rec.autos.simulators

I am currently looking at either a 3.8ghz P4 670 or a 3.2ghz Pentium D 840.

The 840 is about $40 cheaper but what I'd like to know is which one would be
better for ***?  I'd like to get the best speed possible so I don't have
to worry about upgrading for another 5 years.

Admittedly, I don't have enough knowledge about HT and dual core
technologies to formulate a decision as to which one would be better, so I
am asking the masses here as to what you think might be the best option,
based on past experiences with these CPU's.

Specs on the mobo: MSI P4N Diamond nForce4 SLI Chipset LGA775 DDR2/667 SATA
RAID Dual PCIE w/7.1Audio,2xGbLAN,IEEE1394

Obviously I'll be dumping the onboard sound for a "real" card, but the
onboard LAN should be ok.

I have "legacy" HD's I plan on putting in as they contain all of my info and
I REALLY don't want to re-install 200gigs worth of stuff.  LOL!

Whichever CPU I get, I've already decided on twin GeForce 256mb 6600's as
I've seen SLI technologiy is the future in PC's, along with PCI-E cards, and
this card fits in the budget I have for this "upgrade".

AMD x64 CPU's are the best bang-per-buck going now, and you can get
dual-core CPU's for some killer deals.  Make sure you avoid VIA-based
motherboards - nForce4 seems to be the safest bet.

SLI w/ 2 6600's is a waste of money - that setup benchmarks around the
same as a single 6800GT.  Far better to spend the money on a 7800 GTX
and get much better performance to start with, then have the option to
go SLI in the future as card prices go down.

HTH,
Kendt

Totally agree.  Also, it's unlikely that any CPU will cut the mustard for 5
years.  If you can get 3 years out of a CPU, you're doing very well.  After
that, don't expect to play any of the latest sims.

 From what I heard, the nForce4 sound chips are very good, and it
doesn't use CPU at all.

The Radeon X600 in a PCI-express slot seems to be ignorant of
resolution, I get the same amount of fps no matter what resolution I pick.

---A---

thanks, Im gonna google, but if you have more insight (since common ground
is racing games inherently assumed from this group...) you could be a big
help.

Andi.

With all the "ancient" hardware I have, a new box is the only way to go for
me.

Currently looking at http://www.***powersystem.com/ for it.  Yes I know
about NewEgg, but the less "assembling" I have to do the better.  :)

Since a monitor won't fit in the budget I have at this point, I configured
the box a single GF 6800 GS since it has a VGA connecter for the monitor,
whereas the 7800's don't.  :(

Since I've only had experience with Pentium CPU's, that's what I'm going to
stick with.

I've found Tom's Hardware Guide somewhat useful, seems I can OC the 840 to
4ghz or so.  And since it's about $30 cheaper than the 670, I am planning to
go that route.

This new box leaves some room for future expansion as I can go SLI later and
put a faster CPU in when the time comes.  So yes, my plan is to get 5 years
out of this new box.  :)

It will almost certainly have a DVI-VGA converter, if not 2, included.
Don't sell yourself short if you've got the $.

I respectfully disagree - but this is going to be so much faster than
what you have now you'll probably wet yourself ;).

Keep an extra $50 in reserve for a really good heatsink if you plan to
wring every last Mhz out of it.

Good luck!
Kendt

Here's the system as it is currently spec'd.  I included a DVD-RW combo because I only have a 4x DVD burner, and I'm tired of waiting 15 minutes to burn 1 DVD.  :)  It'll also replace my current 48x CD-RW.

And the SATA drive is there so that I have something to help with in the transition of data.  I might just re-install everything and when I get everything that done, just transfer over my "legacy" 160gb WD HD as the current C: drive is only a 20gb IBM POS, and the other is only 40gb.  LOL.

I've heard good things about ASUS mobo's, and someone said the nForce4 onboard sound doesn't eat the CPU as most onboard sound tends to do.

But you're right - thing is will be so much faster than what I have now I probably won't care.  :)

I WANT to go with the 7800 GTX 512mb, but I'd need to knock the CPU down to 3.0ghz...hmmmm.......decisions, decisions...:)

CASE : Xplorer Mid-Tower Case 420W W/ WINDOW & LCD Temperature, upgraded PS to a NZXT PF-500w

MOTHERBOARD : Asus P5ND2-SLI nForce4 Chipset LGA775 DDR2/667 SATA RAID Dual PCIE w/7.1Audio, GbLAN, &USB2
MEMORY : (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 DDR2/667 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair Value Select)
VIDEO CARD : NVIDIA Geforce 7800 GT 256MB 16X PCI Express Video Card
HARD DRIVE : (SATA150) Maxtor 300GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Hard Drive
Optical Drive : SONY DWQ-28A DUAL FORMAT 16X DVDR/RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
SOUND : HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

It appears you are certain that you want an Intel processor. I have
built 93 systems in the last four years. Right now is the worst time to
go with Intel. They slower processor and it costs more money. It is
really a lot slower when playing games. Look at this review:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10442_7-6389077-1.html?tag=lnav
Granted it is dual core but the single core results are close to the
same. Bascially the Intel chips cost more and perform less. Things may
change in the future but for now that is the way it is. Also consider
you can buy a single core AMD processor and later upgrade to a dual
core processor using the same motherboard. I do not think this is
possible with Intel at the current moment. Brian Bowles

I was set for an Intel CPU, yes.

But after doing some reading on Tom's Hardware, now I'm on the fence, though I'm leaning more towards the AMD at this point.

It seems clear to me (thanks to the above reading) that getting a dual-core CPU right now is a waste of money as only future apps would support it.  Might be nice to have, but nothing more than a paperweight at this point in time.

That being the case, I believe I can get by with a single core HT CPU.  So I've spec'd two systems (one Intel, one AMD) for comparison purposes.

Also from my reading, SLI is a good way to go, but only if I were to get dual SLI vid cards.  From reading the marks on Tom's Hardware, I was suprised to see dual 6800's outperform a single 7800 GTX.  But for now I'll settle for the single 7800GTX.

Both specs come in under my budget ($1500), and the AMD is $35 cheaper.  I tried to select the best match as far as CPU and mobo but don't know for sure if I succeeded.

CASE : Xplorer Mid-Tower Case 420W W/ WINDOW & LCD Temperature Display
CPU : (939-pin) AMD ATHLON64 4000+ CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
MOTHERBOARD : (Sckt939)Asus A8N5X nForce4 Chipset SATA RAID PCI-E w/GbLAN,USB2.0,&7.1Audio
MEMORY : 1024 MB (512MBx2) PC3200 400MHz Dual Channel DDR MEMORY (Corsair Value Select)
VIDEO CARD : NVIDIA Geforce 7800 GTX 256MB 16X PCI Express Video Card
HARD DRIVE : (SATA150) Hitachi 400GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache Hard Drive
Optical Drive : SONY DWQ-28A DUAL FORMAT 16X DVDR/RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
SOUND : HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

CASE : Xplorer Mid-Tower Case 420W W/ WINDOW & LCD Temperature Display
CPU : (Sckt775)Intel? Pentium? 4 660 CPU w/HT Technology 3.6GHZ 800FSB 2MB Cache, 64 Bit
MOTHERBOARD : GigaByte GA-8I945P-G I945P Chipset LGA775 DDR2/667 SATA PCIE w/7.1Audio,GbLAN
MEMORY : 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 DDR2/667 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair Value Select)
VIDEO CARD : NVIDIA Geforce 7800 GTX 256MB 16X PCI Express Video Card
HARD DRIVE : (SATA150) Hitachi 400GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache Hard Drive
Optical Drive : NEC 3520A 16X DVD+-RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
SOUND : HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

DJ Speedy,

It appears you are certain that you want an Intel processor. I have
built 93 systems in the last four years. Right now is the worst time to
go with Intel. They slower processor and it costs more money. It is
really a lot slower when playing games. Look at this review:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10442_7-6389077-1.html?tag=lnav
Granted it is dual core but the single core results are close to the
same. Bascially the Intel chips cost more and perform less. Things may
change in the future but for now that is the way it is. Also consider
you can buy a single core AMD processor and later upgrade to a dual
core processor using the same motherboard. I do not think this is
possible with Intel at the current moment. Brian Bowles

You might want to read some of the comparisons on www.anandtech.com I
think they are not as biased as tomshardware. Tom loves Intel. You are
correct that single core is probably your best bet at this point in
time. A lot of people are buying the opteron chips right now because
they have 1mb of cache instead of 512k and the are fantasitic
overclockers getting 2.7-3.0ghz on average. If you go this route and
want to overclock get a DFI nF4 lanparty motherboard. Do not get the
corair ram with this board because it does not work well. The corsair
will work in almost all other boards fine. I think they need a bios
update for it. I think the AMD chips over the 3700+ have 1mb of cache
anyway. If you do not plan to overclock then get one of the regular
Athlon64 processors. Also Asus makes nice boards. Keep in mind that the
AMD processors over 3700+ all overclock to about the same speed. For
that reason most people do not buy the most expensive ones. OCZand G
Skill make good ram too. If you plan to go sli you might need more
power on the power supply. Unless you need the power the 7800gt is a
better value. It all depends on what you want to spend.... I am going
to use some parts that I already have to build the following system
Opteron 2800+ w/ Thermalright si 120 heatsink
DFI Lanparty Expert
WD 74gig raptor
WD 160gb special edition drive
Nvidia 7800GT
1mb OCZ 3200 DDR
OCZ Powerstream 520watt ps
Thermaltake Tsunami case
NEC 3540 DVDr
Lite On cd/dvd
Leadtek tv tuner
Logitech coredless keyboard and mouse
Klipsch pro media speakers
Dell 2405fpw lcd
Sony floppy drive

Lastly I assume there is a reason you said "DFI Lanparty Expert"
and same time you getting um, 2 7800gts then?

Im wanting to cheapen what your building, as FIAK all Im gonna use is mem,
processor board & GPU rest of the stuff I have pretty new.

So since I wont be dumping for 2 7800 in to sli mode you still think the gt
better than the GTZ?  In fact I would probably get by with the non SLI
version of the DFI board, since they are so much cheaper, spend the
difference on a good vid card, or you think no?

Im asking because I see the damn cards are saying more or less "SLI" which
of course means cost more?  (which is bass Akwards IMHO if Im gonna dole
money out, for 2 they should give me a little break, right?)

Then of course, I dont get it, unless they are saying they wont work in SLI
on boards that do SLI, without sayign SLI on them cards?  If that is the
case, I cant get one now and on later either then, right?

C R A P...