Computer Specs thread (Debate+Support)

[charliebruce]

Re: Computer Specs thread

Homemade (With numerous dell laptops, desktops and monitors as part of my family "stock")

Q6600 overclocked to up to 3.6
4gb 1600mhz ram
Striker II extreme motherboard (Broken lan ports - anyone able to help - won't connect properly to any networks?)
880W Hiper supply
Watercooling
Antec 1200 case + F1 coolant
30in screen with a 17in CRT on standby, if i ever need lightning response times..

 

[iskor12]

Re: Computer Specs thread

Homemade
[highlight]Q6600 overclocked to up to 3.6[/highlight]

I would overclock my q6600 that high if I could keep it cool!!!  Air coolers just can't keep up with it.
What do you have your FSB speed set at?  

Also what kind of Video card do you have to push your 30" screen?

Homemade
[highlight]Striker II extreme motherboard (Broken lan ports - anyone able to help - won't connect properly to any networks?) [/highlight]

Phisical damage?  Or do you think that it is driver related?

 

[charliebruce]

Re: Computer Specs thread

(sorry for the late response - was reinstalling my system over the weekend with Windows 7)

It's under a big watercooling setup, looked good with flourescent coolant, until I broke my 803T

The Striker II is simply too unreliable to run at high FSBs but when it was more stable that'd be 3.6 cpu /1.6 mem at 9x multiplier.

Video card a 8800GTS 320 (don't laugh, I hopefully will be replacing it soon!)

Lan ports are in perferct physical condition, and it isn't a driver issue, but they simply fail to send or receive any packets. Linux reports "No DHCPOFFERS" received and Windows doesn't get an address either, with no packets either way. The cables and routers are both known-good, so I think it will be the controller chip or possibly southbridge. I also end up with hanging issues after a few hours, and occasionally it hangs at boot up without detecting my drives. It's amazing, the ebay seller I bought it from has shut up his shop and is no longer a registered seller. That leaves me in a brilliant position, with no way of returning it and no way of reclaiming my money, since it was bought last summer, when I put the issues down to my own incompetence and I hadn't tested the lan ports.

The question now, do I keep my life-savings and use an old, slow, eVGA motherboard, with slow ram, or splash out on a i7, x58, 4870/GTX295 rig? In essence I'm trading laser money for computer stuff. Anyone want an as-seen Striker II Extreme, yours for only 5 6X diodes?

 

[iskor12]

Re: Computer Specs thread

To be honest, you aren't getting any benifits for having that fast of ram, because of your FSB being so low.  
Have you updated your Bios?
Also the i7 is highly over rated and over priced, and you will not see a big performance boost (if any) from your current setup.
Windows 7----let me know how you like it.
Also, the 8800gts isn't a bad card.  

FYI: I have had several bad experiences with EVGA and GIGABYTE MOTHER BOARDS.  I highly recomend that you stay away from them.  
Buy an ASUS mobo.  They run a lot more stable and they don't have over heating issues like Gigabyte mobos have.

To sum things up, I would recomend that you keep your current setup, but replace 2 things.  
1.) Replace your MOBO
2.) Upgrade your video card.  

I am a huge ATI fan (I have my Reasons) so in that case I would recomend a HD4870 or better.

 

[nikokapo]

Re: Computer Specs thread

Only buy an i7 (for now) if you're planning to use compression of files, videos or just image design. If you want to use it for gaming, then just go with a core 2 duo and OC it like hell.


EDIT: just read your specs, KEEP THAT SYSTEM FOR CHUCK'S SAKE, just get a new card (dual 4850 are great, you know.....but if you got a 30" monitor just get a gtx 295)

 

[pseudolobster]

Re: Computer Specs thread

The 8800GTS *is* a bad card... I'd have sold it while it was still worth some money... It's a $400 card that can be easily beaten by a $100 card nowadays.

Personally I'm pretty impressed with the i7... It has 8 processing threads! 8! I can encode video in minutes when it used to take hours... Memory writes are insanely fast, either because of the on-die memory controller (no need to go through the northbridge anymore), or because I was using triple-channel ddr3.. Either way I was really impressed with the speed of the thing.. Plus, the 920 can withstand some overclocking, bringing it at least up to the speed of a 940, saving hundreds of dollars.

I haven't tried the new PhenomII's, but they'll have to be pretty impressive for me to switch over... I'm going to be buying an i7 as soon as I can sell my current system.

 

[nikokapo]

Re: Computer Specs thread

The 8800GTS *is* a bad card... I'd have sold it while it was still worth some money... It's a $400 card that can be easily beaten by a $100 card nowadays.

Personally I'm pretty impressed with the i7... It has 8 processing threads! 8! I can encode video in minutes when it used to take hours... Memory writes are insanely fast, either because of the on-die memory controller (no need to go through the northbridge anymore), or because I was using triple-channel ddr3.. Either way I was really impressed with the speed of the thing.. Plus, the 920 can withstand some overclocking, bringing it at least up to the speed of a 940, saving hundreds of dollars.

I haven't tried the new PhenomII's, but they'll have to be pretty impressive for me to switch over... I'm going to be buying an i7 as soon as I can sell my current system.

That's what I was saying, the i7 is not really for gaming for now, maybe the next stepping will take care of that....the 920 is a great overclocker.


Within the Phenoms you got the 720BE which has an unlocked multiplier, GREAT overclocker for an AMD (and cheap compared to the new intels)

 

[iskor12]

Re: Computer Specs thread

The 8800GTS *is* a bad card... I'd have sold it while it was still worth some money... It's a $400 card that can be easily beaten by a $100 card nowadays.

Personally I'm pretty impressed with the[highlight] i7... It has 8 processing threads! 8! I can encode video in minutes when it used to take hours.[/highlight].. Memory writes are insanely fast, either because of the on-die memory controller (no need to go through the northbridge anymore), or because I was using triple-channel ddr3.. Either way I was really impressed with the speed of the thing.. Plus, the 920 can withstand some overclocking, bringing it at least up to the speed of a 940, saving hundreds of dollars.

I haven't tried the new PhenomII's, but they'll have to be pretty impressive for me to switch over... I'm going to be buying an i7 as soon as I can sell my current system.

?????The intel core 2 quad Q6600 can encode a movie in a matter of 7 to 20 min.  It is by far the best CPU for the Money.  [highlight]  If it took you much longer than that to encode a movie, you must have been doing something wrong.  You will not see much of an improvement from the Q6600 to justify spending the money for the i7.  Plain and simple. [/highlight]   Give it a year for the prices and the technoligy to catch up/go down.

And Yes in comparison to the cards available today, the 8800gts is very mediocor, but it should be enough to push his 30" screen.  As for it being a bad card, yes, in todays standards I guess that would be true.  Reguardless, he should be able to run most games at med to high settings.


TO sum things up for me.
i7 = someone who wants to waist their money or has nothing better to do with it. The Q6600 is a fraction of the price and can almost keep up with it.

 

[iskor12]

Re: Computer Specs thread

Only buy an i7 (for now) if you're planning to use compression of files, videos or just image design. If you want to use it for gaming, then just go with a core 2 duo and OC it like hell.


EDIT: just read your specs, [highlight]KEEP THAT SYSTEM FOR CHUCK'S SAKE, just get a new card (dual 4850 are great[/highlight], you know.....but if you got a 30" monitor just get a gtx 295)

Couldn't agree more. Or a hd 4870

The Q6600 that he has is a quad core and it can handle just about anything you can throw at it. It normally runs at 2.4ghz but can easilly be OC to 3.0ghz with the stock cooler and up to 3.6ghz with a very good cooler.(STABLE)

 

[iskor12]

Re: Computer Specs thread

The 8800GTS *is* a bad card... I'd have sold it while it was still worth some money... [highlight]It's a $400 card [/highlight]that can be easily beaten by a $100 card nowadays.

.

That card hasn't cost that much in over 2 years.  Guess what you can get the 8800gts for....That's right $100 for a refurb!!!!  I will admit that it is rather overpriced even for today.
http://www.compuvest.us/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=348155 

Video cards go down in price when newer better cards come out...Thats just how it works.  At one time, the 8800gts was the best card on the market.  That time has past.

 

[pseudolobster]

Re: Computer Specs thread

[quote author=pseudolobster link=1234283919/16#21 date=1234979949]The 8800GTS *is* a bad card... I'd have sold it while it was still worth some money... [highlight]It's a $400 card [/highlight]that can be easily beaten by a $100 card nowadays.

.

That card hasn't cost that much in over 2 years.  Guess what you can get the 8800gts for....That's right $100 for a refurb!!!!  I will admit that it is rather overpriced even for today.
http://www.compuvest.us/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=348155 

Video cards go down in price when newer better cards come out...Thats just how it works.  At one time, the 8800gts was the best card on the market.  That time has past.[/quote]

[edit]PS: iskor12: HP and Compaq are the same company, have been for years. You could consolidate them into a single option.[/edit]

Oddly enough these are still going for silly prices... here's the 640mb version for $610: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=333312303&vpn=VCG88GTSXPB&manufacture=PNY
When suppliers and distributors buy the cards, they still cost full price, even if a new card comes out they still have to sell it higher than their cost, so regardless of the fact there are better cards for cheaper, the high end cards of two years ago still cost these high end prices, even if they're outperformed by newer low and mid range cards. At any rate I'd have tried to sell that as soon as the 8800GT came out...

 

[nikokapo]

Re: Computer Specs thread

Give it a year for the prices and the technoligy to catch up/go down.

Exactly.

IMHO this is the worst time for buying a new PC.

We are in between the new line of nvidia/ATI cards (the release of a gtx295 says so, same happened with the 9800gx2 and 7950gx2 and so on...same thing with ati, maybe a new revision but that's it).

New screens will be available for a cheaper price, more than 24"...maybe 120hz monitors...16:9 screens too... also, phenoms and i7 have JUST been released, so maybe you could wait for the next microprocessors line or wait to buy a newer stepping (remember what happened with the core 2 duos? the new stepping works MUCH better, consumes less power, etc...).


I'd wait at least a year 'till DDR3 gets properly established..

 

[DayOfShadows]

Re: Computer Specs thread

Laptop - Gateway - P-7811FX
Intel Centrino 2 duo processor 2.26-GHz
HD 1920 x 1080 17 inch
200 GB HDD 7200 rps? - opps RPM, but who doesnt want 7.2k rps? freaking amazing read and wrote no?
512 MB NVIDIA GEFORCE 9800 GTS
4 gigs of DDR3 RAM
Decent Set up premade
No graphics bottleneck here  

 

[nikokapo]

Re: Computer Specs thread

200 GB HDD 7200 [highlight]rps[/highlight]?

 

[DayOfShadows]

Re: Computer Specs thread

lol i think thats its >.> i forgot the term that goes there >.>

 

[iskor12]

Re: Computer Specs thread

[quote author=iskor12 link=1234283919/16#25 date=1234987944][quote author=pseudolobster link=1234283919/16#21 date=1234979949]The 8800GTS *is* a bad card... I'd have sold it while it was still worth some money... [highlight]It's a $400 card [/highlight]that can be easily beaten by a $100 card nowadays.

.

That card hasn't cost that much in over 2 years.  Guess what you can get the 8800gts for....That's right $100 for a refurb!!!!  I will admit that it is rather overpriced even for today.
http://www.compuvest.us/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=348155 

Video cards go down in price when newer better cards come out...Thats just how it works.  At one time, the 8800gts was the best card on the market.  That time has past.[/quote]

[highlight][edit]PS: iskor12: HP and Compaq are the same company, have been for years. You could consolidate them into a single option.[/edit][/highlight]
Oddly enough these are still going for silly prices... here's the 640mb version for $610: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=333312303&vpn=VCG88GTSXPB&manufacture=PNY
When suppliers and distributors buy the cards, they still cost full price, even if a new card comes out they still have to sell it higher than their cost, so regardless of the fact there are better cards for cheaper, [highlight]the high end cards of two years ago still cost these high end prices[/highlight], even if they're outperformed by newer low and mid range cards. At any rate I'd have tried to sell that as soon as the 8800GT came out...[/quote]

I do know this but, untill their names become one, most people don't seem to know that they are the same company.  I'd rather just keep it the way it is.

If you truely think that graphix cards don't go down in price when newer better models come out, then you just aren't shopping at the right places. A normal store will have competative prices to compensate for the lack of performance.

Agreed, anyone who does buy a 8800gts card today is either nieve or just an itiot.