Building a HTPC...

[Mussels]

I plugged it up thru HDMI and sound came thru the speakers

because you have a 3xx0 series card. I was asking if there is other ways to get sound, so if you had a different card (such as nvidia) does it really matter if it has HDMI audio or not?

So, your recommendation would be an 8 series Geforce, preferably an 8800 if I want to play high end games such as Crysis?

i wouldnt play crysis on anything less. than an 8800GT. Thats because the game looks like crap on lower end hardware, so you arent actually seeing CRYSIS - youre seeing new levels in farcry.

 

[ktr]

The new ati cards have a built in sound card, nvidia carda has headers to plug a spdif cable to get sound going through hdmi.

 

[Franklinwallbrown]

Why is that? Just asking, I am a very curious person.

Wow! ATI's have built in sound cards?

 

[ShadowFold]

i wouldnt play crysis on anything less. than an 8800GT. Thats because the game looks like crap on lower end hardware, so you arent actually seeing CRYSIS - youre seeing new levels in farcry.

Bias much? I can play Crysis fine at high with 30fps on my 56'' and my 19''

Why is that? Just asking, I am a very curious person.

Wow! ATI's have built in sound cards?

Only the HD 2000's and HD 3000's do.

 

[Franklinwallbrown]

How does the audio compare to the AuzenTech Prelude? (the audio card I was thinking of getting)

 

[Mussels]

Why is that? Just asking, I am a very curious person.

Wow! ATI's have built in sound cards?

no, they pass through the sound. Its tricky to explain. Its an internal adaptor, to allow say, the onboard sound card to pass it through the video cards cable - you still need a soundcard to produce the sound.

Its designed for say, a blu ray movie - you get audio and video over the one cable for conveniences sake.

Bias much? I can play Crysis fine at high with 30fps on my 56'' and my 19''

Not everyone accepts 30 FPS 'average' as playable. I cant stand if it EVER drops below 30. 60 average is my minimum.

How does the audio compare to the AuzenTech Prelude? (the audio card I was thinking of getting)

the audio doesnt come from the video card. You still need a soundcard feeding it - think of the video card as merely a cable adaptor.
I am unsure how one would connect a PCI soundcard to a 3xx0 card to get the audio to the HDMI. I have only heard of onboard audio doing it, and have not researched it.

 

[ShadowFold]

How does the audio compare to the AuzenTech Prelude? (the audio card I was thinking of getting)

You can only get the audio through HDMI to HDMI video.

 

[ShadowFold]

Not everyone accepts 30 FPS 'average' as playable. I cant stand if it EVER drops below 30. 60 average is my minimum.

How can you see past 25fps the human eye cant even see past like 27fps I think

 

[Mussels]

How can you see past 25fps the human eye cant even see past like 27fps I think

i posted this in another thread - the human eye can see over 300 FPS.

I personally notice upto 120FPS, and games feel laggy to me under 60. Things dont respond as smoothly as the should, and i perform worse in game.

 

[ShadowFold]

i posted this in another thread - the human eye can see over 300 FPS.

I personally notice upto 120FPS, and games feel laggy to me under 60. Things dont respond as smoothly as the should, and i perform worse in game.

Wow thats insane :shadedshu I guess im used to having crappy hardware, the last highend card I had was a TNT2

 

[Franklinwallbrown]

Well, I've only had one rig with crappy crap, so, my next rig should blow it out of the water.

 

[ShadowFold]

Well, I've only had one rig with crappy crap, so, my next rig should blow it out of the water.

I know how that is I say pick up a cheap HD 3850 P35 and a E2200 I can tell you that combo is pretty awsome

 

[Mussels]

Wow thats insane :shadedshu I guess im used to having crappy hardware, the last highend card I had was a TNT2

it all depends how fast you can process the informaton. I've been using PC's for a long time, so i can see it.

here is the info on FPS for you...

If this old United States Air Force study is any clue to you, we've only scratched the surface in not only knowing our FPS limits, and coming up with hardware that can match, or even approach them.

The USAF, in testing their pilots for visual response time, used a simple test to see if the pilots could distinguish small changes in light. In their experiment a picture of an aircraft was flashed on a screen in a dark room at 1/220th of a second. Pilots were consistently able to "see" the afterimage as well as identify the aircraft. This simple and specific situation not only proves the ability to percieve 1 image within 1/220 of a second, but the ability to interpret higher FPS.

http://amo.net/NT/02-21-01FPS.html

 

[ShadowFold]

Yea im only 15 so I havent been around computers that long

 

[Franklinwallbrown]

WoW! I want that!

I think I want to make this rig crazy good!

 

[Mussels]

WoW! I want that!

I think I want to make this rig crazy good!

E2x00 + P35 board that does 400 FSB + 800MHz ram + any mid range card of your choice, will cover all bases (HD video, high res gaming) and still be quite cheap.

 

[Franklinwallbrown]

I can't find any E2x00s? Are those Xeons? I hear the BloodIron is good, just the NB is hot.

 

[ShadowFold]

E2x00 + P35 board that does 400 FSB + 800MHz ram + any mid range card of your choice, will cover all bases (HD video, high res gaming) and still be quite cheap.

400fsb 273 x 11 is 3003mhz

I can't find any E2x00s? Are those Xeons? I hear the BloodIron is good, just the NB is hot.

Dont get the Blood Iron get the Gigabyte Ds3L, its what I got its amazing.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

Here are the E2000's, I have the E2200 I reccomend that because it has a higher multiplyer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116063&Tpk=E2200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116052
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116037

 

[Mussels]

400fsb 273 x 11 is 3003mhz

my board does 400 FSB and its relatively cheap, so you can get a LOWER chip with less of a multi.

400x8 is 3.2Ghz... i'd rather spend the extra money on a sweet board than the CPU.

 

[Franklinwallbrown]

What can you OC that to?

You want to lower your multi as low as you can go. Play limbo with it!

 

[ShadowFold]

my board does 400 FSB and its relatively cheap, so you can get a LOWER chip with less of a multi.

400x8 is 3.2Ghz... i'd rather spend the extra money on a sweet board than the CPU.

Is using a smaller MP but higher FSB faster?

 

[ShadowFold]

What can you OC that to?

I have my E2200 at 3ghz easy, took a few hours and a few voltage raising but it was worth it.

 

[Mussels]

Is using a smaller MP but higher FSB faster?

there is a slight boost performance wise, 1-3%.

The reason being that you can get higher ram speeds 1:1 (400FSB means the minimum ram speed is 800MHz, with the boost of being 1:1 ratio to the CPU)

The point is more saving $50 off the CPU and spending that $50 towards a better mobo, with better overclocking or features.

 

[Franklinwallbrown]

I am at 1.8 right now & if I go over 3, then I think I'll faint. What about Xeon processors? Do they OC better?

What is the difference in the Dual cores? L2 cache & FSB?

 

[ShadowFold]

I am at 1.8 right now & if I go over 3, then I think I'll faint. What about Xeon processors? Do they OC better?

Xeons are stronger but not as good in games. They are server CPU's.

So if I set my MP at 8x and FSB at 400 I should be better than 11x 273?