Quick Spec Check - Target:Crysis

Westyfield2

Westyfield2

Westyfield2

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Need a new gaming rig, and have speced the following:

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £170.36
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2N1066SR2GK) £76.36
Asus P5KC Combo Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard £85.76
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - OEM £240.86

Making a total of £573.35 (budget for these 4 items is £580). I've got Sata HDD & everything already.

The aim is to run Crysis, not need to be upgraded too soon, but be upgradeable (going to add another 2gb when funds allow) and in a few years time replace with DDR3 & a higher quad-core.

So: Have I made any simple errors? (it's been years since I did any Intel rig's!)

Will my existing (only a few months old) Zalman ZM500-HP Heatpipe Cooled 500W Modular PSU be enough to power it?

TY
Ed.
 
Good choice of components, can't recommend anything better really. I would change the RAM to something cheaper though, no need to spend £76 on 2Gb. Overclocking a Q6600 only really needs PC6400 unless you plan on dropping the multiplier or going for large overclock. PC6400 will allow 3.6 GHz with the RAM at stock speed (9x400 MHz).

Consider the GieL ULL or OCZ Platinum 2x1Gb packs. Or you could get the 2x2Gb OCZ Gold which is about £65. Bear in mind that 1Gb sticks will overclock above their rated speed but 2Gb sticks generally don't. If you are overclocking using air then 2Gb PC6400 sticks will be more than fine. If you really want faster RAM then G.skill PC8000 2x2Gb can be had for £80.

500W PSU will be fine providing you aren't running loads of hard drives.
 
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Westyfield2 said:
So: Have I made any simple errors? (it's been years since I did any Intel rig's!)
Click to expand...

Other than basing an entire build on being able to play a single, rather average game, no, all looks good :D

You could get 4GB RAM for the same money, or a little more, so may be worth doing that, or taking RichL's idea, and get cheaper 2GB and save some dosh.
 
I don't claim to be an expert, but I have just ordered my new setup - and decided against a couple of your items for the following reasons.

8800gtx - swapped for bfg 8800gts oc (512mb version, not the old ones) - only slightly reduced performance levels (5% according to one website) at about 20% less cost, and I think based on 65nm instead of 90nm process so runs cooler and quieter - not to mention using much less power.

memory - swap for 4gb pc6400, the 8500 seems pointless unless hardcore overclocking, and having 4gb will help with crysis a lot apparently.

CPU - i eventually decided on the e8400 rather than the q6600, as for gaming quad cores don't seem very helpful at the moment and the e8400 should run cooler and use less power. probably a 50/50 decision going by the chat on the forums. might be worth waiting for the new quads which are due shortly if you really want one?

motherboard - I almost went for your one, but ended up with the p5k pro. I suspect by the time ddr3 ram is affordable/mainstream I will want something newer than a p35.

just my thoughts, feel free to ignore them.
 
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get a GTS GX2 512MB, unless you have a stupidly large monitor you won't need anything better, I run crysis maxxed full dx10 on vista with my sig setup, but online i have to turn down shadows to high.

which isnt much of a problem...

and don't listen to the naysayer elitists that badmouth crysis cuz their 6 grand rig can't get 200 frames per second...

crysis is a sick game, the single player korean levels are awesome, i still play them atleast a few good hrs a day, but online is good too.
 
Thanks

Thanks for the input so far!

Re Overclocking: For the first few months it's not going to be clocked at all, and then when it is, it'll be only mild clocks on air.

Re Ram: So instead of the 2x1GB PC2-8500C5 1066MHz OCZ (£76.36), what about the following instead:
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Reaper HPC Enhanced Bandwidth Edition Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2RPR800C44GK) £76.36 (on this week only)
 
That Ram would make a fine choice to swap for. If in a few months you decide to overclock it won't limit you, certainly not as much as the retail cooler is likely to, by the time you are getting anywhere near the limits of the Ram you will probably have had to replace the cooler although it is decent enough for ordinary use. :)
 
semi-pro waster said:
That Ram would make a fine choice to swap for. If in a few months you decide to overclock it won't limit you, certainly not as much as the retail cooler is likely to, by the time you are getting anywhere near the limits of the Ram you will probably have had to replace the cooler although it is decent enough for ordinary use. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks, yea I'll definately be replacing the CPU cooler.


With having 4gb RAM & a 768mb Graphics Card, I presume I'd have to get the 64bit version of Vista?? :eek: (XP x64 on my AMD X2 4800 was always pretty buggy!)
 
Pretty much identical system to mine, i have 4x1GB sticks of Geil ULL and have my cpu clocked at 3.2 24/7 on air.
Haven't clocked the GTX at all.

Crysis can struggle on my 24" if at high res.
 
you'll be fine with 4GB ram with 32 bit OS. it will recognise around 3.2g ram if you're using a gtx, and about 3.5 if ** using a gx2 gts, 512.

I could do with an extra 2g ram for my set up, crysis stutters for me, like i get a few 3 sec pauses sometimes, other then that my game runs really well, it's just the ram streaming the big levels.
 
Almost the same setup I have and Crysis runs very very well. :) Great game. I run 64bit Vista Ultimate, 4 gig of ram, 8800 GTX and Q6600.

But as mentioned above I would be tempted to wait for the 3870x2 and see what its like, price and performance wise.
 
Good mobo / cpu commbination given your budget. You'll do extremely well to get this combination past 3.4gig for your processor - been trying for weeks - but having followed the thread, can see you're not overly ambitious in this regard anyway. You should expect to reach 3.2gig with relative ease when the time comes for your overclock. Nice spec though and as stated pc6400 ram is fine and saves a few pennies. ;)
 
Juxax said:
you'll be fine with 4GB ram with 32 bit OS. it will recognise around 3.2g ram if you're using a gtx, and about 3.5 if ** using a gx2 gts, 512.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid this isn't correct Juxax. This point is being raised a lot now RAM is cheap as chips. Westyfield2 is going for a 768Mb gfx card (or was). The amount of Ram that windows will be left to address (and therefore see) is reduced by the size (NOT TYPE) of your graphics card, and then other management (ports, soundcard, hd controller etc).

Westyfield2 you are more correct in your statement. But rest assured that Vista 64 has much better driver support than XP64 ever did. If you stick with 32 bit then you'll probably get about 3.0/3.1 gig depending on the rest of your system.

Hope this helps.
 
Since your 'target' is Crysis, I would design your system as to enable you to upgrade your graphics card with the least money lost when you get the next gen card in a few months.

I.e. aim for either an X38 or X48 system (or maybe P45) to ensure it supports PCI-E 2 specification and with X48 the (I think) 1333Mhz FSB. Most X38 will do this anyway, just X48 are cherry picked chipsets or better produced chipsets that able cope more efficiently with the speeds.

But seriously, you should be aiming for a system that will be able to cope with a G100 or R700 when they come out this year. Anything other would be wasting a SERIOUS amount of cash in order to support a single game right now. (i.e. get a GTS 512mb or GTX oem now, and sell it when the g100's/R700's come out).

Matthew
 
Thank for all the comments.

Re the Graphics Card: Am I right in thinking the ATi 3870x2 is going to be around the same price & performance of a single 8800 Ultra (£375-450)?
If so, that's unfortunately too much - the graphics card budget is £250.
But would the release of the 3870x2 push down the price of the 8800 Ultra into the £250 region?
Similarly, when is the Nvidia 9800 series expected out?
 
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