[TiG] The Irish Guard - UK & Irish PC Gaming Clan & Gaming Community

General Stuff => Hardware News & Views => Topic started by: [GIT]Fairy on December 13, 2008, 09:43:44 PM

Title: Build in new year.
Post by: [GIT]Fairy on December 13, 2008, 09:43:44 PM
Heres what I'm hoping to build in the new year.  Hopefully prices might drop even more, so even better value.  Not sure if I'll use my media centre case or not yet, its a good case though so shouldnt be any problem.  Gief Feedback.  Also anyone else considering upgrading soon, as in new build?

(http://www.ingram-kitchens.com/images/upgrade.jpg)
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Grim on December 13, 2008, 10:40:55 PM
cant see anything wrong here all those components are great and will give you an excellent machine to play nearly all current games at max settings and that processor is easily overclocked to 3ghz as well which gives it a surprisingly good performance boost all in all a very good machine for the money imo and well worth it
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]the_syco on December 13, 2008, 11:59:28 PM
If you plan getting GTA4 for the PC, get a 1GB gfx card.

My rig, new parts are bolded. (Case) Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 .:. (Mobo) Gigabyte GA-X48-DS5 .:. (CPU) 12MB 64bit Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 .:. (Heatsink) TRUE 120 .:. (RAM) 4GB Dominator PC2-8500 .:. (GFX) 1GB HD4870 [Factory Overclocked] .:. (SATA2 HDDs) 250GB 320GB 500GB 1TB 1TB .:. (Audio) Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional, 64MB .:. (Joystick) Saitek x52 .:. (Headphones) Sennheiser SK Gaming .:. (Mouse) Saitek GM3200.

Also, look at hardwareversand.de Saved ?100 over Komplett

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58250060&postcount=229

Aside from the crashes, it's most excellent. Patches for graphic cards and game coming out days after release of the game. When you get your rig in January, it may be all solved :)

From hardwareversand.de

?244,80 - Club3D HD4870 Overclocked 1024MB, ATI Radeon HD4870, PCI-Express
?297,89 - Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 boxed, 12MB, LGA775, 64bit
?213,26 - Gigabyte GA-X48-DS5 ,Intel X48, ATX, PCI-Express
?97,81 - 4096MB-Kit Corsair TWIN2X DHX 8500C5DF, CL5
?87,11 - WD Caviar GP 1TB WD10EACS SATA II WD10EACS

All prices @ 18% VAT (nice Germans charged me German VAT instead of Irish VAT :D)
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]ABE on December 14, 2008, 12:04:12 AM
id get a 1gb gfx card anyways no harm in it. not to sure wat price they are tho.
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Grim on December 14, 2008, 12:18:04 AM
honestly fairy just stick with the build you got there brilliant value for money only thing i would change is ram to the corsair stuff and mobo to gigabyte (still dont trust asus)

also 512mb of gddr5 ram is more than enough on a gfx card
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Grim on December 14, 2008, 12:20:44 AM
would also like to add fuck GTA4 its a console game thats badly optimized for pc and building a machine around it is a waste of time
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]the_syco on December 14, 2008, 12:23:07 AM
would also like to add fuck GTA4 its a console game thats badly optimized for pc and building a machine around it is a waste of time
Fully agreed. It's fun to play, though (don't have a console).

If you want to go for the 1GB card, though, it's an extra ?30 according to overclockers.co.uk
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: Cully on December 14, 2008, 12:49:51 AM
Got to agree with grim about Asus, i had 2 Asus mobos just die on me after only a few months.
I went back to Gigabyte, far better boards imo.
Id probably up the PSUa bit too for future proofing while your at it, 500w is fine but you never know what you might add to your system, while your at it maybe go with a 700w from seasonic or OCZ.
Id also recomend Samsung Spinsoft hard drives, they are the best and quietest HDs ive ever had.

Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Grim on December 18, 2008, 04:11:42 AM
sigh you got me into thinking about new build now waw

http://www.komplett.ie/k/shoplist.aspx?mode=receive&si=655693&su=AE2C8A7A-5CBD-48B3-9330-FB51522A616E
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Boru on December 18, 2008, 04:49:44 PM
 what ye think about a good graphics card upgrade from 2 Gforce 7900gs cards (SLI) to 2 Gforce 9800 cards?
thinking of spending around the 300euro mark on it.
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Grim on December 18, 2008, 05:25:34 PM
if you have an sli board go with 2 9800gt's should come to about 250 euro
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: Cully on December 18, 2008, 06:16:47 PM
Better still go with this http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=383240

My brother got one last week and its an absolute beast.
From what ive read on the net its 4-5 times the power of my current XFX 8800 GTX.
Considering there isnt a game out that my rig cant run at max res and setting s at high framerate that ATI will be a long term upgrade for anyone.
If you got a large monitor and want to run at super duper res go with the 1 GB version for and extra 30 euros or so.

ATI are definitely top of the pile again [for a while atleast]
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Grim on December 18, 2008, 06:33:22 PM
must stop skim reading!!!! go with the card cully linked great value for money
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]the_syco on December 18, 2008, 06:51:52 PM
Better still go with this http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=383240
The factory overclocked version of the above, for ?224 http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=22799&agid=717

Or for ?27 more, at ?251, the 1GB version http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=23371&agid=1004

=-=

Cully: how does GTA4 run on your rig? Latest patch is very good. No crashes since I got the patch.

Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Grim on December 18, 2008, 06:53:44 PM
or this is out on 8 of jan looks very impressive http://guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-295-preview/1
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: Cully on December 18, 2008, 07:18:39 PM
Better still go with this http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=383240
The factory overclocked version of the above, for ?224 http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=22799&agid=717

Or for ?27 more, at ?251, the 1GB version http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=23371&agid=1004

=-=

Cully: how does GTA4 run on your rig? Latest patch is very good. No crashes since I got the patch.



I dont have GTA 4 mate sorry, too many games i havent time for as it is :)
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Boru on December 18, 2008, 08:48:00 PM
thanks, will let ya know
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Lucutus on December 18, 2008, 08:52:20 PM
or this is out on 8 of jan looks very impressive http://guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-295-preview/1

Depends on the price of course, but those early benchmarks look very promising...
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Boru on December 18, 2008, 09:15:42 PM
aye the gtx 295 is something else, cant see it going for the 300 euro mark either. :|
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Grim on December 19, 2008, 12:03:32 AM
would guess at about 450 to 500
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [GIT]Fairy on December 19, 2008, 08:18:23 AM
Few of us discussing upgrades last night.  Really starting to think about not upgrading and get an xbox 360 for myself instead.  Its just a whole lot easier, and now that you can install the games onto the hd its way better to use and play as well.

Also imo i cant see huge ammounts of money going into developing new PC games, but can still see console game development steaming ahead.
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Molc on December 19, 2008, 09:13:48 AM
Alas I totally agree. Bar WoW and shooters, I don't use the PC for gaming anymore. It's just not worth the heartache/money.
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: Cully on December 19, 2008, 09:55:23 AM
Ah the age old pc v console debate.

Right now i have a high end pc,games like farcry2,Fallout3 look far better than the console counterpart.
There is nothing like running these beautiful games at resolutions of 1920?1080 on a proper monitor with maxed out graphics and maxed out AA and FSAA.
No console can compete with that and even if they could very few people have TVs that can display that kind of resolution.
Im sure 2-3 years time there will be a console capable but by then the pc will have evolved even further.
I havent even mentioned the superior controls on the pc.
To sum up no console can compete with a high end pc.
BUT this all comes at a vastly bigger price,then you have to deal with drivers etc etc which to many many folk are huge turn offs.


I also am the proud owner of a 360 and subscriber to xbox live.
I love it,i bought some games for it that i already have on the pc,for example COD4 and Mass Effect.
I bought Mass Effect with the console last Christmas and bought COD4 more as an experiment to test out what online play was like on the 360 even though i already had the pc version.
It was more for a personal experiment and also my little lad could play his own version of Daddys game so to speak :)
XBOX live is so user friendly its untrue,its so easy to forms parties and go play games together.
There is no need to rent servers as it takes seconds to get into games with your mates on Live.
My biggest worry back then was the controls on the xbox compared to pc,im a long time pc gamer having being a pc gamer for years.
Yes it was awkward and strange playing COD4 online with a pad but i blame my background on the pc for that.
If i never played a pc fps id have had no problem.
After an hour i was feeling comfortable with the pad,nowhere near as accurate as the twitch aiming on the pc.
Strangely enough i actually enjoyed having more time to react when im face to face with an enemy player.
There was little instant death upon seeing the enemy player.
Dont get me wrong,i will always prefer pc gaming but the consoles have so much to offer and for a lot less hassle.

Im running my 360 on my pc monitor using a cable for this exact job.
The 360 games look a lot better on my pc gaming monitor than my 32" Panasonic Viera HD TV which supports 1080i BUT simply cannot compete with the high res textures of the pc as ive said.


This sort of topic inevitably almost always arises the question "is pc gaming dying?"
Well ive seen countless gamers leave pc gaming for consoles for the simple reason of less expense,no hassle getting the console to run,no compatability issues, the list goes on.
It seems a lot of pc gamers are willing to put deal with the less attractive graphics
[NOTE this is only an issue if your comparing to a high end PC]
They are willing to deal with the pad which i admit after a short time is very fun and a very accurate means of playing an fps,after all its an even playing field as everyone else is using a pad.
[yes i realise there are third party mouse thingys for the XBOX but trust me they do not work,the have issues where one second your sensitivity is fine the next its allover the place,these things DO NOT work]

Then we have the gamer that has never played pc games and really doesnt know what the potential ,he is going to go with a next gen console everytime and this is the key factor in this whole debate.

Then we have the guys like us,Longtime PC gamers who know the score with seting up your pc for games,we know the sheer joy of games looking better than any console [with the proper hardware]but we also know the expense and the software/hardware issues.
For me atleast id hate to lose out on gaming on my pc.
Its hard for us to let go,i dont want to let go and as long as there are games for pc ill be playing them.

A few months back we had the top man in iD software saying pc gaming is dead,its strange he was saying this after the pc Unreal Tournament community refused to buy the flop that was UT3 from iD software.
Well ive got news for him,right now for pc we have new games and games soon to be released like Fallout3,Far Cry2Dead Space,Left 4 Dead,Red Alert3,World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King [11 million subscribers keenly awaiting its arrival],CODWaW.
Then we have the simulation crowd,flight sim addicts and racing sim addicts like myself,
Huge amount of software just released and soon to be released,we just dont see them listed on the normal gaming sites/magazines as they are specialized subjects.
www.iracing.com for example is a subscription based racing simulation thats used by professional race drivers.
You just dont get this sort of niche products on the consoles,you cannot play MMOs like WOW on consoles.

In my opinion PC gaming is far from dying,there are too many massive players out there with keen interests to see to it that pc gaming will never die,
Microsoft,Intel,Nvidia,ATi,Gigabyte, etc ,there are hundreds of huge companies manufacturing cpu,ram,hard drives,motherboards,drives,monitors,cases,fans, etc.
These guys as a whole will never let pc gaming die.


So yeah pc gaming is losing more users than the consoles are,the gulf is pretty huge at this stage but the world still has more than enough eager beaver pc gamers willing to put int the effort and expense to play games on their beloved platform.
Theres room for both pc and console gamers.
I for one recomend both formats to everyone,just make sure you never pick a ps3 above a 360 for a gaming machine.
The 360 has a much bigger catalogue of games,much better online support,a lot more players playing online,much easier to develop games for [just look at Fallout3, the ps3 version is at the bottom of the pile acording to comparison reviews ive read]
The PS3 is the far better choice if you want a blue ray player,i buy a console to play games however  :)

Trust me, after a while using a pad with fps games on console is not as bad as you may think.
Having said that a good pc with mouse / keyboard wins everytime for me :)

Jaysus i didnt intend such a long post.







Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Lucutus on December 19, 2008, 10:47:16 AM
tempted to get an Xbox now after reading that Cully!

Think I've save the money for an upgrade though...
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Molc on December 19, 2008, 10:54:36 AM
Well, I have a 40" 1080p widescreen in the main room and 5.1 sound. The gfx are close to PC, the screen is bigger and the sound is AMAZING when playing games, making it much more immersive. Add to that I'm sitting in a huge comfy beanbag and it gets very hard for my pc to compete. All I miss is the TS/vent chat (xbox live doesn't count when all you hear is blurry voices of 12 year old morons!)

Also, Cully I need an education. I've never managed to grab 4 named friends and play with them on xbox live. Have they updated the system so you can invite friends into a game? Kinda funky if so.

I'll always have both but at this stage I think the console "experience" is just better and more enjoyable.
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: Cully on December 19, 2008, 03:10:15 PM
Molc xbox live has always had the ability to invite friends to game your playing.
Its got even better with the latest dashboard update.


Just hit your X button, the large one in centre of pad and it brings up a menu while ingame, you can invite friends to your current online game there.

Also with the latest update to live you can not only invite friends to your group before a game and during a game but you can set it up so when you and your party join a server you ONLY hear voice chat form your party and not the annoying 10 year olds on the server, a very brilliant feature i might add.
You all stay in thie party constantly if you wiss, whether you are just browsning the xbox live dashboard or whether you are on a server or when you leave a server.
Its just like your own teamspeak.

With this new system live more or less gives you and your party free game servers and free voice servers.

Also live doesnt use much bandwidth, heres a pic i took yesterday of my new monitor,note my 6 year old playing halo 3 on live next to me :) my ping was stil perfect while he was online too.

(http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/1364/s7300505oc4.jpg)
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Grim on December 19, 2008, 03:37:12 PM
only games ill ever play on consoles are racing sims thats all there good for imo
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: Cully on December 19, 2008, 03:38:34 PM
Footy games ftw :)

Theres no racing sims on consoles, just racing games :P
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Grim on December 19, 2008, 03:39:41 PM
hate footy with a pashion so aye racing games are about it
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]Molc on December 19, 2008, 05:57:46 PM
Hehe fairly sweet setup there for the two of ye:)
Title: Re: Build in new year.
Post by: [TiG]the_syco on December 19, 2008, 11:00:43 PM
Cully: love the screen! Ye bastard! Just after upgrading my PC, and bought a car, so won't be getting something like that for a while yet.

As for consoles versus PC, I play Burnout on the xbox, and that's it. Battlefield series, CoD series, C&C series (will be playing RA3 again when my elbow heals), Sim City series (playing SC4000 on and off), NFS series, CS:S a bit (getting Portal & TF2 in the Orange Box for xmas), MS Flight Sim X, Crysis, etc, not to mention the applications, training videos, etc.

Upgrades are costly (around ?1000 every 3 years it seems), but I'd be bored with the consoles.