Thoughts on a GL PC Configuration

[TriniXaeno]

Guys,

For a budget of TT$5500.00, what PC configuration would you go with for a GL?

We are just about to plop down our machines for the new GL and wanna hear what the tech heads of GATT have to say.

Our final Spec:

Athlon 64 3000+
Nforce4 mobo
160GB HD
1024MB DDR 400
6600GT PCI E 128MB
Case with 450W psu
Keyboard
Optical mouse
Headset
17" CRT Monitor

Am I on the ball with this? Or are there better options within the price range?

[TrinireturnofGamez]

 ENOUGH BALLS? that have more balls than a herd of mustangs .    Just make sure you power supply has dual rails ,  though an a64 3000 and 6600gt shouldn't need much power.

[Czar]

That looks fine to me...how much more would a 3200+ run you tho?

[W1nTry]

Thats like a $50US extra... thereabout I would figure... umm Baego thats some really decent specs I must say, beats my rig hands down... at least till I have my 3500+ running but anyways... where is this set up going to be?

[TriniXaeno]

The 3200+ will cost us TT$300 more. Budget buster iwmc.

your math is spot on w1ntry. That's just about us$50.00

These are the machines for our new GL on Maraval Road, St. Clair.

rofl @ more balls than a heard of mustangs.

So I take it the specs are solid enough for the price? no better recommendations? No ati card surpassin the 6600GT for the buck? No Intel chip/mobo combo surpassin the price performance of the nforce4/a64?

Makin the final decision tomorrow. So lend me your tech brain cells.

[cdx2k1]

I think you can cut the RAM by half and the hard drive space too*C'mon>512 is enough and 80GB is alot*.Use the extra cash to up the grafix to a flat 6800 or just save the cash to build extra machines.When you push the resolution to 1024*768 on the 17" the 6800 will handle it better.I think I saw some 6800 PCI-E's on newegg.Make sure the PSU has atleast 18A on the 12V+ line..A64's are notorious for wanting atleast 18A.Go for something above 18A though.

[TriniXaeno]

beautiful cdx.

I'm very concerned about the amps on the 12v rail myself. It was the first question I asked when choosing the case. Still haven't gotten an answer though.

We typically get generic cases with 13 - 16a which I don't trust. We sell individual power supplies with 18a but again, they haven't stood the test of time either. One of our highest turn over items are power supplies and not for good reasons.

Either shoddy workmanship on the creators part or T&TEC is too blame. Maybe half a dozen of one, six of the other.

Problem is, a good branded power supply will easily cost TT$300+
A budget buster iwmc. On the other hand, when those cheapo powersupplies die, they can take the motherboard and other components down with it.

stress.

512MB is enough for todays games but only marginally so. HL2 on anything sub 512mb ram was a pain. Load times would be a killer. In 1 year time, it is only going to get worse. DDR is pretty cheap now, I wouldn't want to be caught needing to upgrade all the comps within a years time and run the risk of facing some inflated DDR price then.

40GB drives proved to be too small. 80GB would be just about right but 160GB would cut us some serious slack. Games have gone from 1.2gb (CoD, Generals) to 5gb+ (UT2004, Act of War)

That is a 4 times increase in size. So I thought it prudent to increase our storage by 4 times as well. That way, we won't have to be deleting games to make room for new releases in the short run.

Thanks for the input!

I've heard trini mention this before.

A Flat 6800 will cost how much more than a 6600GT? and what would be the performance delta?

Interesting, this is.

[Czar]

A 6800 would be my choice tbh, but the price might be too hot for your budget...it'll run you around US$50 more...same as goin with the 3200+...

[TrinireturnofGamez]

6600gt PCI-E = 160 US .
6800  PCI-E = 250 + US  bad idea in my opinion  , 90 US for 5% extra speed, and 10% if your lucky??
  1GB DDR will be necassary for games soon, don't forget the cafe's need to run alot of stuff in the backround too, and won't restart for days at a time .   
     Possibly , you could just order a whole pile of PSU less cases and buy quality dual rail PSU's seperate , a dual rail 450 watt is about 50  Us .
   

[Czar]

Granted a 128MB 6600GT can be had for around US$160...take into consideration that you're only getting a 128-bit memory interface and 8 pipelines with that...(at that price point)

However, your quoted price of US$250+ for a 6800 is a bit off...in fact, I've just done a search on newegg.com for 128MB 6800's and they have a few that are sub-$200...and, to make things better, you get a full 256-bit memory interface on that...with 12 pipelines...not to mention you can softmod it and unlock 4 more pipes to push it even further...the 6800 is definitely where my money would be at...tho, truth be told, my eye is really on the 256MB 6800...which would run you closer to US$300...I can dream can't I?

[cdx2k1]

Scene.The RAM,HDD and Vcard replies to my suggestions were justified and after reaearchin the 6800 vs 6600GT it's best to get the 6600GT.

[TriniXaeno]

hmm, 6600GT

The 12 pipes and 256bit sounds good but if that tantamounts to a 5 - 10% increase in games for a US$50 - 60 more, it may not be worth it now.

We may be better off getting the 6600GT now and selling them in a year when the next generation of cards hit. Just as we were doing with the 440 MX at Euro, replacing 'em with TI 4200s.

You got any benchmarks showing the delta? Any showing the 6800 wtfpwning the 6600GT by more than 10%?

No challenge on the processor / mobo choice, more importantly, no recommendations from the intellites? Is it that AMD is just so much intel's daddy??

lol

lihixxxxxxxxxx

[Neon]

lol@ daddy

[W1nTry]

I think the 6600GT is a good bet, so it has a 128 bit mem interface, it does beat out a 9800Pro with much higher clock speeds. And considering the 6600GT has 1. Lower memory bandwidth. 2 128 controller it still beats out the 256bit 9800. It is a sweet spot, however if u can get the 6800 non ultra at a sub 200USD price by all means go for it. Note however that u are not AlwAYS guaranteed to unlock the additional 4 pipelines... the Extra vertex shader for sure, but not the pipes, i've read that when I was doing research on the 6800 NU (since I wanted to buy one). As for the CPU, u could overclock those safely to 3200+ status so I doh think its a problem. 512Mb of RAM for now is cool, you could always upgrade later thats not really an issue I think. The PSU however should be of special consideration since yuh doh wanna be killing dem like flies as cheap supplies change like underwear on a vietnamese hoe (pardon my language).

[Czar]

Any showing the 6800 wtfpwning the 6600GT by more than 10%?

Not likely...you need to take into consideration that the 6600GT comes stock at 500/1000 on the core/mem while the 6800 comes in much lower clocked at 325/600...and most sites like AnandTech, Tom's, etc. will not show you the benches of an overclocked/modded 6800...so in fact, most times you'll see the 6600GT in front of the 6800...and you're quite right wintry, there are no guarantees...but the potential exists for higher heights on the 6800 imo.

So I still maintain that the 6800 is the better buy...and better fete if you can get one for less than $200...

[Neon]

So, 6800 at sub $200US if you can get it.
If not, 6600GT right?

[Crixx_Creww]

lot of sense being spoken

except of course the nonsensical blabber of the AMDITES. TOtall poppy cock.

The 6800 really really really honestly is the better choice, the only real reason to give into the 6600 gt is if yu plan on using sli. Which i doubt you will.

And even though its not guaranteed to get an unlockable card, there are certain manufactures who are well know for leaving the pipes intact. Chaintech is one of those.

Having a gig of ram is of course very sweet, but not completly neccessary, I ran with 768 megs for a long time, together with my 6800 NU and ive been able to run everything, simply everything ive thrown at it no sweat.
Of course, that is with my P4 chocked full of intel 1337ness.

Cant guarantee same  performance with that ...other.. processor...

[TrinireturnofGamez]

 Actually now that i'm seeing it , the 6800 goes for less than  200 ,   i would say that the 6800 is the better buy if you have AGP, but these are Nforce 4's with PCI-E , a PCI-E 6800 still goes for more than 220 .
   If baego wants , he can use an Nforce 3 board and a 6800 agp instead of an Nforce 4 and a 6600gt
 PCI-E .   He'd probably go with the PCI , because  2 years from now he could slap in a Geforce 7/ 8 or a Radeon X2 ......
    I would say 1 GB of DDR is essential , since in a year most games will need 1gb, and DDR is set to be phased out soon... so it means higher prices if you have 512mb and try to upgrade .

[cdx2k1]

What's a dual rail trini?

[TriniXaeno]

Yes, a sub US$200 6800 is proving difficult to find on the PCI-E interface.

So looks like is 6600GT iwmc.

The powersupplies is a point of concern for me. They are pretty damn expensive, a quality one that is.

Our GL machine cases have 18a on the 12v rail. Not too bad, but not too good either.

They cost about $300+

Getting a quality powersupply, is going to be equal to the price of the case if not more. (times like this I wish money grew on trees)

So I'm gonna take the risk and try running on the native psu of the case.

Got a sempron 3100+ to test as well. If those can put up strong enough scores against it's A64 3000+ brother, may save much dollars and get some of those as well. Thoughts? Shouldn't impact our 3dmark figures too much?

great point on the DDR getting expensive down the road. It's damn cheap now.
Look at SDRAM prices. Gone through the roof.