my new rig, your input

[Juxax]

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.33GHz (1333FSB) - Retail

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case

Logitech G11 Gaming-Grade Illuminated Keyboard - Retail (967929-0120)

GeIL 2GB 2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC)

Corsair 1GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C4 TwinX (2x512MB)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775)

Akasa SATA-2 45cm Silver Data Cable x2

Akasa Serial ATA 45cm DAYGLO Green Data Cable

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Sound Card - OEM (PCI) (30SB079200000)

Creative Inspire 7.1 T7900 Speakers - OEM

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)

Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (0A33435)

Logitech G11 Gaming-Grade Illuminated Keyboard - Retail (967929-0120)

Pioneer DVR-212DBK 18x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM

overclocking cpu to 3.0 ghz, i've been using second rate, crap bits in my pcs for ages, only upgrading the important bits every so often, so i decided to get decent other parts too.

i will also be using a 8800gts 640, akasa paxpower 500w psu.

the mobo and cpu is already bought n paid for, as it's my christmas present, but i just wanna be sure it's all compatible with each other, as it is i'm not really interested in going quad core, they've been out ages, and everyone keeps making exscuses for em, fact is they don't work nearly half as well as hyped, and are imo a waste of money.

i'm wanting one for the future but only when the next generation quads arrive, intels aren't impressing me much and amd's "true" quad core just proves they no longer have what it takes to make decent processors.

i'm hoping to play crysis on v-high (tweaked via cfg on windows XP) right now my pc struggles cheap v-high with the majority of key settings on medium/low, and when I say struggles, i mean 13-15 fps on the snow levels, however i am currently using win vista 32 ultimate - and i've noticed a major decrease in system performance on all games from switching OS from xp to vista.

would there be much of a speed increase using xp over vista for games, crysis in specific? with a rig like that I mean. Vista is very stable and efficient, and tbh i'd prefer to stick to it, but if going back to xp means nomad runs and kills smoother, i'll do it.

Crysis is all I play, and right now it plays so bad i don't turn it on. :/

obviously quads are more powerful but imo not enough to justify all the extra spenditure, so i wanna wait to get a quad.

 

[melbourne720]

You need a better graphics card. I doubt Crysis will budge much with that upgrade.

Okay, that's an overstatement. But the main problem is too high settings on a 8800 GTS 640MB. The switch from that AMD chip to the intel will help, but perhaps what you really need is the new G100 series in the new year, or a 8800 GT at least.

Also, why are you getting 1GB of Corsair RAM? It's not worth mixing and matching RAM, and certainly not worth not installing it in pairs.

If you like I'll run the Crysis benchmark on my rig (which is similar in some ways to what you are intending to build). Just let me know in this thread what detail settings you want (e-mail in trust if you like) and I'll run the benchmark for you.

 

[semi-pro waster]

Everything there is compatible although do you mean to have 3gb of Ram (and of different types)? You don't really need the extra data cables since ones will come with the motherboard.

 

[Juxax]

geil don't make 1gb kits, or atleast ocuk don't stock em, and 32 bit os's won't use 4g, as for cables, yeh the mobo comes with em but they don't have clips, should i just get 4GB ocz gold or something, and only use 3?

i was under the impretion dual channel is faster, ie x2 512 mb's > 1x1024mb

i've had problems with my current setup due to sata 2 cables popping out of the holes.

i'm hoping to sell my 8800 for about 90 quid, and buy the Crysis Edition superclocked GT

 

[melbourne720]

You really want one of these RAM configs:-

2 x 1GB
4 x 1GB
2 x 2GB

Anything else and you're at home to mr cockup imho

8800 GT is a good idea, just get the cheapest and clock it yourself.

 

[Juxax]

doesn't overclocking a gpu void it's warranty unless u buy it pre-clocked? otherwise why would it be nessercary to sell pre-oc'd gpu's.

 

[C64]

doesn't overclocking a gpu void it's warranty unless u buy it pre-clocked? otherwise why would it be nessercary to sell pre-oc'd gpu's.

No as there's no way they can know if you overclocked it.

 

[semi-pro waster]

geil don't make 1gb kits, or atleast ocuk don't stock em, and 32 bit os's won't use 4g, as for cables, yeh the mobo comes with em but they don't have clips, should i just get 4GB ocz gold or something, and only use 3?

I'd just buy the 4gb as melbourne720 suggests, a 32bit OS won't be able to address all of it but you'll see somewhere in the region of 3.5gb plus if you do move to a 64bit OS it will all be viewed correctly.

Pre-overclocked cards simply mean they are guaranteed at that speed, many cards will be able to reach those speeds or greater anyway but it allows people who aren't confident about overclocking a slightly faster card than stock. I generally don't think the price is worthwhile but since you get Crysis bundled it isn't that much more expensive than buying the pair separately.

 

[Juxax]

yo melbourne what sorta frames do you get on crysis? say.. all on v-high cept shadows on high, probably the most draining part of the game would be the recovery level, go to the village, run straight in, rescue the chick, so u got all the koreans and the tanks to do, also try getting the koreans on the beach and in the hills also, you can pull about 100 koreans lol.

I did that on delta, took me about 45 minutes and 2 deaths to do, mainly due to 12 fps. either that or awakening when the rocks begin to crumble, and the last level. if you get around 24-30 fps i'll be laughing.

thanks