Getting ready to upgrade the rig for Fallout 3 - any red flags?
I usually dump about $300 a year into my computer to keep it running just behind the tech curve; the good ol' '50% of the price for 90% of the performance' thing.
Anyway, I've been doing a lot more console playing lately, but with Fallout 3 on the horizon (PC buy for me because of user mod possibilities/nostalgia factor) it's about time to shake the dust out of the beast and see what needs replacing. I also may try some Call Duty 4 and Stalker: Clear Skies.
I'd also like to play Crysis with hopefully at least 'high' settings at 30+ FPS; my current system usually hovers around 17-26 FPS on high/1440x900; playable, but not a lot of fun when the 3-4 FPS sections from accidentally waking up the physics engine with a collpasing building come into play. It swam through Call of Juarez and Bioshock without any problems.
I want to use XP; I'm hoping to skip Vista entirely, so parts that work well with XP are important.
My budget is about $300-$350. Here's what I have right now:
AMD 4000+ single-core San Diego CPU
MSI 939 motherboard
2 gig DDR (4x512 crucial value select)
8800GT
Audigy 2 ZS
80 gig seagate SATA drive
500watt Antec SmartPower
I have a nice shiny new Antec Sonata III sitting unused, ready for the new build.
Here's the build I'm currently wavering between 'checkout' and 'continue shopping' on:
Intel dual core E8500 CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036
mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146599
BIOSTAR TForce TP43D2A7 LGA 775 Intel P43 motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138122
~$350 with shipping+tax.
I plan to use my existing 8800GT, as I think there's still quite a bit of life left in it, as well as my audigy 2 ZS/80 gig seagate hard drive/optical drive.
I am hoping to slipstream XP + Service Pack 3 to hopefully reduce any installation issues.
Any thoughts? Any new stuff right around the corner in this price range to delay a month or two? (My only real concern is that I have my rig ready to roll by Fallout 3's release.)
Geeze, that CPU is amazingly cheap.
If you can swing it, a little more RAM wouldn't hurt. Most modern builds should have 4. You won't get all four until you go to a 64-bit OS (or unless you've got a chipset that's doing unusual things), but you'll get everything available in the 32-bit address space you have. Most of the time, that's about 3 to 3.1 gigs.
Yes go 4 gigs to futureproof your system. Be careful on what brand RAM you buy because it does make a difference.
Thanks for standin' still Wanker!
-XBox Gamertag: Tempest Blaze (Without the Y)
I also wouldn't recommend BioStar for your mainboard. They are a budget brand and I've not had good luck with them in terms of longevity and performance. Personally, I'd stick with MSI if you can as they're top notch in my book. I'd also agree that 4GB is a smart idea and given how insanely cheap RAM is now, there's really no reason not to. If you are upgrading for Fallout 3 though, I'd wait until you're closer to release of the game as the same budget will probably get you better stuff. I'm in a similar position (assuming I'm drawing salary by then) and I'm hoping the price of the HD4870 comes down by then.
"We're taught from a young age how to dodge rock hard objects moving at incredible rates of speed while simultaneously beating folks half to death with sticks. We do this for fun." -kung fu grip
http://blog.digital-lifeline.ca
OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
$53.99 after rebate, FS too... 4GB doesn't get cheaper than this
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
Oh and as for mobo I recommend:
Abit IP35P
or
GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L
Don't worry about the fact that these are P35 chipset mobo, they can easily overclock to beyond 1600mhz FSB
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
Intel Quadcores are ~165$
Overclocking them to over 3GHz shouldn't be a problem
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
Meh, quad usefulness is debatable for average single thread(gaming) uses.
4 gigs RAM is a no brainer though.
*Legion* wrote:
PSN: BoogleGWJ
I love love love my aBit IP35 pro I got a couple months ago. Its such a great customizable and stable board. Overclocks very well if your into that. Got my Quad q6600 to 3.0 ghz no problem with it.
Thanks for standin' still Wanker!
-XBox Gamertag: Tempest Blaze (Without the Y)
Thanks for the suggestions. I went ahead and did the deed this morning. I went with ZipZoomFly because the lack of sales tax saved about $35. I'll update when the stuff comes in and I get it all together. Total: $358 shipped. There's a $35 rebate on the memory that sort of swayed my hand also. 4 gigs for <$50, pretty nice!
INTEL Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16 GHz 1333 MHz 775 6MB Desktop Processor Retail ***Free Shipping***
OCZ OCZ2G8004GK DDR2 PC2-6400 800MHz 4GB (2x2048) Kit Vista Performance Memory Retaill ***Free Shipping***
GIGABYTE GA-P35-S3G Intel P35 Core 2 Quad Socket 775 1333 MHz PC2-8500 (DDR2-1066) ATX Motherboard Retail
8-bit quizzes: http://www.pucemoose.com/g-quizindex.htm
aFifthofGin + Frank Sinatra's Hotdog Hut
Play Spore? Buddy time!
Good choices!
Hope you will enjoy your new rig. Remember to get the latest BIOS and drivers for you mobo though.
With your setup, you can get to 4Ghz easy on that cpu, not that it will improve your gaming experience by that much though.
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
That rig would run Vista x64 Home Premium no sweat. I know and understand you wanted to stay away from Vista, but I had to at least make the suggestion. Added bonus is that x64 means all of your RAM will be used, now and in the future.
I recently took the Vista x64 Home Premium plunge (with a VERY similarly specced rig), and I've got nothing but joy to show for it. Every game I've tried has run smoothly at 1900x1200.
Driver support has improved to the point now that Vista is actually a realistic alternative.
Just sayin'.
"I have not supped of Buffy, nor have I supped in any wise during the absence of Firefly. When Firefly returns again in glory, then shall I sup at the table of Whedon." - Fedaykin98
With all the ram, go 64 bit.
And XP 64 has sh*t support.
So I guess that means, get vista.
*Legion* wrote:
PSN: BoogleGWJ
I'd just like to say that I've been on Vista 64 bit for 4 months now and I haven't run into any problems whatsoever.
Congrats and have fun!
Oh and if you use CPU-Z and see that your MHZ on the proc is lower than it should be do not worry. Intel chips these days underclock your proc if you are not doing anything. It saves power and runs cooler.
Once you start loading thing and playing games it will shoot back to your regular clock speed. You cna however turn this off in your BIOS.
Thanks for standin' still Wanker!
-XBox Gamertag: Tempest Blaze (Without the Y)
I've been running xp 64 bit for about a year and the only support issue I can think of is that Lego Star Wars won't run on it and my favorite screen capture software won't run on it. Drivers have been a non-issue, including things like my Nostromo, web cam, and other peripherals. I don't have a pro-xp agenda, but if you can get your hands on a copy xp 64, I don't think you'll be disappointed with the industry support.
*Legion* wrote:
informationgames.info
*Legion* wrote:
PSN: BoogleGWJ
I just ordered that same processor on wednesday for the new computer I'm building as soon as all my parts show up next week.
I've heard it can be stable when overclocked to up to 4 GHz. I'm probably not going to push it that far on the standard heat sink and fan combo, but 3.4, 3.5 or so would be a good deal for the money I spent.
I'm running the Q6600 quad core chip and it's been a stellar performer in my rig since I purchased it early this year. I know it's easily overclockable to 3ghz however there has been no need as of yet to OC. I think it's a fairly bargain chip these days too. Anyhow, I agree with Parallax regarding biostar. I really like Gigabyte boards in the absence of MSI stuff, but stay the hell away from Asus!
You can't do this!
Of course I can, I'm Will Wright, bitch! - The Simpsons Game
--------------------------------------------------
Xfire/Xbox Live: StylezXP
One sucky thing about 64 bit OS is that very very little on Gametap will run
ThePolypusher
WAR - Dolz
Oo that sucks but is good to know.
Thanks for standin' still Wanker!
-XBox Gamertag: Tempest Blaze (Without the Y)
16-bit software will not run in 64-bit mode. You can thank AMD for that stupidity. Assholes. That means that many old installers won't work, even if the games themselves are in 32-bit.
That's why many things on Gametap are broken. Only 32-bit programs will run. Many of their emulators are probably running in 16-bit mode, so it'll probably only work with games from the last few years... say 2003 and later, for the most part.
Heck, at one time, Gametap itself wouldn't run at all, so they fixed that part, at least.
I'll show some more love for Vista 64-bit Home Premium. I've been a very happy user for about 4 months on my new rig. At this point, I will never go back to XP.
Man, did I just say that ....
You are not the only one
I can honestly say that I like vista much much more than xp. So much more tweakable too.
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
PSN: BoogleGWJ
I decided to fork over $100 more to the Plastic Gods. A shiny new OEM Vista 64-bit Premium disc should be on its way and arriving soon. I figure if it makes me angry I can always dual-boot XP and hope for the best. I'm assuming that you can turn off all of the widgets/clocks/bouncing fiddles and all of that nonsense on the main Vista desktop? I played around with a laptop running 'V64' (as the employee told me) at Staples today and all of the dekstop clutter kind of made my heart race and my eyes go screwy (and not in the way I like.)
Anyone running an Audigy 2 ZS with Vista 64-bit? That's going to be the oldest piece of hardware in my shiny new rig, so I thought I'd check to see if anyone had any difficulties with it.
8-bit quizzes: http://www.pucemoose.com/g-quizindex.htm
aFifthofGin + Frank Sinatra's Hotdog Hut
Play Spore? Buddy time!
Yes you can absolutely turn off the widget bar. It's one of the first things I did.
I have the Audigy 2 ZS. It worked fine for sound output, there are 64bit drivers for it.
Unfortunately, I fiddled and fiddled but could never get the microphone to work properly in Steam or TF2. It would make me sound very warbly, quiet and "garbled" from the tests I tried. Very annoying.
So I eventually got disgusted (stupid Creative driver support, arrrggh) and ripped the Audigy 2 out in favor of the Realtek HD Audio onboard. Sound is still quite good, though not quite as "full-sounding" as the Audigy 2, and the microphone works fine now.
I figure eventually Creative will get it sorted, but I'll wait a few months for a new Creative driver release to try it again. For now, onboard sound works well enough for me.
Oh and good for you with Vista 64bit. I think you'll like it. I'm sure I'll never go back to XP at this point.
"I have not supped of Buffy, nor have I supped in any wise during the absence of Firefly. When Firefly returns again in glory, then shall I sup at the table of Whedon." - Fedaykin98
I don't really use the microphone that much, so I'll pop it in and see what happens (I may get around to installing the Audigy also.) I'm in the middle of a house move right now, so I probably... aw, who am I kidding? Of course I'll make time to get the new system up and running the second that vista disc arrives via Fed Ex (tomorrow).
The hardware came today; I was rather amused by the OCZ RAM and its blingin' look - if that memory was a car it would be a gold caddy with spinning rims.
Hurray for internet access at my new house! I just about filled my drawers when I learned what speed it was going to be; 5mbit/s cable connection! Considering that my previous connection was a 192kbit/s DSL link I imagine I may just be able to listen to online radio stations *and* download stuff at the same time without timeouts! Hurray!
Whew, four 9a-10p days in a row moving/organizing/goodwilling/trashing/cleaning will make you feel a bit loopy, but man does it feel good to sit down.
So... yes, I'll probably post back tomorrow night after I get the new system up and running. Any other helpful hints/ting-to-know for a first-time Vista user besides Widget-lockdown and UAC-adjusting?
8-bit quizzes: http://www.pucemoose.com/g-quizindex.htm
aFifthofGin + Frank Sinatra's Hotdog Hut
Play Spore? Buddy time!
Happy Day! I assembled the system this evening after a fun-filled day of moving. The Sonata III is nice and easy to work with; rolled edges, no cuts! Everything installed easily, and the 'cross your fingers and hope the power switch button works after assembly' behaved nicely. Nice & quiet, much better than my old generic aluminum case. I had a frightening moment where a horrific rattling came from inside the case when I booted it up; thankfully it was just a stray wire banging against the CPU fan. The OS install went well, though I wish Vista would give more information; I think 5+ minutes of the 'Please Wait' screen with no information/progress bars on what the OS is doing (or if it's locked up) is a little scary.
I was amused by the Vista manual : "If you want to use Windows Media Center with a remote control, a Windows Media Center remote control is required." Thanks for the tip!
Online Update found and installed a driver for the Audigy 2 ZS; listening to a bit o' Achtung Baby! right now, though the online updater didn't seem to install everything; still two bangs in device manager.
Turned off UAC, turned off Widgets, and so far it's running quite well! I may (after a 'spirited beverage' refill) attempt to install Crysis and see if I can crack 30 FPS with this beast. From what I've read forceware 175.16 seems to be a sweet spot for Vista+Crysis friendship.
8-bit quizzes: http://www.pucemoose.com/g-quizindex.htm
aFifthofGin + Frank Sinatra's Hotdog Hut
Play Spore? Buddy time!
Vista 64 works great with 4gb and a multi core proc. Grats on the successful build!
I am surprised that your sounds card is working fine because mine wasn't in the past. It might be because I was running a single core at the time.
Vista does a pretty decent job at finding the hardware drivers for you. I just hope windows 7 will get rid of drivers all together.
Thanks for standin' still Wanker!
-XBox Gamertag: Tempest Blaze (Without the Y)
Yes the Audigy 2 works very nicely in Vista x64 for sound output. Just getting the microphone to work well (or at all) for voice-comms was a hair-pulling experience that I had to eventually give up on.
If you ever get it working properly (who knows maybe it'll just work for you with no issues?) please let me know how you did it, and I might give it another go.
Onboard sound is pretty good, but to my ears there was a slight quality drop-off.
"I have not supped of Buffy, nor have I supped in any wise during the absence of Firefly. When Firefly returns again in glory, then shall I sup at the table of Whedon." - Fedaykin98
Congrats man. I know I can crack 30 with an overclocked 8800GTS 640 in the slow bits.
*Legion* wrote:
PSN: BoogleGWJ