Ok, so I've been out the loop as it were for some time, and may have been lost in a sea of components of which i should use for a new build. The http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2009/01/05/what-hardware-should-i-buy-jan-2009/1 was great, especially in making me sad at how much it will all cost me. I "only" need CPU, GPU, RAM and mobo, basically all the expensive stuff. My P182, 1100w Tagan and Hard Drives are all fine to keep up. While money shouldn't be too much of a problem, I still have 4 years of student loan to pay off, so I'm conscious that I cant just throw everything at it and want to get some degree of value for money rather than a cutting edge machine that costs me a ridiculous sum thats 5% better than something 2/3 the price. My current findings leave me at: i7 920 Asus P6T or some Gigabyte board (UD4P i think it was?) 6GB corsair 1600, or 1333 dependent on what I would get most out of GTX 260 (216) or could maybe do a 280. Things I want to tap up from bit expertise is: Correct choices? Did I close the door too early on Radeon? Are we on the cusp of new tech somewhere or price drops could find em
If you want my advice, we're always on the cusp of something new, so don'#t worry about that or you'll drive yourself insane. I've just built a rig with a P6T, COrsair C8 1600 and a i7 920. It was the easiest build I've ever done. Post first time and runs with no problems with default BIOS settings. It was sweet. Still messing around with the rig, as it's new, and having some indexing problems with Vista, but that's [robbaly something I'm doing wrong... on a hardware front though, it seems like that combo of P6T, Corsair Dominator and 920 work very well. I got the GTX295, but if that was out of reach for me, I may have been tempted by the 4850x2. It's great value for money and seems to be very capable at high er resolutions.. often beating the 260. There are some great prices on the 280 at the moment tho... worth thinking about.
Depends which road you want to go down really on the grahpics front. Like Pookeyhead said the 280 is at a great price and will do you fine. Presumably you aren't gaming on a 30". Alternatively get a 4850X2 for about the same price. Both are pretty similar performance wise. I'm still happy I got my 4870X2 for £280!
Thanks for the replies, had to hit reply really quickly on my way out to work this morning, without finishing as I forgot I had written it It was meant to say price drops (couldn't find em anywhere) information on them that is. Anyhow, I'm still undecided. As for the cusp of technology, I meant something big like C2D release, as I know we're not, I'm fine I play on a 20" at 1680x1050 for everything, it's not too intensive and I dont play many games that are really graphically dependent (wow and source really, thats it!) although I'd be more inclined to experiment with a comparative behemoth. I think either way I go about it, the computer will be overkill (I'm overly addicted to wow ) so ill just make sure i get something of reasonable value that will last me incase something comes out to my taste that is quite demanding on a computer. One final question, how on earth did you get the 4870X2 for £280? It's far more expensive everywhere I've looked!
Bumping this for a touch more advice if you please! Took the option of: i920 P6T Deluxe 6gig cas8 Dominator Now I've spent about 2 hours looking at what graphics card to get, and i still cant decide. I'm lost in a sea of 260s, 280s, 4850s, 70s and X2s. Help! Budget wise I should probably be maxing out at ~£250 but there are so many conflicting reports of what's better, I don't know where to start. Thanks again!
With that kind of money to spend you can't really go wrong, I'd look more closely at bundle, warranty and cooling (esp noise-wise). I would suggest a 4870 or GTX260 are as 'low' as you should go in order to maximise gaming perf, the cards above that aren't generally bringing lots more perf to the table but the cost can escalate. If you want it to last as long as possible get a card with 1GB (or as close as possible).
4870 512MB < 4870 1GB < GTX 260 Core 216 < GTX 280 < GTX 285 <= 4850 X2 < 4870 X2 < GTX 295. I recommend against the GTX 295, and a few people have had interesting experiences with 4850 X2 drivers. Aside from that, it's pretty hard to go wrong, so all you have to do is choose the most powerful card you can get that's less than £250. (Or choose one that's a bit under that spec, more like £175-200, and get a second one when you need it and can afford it). - Diosjenin -
When nvidia release there dual GPU graphics cards it basically means there new tech is out soon, very soon! the 7950GX2 was released and nvidia slapped us with the 8800GTX not long after, the 9800GX2 came out and bam GTX280, so with the GTX295 release i expect a new crazy powerful single GPU solution that may make the GTX295 owners cry! lol! we are mid point of the first quater, usually stuff is release every quater. so not long now. Intel is set to release the I5, from which i understand is a cheaper version of the I7 just less cache. I also hope intel releases the P55 chipset to support the I5 so everyone can grab a powerful but price balanced system. AMD is on the verge of the AM3 release, which could put them back in the compitetion. And cause CPU prices to drop as the market balances.
here's to hoping not to get done over then like i did with the q6600 release! got the 4850 x2, which with the other parts should go quite well
The problem with the 4850X2 is that ATI dont offically support it with its catalyst drivers just yet. Which bit-tech found to be a failure of the card. Maybe ati now support it, but bit-tech review kinda sticks in my head like a warning.
True, but even if they don't now, Sapphire's drivers still work fine, and official support can't possibly be more than two or three driver releases out at worst - if only because of the sheer number of people who would be calling AMD on it otherwise. There may be a few issues in the meantime, but I have very little doubt that it will pull through. Congrats on the purchase - hope you enjoy it! - Diosjenin -
