What PC Tech to aim for?

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Socoder -> PC Gaming -> What PC Tech to aim for?
Sat, 11 Oct 2008, 22:52
Jayenkai	Not me, I'm perfectly happy with a Celeron that runs well, and a Dual Core that runs Vista. .. But my mate Dave's sent an email asking me for tech-spec help. I ain't got a clue, so I'll stick it here, and you can all pick 'n' choose.. Will probably get a new computer early next year. CPUs seem particularly confusing with the ones containing more cores running at lower clock speeds and therefore being slower at many tasks. Main horsepower-requiring applications… * GTA 4 * Cities XL * Virtual PC / VMWare (so hardware virtualization is a must) -=-=- ''Load, Next List!''
Sat, 11 Oct 2008, 23:12
JL235	Make sure he gets a high-end Intel CPU with the latest virtualisation features. I'd recommend an nVidia graphics card rather then ATI because in my experience they have better drivrs and are more reliable. I've also read that the low end nVidia cards in each series have less features then the rest, where as the mid-range are simply less powerful then the high-end cards.
Sun, 12 Oct 2008, 00:29
HoboBen	The new Intel i7 (quad core, 8 threads) is out next month (though it's always a good idea to wait for prices to fall), if your friend is the sort of person who would get a lot out of multiple-cores (if he's using multiple virtual machines at the same time, for example. Less so if he's only using one) But the newer Core 2 Duos (E8**0) are excellent - they have a 6 MB L2 cache whereas the new i7 has only 256 KB per core with an 8 MB shared L3 cache. Depending on how often your friend uses multiple cores, he might decide to choose one over the other. I don't know about AMD because although the equivalents run at slower speeds, they do more per cycle. -=-=- blog \| work \| code \| more code
Sun, 12 Oct 2008, 03:23
JL235	The current AMD chips are more price efficient (which is what they are planned to be) but generally not as good as Intels current lineup. The high-end Phenoms only beat the low end core 2 duos.
Sun, 12 Oct 2008, 04:14
Paul	The new Intel i7 will be cost alot, and they need expensive ddr3 memory and new costly motherboard. Sure, it'l probably preform better, but at a very high cost. I would have gone either with a quad e9xx0 or with a dual e8x00. On the graphics side I would get a radeon hd4870. I don't know about the drivers, but the card performs well for it's price
Sun, 12 Oct 2008, 05:04
mole	I recently got a new (cheap) computer to replace my old one, which conked out. I chose an AMD processor (X2 6000+ core AM2)because the motherboards were cheaper, and the procs were a lot cheaper than the Intels. Out and out power isn't that important to me; this AMD is more than powerful enough. In terms of RAM, I have Corsair XMS2. According to forums/friends, it is the current 'in thing'. Or something. I didn't buy a new gfx card; I'm worried that all the new(ish) ones will be too long for my shuttle
Wed, 12 Aug 2009, 12:44
erbbysam	The Intel i7 is still really overpriced/overkill for modern gaming needs, I recently got a relatively cheap Core-duo Quad (+1 contradiction and ~$200 I think in a combo deal) , combined with a nvidia GTX 285 and can have 2 monitors, one with windows 7 and one with Windows XP in a VM. Also 125 FPS COD 4 max and ~90 FPS COD:WAW max (may be not max anti-aliased, don't remember) -=-=- erbbysam.com
Wed, 12 Aug 2009, 14:50
Jayenkai	I probably should've mentioned that Dave bought a pc by now!!! But, heck, why not reopen. I'm now looking for a crappy PC to replace this crappy PC. Nothing fancy, in fact I'd prefer half asleep, since I typically use the Celeron system to ensure my games will vaguely run on older systems. So, cheap PC suggestions! I'm currently looking at the half-assed Aria cheapo systems, link 'cos I don't really think I should be spending a lot on my half-assed system. Of course, I could always dismantle the whole thing, and buy parts, but.. .. meh, I'm usually too busy to be pissing around with crap like that! -=-=- ''Load, Next List!''
Wed, 12 Aug 2009, 17:05
Afr0	Linky -=-=- Afr0 Games Project Dollhouse on Github - Please fork!
Thu, 13 Aug 2009, 10:52
dna	I would follow HoboHens advice and go for the E8. That 6MB buffering makes a difference when running some programs. -=-=- DNA