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Critique on New Build parts list

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Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Motherboard Asus P5W DH-Deluxe
Memory 4Gb of 2GB random
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 750
Storage WD Black 1TB
It has been 3 years, since I built my last computer. I will try to get the same lifespan on this new rig. I have some questions about my parts list. I will also be using my Samsung monitor as my secondary monitor (Dual display for TV, watching movies while trying to do school work etc.. I will not use the Samsung to game, only my new ASUS 25’ monitor. I will be purchasing my products from Newegg and Amazon (Hopefully more Amazon for the free 2-day shipping) My purposed new rig is linked with product pages from Newegg and Amazon.

Budget Range – Would like to keep under $3,000 USD. I just want to make smart decisions.

Location - USA

System Usage from Most to Least Important:

Play new games (Battlefield 3, Mass Effect 3)
Encode movies
Rip/Burn Blu-ray and DVD’s
Watch Blu-Ray/DVD Movies
Will try to maximize with Overclocking (Nothing crazy)

Approximate Purchase Date:

A couple of weeks

SLI or Crossfire:

Probably - In the future(around Christmas)

Parts Not Required:

Keyboard
Extra Hard drive space - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb (I have 4 of these)

Current Rig (3 Years Old)

Mobo – Asus P5W DH Deluxe
CPU – Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz : Running at 2.30
GPU - EVGA 320-P2-N817-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3
Memory - Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) & Another set of name brand memory (2 x 1GB)
Monitor - SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms
Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb (I have 4 of these)
Keyboard – Microsoft Sidewinder X6
Mouse – Logitech G5
PSU – OCZ 600w


Purposed NEW Rig

Case - Cooler Master HAF X Full Tower w/ SuperSpeed USB 3.0 w/ Window w/ Black Interior ATX Case (RC-942-KKN1) - $198.63
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003S68Q0Y/?tag=tec06d-20

Mobo – ASUS LGA 1155 SATA 6Gbps USB 3.0 Supported Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2400 Motherboards P8Z68-V PRO - $209.99
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/...

CPU – Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K - $314.99
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Tu...

GPU - EVGA DS Superclocked 015-P3-1587-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB - $474.99
EVGA DS Superclocked 015-P3-1587-AR GeForce GTX 58...
Or

EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB - $589.99
EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB...

Memory - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) - $189.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DD...

Monitor – ASUS VE258Q Black 25" HDMI LED - $259.99
ASUS VE258Q Black 25" 2ms HDMI LED Backlight Wide...

Hard Drive / SSD – OCZ Vertex 3 Series – MAX IOPS Edition VTX3MI-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $289.99
OCZ Vertex 3 Series – MAX IOPS Edition VTX3M...

Mouse – Cyborg R.A.T. 7 Gaming Mouse for PC - $75.99
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003CP0BHM/?tag=tec06d-20

PSU - OCZ Technology ZX Series 850W Power Supply - $169.00 (After Rebate)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004NMF9ES/?tag=tec06d-20

OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit 1-Pack - OEM - $139.99

CPU Heatsink - Noctua 6 NH-D14 - $80.99
Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler

Blu-Ray Burner - LITE-ON Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback SATA iHBS212 - $134.99
LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-R...

CPU Thermal Paste - Arctic Silver 5- $6.50
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002EQU6C/?tag=tec06d-20

Speakers

No Idea. Would like 5.1. I have a older set, that i might use. Any suggestions?


Questions

1.) Is the extra 1.5GB worth it on the GPU front? I like to run many apps at once. I also do a good amount for ripping/encoding

2.) Since the ASUS monitor is new and I have not seen any reviews, by looking at the specs does it look like it would be good for gaming and movie watching?

3.) Will 850W be enough for this system? I would like to add another GPU around Christmas and make it an SLI rig. Also remember the 4 WD Black hard drives from current rig

4.) Is the Noctua NH-D14 complete overkill?

5.) Is Artic Silver 5 still the best stuff?

6.) Should I add a sound card? When I built my last rig, onboard sound sucked. Is it still awful? If I should add a sound card.
Which one? *I might add another GPU around X-Mas (Info for space considerations on motherboard)

7.) Is the amount of RAM overkill for multi-tasking and future games and apps?

8.) Anything i might be missing?


Thanks for all the help. Any advice or ideas is appreciated
Robert
 
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Questions

1.) Is the extra 1.5GB worth it on the GPU front? I like to run many apps at once. I also do a good amount for ripping/encoding

2.) Since the ASUS monitor is new and I have not seen any reviews, by looking at the specs does it look like it would be good for gaming and movie watching?

3.) Will 850W be enough for this system? I would like to add another GPU around Christmas and make it an SLI rig. Also remember the 4 WD Black hard drives from current rig

4.) Is the Noctua NH-D14 complete overkill?

5.) Is Artic Silver 5 still the best stuff?

6.) Should I add a sound card? When I built my last rig, onboard sound sucked. Is it still awful? If I should add a sound card.
Which one? *I might add another GPU around X-Mas (Info for space considerations on motherboard)

7.) Is the amount of RAM overkill for multi-tasking and future games and apps?

8.) Anything i might be missing?


Thanks for all the help. Any advice or ideas is appreciated
Robert

1.) IMHO the 1536MB is plenty

2.)its 1080p, so it should be fine... I don't know anything about those Asus monitors really so I cant comment... I like Samsung monitors myself, such as the P2770H which I use...

3.) you may want a 1000W + PSU if you want to SLI later

4.) should be fine

5.) will do the job, the new cooler will come with it's own compound too

6.) Onboard should be fine, but you could look at an x-fi or similar if you really wanted to

7.) 16GB is massive RAM :) 8GB would be plenty in my opinion
 

Evolved

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Thermaltake TR2 RX 1000W Modular Power Supply TRX-1000M
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_443&item_id=027016

That PSU, I recommend if you want to go SLi in the future - might as well future proof yourself and give yourself the option anyways. It wouldn't hurt.

If you're willing to spend over $90 on a CPU cooler, might as well spend another $20 - $30 for Water Cooling.

Antec KUHLER H2O 920 Liquid Cooling System
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?item_id=038625

These are Canadian prices, so I'm sure in US, they're slightly cheaper.

As for your RAM, 16GB is definitely overkill - only really needed if you are HD Video Editing, Rendering Graphics, Animations, etc.

2x4GB will do you perfectly!

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1600MHz (PC3-12800) 8GB (2x4GB)
http://http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=24_311_312_612&item_id=035787

And you might want to look into this MOBO instead, from Gigabyte.

Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4 Socket 1155 Intel P67 Chipset
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=26_722&item_id=035584

This design of the GTX 580 from ASUS is definitely better than that one you've listed.
It offers much better cooling and a lot more headroom for Overclocking.

Asus ENGTX580 DCII/2DIS/1536MD5
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=43_557_559&item_id=036715
 
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Subtotal: $2,134.91

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Well if you want you can go full water-cooling.
 
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With that kind of budget, you should opt for a 27-30" monitor with an IPS panel. 2560x1600 or 2560x1440 or w/e.

Also, use the speakers you currently have, then save up for a nice receiver and speakers. Then you don't need a soundcard at all, just use the HDMI audio from the GPU.
 
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Thanks for the replies

I have never done watercooling. I also will be moving around(going back to school). It just seems like it wouldn't be worth it to me. And dangerous!

I also picked that ASUS for the Quicksync feature with SandyBrige and Z68 for video encoding. In the small sample of reviews it really seemed to help.

With that kind of budget, you should opt for a 27-30" monitor with an IPS panel. 2560x1600 or 2560x1440 or w/e.

Also, use the speakers you currently have, then save up for a nice receiver and speakers. Then you don't need a soundcard at all, just use the HDMI audio from the GPU.
Could you recommend a certian model?
 
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Black Panther seems to really like her Dell UltraSharp U2711. Personally, I would go for whatever was the cheapest, because pretty much any of them will be leagues ahead of a TFT LCD.

That U2711 seems to go for ~$850 from what I can tell, which is not a bad price.
 

BinaryMage

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If you're planning to go with SLI/Crossfire anyway, I would recommend getting the GTX 590. It is significantly cheaper than two 580s, and offers nearly equivalent performance.
 
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I think im going to keep the 580 line. I would like to get another card in the future and want to plan so, but X-Mas time frame was more of a want not a guarantee.

I was looking at some IPS monitors and have found a couple which i think might work

HP Smart Buy ZR24w 24-inch S-IPS Widescreen LCD Monitor
http://www.macmall.com/p/6110671

Dell UltraSharp U2311H 23"
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...ynoteSearch&baynote_bnrank=1&baynote_irrank=0

Would these be a lot better than the ASUS i picked out?
Would it be okay for gaming and Blu-Ray? (Response-Time)

Also i looked at some other PSU options. I got some feedback about using OCZ as my PSU. For a little bit more i can get this

SilverStone ATX12V/EPS12V 1200W 80+ Gold PFC Power Supply ST1200-G
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004GGUATA/?tag=tec06d-20

Any thoughts?


Thanks
 
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I hear lots of good stuff about the Dell UltraSharps, not sure about that HP though. Either way an IPS panel will always look way better than TFT. I know they have a little higher response-time, but from what I've read that doesn't seem to be a problem for gaming etc.
 
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I have tried the 580 and was not impressed...I would go for two ATI cards for the same or less money than one 580 and enjoy silly fps in games right away. ;)


 

crazyeyesreaper

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yea single card performance Nvidia wins dual card the scaling is better with crossfire this generation at least,

and with games like Metro 2033 that already max out the 1500mb of vram on the Nvidia GTX 580 and the new Shogun II that can use nearly 2gb of vram with DX11 and a few unit tweaks id grab 2x 6950s for $600 over a 580 any day.

2 6950s overclocked will give you the performance of 2x 580s with a larger frame buffer for intense titles.

unless you need physx which i suppose if you do the nvidia cards make more sense,

either way id opt for 2x 570s to save a bit of cash or go with 2x 6950s or 2x 6970s cheaper and performance with a little tweaking is the same or better.

if you do go 2560x1600 / 2560x1440, your going to want more then 1.2 or 1.5gb of vram.
 
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^ Or snap up two 5870's here on the forum on the cheap. ;)
 

crazyeyesreaper

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true but most 5870s are the 1gb versions and at 2560x res they will get slaughtered,

a good example is newer games BF3 included

metro 2033 at 1920x1200 maxed out uses 1450mb +
shogun II at my personal settings maxed out uses between 1300-1700mb + and thats at 1920x1200
imagine the bump from the next res up ;) he wants the rig to last 3 years. if he wants 3 yrs of top tier performance its gonna take minimum 2gb of vram so in that sense 2x 580s of the 3072mb variety will offer the greatest performance long term, but 2x 6970s will get the job done for far less. but im just putting in my 2 cents as ive noticed on Shogun II anyone with a gpu under 1,3gb of ram is getting there in game settings auto downgraded without being told. so to avoid situations like that and overall issues in general id suggest 2x 6970s or 2x 580s minimum 2x 6950s if he likes to overclock and tweak ;)
 

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I would wait for AMD Bulldozer(Zambezi) CPUs to release before you build a new system. They look like they are going to beat the 2600K pretty good and the boards support CF and SLI, which is new to AMD boards. They use to only support CF

MSI N580GTX Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 580 (Ferm...

I would get that 580 too. Itll Run Cooler and quieter.
 
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Sorry, I took it as he was only going to game on the ASUS monitor. :p
 
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I am a mulitmonitor freak, even with a 1920x1200 monitor I cant get by with just one (main reason I dont have a laptop)

I do not play every latest game that comes out, but 1920x1200 res was fine on my 6850 for me. I just put my 580 in my 24/7 rig, as I thought It ran cooler and quieter (turns out it was just the bench station LOL).

Just getting setup with a full blown install now, hopefully the 580 can handle gaming + HD video on a second monitor, last time I tried gaming with it the second monitor just flashed constantly or went black.

If it cant then I will be going back to my 6850. Its an inferior product according to FPS reports, but, feature wise ATI has it down.

So. my recommendation (at least till Iget this 580 humming) would be, to wait.

Bulldozer is out in 2 weeks. At least wait that long before buying a Sandy Bridge setup. Prices are already dropping, $250 2600K at Frys last week, and if Bulldozer is an innovation, then Sandy Bridge prices might drop even more. (Or if you are not tied to intel, you can go AMD route).



I do not like recommending anyone to wait to make a purchase, because with that philosophy, you will always be waiting, but so close to a new arch release, it is a good idea. Not to mention, even AMD AM3 socket will blow you away coming from core 2 arch. :)
 
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I would wait for AMD Bulldozer(Zambezi) CPUs to release before you build a new system. They look like they are going to beat the 2600K pretty good and the boards support CF and SLI, which is new to AMD boards. They use to only support CF

MSI N580GTX Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 580 (Ferm...

I would get that 580 too. Itll Run Cooler and quieter.

I looked at the MSI. The reason for going EVGA is the warranty and buy back program. I have also had success using their 8800 GTS in my current rig. I leave my computer on most of the time and the GPU is the one part which never has given me any trouble.

Sorry, I took it as he was only going to game on the ASUS monitor. :p

The new monitor i get Maybe the (ASUS or IPS monitor) will be the only monitor i will use to game. My current monitor (Samsung 22' 1680 x 1050) would probably look weird with another better monitor being used along with it. Right?

Thanks again for all the feedback, it just gets harder and harder on making decisions ..lol
 
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rick knows his stuff :)

A smaller monitor alongside, will not be useful for surround gaming, but will be useful to have other info displaying while you game on your main.

As for looking weird.. I have a 28" 1920x1200 next to 2 22" 1680x1050 monitors. I showed it to a PC noob and they thought it was the most amazing thing ever. LOL

So maybe not too weird looking ;)
 
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I am a mulitmonitor freak, even with a 1920x1200 monitor I cant get by with just one (main reason I dont have a laptop)

I do not play every latest game that comes out, but 1920x1200 res was fine on my 6850 for me. I just put my 580 in my 24/7 rig, as I thought It ran cooler and quieter (turns out it was just the bench station LOL).

Just getting setup with a full blown install now, hopefully the 580 can handle gaming + HD video on a second monitor, last time I tried gaming with it the second monitor just flashed constantly or went black.

If it cant then I will be going back to my 6850. Its an inferior product according to FPS reports, but, feature wise ATI has it down.

So. my recommendation (at least till Iget this 580 humming) would be, to wait.

Bulldozer is out in 2 weeks. At least wait that long before buying a Sandy Bridge setup. Prices are already dropping, $250 2600K at Frys last week, and if Bulldozer is an innovation, then Sandy Bridge prices might drop even more. (Or if you are not tied to intel, you can go AMD route).



I do not like recommending anyone to wait to make a purchase, because with that philosophy, you will always be waiting, but so close to a new arch release, it is a good idea. Not to mention, even AMD AM3 socket will blow you away coming from core 2 arch. :)

Thanks for the info regarding the new AMD chips, a mis-communication with my parents revealed i won't be getting the computer til mid-summer(end of June/July) anyway. I will keep all the information learned in mind while making the final decision in the summer.

Look forward to bringing a more updated version of potential specs during that time.

Thanks again
Robert
 
D

Deleted member 74752

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Just my 2 cents...everyone touted how the SB was going to be spectacular for gamers. I have seen little difference on my end. Overclocking the cpu makes no visible advantages in online gaming in my experience...the gpu is another matter. My 2600K is now folding and the gamer will be going back to the i7 875. I just like the older ATI cards (5970,5870,5850) as they are more than enough for gaming and can be had for far less than the newest crop. :)
 

MxPhenom 216

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I looked at the MSI. The reason for going EVGA is the warranty and buy back program. I have also had success using their 8800 GTS in my current rig. I leave my computer on most of the time and the GPU is the one part which never has given me any trouble.



The new monitor i get Maybe the (ASUS or IPS monitor) will be the only monitor i will use to game. My current monitor (Samsung 22' 1680 x 1050) would probably look weird with another better monitor being used along with it. Right?

Thanks again for all the feedback, it just gets harder and harder on making decisions ..lol



I dont like Evga much anymore. Life Time Warrenty really is pointless. no one will have the card a life time. Also its harder to sell the card after its been registered via your evga account. Cuz then you have to either help the buyer with RMA if problems come along or give him the account. I like MSI and Asus cards because the warrenty is by serial number of the card. Yeah Evga has the upgrade thing, but your still getting an evga card. Im more of a fan of non reference cards by MSI and Asus. Cooling is better, quieter, more feature rich, and perform better. The only cards that Evga have released that run non reference cooling are the new Dual fan coolers and even then they look ugly and perform pretty shitty on the cooling side
 

crazyeyesreaper

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Just my 2 cents...everyone touted how the SB was going to be spectacular for gamers. I have seen little difference on my end. Overclocking the cpu makes no visible advantages in online gaming in my experience...the gpu is another matter. My 2600K is now folding and the gamer will be going back to the i7 875. I just like the older ATI cards (5970,5870,5850) as they are more than enough for gaming and can be had for far less than the newest crop. :)

cpu intense games it makes a large difference and in multi gpu

2x 6970s on a 4ghz Phenom II

Bad Company 2 runs at 70fps avg
Sandybridge chip at stock gives 100fps overclocked its hitting into the 120-140fps range

In Shogun II, should be noted the CPU bench uses just the cpu graphics are all low so it handles AI, Physics etc interesting to use as a cpu bench as it might only use 2 cpu cores but it easily shows the performance gain from 1 architecture to the next

Phenom II stock offers 15fps in the CPU bench
Phenom II overclocked 21fps
Core 2 Quad offers 12-14fps
Core 2 Quad overclocked 20fps
Sandybridge tends to be around 28fps
Sandybridge overclocked to 4.5ghz offers 35fps
I5 750 = 20fps
I5 750 overclocked offers 27fps


it depends on the game really but yes Sandy Bridge is far better for games not ALL games but for the most popular titles it does offer a performance boost and with multi gpus its even more noticeable
 
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Each game will change what benefits and what does not. It is why in my reviews I try and use games that are not being used in other reviews.

Gotta see it all and NO reviewer is going to check everything unless he is getting well paid. A standard mobo review is a full time consideration for at least a week (if its any good). so 40 hours for a $150-250 motherboard, easier to just get a minimum wage job ya know?

I am retarded, it takes me a lot longer to do a review. And I always include in my reviews that I am not perfect and do not understand certain things... BUT

Here are some simple facts. Each of these has exceptions of course

A) Lower resolution = More CPU dependent.
B) Modern Games = More GPU dependent.
C) Modern games that are CPU dependent are more about cores than speed.
D) ATM Hyperthreading on Intel is effective as AMD multicoring. IE a 4 core HTT intel is effective as an AMD 8 core CPU in most applications the end user will touch. (More so in 16/32bit apps. Less so in 64bit apps)

EDIT:

E) Software Engineers are lazy SOBs. Flash and Java ruined the career path. As far as games go, I am looking at Crysis and NWN2 as perfect examples of games that "would get better when HW did" and did not. (Not to scale anyway)
 
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crazyeyesreaper

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actually wrong about cores in many games

Metro 2033 uses just 2 cores
Stalker Call of Prypit uses 1core
Crysis uses 2 cores
Shogun II supposedly supports 6 cores in reality only uses 1.5-2cores and its a cpu heavy title

Bad Company 2
Dragon Age Origins
are pretty much the only core heavy games and Dragon Age Awakening has issues with multi core cpus with many needing to run the game with core affinity set to 1 or 2 cores max for the game not to crash

while i wish more games used more cores the sad thing is they dont.
sad thing is many games do not use more then 2 cores so it comes to clock speed and performance per clock, in these regards Sandybridge takes the cake for now. cant truly be sure of what Bulldozer offers untill reviews are out.

A good example ive been using lately is Shogun II, the developers stated 6 core support 6cores only get used when your loading into a battle thats it.

if the game was trully multithreaded properly battles of 40,000-to the game engines max 56,000 could be done on mid range PCs, sadly there multi threading is so lackluster in how its done many systems will croak at 12,000 soldiers. and considering the CPU handles animations for all soldiers its the 1 thing that needs better threading support and dosent get it lol. eitherway its an extreme example. but Bad Company 2 is still pretty much the only game ive seen peg a quadcore at 80-100% all the time.
 
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