minimum GPU that plays NWN2 and C&C3 Full Eyecandy?

PeaceLoving

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Aug 25, 2006
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From newbie in Thailand.....

pls help....i plan to play NWN2 and C&C3(Tiberium Wars) with all effects AA and whatnot....i'm a eyecandy freak (sometimes I just sit there and watch the water ripple.. :wink: hehe)...FPS games have nice visuals but my stomach cant take it :? ....get cramps just watching someone play it FPS games.

pls give your opinions on which GPU would be good for these 2 games and still have stunning visuals, no jerking pls... Thanks!

ps. I'm not so fond of SLI/Xfire...single card solution pls.
I have a 19-inch LCD on 1280x1024 settings.

could i build a E6600 system with ~$1000??
pls comment on this
--CPU -- E6600
--GPU --?
--Ram --2 gigs DDR2-667 (any comments?)
--Mobo--P5B
--PSU -- ? (how many watts do i need for a single card?)
--HD -- should I go with a 320 Seagate 7200.10 or a WD ?
--Case -- need a quiet and cool case(120mm fans) under $100
 

nikolokolus

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Jul 18, 2006
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From newbie in Thailand.....

pls help....i plan to play NWN2 and C&C3(Tiberium Wars) with all effects AA and whatnot....i'm a eyecandy freak (sometimes I just sit there and watch the water ripple.. :wink: hehe)...FPS games have nice visuals but my stomach cant take it :? ....get cramps just watching someone play it FPS games.

pls give your opinions on which GPU would be good for these 2 games and still have stunning visuals, no jerking pls... Thanks!

ps. I'm not so fond of SLI/Xfire...single card solution pls.
I have a 19-inch LCD on 1280x1024 settings.

could i build a E6600 system with ~$1000??
pls comment on this
--CPU -- E6600
consider downgrading to an E6400 or E6300 to help your budget, both are going to be more than up to the task of running the games you want to play.
--GPU --?

If visual quality is your bag, most subjective opinions on this claim that ATI has better visual quality while Nvidia cards are slightly faster . . . in general. I'd probably go for the x1900xt.

--Ram --2 gigs DDR2-667 (any comments?)

depending on which motherboard you buy they have compatibility lists which state which RAM they recommend. If you are into Overclocking at all then get DDR2 800, otherwise you might as well get DDR2 533 and run it synchronously with the FSB; the performance will be almost identical to DDR2 667 (or even slightly better in some cases). Aside from those general recommendations, try to get good name brand memory. Corsair, Kingston, Mushkin, Crucial, G.Skill are all pretty good bets.

--Mobo--P5B

I have the deluxe version and am extremely happy with it, I don't know much about the P5B vanilla, but I'm sure it would be adequate (as long as you aren't expecting high overclocks)

--PSU -- ? (how many watts do i need for a single card?)

I'd probably shoot for 550+ watts, and at least 30 amps on the +12 volt rail(s). I'd reserve around (at least) $100 for this component alone and don't skimp here! Cheap PSU's are cheap for a reason. Antec (true power series), OCZ, enermax, tagan, FSP, Seasonic, Mushkin, PC Power & cooling, & Silverstone are all good brands.

--HD -- should I go with a 320 Seagate 7200.10 or a WD ?

I'd say it's down to personal preference. Both are good brands with excellent performance. Seagate's desktop drives carry a 5 year warranty is nice, while WD is usually around 3 (unless you get a retail, in which case it's 1 year, or one of their RE (Raid Edition) drives which has a 5 year warranty too). I've used both in computer's I've built and can't say one is superior to the other, except that WD seems to run a bit cooler and quieter if that matters to you. -- Also, they are not the same brand; Seagate acquired Maxtor awhile back however.

--Case -- need a quiet and cool case(120mm fans) under $100

The Antec Solo might be a good choice. it retails for about $90 (+19 S/H) at newegg; you might be able to find one cheaper or get one in a shop and skip the S/H. It's quiet, cool and sturdy as all hell.
 

nikolokolus

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Jul 18, 2006
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combined

edit:
and I would recommend 550 (with good amps) because presumably this computer will endure video card upgrades at some point, and it's nice to not have to buy a new PSU at that time
 

nikolokolus

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. . . yes thanks for the primer, I don't believe I was making any sort of statement about "real" amps versus "combined" amps.

My mushkin 650w has 4 20 amp 12+ volt rails but only can sustain 44 amps at any one time, so I'm not sure how my recommendation for 30+ amps (combined) on the +12 volt rails was incorrect?
 

nikolokolus

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If he upgrades to a DX10 GPU the 550W may not be enough. But till we see the first DX10 GPU hit the market we won't really know what is needed. So people speculate needing between 600W and 1KW. But we won't know till we see them. Oh well.

from the looks of things he's running a single video card, so the demands of dual dx10 cards is going to be substantially different than a single DX10 card.

Wait . . . I think we're hijacking the hell out of this guy's thread :oops:
 

PeaceLoving

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HEHE...that's all right!...had fun reading your posts! By the way, thanks for replying. I think I'll be going with the E6300/P5B Deluxe/X1900XT ....however, could I upgrade to a E6600 and still be within a $1250 budget??? :(

Is it possible to get a E6600 rig and still be within that budget?
 

PeaceLoving

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Thanks for the advice Nikolokolus (whew! did I remember it correctly?) :D I hope I don't regret getting a dual core. If the quad core comes out.........never mind...I'll rant later!

Have to start saving up. I thought $1000 would be enough ....but seems like I need at least almost twice as much if i want to go with the E6600!
 

nikolokolus

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The E6600 is about $150 more expensive than an E6300 so it shouldn't inflate your budget all that much.

If you do decide to go with the P5B deluxe (or the p5b for that matter) pay very close attention to what RAM will work on that board. Asus has a Quality Vendor List link on the left hand side of the screen for their motherboards and it will tell you what memory has been certified to run (and in what configuration).

When in doubt just get Corsair XMS2 modules, they always work. For my own P5B deluxe build, I had good luck with G.Skill 6400PHU2-2GBHZ modules.