Silent Warrior Posted February 9, 2010 Posted February 9, 2010 (edited) 'Ey, that's a GRIM FANDANGO quote, don't get too many more ideas than is absolutely necessary. :) So, here I am, pondering what my system could/should look like some time in the future. What I have in mind is actually a post-Windows 7 scenario, so if I tackle this in a sane fashion I probably won't go ahead with this this year, or even the next, but I'm hoping for some valuable input out of you lot. Technology just keeps moving. So, with my expectedly thin wallet - I mean to hook this mother up to a home-cinema-thingy, as they're called these days, I just don't expect to connect that monster to an actual TV as of this writing. Funny how things work out sometimes. Anyway, that'll cost me - I'm going for a Hi-Fi whatsit, no mere Logitech Z550. But that's another chapter. Now for the PC-side. I think my high-end gaming days peaked with The Witcher - that's not to say there won't be an interesting flight sim around the corner at some point, I just mean to say that if any of you give advice centering around how to get the best bang out of Crysis, there will be BLOOD! :music_whistling: Games/sims currently on the menu: The Witcher Neverwinter Nights 2 Eurofighter Typhoon: Operation Icebreaker (I kid you not - picked this up a couple of years ago, and never got to finish it in a satisfactory fashion) X-Plane 9 (maybe even 10 by the time I take the plunge?) MSFSX FC1.12 (expect 2.0, or even graduating to DCS) Maybe the occasional stint through Myst Online: Uru Live ('s BACK! Schweeet!) X3 (iffy; might have to go to conserve HD-space, if it's beyond me to afford a fatter one - who could've thought 250 Gb would drain so quickly...) FreeFalcon 5+ Dragon Age (The casual observer might notice a lack of video/sound editing, CAD, and expected multitasking. HINT HINT HINT for several-core vs. dual- or even single-core!) I will most likely need to get a new chassi, anyway - my current one has no additional cooling, and has burned two graphics cards over the years (I've only had it for, like, 8 years now...). Might as well get a nice and roomy one now, regardless of the rest. Also keep in mind that I'd prefer to go for the environmental-friendliest option - as ecological as this business gets, anyway - and low power-consumption is very nice indeed. As is reduced vibrations. Motherboard has to be AM3 or whatever comes next. I currently have my eyes set on a Phenom2 945 (95W, 4x) or 550 (80W, 2x), both 3 GHz - my current CPU is an Athlon X2 6400+ (AM2, 3.2 GHz) - and some DDR3 to go with it. The CPU is more or less decided - it WILL be AMD, not Intel (they come with a nearly quadruple price-tag, after all, for the same amount of Hz - an' I'm supposed to be an impoverished student). RAM is... in flux. The store near me has a big stock, but I expect there to be 4 gigabytes of it. 1333 or 1600 MHz matters little to me at the moment. Graphics card will have to be acquired as well - I'm moving the old motherboard and everything in it to another desktop-tower (a make-shift scrap-heap, you could say), and that one is currently equipped with an AGP-card - the 'newest yet' doesn't hold with that kind of thing - so I'm considering ATI's 5750 or Nvidia's GTS 260 or 275. I'm flexible, though - ATI's HD4xxx-line is fine by me, I just want to have driver-support... The hottest card in town IS overkill! A GeForce 9600GT suits me just fine, presently. The soundcard is where I mean to put the most energy. Currently VERRRRY interested in Xonar - I'm too frustrated with the time-lapse between my X-Fi ExtremeMusic's release and there being viable Linux-drivers for it. So, Linux-support is a MUST (which rules out the Xonar HDAV1.3 at the moment) - but I can see about that, no problem. The ALSA-project has a list of supported hardware that's easily navigated - leave that to me. With the intended speaker-setup, flashy connections like S/PDIF, TOSlink and HDMI will be just fine, though RCA and 3.5mm will in all likelihood be accepted. Connected screen takes DVI and VGA at the moment, but DVI/HDMI-connections are acceptable either way you slice it. What I've looked at: ASUS M4A79XTD Evo ASUS M4A79T Deluxe (maybe overkill, with FOUR PCIe x16-slots and only one graphics-card to take advantage of it) Gigabyte GA-MA790GPT-UD3H (integrated HD5200 - I DON'T hold with that kind of thing, but the rest of the board looks ok by me) AMD Phenom2 945 and 550 (about 60% cost of the 945), 3GHz A-data DDR3 2x2Gb 1333 MHz A-data DDR3 2x2Gb 1600 MHz Corsair DDR3 2Gb 1333 MHz ASUS Radeon 5750 512 Mb (I suppose there might be good reason to go for 1Gb VRAM, though - looooots of textures in flight-sims, and I likes them texture-details and anisotropy) ASUS GeForce GTS260 1Gb ASUS ENGTX275 896Mb ASUS Radeon 5770 1Gb Xonar DX/XD (PCI - and the lowest end) Xonar D2 Xonar D2X Xonar ESSENCE (ST or STX - WHATEVER. I'm leaning strongly towards this at the moment.) Xonar HDAV1.3 - In the event that this actually is made working in Linux, I'd like some input on this. As of last week, though, it was not working and thus not an option TODAY. Should I get a new harddrive, it will be either 320 or 500Gb SATA - I have my eyes on a Samsung 500Gb with some environmental BS attached to it. :) Biggest if of the bunch. And don't get started about SSDs - the same capacity costs up to 11 times as much as SATA-disks! Not-an-option, period! But to power all this... I checked out Antec's wattage calculator, and it recommended 380W, with my intended equipment. Thoughts? This store carries lots of Antec and ASUS gear, just so you know - and Antec has some nice-enough-looking eco-PSUs (380 and 430 watts), and a ton of chassis listed at their webshop, with and without PSUs included. I could list some of what they have, but this would get blown into a full-length Stephen King novel if I did. Chassis again... I think I really should make getting one of these a priority. It should of course be roomy enough to take a nearly modern graphics card, built-in cooling is good, quiet operation preferred as I mean to enjoy sounds/music both loud and soft. And NOT have the neighbours (nor my parents...) call the cops, c'peesh? Preferred price-tag of the chassi is 1000 SEK or below (some Antec PSU-less candidates at 651 and 998 last time I checked, eco-PSUs about the same price-tag as the eco-HD I'm gunning for), but I can probably go up to 1500 SEK if I go for a weaker GPU and dual-core instead of quad. Thoughts about chassis, then? I have some ideas about what the assembly will look like in the end, but I'll save that for another day. It took me ages to write even this part... Edited February 9, 2010 by Silent Warrior
Silent Warrior Posted February 10, 2010 Author Posted February 10, 2010 So, a listing of some example set-ups I had in mind. HDD may or may not be added - not listing those right now. ('Course, getting one would mean I can ditch IDE altogether - I have Ubuntu sitting on an 80 Gb IDE-HDD.) Lowest cost: CHASSI + PSU: Coolermaster Elite 333 + Antec BP350 CPU: Phenom2 X2 550 MB: Gigabyte GA-MA790GPT-UD3H RAM: A-data DDR3 2Gb 1333MHz/10600 Soundcard: Club3D Theatron Agrippa/ASUS Xonar DX/XD Graphics card: Radeon 5750 [The other soundcard, the Agrippa, is just a cheap option. I will still most likely settle for a Xonar, but the Agrippa's, you know, there. And cheapest.] Low-mid end, eco-concerns: CHASSI + PSU: Antec 300 + Antec Earthwatts 380 CPU: Phenom2 X2 550 MB: ASUS M4A79XTD EVO RAM: Corsair 2Gb DDR3 1333MHz x2 Graphics card: ASUS Radeon HD5770/ASUS GF GTS250 Soundcard: ASUS Xonar D2 Mid-high, eco: CHASSI + PSU: Antec Sonata elite + Antec Earthwatts 430W CPU: Phenom2 X4 945 MB: ASUS M4A79T Deluxe RAM: A-data DDR3 2x2Gb 1600MHz/12800 Soundcard: ASUS Xonar D2X/XDT / Xonar Essence ST Graphics card: ASUS Radeon HD5770/ASUS ENGTX275 (I might likely add the eco-HDD to this set-up.) Middleground, aiming for balance (and less ASUS hegemony): CHASSI + PSU: Chieftec Aegis + Chieftec 450W A-80 MB: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 CPU: Phenom2 X4 945/X2 550 RAM: A-data DDR3 2x2Gb 1333MHz/10600 Graphics card: Radeon 5750 Soundcard: ASUS Xonar D2 Top spending: CHASSI: Antec Titan (incl. PSU @ 630W - rather extravagant; also more pricey than I had in mind, but there IS a PSU included after all) MB: ASUS M4A79T Deluxe CPU: Phenom2 X4 945 RAM: A-data DDR3 2x2Gb 1600MHz/12800 Graphics card: ASUS ENGTX275 Soundcard: ASUS Xonar Essence ST/X / Xonar HDAV 1.3 HDD: Samsung 500Gb (eco) Thoughts on the combinations (i.e. hardware compatibility, etc and so forth, play nice together)? The exact brand of RAM is of little concern right now. The amount (in Gb) and speed is more important. And the graphics cards do in no way exclude other board manufacturers than ASUS - same old ATI vs. Nvidia (only informed opinions backed with facts will be taken into consideration, I guarantee you that). It might be prudent to point out that at the pricing I got while making these lists, the soundcards amounted to 14-37% of the total cost of the assemblies. That's one area where I don't mean to skimp out, and that's that. GPU is another matter, as virtually anything recent should be powerful enough to run things to my satisfaction. Wattage is more interesting to me there.
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