My High-End Gaming Rig - Comments / Suggestions

ShockG said:
If its high end gaming/rendering system is what you're after then forget about ATI right now.NVIDIA is head and shoulders above ATI in GP-GPU/CUDA/Rendering department.... There's a reason why the Quadro range outsells the ATI equivalent FireGL 10:1
Having owned and used (and still owning) a number of 4870X2 cards, its not all bliss, their hot, very hot and sometimes even crash because of heat :/ Its rare but it does happen

Here is what you want to be getting.
GB EP45-UD3P motherboard
4x2GB DDR2 1066MHz sticks (UD3 board overclock ram very very well, if not the best in the market)
1x GeForce 280GTX
Intel Core 2 Q9450
800Watt PSU (make sure combined 12V rail amps are at least 58A)
If you have some money over or maybe an old 8 series VGA card throw it in there for Physics....

This rig will play the latest games at high res, do your 3d work with acceleration, provide physics support in supporting games, run cool, be fast and affordable.
That's a 12K well spent, you may even get some change from it.
With NVIDIA you will get, compatibility, reliability, Physics, Cuda, and great performance almost guaranteed.
Click to expand...

Can you have a 280GTX and another different card to do physics?
Sorry for dumb question
 
@ghost
I remember reading something about that - I think you can.

@OP
I would listen to ShockG - his PC build advice is generally top notch.
 
Brawler said:
Where did I say anything about XFire? I said one single HD4870 which will play 99% of games on high until 12m time when you can upgrade again. A 4870X2 will also need upgrading in 12m time unless you like playing games on medium.

But anyway, your mind is set and cannot be changed, don't know why you bothered to open a thread.
Click to expand...

That's one thing i'll agree with there. A 4870 1gig now and the top end DX11 card in 12months time will last you longer than one 4870x2. Much longer.
 
Keeper said:
Ive said it before - If you buy 2 4870's, its gonna cost you more than a single 4870X2, and it will be slower too.
then you got a slower setup than a single 4870X2, and can't upgrade as you are ALREADY in Xfire!

If I buy 1 4870X2, it's cheaper, faster, and I can upgrade should I choose to. simple.

so a single 4870 aint a good idea if you do have enough cash for an X2. not a good idea at all.
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Upgrading your graphics card doesn't just mean adding another one. A 5870 WILL outperform a 4870x2. So rather get the 4870 1gig now, then next year the 5870. Most likely the same amount of money spent for a faster card and since it's just one card you'll get less issues.
 
Yes you can use any combination of cards for physics. For instance if you have a 8800GTX and a 8600GTS you can select to use the 8600GTS for physics and the 8800GTX for 3D.
You can even have an ATI VGA for 3D and NVIDIA card for physics in the same system ;)

Seriously the general user experience with NVIDIA graphics is still by far more pleasant than it is with ATI parts. I love the 4870X2 for my competitive extreme overclocking etc... but the system I'm typing this one is outfitted with a GeForce 9600GT, if I need power use 9800GTX. Only 4870X2 as a last resort.

"5870" will not outperform 4870X2, RV870 next DX11 part is 896 odd stream processors (more efficient) and other improvements in the ASIC but its unlikely to beat 4870X2....
 
ShockG said:
Yes you can use any combination of cards for physics. For instance if you have a 8800GTX and a 8600GTS you can select to use the 8600GTS for physics and the 8800GTX for 3D.
You can even have an ATI VGA for 3D and NVIDIA card for physics in the same system ;)

Seriously the general user experience with NVIDIA graphics is still by far more pleasant than it is with ATI parts. I love the 4870X2 for my competitive extreme overclocking etc... but the system I'm typing this one is outfitted with a GeForce 9600GT, if I need power use 9800GTX. Only 4870X2 as a last resort.

"5870" will not outperform 4870X2, RV870 next DX11 part is 896 odd stream processors (more efficient) and other improvements in the ASIC but its unlikely to beat 4870X2....
Click to expand...

What does it help to have a card dedicated to physics, what is it meant to do?
 
Games that support physics will benefit from having not only more realistic physics, but some games have added effects such as UT3 when hardware physics is enabled...
Mirrors Edge is one such game as well that benefits tremendously from hardware physics and a host of others as well... The hardware physics allows you to get a moer immersion game experience than if you were to use the CPU only which would have to take care of AI and Physics usually sacrificing one or the other.

Once you play with accelerated hardware physics its hard to go back...
 
ShockG said:
Games that support physics will benefit from having not only more realistic physics, but some games have added effects such as UT3 when hardware physics is enabled...
Mirrors Edge is one such game as well that benefits tremendously from hardware physics and a host of others as well... The hardware physics allows you to get a moer immersion game experience than if you were to use the CPU only which would have to take care of AI and Physics usually sacrificing one or the other.

Once you play with accelerated hardware physics its hard to go back...
Click to expand...

Which card would recommend to do the physics work?
 
i have seriously considered the GTX280,
but since:
-nVidia changed their control panel, which sucks now
-the 4870X2 is the fastest single card
-I wanna give ATI a go for a change

I'll go for ati. I AM worried about the power requirements and noise/heat, but I have the money for it so why NOT get it? IMHO a regular 4870 isn't gonna cut it when it comes to 1920x1080 resolutions, and the nVidia cards currently struggle more at those res's, than ATI. IIRC when you switch on AA the ATI will kill the nVidia.
 
ok - sorry to ask this, but do you guys think i should buy everything, except the CPU for now, wait till january, and then buy a better Quad core?

I'm using a P4 3GHz at the moment :D (now u understand why a Q6600 seems good to me)

AFAIK the ASUS Maximus Mobo will accept a P4 CPU....

(also, I had a tire blowout yesterday, so thats a few hundred under budget already :D)
 
Here is what you want to be getting.
GB EP45-UD3P motherboard
4x2GB DDR2 1066MHz sticks (UD3 board overclock ram very very well, if not the best in the market)
1x GeForce 280GTX
Intel Core 2 Q9450
800Watt PSU (make sure combined 12V rail amps are at least 58A)
If you have some money over or maybe an old 8 series VGA card throw it in there for Physics....

This rig will play the latest games at high res, do your 3d work with acceleration, provide physics support in supporting games, run cool, be fast and affordable.
That's a 12K well spent, you may even get some change from it.
Click to expand...

I don't know you're hoping to get change from 12k for this rig:

GB EP45-UD3P motherboard Can't even find it in this country. Probably 2k+.
4x2GB DDR2 1066MHz sticks R2,000-ish?
1x GeForce 280GTX R5,500
Intel Core 2 Q9450 R4,000
800Watt PSU R1,300
8600 Physx card R1000

= R15,500. And that's without chassis, HDD and monitor.
 
I'm so Happy!

OK - almost got all the parts for the new system.

-Raidmax Smildon Chassis (Already Bought)
-Sapphire 4870X2 (Already bought)
-Corsair HX1000W (buying tomorrow)
-Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0Ghz (Buying tomorrow, decided to go for that instead of a Q6600)
-This CRAPPY Mobo (Buying this POS tomorrow)
ASUS Intel G31, LGA775, 1600(O.C)FSB, 4xDual DDR2 1066, 2xPCI-x16(CrossFire), 3xPCI, 1xATA100, 4xSATAII, Gbe Lan, 8ch-Sound, Max 8xUSB, ATX

Will be upgrading to an Asus Maximux extreme mobo or something really nice in a few weeks.

Reason for crappy Mobo purchase:
Because of the expensive Power supply, I had to choose between:
-Getting the awesome Asus maximus mobo now, and sitting with a P4 3GHz untill january, or
-Getting the E8400 Now, with a crappy, but capable mobo, and getting a proper gaming mobo in january.

I think I made the right choice.

Just wanted to thank everyone, my system seems to be going on the right track.... I hope :p
 
Nice. I wouldn't even bother upgrading the mobo unless you decide to OC, at stock bugger all differance I just tested it. No point getting maximus leet uber cool board when in 6mo time there will be no processors that will work in it :p

Keep the cash for your next CPU/MOBO
 
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Keeper said:
OK - almost got all the parts for the new system.

-Raidmax Smildon Chassis (Already Bought)
-Sapphire 4870X2 (Already bought)
-Corsair HX1000W (buying tomorrow)
-Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0Ghz (Buying tomorrow, decided to go for that instead of a Q6600)
-This CRAPPY Mobo (Buying this POS tomorrow)
ASUS Intel G31, LGA775, 1600(O.C)FSB, 4xDual DDR2 1066, 2xPCI-x16(CrossFire), 3xPCI, 1xATA100, 4xSATAII, Gbe Lan, 8ch-Sound, Max 8xUSB, ATX

Will be upgrading to an Asus Maximux extreme mobo or something really nice in a few weeks.

Reason for crappy Mobo purchase:
Because of the expensive Power supply, I had to choose between:
-Getting the awesome Asus maximus mobo now, and sitting with a P4 3GHz untill january, or
-Getting the E8400 Now, with a crappy, but capable mobo, and getting a proper gaming mobo in january.

I think I made the right choice.

Just wanted to thank everyone, my system seems to be going on the right track.... I hope :p
Click to expand...

I would still get the E8500, it's guaranteed to have E0 stepping and not much more.

And if only you caught this before it was sold out - http://www.digitalsaonline.co.za/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=6246
 
Brawler said:
Nice. I wouldn't even bother upgrading the mobo unless you decide to OC, at stock bugger all differance I just tested it. No point getting maximus leet uber cool board when in 6mo time there will be no processors that will work in it :p

Keep the cash for your next CPU/MOBO
Click to expand...

Yes, I might get a newer mobo...depends.
the only problem is, is that I will have to change the CPU as well then...

PostmanPot said:
A G31 with 2 x PCI-E 16x? :eek:
Click to expand...

lol...i think it runs at 16X + 8X or 4X when in Crossfire. what a piece of **** :D

I don't intend running Xfire on it though, until I buy a new mobo...
 
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