How to buy a gaming box!!

[killians45]

oh, and when I say sound card, I mean a good concrete card. as far as saying you dont have to buy games that are too demanding then why bother with the prev post??? It kind of goes against what you stated... that it will be good for 2 or 2 1/2 years. Well, it probably wont be going by your recommendations because the unreal3 engine is just the FIRST in a slew of new engines based on upcoming technologies. DX 9 has just now started showing its full potential, and will still be vamping up for a few more years. DX next (code is Avalon, I think) is still in testing phase and the Longhorn is supposedly based off of DX10 (3D desktop).

 

[Apokalipse]

No it won't be obsolete, you don't have to buy a game that is too demanding

exactly, you don't have to play Doom 3 or HL2 every time you go on your computer. I am running on a Pentium 3 933 overclocked to 1050 (which I bought for $25 aus) and a TNT2 Pro (which I got with a complete system for $100 aus), and it does almost everything I want it to do. I would like to have all the latest and greatest hardware, but I don't have an infinite amount of money.

the 9600 plays HL2 and Doom 3 on fairly high settings at fairly high framerates, and is by far not obsolete. I would say in the next year it would be like the GF4 Ti's are today (which are still descent enough to run HL2 and Doom 3)

 

[killians45]

agreed apok... also, dont misunderstand me, I'm not bashing you or anything or trying to be hateful, just dont agree. However, the smaller memory modules do run faster than the larger ones, thats just a technical fact. Not saying if its significant, because I dont remember the exact boost, but it is there. I would STILL suggest getting just one mem module for later upgrades, I didn't because... well... I'm just a cheap s.o.b.

 

[Alex81388]

nowadays 1GB is plenty of RAM, with 2GB being a bit much (I can just see someone years from now laughing at this) and so far offers slight if any performance increase over 1GB

Hahha, yeah. Theres a quote on the wall of one of our tech-rooms in school, says:

"640K ought to be enough for any consumer in the industry" - Bill Gates

 

[killians45]

well, where talking in short time terms here, not long term. Until Longhorn comes out in 2006, 1GB is useless (for MOST normal use, this excludes SQL servers, 2003 server/AD, and the like). Even after longhorn comes out it will be awhile before developers start embracing the more powerful systems, with the exception of chipsets (vid).

 

[gaara]

What exactly is an AMD 4400+? What about dual cores?

Dude, Longhorn is an operating system, it will not eat away 512mb of RAM, and if it does, I honestly don't think it will sell very well.

You don't need a top of the line system to play games at settings that can satisfy us. It's unusual you've decided to generalize gamers, I myself am an avid gamer and don't agree with all of your concepts.

I also find your theories a bit hypocritical. On one hand, you seem to think the 800XL/XT and 6800GT/Ultra will last for three years. But on the other hand, you claim that cards that aren't even three years old, such as the 9800 Pro, are obsolete. In three years, the cards you've listed won't be the best of the best, like the 9800 Pro, so what exactly is different?

I think you are just trying to impress a few people by spewing your opinions and trying to manipulate them into facts. You may be fooling some of the misinformed, but the rest of us enthusiats know better.

 

[Jeff Lawson]

]What exactly is an AMD 4400+? What about dual cores?

A 939 at 2600ghz with 1 mb cache, probably the end point of the 939 line.

Dude, Longhorn is an operating system, it will not eat away 512mb of RAM, and if it does, I honestly don't think it will sell very well.

Ram is rather cheap these days, and Longhorn may not be out till late 06, that's nearly 2 yrs away.

I also find your theories a bit hypocritical. On one hand, you seem to think the 800XL/XT and 6800GT/Ultra will last for three years. But on the other hand, you claim that cards that aren't even three years old, such as the 9800 Pro, are obsolete. In three years, the cards you've listed won't be the best of the best, like the 9800 Pro, so what exactly is different?

You need to read the whole thread before bursting in here.
The 9800pro was made obsolete by the 6600GT, not by it's age....who in their right mind would buy a 9800pro over a 6600GT today??

I think you are just trying to impress a few people by spewing your opinions and trying to manipulate them into facts. You may be fooling some of the misinformed, but the rest of us enthusiats know better. ]

An enthusiast is usually classified as someone with a higher than average interest and would almost always have higher tech specs than the average person.

A person with the intention of buying a 9600/512 ram gaming box is not a hardcore gamer and not my target audience.

 

[Jeff Lawson]

like I stated, the latest and greatest vid card @ $500 will only be able to play the latest unreal3 engine at most subpar fps, and at low detail... so its best to wait for the newer GPU chipsets to come out, ]

Firstly, I've said that going for the 6600GT/X800 is ok, I've also stated that 6800GT/X800XL is worth the money, and if a demanding game comes out, well just wait it out, I'd never advise anyone to buy on the strength of one game/program.....you probably want 5-7 good games out.

 

[Jeff Lawson]

[ dunno actual specs, but not too many people burn DVD's and record the TV on there gaming computer. that is usually a multimedia center or something. ]

Perhaps you're a very narrow minded individual, but PC's are very versatile these days, you can play games and create a media ctr, but the media ctr still wants reasonably high specs{not as high as a proper gaming box}.....so the one box does it all, the major difference is the GPU, but being that a 6600GT is acceptable for both gaming and TV capture, why would you settle for less?

 

[Jeff Lawson]

[
the 9600 plays HL2 and Doom 3 on fairly high settings at fairly high framerates, and is by far not obsolete. I would say in the next year it would be like the GF4 Ti's are today (which are still descent enough to run HL2 and Doom 3) []

I'm pointing out how superior and versatile a I gig, 6600GT box is compared to buying a 9600, 512 box.