[Tech] What I want for Christmas

[Nanor]

I played Opposing Fronts today with PhatBambi and Piacular. It's a great game and I enjoyed it with my 2FPS. It wasn't a particularly brutal fire fight, I swear, my computer is just a very powerful calculator.

From this 2FPS session, and after much deliberation, I came to the firm conclusion I need new hardware.

Now:

Processor: Intel Celeron D CPU 3.20GHz

Memory: 1536MB RAM

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS

My processor is a Celeron, that should say enough, but for those of you who don't know why it sucks even though it's at 3.20GHz is because it has an L2 cache of 512KB and an FSB speed of 533 MHz. Now, I don't know what any of that means, but it's a lot lower than other CPUs. Most CPUs are 1MB cache and over and have FSB speeds of 1033MHz. Poo.

My memory is ok, I ain't complaining about that. I've got over the recommended specs RAM wise for many games.

Video Card... ouch. I fried my old 6600 and had to get this (I was told it was a 7600, they neglected to mention the GS(Ghey Suxxors)). I don't know why it sucks (I'm hoping someone can enlighten me), it just does.

I think the main thing that is holding me back is my CPU, but I'm gonna replace my video card as it smells.

Future:

I'd like to first of all make it clear, I don't particularly care if what I get can't handle the game on high, as long as it makes the game run smoother than a baby's behind.

CPU: I'm thinking of an Intel Core 2 Duo Socket 775 1.86Ghz FSB1066 4MB Cache E6320 Processor (Second one down). What a mouthful. It's dual core, has loads of cache, a decent clock speed and a good FSB speed all for £112. Not bad? I don't know.

Memory: I'm happy as it is.

Video Card: Now this is where I'm stuck. I'd like to re-iterate my above point. I'm thinking of something from this list above 7600 anyway. I want a card that will be able to play games for the next 2+ years, i.e doesn't need replacing until 2 Christmas'.

Budget? It's Christmas, but try to keep it around £250, I'd quite like turkey this year.

Rep for the best answer and babies for the person who buys me the stuff.

 

[elDiablo]

Video Card... ouch. I fried my old 6600 and had to get this (I was told it was a 7600, they neglected to mention the GS(Ghey Suxxors)). I don't know why it sucks (I'm hoping someone can enlighten me), it just does.

Wikipedia on the 7600GS.

On March 22, 2006, NVIDIA announced the immediate availability of the GeForce 7600 GS GPU targeted at the low-mid end. This new GPU will officially assume the place of the GeForce 6600 GT which has been around for quite some time.

Important things to note being the "low-mid" end, and the replacement of the 6600GT. Ie, it's not that much better than the 6600GT.

 

[Nanor]

Hmm, from reading what elD has posted and searching the 8 series, I think a GeForce 8600 GT would suit my needs?

 

[Ronin Storm]

First off, I don't think much of the prices you're getting from the site you've been linking.

When I'm shopping I do price comparisons between the following four:

• Overclockers
• Scan
• Tekheads
• Dabs

I've had problems with all but Tekheads over the years, and I've only ordered from them once and only for two components. All suppliers in this arena seem to have issues so I mostly just shop for best prices with a nod to avoiding whoever offended me most recently.

So, to your questions...

... with questions of my own.

What motherboard do you have? Or, at least, what processor socket type does it have?

Celeron D came in (at least) two flavours: socket 478 and LGA 775. However, the processor you've identified is LGA 775 and so might not fit in the board you have! If that's the case, you're needing a new motherboard and, quite possibly, new memory with it.

However, if your board is up to it then that processor might be okay, but you'd be as well shopping around (from Overclockers £110.44 incl. VAT, or the next model up from Dabs for £117.32 incl. VAT, just for example).

For graphics, I'm less certain. I'm absolutely certain that the nVidia 8800 series rocks (my 8800 GTS) but that'll push you substantially over budget. However, you could lay your hands on a 8600 GT for not too much money (from Overclockers £93.99 incl. VAT but out of stock). That'd certainly do a good job but I don't know how well that'd last your criteria for lifespan, doubly so as things appear to be moving so fast that your criteria may actually prove to be unreasonable to expect.

How's that?

 

[Nanor]

My motherboard is LGA 775. I would try Overclockers and the rest, but I believe the prices are extortionate for shipping over to Ireland. I shall take a look at the sites, though.

 

[DeZmond]

Remember to factor in DX10.1 - Geforce 8 cards can't do that. Ie, now probably isn't the best time to buy a graphics card if there's something new in the pipeline. Best to wait till it's released, then you get either new tech or a price drop

If you've so offended by the 7600 GS (and bearing in mind I have a 7600GT and am pretty happy with it) then you could always try monkeying with the clockspeeds of the core and memory, and also optimise your driver settings a bit - that should mean better performance in the short term while you wait to upgrade.

 

[Nanor]

Remember to factor in DX10.1 - Geforce 8 cards can't do that. Ie, now probably isn't the best time to buy a graphics card if there's something new in the pipeline. Best to wait till it's released, then you get either new tech or a price drop

The thing is, I can't wait.

If you've so offended by the 7600 GS (and bearing in mind I have a 7600GT and am pretty happy with it) then you could always try monkeying with the clockspeeds of the core and memory, and also optimise your driver settings a bit - that should mean better performance in the short term while you wait to upgrade.

You mean overclocking?

 

[Birdy]

Best to wait till it's released, then you get either new tech or a price drop

ZOMG no u too! everyone says wait for the new stuff all the time! gets on my bits! I bought my system last november and i wont have to touch it for years!! (ok maybe the RAM not that thats a problem0 I have the Geforce 7950gt and it rocks! I can have any game cranked to the max and it glides like a dream! Yea there may be issues in a year or so but thats two years and by that point it will be good value as i only spent just over £150 on mine!!

 

[Ronin Storm]

Remember to factor in DX10.1

I'm figuring it's going to be quite some time 'til games actually need DX10.1 if the hardware requirements are so substantially different than 10.0. Games developers won't be keen to cut their potential market down to those who can afford to upgrade their hardware whenever MS changes the specification under their feet.

 

[Haven]

A Christmas Tree

Some Sleep

Some Cake and a nice Roast on Chrimble day

I'm so easy.

Tech wise, until quad cores from AMD hit the shops and drop in price I'm simply not interested.

 

[Traxata]

Nanor, i'd also look at www.komplett.co.uk
they're a norweigan firm and are on par with Scan's prices occasionally some things are cheaper,

 

[DocBot]

I usually buy from komplett, and although I've had some bad luck with faulty components, their customer service has always been excellent.

 

[DeZmond]

ZOMG no u too! everyone says wait for the new stuff all the time! gets on my bits! I bought my system last november and i wont have to touch it for years!! (ok maybe the RAM not that thats a problem0 I have the Geforce 7950gt and it rocks! I can have any game cranked to the max and it glides like a dream! Yea there may be issues in a year or so but thats two years and by that point it will be good value as i only spent just over £150 on mine!!

I wouldn't dispute that point, hence why I state another reason for waiting is the associated price drop when new tech comes out. Whether you want to buy it or not, because there are other people who will the price of previous generation tech starts to crash. So, even perfectly servicable hardware can be picked up for very few beans.

 

[Iron_fist]

personally i'd say that if you're running Vista and want DX10 then wait till the DX10.1 cards appear or there is a sale after christmas, however if you plan on running XP then i'd say that the X1950pro cards are pretty good bang for buck, i have this one and it runs Bioshock at a pretty consistent V-sync at 1280x1024 (there are a few drops in FPS when there is a lot of movement and explosions though you get that on my flat mates 8800 as well) plus pairing it with that CPU should give a very nice system to last at least 18 months, maybe 2 years if you really push it (i reckon there won't be many DX10 exclusive titles apart from some from Miky$oft till at least mid 2009 maybe even later than that (if everyone doesn't just start using OpenGl3...) the other option is to spend a little more and go for a 7900/7950 of some variety as they're around the same spec as the 1950.

 

[Traxata]

Heh .. i just gave my 7950 GT away ...
now im on an overclocked 8800 GTS ( the 640mb version )

But yeah, the 7900 / 7950 are perfectly adequate for the games out atm, its just if you want the sparkly graphics that you got for the 8 series nannums

 

[elDiablo]

...(there are a few drops in FPS when there is a lot of movement and explosions though you get that on my flat mates 8800 as well)...

Indeed. That seems to be a lovely feature of the PC version, while the console version doesn't. Very strange. And stupid.