gareth]

^^ ditto. SSD drives are just too small for the money at the moment. I've got 2 x 150GB 10,000rpms raided HDDs for my OS, then 2 x 1TB drives raided for storage.

 

[Greeny.]

Looks decent, glad your happy with it

Im looking at upgrading early next year but still not sure to what CPU, GPU right now would be a 4870X2 but no doubt these will be off Scan by nexy year as they are getting on now, even though they are still the daddys and a bargin at £250(ish).

 

[Munson]

I'd currently only consider SSD in a laptop. Desktops IMO are still better off with high speed mechanical drives, plus a slower storage drive. SSD won't increase frame rates, and frames are life in a gaming PC. The money is better spent in other components that will increase frames. IMO

EDIT: That said, it can't hurt to have one. If it were me, I'd have gone for a cheaper HDD and a GTX295 in place of the 275.

 

[peter_h]

I'd currently only consider SSD in a laptop. Desktops IMO are still better off with high speed mechanical drives, plus a slower storage drive. SSD won't increase frame rates, and frames are life in a gaming PC. The money is better spent in other components that will increase frames. IMO

EDIT: That said, it can't hurt to have one. If it were me, I'd have gone for a cheaper HDD and a GTX295 in place of the 275.

I got an SSD in my Dell XPS M1210 which is a few years old, and it really sped it up and that's got windows 7 too. It boots windows in about 15 secs now. After that I had to get one in my new pc. I was looking at getting a wd raptor but really wanted a quiet computer.

It cost about £1200 which has left me feeling a bit poor this month. The motherboard I went for was the Asus P6T SE.

When I googled performance tweaks for ssd's and went to change the settings, I found that Windows 7 had already changed a few bits.

Cyberpower were pretty good and turned it around quickly. The sales guy was helpfull. I just didn't want the hassle of building it myself and it came with 3 year warranty. Especially as my 8800gts had just packed up, and my machine ended up having a few heat issues.

Hopefully this new machine will last me a few years.

 

[JayR]

1200 quid for a PC!?

f**kabout, il just make do with my £500 Compaq and a PS3 for gaming ta! Ha

 

[Munson]

I got an SSD in my Dell XPS M1210 which is a few years old, and it really sped it up and that's got windows 7 too. It boots windows in about 15 secs now. After that I had to get one in my new pc. I was looking at getting a wd raptor but really wanted a quiet computer.

It cost about £1200 which has left me feeling a bit poor this month. The motherboard I went for was the Asus P6T SE.

When I googled performance tweaks for ssd's and went to change the settings, I found that Windows 7 had already changed a few bits.

Cyberpower were pretty good and turned it around quickly. The sales guy was helpfull. I just didn't want the hassle of building it myself and it came with 3 year warranty. Especially as my 8800gts had just packed up, and my machine ended up having a few heat issues.

Hopefully this new machine will last me a few years.

Yeah fair enough. I'm only saying that a HDD won't improve general frames. IMO a games PC only has to render frames as fast as possible. I'd personally have spent the extra cash on something that will do just that, rather than load levels faster. More is always better though.

 

[lewisniven]

agreed, your load times will go down but at best you'll get 1-2fps in game improvement, if that. Not worth it at thier current price/size ratio.

then theres the risk of them failing, as is the inherent problem with flash memory, ur just constntly thrapshing the same parts of the memory, which wears them out.

 

[Darren S]

I got an SSD in my Dell XPS M1210 which is a few years old, and it really sped it up and that's got windows 7 too. It boots windows in about 15 secs now. After that I had to get one in my new pc. I was looking at getting a wd raptor but really wanted a quiet computer.

It cost about £1200 which has left me feeling a bit poor this month. The motherboard I went for was the Asus P6T SE.

When I googled performance tweaks for ssd's and went to change the settings, I found that Windows 7 had already changed a few bits.

Cyberpower were pretty good and turned it around quickly. The sales guy was helpfull. I just didn't want the hassle of building it myself and it came with 3 year warranty. Especially as my 8800gts had just packed up, and my machine ended up having a few heat issues.

Hopefully this new machine will last me a few years.

That's part of the appeal that consoles will never, ever, ever be able to replace. Stuff having the same kit again and again - custom s**t is the way to go.

D.

 

[Munson]

Dazzle, it's fine that consoles offer a stable platform. I just wonder what will happen to the hardware market if everyone suddenly stopped buying custom PC kit. I don't think most gamers realise that the gear in their console is based on the same stuff that PC geeks have already funded. Years ago.

 

[Brazo]

Dazzle, it's fine that consoles offer a stable platform. I just wonder what will happen to the hardware market if everyone suddenly stopped buying custom PC kit. I don't think most gamers realise that the gear in their console is based on the same stuff that PC geeks have already funded. Years ago.

Surely your not telling me that PS3 graphics are an old RSx chip from 2005?

 

[Munson]

Console graphics are awesome but they're capped by the hardware. PC hardware is currently capable of a LOT more. The problem is that the software is currently leaning toward being developed with consoles in mind. PC games still look better, and smoother at higher res. I fear this will become less so as time goes on. It could have an impact on all of us. PC gamers and console gamers.

 

[Brazo]

Absolutely a decent graphics card say your 295 and well lets face it coupled with 'only' a fast Core 2 duo will absolutely pwn any console it would be a clear generation ahead. But you would need a software house willing to develop exclusivly for PC and who would go through the same optimisation process that say GG went for KZ2.

Was playing online KZ2 tonight and there is no way it runs off a 4 year old graphics card! Yet it does!!!!!

Anyway back on track

Crysis is probably the best and the last PC 'only' game we will see where it really hammers home on the graphics front, some of the screen shots I have seen and unlike 'FM3 bullshots' are truly photo realistic!

 

[lewisniven]

some greats mods for crsysis out there too which make it look even better;

http://www.crymod.com/thread.php?threadid=31242

yes it brings your system to its knees, but when it looks that good...

 

[Munson]

Crysis is probably the best and the last PC 'only' game we will see where it really hammers home on the graphics front, some of the screen shots I have seen and unlike 'FM3 bullshots' are truly photo realistic!

Awesome, another opportunity to wh0re out my Warhead caps

This area of the map was running at ~50fps or more @ 1920x1200 with 2xAA. PC FTW

 

[H182]

Awesome, another opportunity to wh0re out my Warhead caps

This area of the map was running at ~50fps or more @ 1920x1200 with 2xAA. PC FTW

specs?

 

[Munson]

specs?

QX9650 @ 3.8 (420x9)
4GB DDR2 @ 840 (1:1)
GTX295

 

[Brazo]

specs?

QX9650 @ 3.8 (420x9)
4GB DDR2 @ 840 (1:1)
GTX295

Quality pics Roy, H182 you just made Roys day asking him to post up his specs

 

[Munson]

Roffle knows. Nah not at all. It's all been done before. It would have been rude to ignore the question.

I do love to wh0re those caps though You have to see it running like to believe how awesome it is. It is a shame that it's likely to be last game that truly stresses a PC, though. Certainly for the time being. If I could be bothered, I'd break out some FarCry2 caps.

 

[Brazo]

Farcry 2 even looks awesome on my latop even on very high settings I get 30fps

But it gives me a fecking headache!

 

[Munson]

I wouldn't get out of bed for 30fps.

 

[Brazo]

I wouldn't get out of bed for 30fps.

I know lol! I get higher on medium - high settings!

 

[Munson]

Fair play. It's a very good looking game even at those settings. Probably still better looking than the console versions. PC gaming is a classic case of diminishing returns. These days, especially, you need a big high res monitor and a machine with the power to drive it, if you want to see better than console visuals. Not cost effective for most gamers, but worth it for those willing to spend the money. I for one hope it stays this way. It's beneficial to both camps IMO.

 

[David]

trouble is, unless you have money to burn, justifying hardware to run a game at 60fps is hard , MORE SO, when there are hardly many games out there that will look as good as that...crysis being the exception. i run 4870x2 witha decent quad core and game slook pretty sweet but i still find myself playing consoles for the selection if anything but also because there aren't really many dedicated pc games if you know what i mean

 

[Munson]

In my experience, the guys who do spend serious cash on gaming PCs, tend to be die hard shooter fans who prefer K&M and/or fans of PC racer sims. Although the latter don't currently require mad hardware.

If you're happy playing shooters at lower res, lower frame rates, and get on ok with sticks, then yeah, there's not much point in spending money on a games rig. It comes down to individual choice, really. One man's coilover suspension upgrade is another man's graphics card.

 

[Darren S]

I think the biggest issue facing the PC market, is that to newcomers, it all looks messy.

Consoles are switched on and they simply work. The whole 'hassle' of firing up a PC, logging on if you have multiple accounts, then finding that Windows has several updates waiting to go..... it just tries the patience of newbies. They are not interested and simply CBA.

For us old farts who still recall the "run '*' ,8,1" command to get their Commodore 64's to boot up from 5.25" disc, current PCs are an absolute breeze and we don't see a problem in what they need to do in order to function correctly.

It's a sign of the times where people don't want to waste or even have the time to get things up and running. They have 20mins spare and they need Forza on. Like now.

D.

 

[Cookie]

<3 my GTX275

It makes everything so preeeettttty

 

[Darren S]

<3 my GTX275

It makes all the killing seem so preeeettttty

That's about right.

D.