That's the point.
It's not.
So, as long as the person paying believes that your average gaming computer costs around $5000 there's no problem.
Man, this is one screwed up world.
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My Super Computer
- Thread starter Jono
- Start date
That's the point.
It's not.
So, as long as the person paying believes that your average gaming computer costs around $5000 there's no problem.
Man, this is one screwed up world.
Your specs will be old and mid range in half a year..its like chucking your money away..spend $5k now or $2k in 6 months time for the same (or usually better) stuff.
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Thing is, I need a new computer ASAP as my graphics card has given up (dont ask why....let's just say it involved my cat), my everything else is outdated and RO is the only game i can play when my graphics card takes a breath.
What i want is a computer that i won't need to update for at least a year. If you can get me the specs for one that costs less than say 4.5 grand and will last that long with a good gaming experience included, you get a cookie and a hug ( and i'll get the computer
)*hug is optional.
p.s do most people buy the parts separate? I've been looking on those "we build it and send it to you" sites. If so, where's best?
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Its cheaper to buy the parts separately and assemble the comp yourself, but only if you know what your doing. If not, you have to determine which scenario you like better: spending $50 extra to have it pre-assembled or breaking a $500 video card and having to buy another one. If you trust your knowledge and your hands with several hundred dollars of equipment at a time then there shouldn't be anything to worry about.
Sorry I don't know any sites, I build mine all by myself. Mostly because I'm a big ol' cheapskate
.
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The way I see it is, theres a middle ground were you get decent stuff, not the best, but you get the best band/buck. The further you go from the middle ground the more the cost goes up exponentially. Some things to note:
No 2 cpu's are the same - they are all individual and branded based on a few tests - they aren't made to be exactly 3gigs or 1.8 or whatever - they just brand them based on either availability for each type (not enough of the budget variety? OK we'll take some of the 2.6gig stuff and brand it as 1.8gig) or whether they fail some tests. CPUs will nearly ALWAYS perform better than they branded them as because they don't want any comebacks - they play it safe. When you pay more you pay for the guerentee that the chip will perform to the higher specification. This is true when theres new technology and they have to brand each chip as it comes off the production line. They're all basically the same things, just guenteed to work to certain specifications. As long as its kept cool and you don't put too many volts through it you can generally push it as far as possible (until your pc becomes unstable). Every PC i've had since my p120 has been overclocked and i've never had a problem (maybe I was lucky, but I think saying a chip is ONLY going to work as they recommend is wrong imo). Anyway i'm just saying you waste money if you pay for the best - you're paying for a guerentee - not really the quality. But you do get higher cache with the more expensive intel chips now..I don't really know how that affects things, but I think mhz are more important than the cache. Quad core is over the top imo..hardly any games even use 2 cores atm let alone 4..maybe they will in the future but by then I reckon your quad core will be out of date anyway.
Anyway, my way of buying is to get middle range stuff and make it perform nearly as well as the most expensive gear.
I don't think 4 gigs is needed, 2 gigs is pretty much standard now (but overkill for games like RO). You need RAM though that lets you push the FSB up on the motherboard. You multiply the FSB by a certain value thats different for each chip to determine how fast it will be in mhz. So for the cheapest core 2 duo (e6300 like mine) you times the FSB by 7. You need ram branded to at least 400mhz in my opinion (DDR times it by 2 though for some reason but that doesn't matter). 400mhz ram is called 6400 (don't know why, just is..8000 ram means its guerenteed to work at 500mhz FSB at a certain ram speed called CAS and a few others). Anyway for 400mhz ram and a e6300 it is 400x7 = 2800mhz..(1 gig higher than the cpu is apparently capable of). Thats a pretty safe bet for these CPUs..I have mine at 3220 atm. Anyway for this you need a good motherboard..do some research on an overclocking site for which things to get. I listed my stuff on the page before this - got my mobo to 460mhz atm (460 x 7 = 3220mhz on the cpu). Think you void the warrenty by overclocking, but how can they know?
Its up to you, just do some research and don't spend more than you need to..just because something costs a lot it doesn't mean its worth it or that you'll have a superpc that last for ever. I hope to get at least 3 years from mine.
Regarding graphics cards, I think its best to get one that will work with dx10 (no games use dx10 yet but they will later this year). The only card that will run on dx10 is the 8800GTS and GTX, but ATI have one coming out soon too which might (or maybe won't) be better. Don't bother with a physics card yet..see how your main pc performs first and then maybe add it later if you have to..
Anyway I think now, or maybe when ATI get their DX10 cards out is a good time to buy because Intel have just released their newest chips (the core2 duos and quad cores)..I don't reckon there'll be better chips out for a while.well they might do but I don't think they'll get that much better for a bit.
No 2 cpu's are the same - they are all individual and branded based on a few tests - they aren't made to be exactly 3gigs or 1.8 or whatever - they just brand them based on either availability for each type (not enough of the budget variety? OK we'll take some of the 2.6gig stuff and brand it as 1.8gig) or whether they fail some tests. CPUs will nearly ALWAYS perform better than they branded them as because they don't want any comebacks - they play it safe. When you pay more you pay for the guerentee that the chip will perform to the higher specification. This is true when theres new technology and they have to brand each chip as it comes off the production line. They're all basically the same things, just guenteed to work to certain specifications. As long as its kept cool and you don't put too many volts through it you can generally push it as far as possible (until your pc becomes unstable). Every PC i've had since my p120 has been overclocked and i've never had a problem (maybe I was lucky, but I think saying a chip is ONLY going to work as they recommend is wrong imo). Anyway i'm just saying you waste money if you pay for the best - you're paying for a guerentee - not really the quality. But you do get higher cache with the more expensive intel chips now..I don't really know how that affects things, but I think mhz are more important than the cache. Quad core is over the top imo..hardly any games even use 2 cores atm let alone 4..maybe they will in the future but by then I reckon your quad core will be out of date anyway.
Anyway, my way of buying is to get middle range stuff and make it perform nearly as well as the most expensive gear.
I don't think 4 gigs is needed, 2 gigs is pretty much standard now (but overkill for games like RO). You need RAM though that lets you push the FSB up on the motherboard. You multiply the FSB by a certain value thats different for each chip to determine how fast it will be in mhz. So for the cheapest core 2 duo (e6300 like mine) you times the FSB by 7. You need ram branded to at least 400mhz in my opinion (DDR times it by 2 though for some reason but that doesn't matter). 400mhz ram is called 6400 (don't know why, just is..8000 ram means its guerenteed to work at 500mhz FSB at a certain ram speed called CAS and a few others). Anyway for 400mhz ram and a e6300 it is 400x7 = 2800mhz..(1 gig higher than the cpu is apparently capable of). Thats a pretty safe bet for these CPUs..I have mine at 3220 atm. Anyway for this you need a good motherboard..do some research on an overclocking site for which things to get. I listed my stuff on the page before this - got my mobo to 460mhz atm (460 x 7 = 3220mhz on the cpu). Think you void the warrenty by overclocking, but how can they know?
Its up to you, just do some research and don't spend more than you need to..just because something costs a lot it doesn't mean its worth it or that you'll have a superpc that last for ever. I hope to get at least 3 years from mine.
Regarding graphics cards, I think its best to get one that will work with dx10 (no games use dx10 yet but they will later this year). The only card that will run on dx10 is the 8800GTS and GTX, but ATI have one coming out soon too which might (or maybe won't) be better. Don't bother with a physics card yet..see how your main pc performs first and then maybe add it later if you have to..
Anyway I think now, or maybe when ATI get their DX10 cards out is a good time to buy because Intel have just released their newest chips (the core2 duos and quad cores)..I don't reckon there'll be better chips out for a while.well they might do but I don't think they'll get that much better for a bit.
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melipone brought up some good points. BTW processor cache reduces the time it takes the CPU to access memory. :]
Just to add something along with the quality vs guarantee thing. If you're having someone put the computer together, make sure you get at least an extended warranty on the thing just to be safe. Best thing to do is safeguard your investment.
Also, I should have thought about this sooner but think about what you'll be using the computer for. If it's just for gaming and not for say, heavy digital work (animation, film editing or the like) Then think twice about getting the best hardware, too. You may not need that power. The majority of people don't use all the processing power available anyway so having too much could be over doing it.
Just to add something along with the quality vs guarantee thing. If you're having someone put the computer together, make sure you get at least an extended warranty on the thing just to be safe. Best thing to do is safeguard your investment.
Also, I should have thought about this sooner but think about what you'll be using the computer for. If it's just for gaming and not for say, heavy digital work (animation, film editing or the like) Then think twice about getting the best hardware, too. You may not need that power. The majority of people don't use all the processing power available anyway so having too much could be over doing it.
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Thanks fellas.
Im going to delay this whole thing for a while.
Any more input is appreciated, i'm pretty much going to revolve my whole computer around this thread.
Im going to delay this whole thing for a while.
Any more input is appreciated, i'm pretty much going to revolve my whole computer around this thread.
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Have a look on these websites and see what people are recommending. These guys will know more than us . Lots more places to research at too. keep us updated though. Oh, and they say overclocking can be harmful to the components and if you do it wrong you could damage stuff, and you shorten the life of the things. Usually the manufacturers say chips should last for like 10 years..but who'll be using these pc's in 10 years time anyway? Just read the pro's and con's of overclocking (on one of these sites probably) before you do it.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/
http://forums.hexus.net/index.php
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php?
http://www.hardforum.com/
. Lots more places to research at too. keep us updated though. Oh, and they say overclocking can be harmful to the components and if you do it wrong you could damage stuff, and you shorten the life of the things. Usually the manufacturers say chips should last for like 10 years..but who'll be using these pc's in 10 years time anyway? Just read the pro's and con's of overclocking (on one of these sites probably) before you do it.http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/
http://forums.hexus.net/index.php
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php?
http://www.hardforum.com/
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Ill just add that I dont recommend lcd for gaming. Based on a lot of reccomendations (from this forum as well) I got the samsung 19" 931B and games just dont look right.
Its less evident in ro, but in games which have a photorealistic touch to them, like coj or hl2, it really shows. The image looks more, how shall I say it..painted (?) I think its the res- 1280x1024 is not really impressive for 19", and maybe the colors are to blame too.
Im returning it and going for a good ol' 19" CRT.
Just my personal opinion.
Its less evident in ro, but in games which have a photorealistic touch to them, like coj or hl2, it really shows. The image looks more, how shall I say it..painted (?) I think its the res- 1280x1024 is not really impressive for 19", and maybe the colors are to blame too.
Im returning it and going for a good ol' 19" CRT.
Just my personal opinion.
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yea I don't see the appeal of LCD's, other than it looking cool because they're smaller.
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Dont worry about it, he's making too much of it. The issue is known:
http://www.redorchestragame.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16865
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