CyberDruid
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2007
- Messages
- 2,887 (0.48/day)
- Location
- On top of a mountain
System Name | Shop Dog |
---|---|
Processor | E8400 |
Motherboard | Asus Blitz Formula SE |
Cooling | d-Tek FuZion |
Memory | 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 G Skill |
Video Card(s) | EVGA 7900 GTX |
Storage | 150GB VelociRaptor |
Display(s) | Acer 21.5 1080p LED Back Lit Monitor |
Case | Working on it |
Audio Device(s) | PCI SoundMax |
Power Supply | Silverstone 750 Modular |
Software | XP Pro SP2 |
Benchmark Scores | Super Pi 11.56s 1M at 4050mhz |
One of my oldest and dearest friends used to be like us, normal, and spend most of his time gaming on his PC....then something terrible happened. I can't explain it. He stopped using his PC completely He bought Apple products one after another the day they were released And he only gamed on his consoles
Now despite his current state he's possibly the most hard core gamer I have ever met...and BF is his deepest passion.
That said he emailed me today and mentioned that he saw a build in his future...because by all accounts BF3 plays better on PC than console.
So here's the deal...he's got a P35 rig collecting dust. Would it be worth the money to upgrade that with a quad and plop in a fat GFX card and call it a day? Or should he go with new gen hardware?
Here's what I came up with...let me know what you think would be the way to go.
Here's the text I just sent him...did I get it right?
I did some research and there are two main options.
Option A: use older gear and overclock it to the max with liquid cooling.
Option B: use new gear and aircool it.
Older Gear I Have on Hand
Asus Blitz Formula SE P35 LGA 775 Motherboard w/ 2x 16X PCIe Lanes Liquid Cooled SB, NB Vregs (best OC-able board of its era)
http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Motherboards/ASUS-Blitz-Formula-SE.html
List: Discontinued Your Cost: Negotiable
Intel Yorkfield 2.66GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80580X3330
Intel Yorkfield 2.66GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Q...
List: $219.99.99 Your Cost: $100
G Skill DDR2 6400 2 x 2GB Memory (Decent OC-able, tweakable RAM)
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 ...
List $59.99 Your Cost: $40
Silverstone 750 Watt PFC 100% Modular Silent PSU (Clean Ripple-Free Power for max OC Stability)
SILVERSTONE Strider Gold ST75F-G 750W ATX 12V v2.3...
List: $179.99 Your Cost: $75
150GB Western Digital Velociraptor 10,000 RPM SATA II Hard Drive (Fastest SATA Drive)
Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX 150GB 1000...
List: $119.99 Your Cost: $50
What you would need to purchase
SAPPHIRE 100311-2SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
SAPPHIRE 100311-2SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDD...
List: $329.99 ($30 MIR) Your Cost after MIR: $299.99
Factor in Cooling. I happen to have all the LC gear required to cool both the processor and motherboard for extreme OverClocking. List: Approx. $300 Your Cost: $150
Total Cost after MIR: $714.99 less case
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For a leap into the current era here is the latest generation of gear that will provide optimal game play.
Asrock Z68 Gen3 Extreme4 i3/i5/i7 PCIe 3.0 SATA 6GB/S USB 3.0 Motherboard (Latest Greatest Interface Specs)
ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI S...
List: $199.99
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Tu...
List: $219.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...
List: $32.99
Dual Card GPU Solution
2 X ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 460 (F...
List: $164.99 each ($30 MIR) Total for 2 after MIR: $269.98
or a Single Card GPU Solution
SAPPHIRE 100311-2SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
SAPPHIRE 100311-2SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDD...
List: $329.99 ($30 MIR) Your Cost after MIR: $299.99
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R1 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R1 120mm ...
List: $34.99
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2....
List: $109.99 ($10 MIR) Your Cost after MIR: $99.99
Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F90GB3-BK 2.5" 90GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (For optimal load times SSD will rape even the fastest HDD)
Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F90GB3-BK 2.5" 90GB SA...
List: $139.99 ($30 MIR) Your Cost after MIR: $109.99
Total Cost for a Dual GPU System after MIR: $967.92
Total Cost for a Single GPU System after MIR: $997.93
**********************************************
You are looking at about $300 more to go with the latest generation of gear.
Anyway you slice it an expensive GPU solution is unavoidable. I linked the least expensive GPU options that would allow for maximum framerate with all the eye candy turned up. Basically you will have to throw about $300 at a GPU solution regardless of which way you go. And 1080p is not even considered high resolution anymore. 2500x1600 is what a high end monitor would be needing. As a note the ATI card supports EyeFinity if you like the idea of a multimonitor set up instead of the Samsung TV.
Hope that helps.
Thanks in advance for your advice and input on straightening out this mixed up kid
(He's actually married and about to turn 40...so only a kid because I've known him since he was 10).
EDIT: He's probably not going to need anything I have except maybe the PSU, and Quad. He's got a P5K Vanilla mobo and G Skill RAM, HDD etc but that E2180 won't cut it and I think his PSU is too old and weak to support a fat card. I just listed what I had on hand if he was going to go for a stiff OC that needs extreme cooling.
I forgot he had that old P35 when I sent him the text.
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