Curse

Yoshikuni Mahsu · Nov 30, 2008, 09:09 PM // 21:09

Nvidia fanboys. Sigh. You do realize that at the time they were making crysis, ATI didnt have any good high-end cards to compete with Nvidia? Therefore Crysis gets better FPS for the price on Nvidia cards Vs. ATI cards, even if the ATI card will outperform in other games.

Spending $2500 on a computer is like throwing money at a wall, a well thought-out $1300 computer can play crysis or any other game completely maxed with solid FPS.

Evil Genius · Nov 30, 2008, 09:23 PM // 21:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yoshikuni Mahsu

Nvidia fanboys. Sigh. You do realize that at the time they were making crysis, ATI didnt have any good high-end cards to compete with Nvidia? Therefore Crysis gets better FPS for the price on Nvidia cards Vs. ATI cards, even if the ATI card will outperform in other games.

You seem to have a problem with the GTX 260 Core 216s? I don't. Why?
-Outperform the 4870 (especially with new 180 drivers, see Fudzilla review etc)
-$240 x 2 = $480. That's cheaper than the cheapest 4870X2 on newegg.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yoshikuni Mahsu

Spending $2500 on a computer is like throwing money at a wall, a well thought-out $1300 computer can play crysis or any other game completely maxed with solid FPS.

Statements like this are meaningless because resolution is what matters. Sure, a $1300 computer could play Crysis all maxed out on a a 1280 by 1024 or even 1620 by 1080 resolution. But today's high end standard is 1920 by 1200, and $1300 can't play Crysis all maxed out on that.

Furtheremore you need to consider this $2500 includes monitor, OS, keyboard and mouse etc. Not the same as just a $2500 box.

Still you could obviously spend less and get a very nice rig, just not with Intel's latest architecture - Nehalem.

Lord Sojar · Dec 01, 2008, 11:17 AM // 11:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evil Genius

You seem to have a problem with the GTX 260 Core 216s? I don't. Why?
-Outperform the 4870 (especially with new 180 drivers, see Fudzilla review etc)
-$240 x 2 = $480. That's cheaper than the cheapest 4870X2 on newegg.

Statements like this are meaningless because resolution is what matters. Sure, a $1300 computer could play Crysis all maxed out on a a 1280 by 1024 or even 1620 by 1080 resolution. But today's high end standard is 1920 by 1200, and $1300 can't play Crysis all maxed out on that.

Furtheremore you need to consider this $2500 includes monitor, OS, keyboard and mouse etc. Not the same as just a $2500 box.

Still you could obviously spend less and get a very nice rig, just not with Intel's latest architecture - Nehalem.

This logic is flawless. Oh, and I am back.

Case is a personal preference Kokuyougan. The Armor+ ESA case has something you won't be able to use, ESA (Unless the eVGA i7 board supports it, which I don't think it does?) Just get the Armor+ and save yourself some $$$.

The setup is great, just Add to Cart and Checkout.

i7 920
eVGA LGA 1366 Mobo
6GBs Gskill Triple Channel RAM kit
2x nVidia GTX260 revB cards in SLi
Corsair 750w PSU
Armor+ Case
Vista Ultimate (or Home Premium if you really can't get Ultimate)
Acer 24" monitor

ALSO! PM me your email, and I can invite you to the Best Buy Private Auctions, and you can save 200 bucks on a 24" monitor, or perhaps even nab a 25.5" Samsung for 250 bucks or less. JUST PM ME WITH YOUR EMAIL!!!!

CURRENT AUCTION: Has 9 hours left!!!

Samsung 2693HM 25.5in LCD Flat Panel Monitor w/HDMI <table class="grad_box" style="border: 0pt none ; margin: 0pt;" border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td nowrap="nowrap" width="200"> Current bid: </td> <td valign="top">$148.99</td></tr></tbody></table>
^ HOW COULD YOU MISS THIS!?!?!

Yoshikuni Mahsu · Dec 02, 2008, 11:18 PM // 23:18

Talking about HD 4850's, 4870's arent worth it ATM. Anything that will outperform two 4850's in crossfire will be a good $90 more.

Kokuyougan · Dec 14, 2008, 06:24 AM // 06:24

/sigh. My dad's credit's whack, so I'm waiting for him to talk to his friend about borrowing his card.

Until then, Armor+ vs Antec 1200 + 1TB drive.

Lord Sojar · Dec 14, 2008, 07:29 AM // 07:29

Armor+ is a higher quality case, but getting the Antec 1200 and a 1TB drive is more bang for your buck. I dunno, that call is yours to make.

Kokuyougan · Dec 18, 2008, 02:04 AM // 02:04

And onwards with the stupidity!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.149941

Worth it to tri-SLi? lol I'd have to again, take out the 1TB drive, and I get to keep the Armor+.

Evil Genius · Dec 18, 2008, 02:58 AM // 02:58

/sigh

The same thing in Australia would be over AU$2000 (US$1444).

Lord Sojar · Dec 19, 2008, 12:57 AM // 00:57

At that price, very worth it to Tri-SLi them. The performance boost is nice with the newest driver release. Tri-SLi has come a long way in the last 4-6 months.

However, why drop the 1TB drive?

My total on Newegg excluding the monitor, keyboard, and mouse is $2,203.24.

You can get a monitor on the auctions I invited you to for 200 bucks. That leaves 100 dollars for mouse and keyboard, which if you look for sales on the gaming mice/keyboards on newegg, you can easily do. That would be no more than 2,550 with shipping.

Note: That is including a non stock cooler, which is 59.99. Subtract that, and it gives you more than enough room for keyboard and mouse. Oh, and that total is excluding a disk drive (add 28 bucks)

Kokuyougan · Dec 19, 2008, 04:25 AM // 04:25

Savings are absolutely stupid. I'm 20$ less than I had with regular SLi, but I dropped 300GB VelociRaptor to 150. Oh, the reason I had to drop the 1TB was because I had the Tri-SLi AND a regular 216. I have it back now.

$2,354.54, which leaves $195.46 for a good 24'' monitor. Ahh, life is good.

Oh, holy crap, is 750w enough for tri-SLi?

Lord Sojar · Dec 19, 2008, 07:56 AM // 07:56

No, get the 1000w Corsair. That will be enough. That is what I had in the setup @ 2,203.24. That was including a 150GB VR drive and 1TB Seagate 333 drive.

To review, these are the parts you should have:

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133056

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231225

Motherboard and GPUs:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.149941

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115202

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139007

OS HDD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136296

Media HDD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148373

Disk Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151173

Thermal Adhesive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100009

Total including shipping for the above =
$2,145.68

Now, add in whatever keyboard and mouse you want. For your purposes, I would go with a fairly inexpensive keyboard and mouse, leaving you more money for your monitor.
WARNING: You may have to wait until after Christmas to buy the monitor on the auctions, because Best Buy is holding off putting merchandise on the site because of the holiday season. Once the holidays are over (Jan 7th and after), they will put all the things they didn't sell on the auctions, which is a great thing for you.

So, I did this setup:

Keyboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823175103
(Great keyboard, phenomenal reviews, cheap, and flashy looking, just no macro keys. The world won't end without them, and you can upgrade down the road)

Mouse:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826104178
(Again, name of the game here is CHEAP and AMAZING. The MX518 is plenty advanced for almost every game you would need to play, and overkill for Guild Wars. It features plenty of buttons, and has a quality that is unmatched. It also is at a great price point of 40 bucks, which is a steal for this tried and true mouse)

Regarding the OS, get it through your school. If you are a high school student, you can get a discount on it through Microsoft. If you are a college student, 10-25 dollars will get you Vista 64bit, which is a wicked deal. Education discounts are THE way to go.

What does that bring your total to without OS and Monitor you ask?

Grand Total: $2,223.05

That leaves you a nice 300 dollars for the monitor and OS, which is more than enough. If you decide to take the route of Newegg for your monitor... well, here is the result:

ASUS 24":
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236049

Asus makes good screens on their notebooks, and spare one or two foul reviews, this new monitor from their camp looks to be a winner, especially at that nice 299.99 price point.

Acer 24"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009152

Worried about going with the ASUS? Although this Acer has lower specs, it does have the name backing it up, and is 10 dollars cheaper. Coming in at 289.99, it is a steal. The ASUS does trump it in specs though, especially on contrast ratio (dynamic, not GtG), at 20,000 vs the Acer's 3,000.

Samsung 24"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001309

Well, this is a give take. The build quality is second to none, because Samsung is such a great company, but they are known to be expensive. They cut corners on this monitor to bring it down to 299.99, and it shows in some areas. The stand is terrible, I will say that now. With no adjustments, it is pretty grim in that department. However, the picture is gorgeous, and vivid. The take? The viewing angles are not great, so you best be sitting head on looking at it. If you are, prepare to be dazzled. If you are not, prepare to have color and lighting issues. The Samsung can be the best of the bunch, or one of the worst. It depends on if it fits your desk and viewing angle.

Adding in the Acer monitor at 289.99, and you get a grand total of...

Grand Total: $2,535.51

Assuming you can snag Vista 64bit for 10-25 bucks, that puts you right on budget (this is assuming you don't want to wait for new monitors to come into stock on the Best Buy Private Auctions... which you should really wait)

But assuming you do wait, and you don't get Vista on a student discount (which you absolutely should), here is your pricing:

Home Premium 64bit with Service Pack 1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116488

This is your best bet, as you save precious money. If you get the student discount, get Ultimate 64bit. Otherwise, stick with Home Premium.

Total cost with OS: (assuming you get monitor on auctions when they restock it)

Grand Total: $2,323.04

That leaves you with ~200 bucks for a great 24" monitor, which shouldn't be hard on the auction site.

Hope that helps.

Kokuyougan · Dec 23, 2008, 04:25 AM // 04:25

Will that run Crysis at [total] max at 1920x1200?

Kokuyougan · Jan 03, 2009, 06:44 AM // 06:44

OK, final date to buy all this junk is: January 16, 2009. Should I switch out the two GTX 260 revB's for a GTX 295? I think so.