My first build

[Feuerfalke]

I still find it stunning how many people spend a LOT of money on a good graphics card and a decent monitor, that would NEVER EVER consider to play with an onboard-graphics chip.

 

...but when it comes to sound, they're suddenly happy with onboard-chip and/or a crappy headset. And this though it's especially the sound, that increases immersion.

 

:doh:

[ExcelNprevail]

whats a good sound card that works with win7?

[Kuky]

Asus Xonar D2X, maybe even DX version would do. I don't like X-Fi cards any more because they don't work properly in Vista/Windows 7 now and need that Alchemy filter/driver

[ExcelNprevail]

ahh thanx much for all the help!!

 

Your right feurfalke... i spent 300 on a 32inch HDTV monitor hahaha

 

didn't even think about the soundcard... Can't wait to play mw2 on this setup

[EtherealN]

I still find it stunning how many people spend a LOT of money on a good graphics card and a decent monitor, that would NEVER EVER consider to play with an onboard-graphics chip.

 

...but when it comes to sound, they're suddenly happy with onboard-chip and/or a crappy headset. And this though it's especially the sound, that increases immersion.

 

:doh:

 

I don't quite agree that it's a fair comparison, though. Sound circuits are a simpler technology than graphics cards, so it is easier for a manufacturer to create quality cirquits that fit within the budget for integration into a motherboard than would be the case for video cards. Also, a sound card would only with extreme rarity be an influence on whether you are able to run a given game - whereas a graphics card is mostly even more important than any other component on the system. Remember, DCS is a bit of an abberation in that it is CPU-governed. There's a reason why so many newbies show up and complain that they get crap FPS in spite of having monster graphics card X - 90% of games won't really care what processor you have.

 

And 100% of games completely ignores the question of soundcard when it "decides" what performance it's going to give. (Unless people tell a game to give them 256 sound channels with 3D modulation on the sound cirquit of the C64... But that's not common.)

 

For my own part, I am perfectly happy with my onboard sound. It powers 2-1 audio system which performs pretty well, and if I decided to spend the cash it would power a 5-1 surround with no issues. To put it in a simple way: there is a very small feature difference between onboard sound and addin soundcards, but the difference between onboard graphics (hell, my motherboard doesn't have onboard graphics at all :P ) and addin graphicscards is massive. The latter makes the difference of whether a game is playable, the former adds a bit of flare for audiophiles. (Who often spend extra dollars on gold plated sound cables in spite of something as simple as physics telling them that it's no difference. :P )

 

Illustrative - way way back when I bought Space Quest 2 I got a little pamphlet in the box advertising this new invention called the "sound card", and I soon obtained a SoundBlaster 16, and it blew me away. The difference between the venerable PC Speaker and the SB16 was massive (in spite of the many hours fidgeting with finding the correct IRQ and DMA settings :P ). THAT is the difference we have between onboard graphics and addin graphics today. The difference in sound however is miniscule.

 

TBH tho, we really should start advancing towards more olfactory senses. I want to smell the gasoline when I start up my werewolf. :)

[Made.In.China.00]

If you're going for p55, maybe wait a bit for the MSI big bang fuzion? It has LUCID HYDRA, which allows you to mix match GPUs, even geforce with radeon.

EDIT: And it supports multi monitor.

[ExcelNprevail]

thats awesome... in fact i really want that, i actually want a lot of things... like an i7 processor... a 1366 mobo with more ram and a radeon 5870... but then my computer wouldn't be in the 1,000 dollar range... it would be more in the 2,000 dollar range... its a sad sad story indeed, the military doesn't pay me enough to make beastly machines sadly... :(

[EtherealN]

Bah, beastly machines aren't really much point in my opinion anyway. Wait 12 months and 1000 dollars will buy you what you would have paid 2000 dollars on before. Keep that extra grand for beer, peripherals, or a simpit project. :D

 

Obviously though, there are cases where beast rigs really are not only merited but really necessary - f.ex if you're developing a game and is developing for something that needs to be modern in a couple years. Can't sit on lowend kit then. But for home huse... Buy cheap, overclock, and enjoy. Besides, that lets you go through the process of building a new system (more fun than using the system, most of the time) more often. ;)

[Feuerfalke]

Bah, beastly machines aren't really much point in my opinion anyway. Wait 12 months and 1000 dollars will buy you what you would have paid 2000 dollars on before. Keep that extra grand for beer, peripherals, or a simpit project. :D

 

If you really stick to that idea, you will never buy a PC ;) - except hardware development stops next year, that is... :D

[EtherealN]

Not really, since the difference in performance say, at 500 and 1000 dollars, is massive. 1000 and 2000 dollars isn't. Sure, the throughput will be quite different, but you won't have issues running your newly released games on it. A 500 dollar system might well have issues, though. Well, unless you wait several years with buying your games.

 

The cutoff point is what one needs. My netbook is happy with it's 800MHz Celeron and it'll do everything I ask of it. No point getting a new one from the performance view - I'm considering a new one for battery time, though. Conversely, I could buy a system like the one Wags bought, but I have no performance issues in any game, so the added money would be purely for stuff like 32x AF instead of 16x. That's a lot of money for some barely-visible graphics benefits. (Though I'm tempted by those SSD's for load times... Mmm...)

 

That's the basic distinction. Half the money will get you 95% of the experience. (And in my experience that's about where the cutoff point is, ever since the old trusty 286.)

[ExcelNprevail]

anyone know of any good reasons not to buy AMD Phenom processor?? I found a cheaper faster more powerful quad core phenom and the intel i have picked out is slower and same price...

[EtherealN]

Knowing which Phenoms and Intel processors you are comparing would help making a judgement. :)

[ExcelNprevail]

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black edition denab 3.2 ghz 125W Quad core

$168.99

and...

 

I5-750 Lynnfield 2.66 ghz LGA 1156 95W Quad core

$199.99

[ExcelNprevail]

anyone?

[Kuky]

don't really know either of two... why don't you just google for some reviews of each and compare...

[topol-m]

I`m taking the intel. Yes it`s slightly more expensive, but better. And if you are into it you can overclock it reaching the performance of some of the I7 CPUs.