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#2863933 - 09/20/09 10:25 AM Quick (but important to me!) questions  
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 998
dashavingo Offline
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dashavingo  Offline
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 998
OK, so for once in my life I don't need to build-it-myself. I'm looking at:

Cyberpower
Ibypower
and AVS

Any other higher end (not Alienware, still haven't won the lottery) outfits you'd suggest?

I'm going the whole water-cooled, SLI nine yards this time.

Also, related topic:

What to wait for before ordering?

So far, the obvious is Windows 7's release on October 22nd. May as well get it pre-loaded.

Also, since I'm planning to run two ATI cards in Crossfire mode, seems like holding out for the HD5870 series makes sense.

Finally, I'm fascinated and pretty-ignorant at the same time as to SSD cards. Why?

Because even with RAID 0 and using pretty high end drives, my last set up still had #%&*$# load times (I have a low tolerance in this area). I'm amazed that with all the advancements, Hard Drives just ain't that much faster than 10 years ago---- well not experimentialy.


Anyway, my questions again:

Who all I should be checking out for pre-built systems
What might make me want to hold off for a month or two
And....
Is SSD anywhere near close to useful and affordable to even the high end user?

THANKS FELLAHS!

d.

Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#2863941 - 09/20/09 11:06 AM Re: Quick (but important to me!) questions [Re: dashavingo]  
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,839
Allen Offline
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Allen  Offline
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I agree. Windows 7 and HD5870 Crossfire will make the difference you can actually "see".

But, if going Crossfire, maybe wait a month more for the HD5870 X2 (2 GPUs single card). ATI has been working on circuitry to get more out of the single card version vs 2 individual card Crossfire. Some of that circuitry was in the HD4870 so I assume the HD5870 will have a better version of it. At some point, maybe not this time, they plan to use that circuitry to cause 2 GPU on one card to behave as 1 giant GPU -- accessing all the memory (for example) -- thereby working well with all games. In any case, I imagine the X2 card will be cheaper and work better than two individual cards because of the circuitry.

It is rumored the X2 will draw over 350 watts (so will Crossfire)at max. So, get an appropriate PSU. BTW, the idle power draw of the HD5870 (e.g. when running non-games) is rumored to be VERY low -- under 30 watts.

I did notice a load time speedup when I went from dual core 3GHz to quad-core 3GHz. I did not measure it -- but it was probably just 10 or 20 percent -- enough to be "visible".

I don't use RAID, I don't own SSD, so have no valid opinion of perceivable load time speedups. I doubt they will make any difference to game FPS.


Sapphire Pulse RX7900XTX, 3 monitors = 23P (1080p) + SAMSUNG 32" Odyssey Neo G7 1000R curve (4K/2160p) + 23P (1080p), AMD R9-7950X (ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 420), 64GB RAM@6.0GHz, Gigabyte X670E AORUS MASTER MB, (4x M.2 SSD + 2xSSD + 2xHD) = ~52TB storage, EVGA 1600W PSU, Phanteks Enthoo Pro Full Tower, ASUS RT-AX89X 6000Mbps WiFi router, VKB Gladiator WW2 Stick, Pedals, G.Skill RGB KB, AORUS Thunder M7 Mouse, W11 Pro
#2863942 - 09/20/09 11:14 AM Re: Quick (but important to me!) questions [Re: Allen]  
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dashavingo Offline
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dashavingo  Offline
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Posts: 998
Great info Allen. And you are right that RAID 0 nor the (currently way too expensive SSD drives) add anything to game FPS. But have you seen the load times on say "Rise of Flight"? A lot of us have high end, fast systems and yet there we are starting at the status bar as our favorite sim loads the library of congress (or that's what it feels like?).

Anybody else got some good input (thanks again Allen).

d.

#2867970 - 09/26/09 10:55 PM Re: Quick (but important to me!) questions [Re: dashavingo]  
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dashavingo Offline
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dashavingo  Offline
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 998
PS- What do you guys do while Rise of Flight loads? I built my own life-size Fokker III replica and am nearly done completing a Sopwith Camel to complete the diorama. Hope the neighbors approve.

#2868218 - 09/27/09 03:26 PM Re: Quick (but important to me!) questions [Re: dashavingo]  
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,168
JAS39 Offline
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NYC


Apple Macbook Pro Generation 10.1 (Summer 2012)
15", 2880x1800 IPS Samsung Display
2.3 Ghz Intel Core i7-3615QM
8GB DDR3 Memory
1GB Nvidia GT-650M
256GB SSD
#2869152 - 09/28/09 11:39 PM Re: Quick (but important to me!) questions [Re: JAS39]  
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 998
dashavingo Offline
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dashavingo  Offline
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 998
Thanks JAS49. Falcon NW is (sob) out of my price range.

I'll check out the other sites!

Do you have any particular cautions on Cyberpower?

In any case, rest assured I'll go over the other options you suggested.

And hey, your post obviously took some work to complete---- thanks very much good sir!

d.


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