System overhaul

[adamsad1]

Hey all,

Well, after stringing it out my computer needs a major upgrade. The motherboard is taking a dump right now, and since the 939 sockets aren't made anymore that means replacing the processor (FX-55), memory (DDR1), and while I'm at it, the GPUs (2x 6800s). My goals are to play Crysis in at least 1600x1200 with max settings. I also want to leave room for upgrading in the future as this build becomes outdated (ex, a second SLI graphics card, and a PCI for a dedicated PhysX GPU). If possible, I'd like to keep it under $1,000, less is better. I don't plan on over-clocking—at least not until it becomes outdated.

I'll be using Vista Home Premium for games, and Ubuntu for everything else.

This is what I can salvage:

Power Supply:Antec TruePower Treo 650w
Sound Card: X-FI XtremeGamer Fatal1ty
Hard Drives: 2x 250gb SATA, 2x 250gb IDE
Case, DVD Drives, and peripherals


This is what I'm thinking of buying:

Motherboard: XFX nForce 680i LT ($110) or EVGA 780i ($220) – Is the dual-channel support and PCIe 2.0 worth the extra $100?
CPU: Q6600 ($210 w/fan)
RAM: 2x 2GB OCZ ReaperX HPC PC2-6400 ($85)
GPU: GeForce GTX 280 ($450)

Total: $865 to $965

 

[Digital_Jedi]

From what you have there I would say that you are set. I know that right now I can play Crysis with my 7600GT on med. settings in dx9 with a couple of things set to low at 1440X900. I am getting a 8800GS an I know that I will be able to play Crysis on high at 1440X900.... Any reason why at 1600X1200? You may get better performance at a lower resolution and still have everything looking great.

 

[Digital_Jedi]

The PCIe 2.0 Will be nice to have since most cards are PCIe 2.0. MY MOBO only have PCIe 1.0 and I am getting a 2.0 card. They are compatible with each other so I would still get that motherboard.

 

[adamsad1]

The 1600 by 1200 is kinda arbitrary. My monitor supports QXGA (2048 by 1536), but I figure after 16 by 12 you don't really see much difference. And if it can play at 16 by 12 then the next "Crysis" will still be playable at a lower resolution.

I was actually looking strongly at the EVGA 750i motherboards--not much more, but it does offer the PCIe 2.0, and I don't really care about the tri-sli. I also noticed that a couple manufactures are selling the 9800 GX2s for under $300, so I'll probably go with that instead of the 280, since they get about the same performance.