New Computer, What Should I Get?

[nikki]

How's nVidia GTX 280?

How about taking a look at some reviews yourself (but don't take tomshardwareguide seriously)? If you want to spend that much money there is nothing wrong with it.

Well, I did read reviews, but I thought some 'Ogre-friend-true-opinions-from-real-life-usage' would be nice.

Seems the GTX 280 ain't all that good though. GTX 295 does look pretty good. Hmm...

[jjp]

Seems the GTX 280 ain't all that good though. GTX 295 does look pretty good. Hmm...

Well, it depends on what you mean with "good" Until GTX295 it'll be the fastest single gpu card, the GTX295 being probably somewhat around 10% faster and apart from the performance boost identical to the GTX280.

[nikki]

One of the main things for me is 'future-compatibility'. I'll be keeping this new computer for around 4 years, the CPU, GPU etc. should be able to handle future games and stuff. And Linux-compatibility is yet another thing.

[jjp]

It doesn't really make sense to buy the ultra high end hardware because one wants to leave the system untouched for so long It is a lot more cost-efficient to spend less money now and again some in 2 years or so.

[nikki]

It doesn't really make sense to buy the ultra high end hardware because one wants to leave the system untouched for so long It is a lot more cost-efficient to spend less money now and again some in 2 years or so.

Hmm... Makes sense.

I think I'll go for an nVidia 8800 GTS because it seems to perform almost as well as the 9 series, and also because the 200 series may not play well with Linux.

Gonna check out the processors now.

[Kojack]

The 8800gts512 (not the original 8800gts!) is a very cool card. It's what I had until last week.

Although I'm still pissed off that nvidia don't support video in any more. My geforce 7800gtx had great quality video capture.
I tried using my 7800 and gtx280 in the one pc, it blue screened vista. XP worked, detected the 7800 fine, but wouldn't actually let me use it.
(It is possible, people on the nvidia forums have done it. Drivers are extremely fussy though)
I guess I'll have to buy a separate capture card.


Of course the GT212, which replaces the GTX280, is due early next year some time. No matter what gfx card you buy nvidia/ati will always beat it within 6 months.

[ajs15822]

Oh, cool, I too have been researching parts for my new Christmas rig-- I hadn't built a new desktop for four years and thought it was time for an upgrade.

I tried to keep around a $1000 budget (excluding tax/shipping) and wanted a well-balanced system with plenty of processing power, a decent mid-range GPU (for game development), a fast hard-drive (to speed up linking), and ample RAM (I routinely use more than 1.5 GB).

I took a while to research the parts, read reviews, and check compatibility and this is my final part list (I just finished ordering):

[Video Card]
    Model: EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked
    Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130400
    Price: $260
   
[Processor]
    Model: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
    Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115036
    Price: $188
   
[MotherBoard]
    Model: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
    Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128359
    Price: $115
   
[Memory]
    Model: CZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
    Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820227289
    Price: $79
   
[Hard Drive]
    Model: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
    Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 11%201.5TB
    Price: $130

[DVD/CD Drive]
    Model: LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) DVD-R
    Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827136153
    Price: $26
   
[Power Supply]
    Model: COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-650-ACAA-A1 650W ATX Form Factor 12V V2.3
    Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817171023
    Price: $80.00
   
[Case]
    Model: NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
    Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... %20Tempest
    Price: $110

Total: $988 (excl. tax)

[JohnJ]

Kojack: (Again) niice . Lian Li case, 2TB, 1000W PSU - it doesn't get much better than that .

ajs15822: I actually built a computer very similar to that (everything ordered from newegg.com also), but it cost $800 including tax and shipping, so I'd suggest nikki shop around and do a bit of research to find the best deal if ordering from newegg.

However I doubt newegg ships to Doha, Qatar.

[nikki]

However I doubt newegg ships to Doha, Qatar.

Heh, the only thing I've ever got shipped here was books, and some magic-trick-gimmicks-kit. I usually just buy parts here though, we have some friends who're into the business and can get 'em at good prices.

[kutraj]

If you do get a 200 series, I'd like to know how it works for you (I've heard of Linux problems too), and what power supply you got for your rig.

I bought an 8600 a while back (it was inexpensive, but isn't nearly as capable as the 8800), and even that was overheating on my system (which, incidentally is an old P4, with 2 side panel fans running full-blast)

Now my mother-board lies on the floor (without the case lol) and I've got a separate fan running externally, pointing straight at the GPU (talk of desperation!) and I still have over-heating problems!

[CABAListic]

I find that hard to believe. I'd rather say you either have a power problem or a faulty card.

[kutraj]

I'd rather say you either have a power problem or a faulty card.

It seems likely to me too. I got an XFX with a spanky warranty so I got the card checked by the dealer. It seemed to work pretty fine.

I'm almost certain its my power supply. But knowing how I can't afford to buy a replacement for the next month atleast, I've had to resort to 'other' measures

[dr_amr]

I would go for an HD 4670 , low power consumption + the best performance/price ever.

[jjp]

I would go for an HD 4670 , low power consumption + the best performance/price ever.

4850 has better price/performance But I guess Linux is a priority, so it'll be NVidia.

[nikki]

I would go for an HD 4670 , low power consumption + the best performance/price ever.

4850 has better price/performance But I guess Linux is a priority, so it'll be NVidia.

Yep, I was thinking about AMD but I was worried about the same thing. Right now, I'm thinking 8800 GTS 512, 9800 GTX+ or GTX 260 Core 216 (these work fine with Linux, I checked).

[betajaen]

I bought my new computer today. It's purely for development and games, and will not be ever connected to the internet. I had a few conditions; I've always bought ASUS motherboards, and I need a nVidia GPU for PhysX/Cuda work.

So eventually after a lot of price checking and reviews; I settled with this:

- Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0Ghz
- Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2
- EVGA GeForce GTX 260 "Superclocked"
- Asus P5Q Deluxe Intel P45 motherboard.

I know the new i7/Nehalem processors are the next big thing, but they are new, any motherboards haven't been tested for durability yet - which is my #1 priority. Besides I'm upgrading from an Althon 64 processor, so anything is faster than that.

It should arrive on Monday.

[kutraj]

So eventually after a lot of price checking and reviews; I settled with this:

- Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0Ghz
- Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2
- EVGA GeForce GTX 260 "Superclocked"
- Asus P5Q Deluxe Intel P45 motherboard.

Nice. How much did you end up paying? If you don't mind revealing the details of course

[jjp]

The idea of having a computer not connected to the internet seems unholy to me. I could never develop on such a machine

[betajaen]

Nice. How much did you end up paying? If you don't mind revealing the details of course

With the new case, fans, dvd-rw and 1TB hard-drive about £930.

@jjp

The computer I am using now will be my internet/email computer. The internet is usually a distraction for me, it's very handy for online manuals - but I guess I must get used to saving web-pages to disk now.

Although, I just thought it will be connected to the internet every time I need to install a game off Steam though.

[syedhs]

Yes internet will be distraction just like my case - but from my experience, it doesn't work if you know the line just sits over there waiting for you to plug-in You have to go and hide inside your grandma's house (presumably with no internet access), or simply dont pay your bill. Otherwise, self-discipline yourself which I myself are terrible at.

Resistance is futile

[nikki]

Non-internet can sometimes raise productivity to extremely high levels. Today because of that near-Egypt-cable-break problem the internet speed was very low, and I sat down and wrote my own quaternion implementation for Cg shaders. Had loads of fun trying to figure out why the multiplication formula was all wrong. Fun stuff.

I must confess though, I did look into the Ogre source code once.

[Kojack]

No svn access to update things, no access to the ogre wiki, no access to google to search for the meaning of weird error messages, sounds like a high price to pay for an alternative to a little willpower.

Of course some companies force no internet access on dev boxes to prevent code leaks. Valve learnt that after halflife 2's source went for a walk due to an email virus.
So some places have 2 pc's per user, one on the subnet with internet access, the other on the private subnet. The 2 networks are never bridged, so no hacker can ever get into it the secret stuff.

[betajaen]

Well, I got the computer today. In parts of course, although I would of paid extra for someone to build it for me. Building computers is a terrifying experience.

My biggest worry was the graphics card not fitting onto the motherboard. I heard horror stories of my exact graphics card and exact motherboard model not fitting together, due to two capacitors getting in the way. Took me about 4-5 hours to build the computer, I took things extremely slow. I also wore surgical gloves to fit the pieces together to avoid finger prints, and avoid static electricity.

After I installed Vista (Ultimate this time), I decided to test out the graphics card; with a free copy of Far Cry 2. My second copy I may add . On my old computer, I could "play" it in the lowest resolution possible and have 10-13 FPS; a Geforce 7900 GT will do that. Now, I play it in 1650x1280 and have an average just over 60 FPS! Fallout 3 is just as good, if not better. I've never tried anti-aliasing before, but I now see why people use it.

But I broke my no internet rule as you can see. I have to clean up my second desk, so I can install my old computer on there. Then this computer is being disconnected from the router for good.

I can't wait to try out PhysX on the GPU!

[ajs15822]

Hehe, I just finished building my rig yesterday-- and man, like betajaen, after playing Far Cry 2 @ 1680 x 1050 with Ultra High settings... I am completely blown away. To go from laptop graphics (GeForce 7200 Go) to the beastly GTX 260 is like going from a horse-drawn carriage to the SSC Aero.

I'm installing Visual Studio right now-- I can't wait to see how fast all my projects link/compile and run. xD

[betajaen]

Hehe, I just finished building my rig yesterday-- and man, like betajaen, after playing Far Cry 2 @ 1680 x 1050 with Ultra High settings... I am completely blown away. To go from laptop graphics (GeForce 7200 Go) to the beastly GTX 260 is like going from a horse-drawn carriage to the SSC Aero.

I'm also shocked on how quiet the thing is. Nearly all of the fans are running at 20%; CPU, RAM and Graphics card. Even during Far Cry 2 it didn't seem spin to go faster. It was worrying me as it reached 60 degrees. But since my old 7900GT used to be like that on idle, I guess it's the usual temperature.

It doesn't make sense; the computer is at least eight times as fast - with more fans to cool everything, but it's much much quieter.

I'm installing Visual Studio right now-- I can't wait to see how fast all my projects link/compile and run. xD

Absolutely! I remember someone posting an addon to allow multi-core compiling. Let's hope it works in Express.


Oh. Apparently I can surf the internet via the BIOS now. It even has some sort of Firefox browser in there; I'm guessing it's a very small version of Linux. I turned it off due to Windows being very quick at boot up. But since when did that become a standard feature? I know I've been out of the loop, but wow.