what would you do here?

[bigbeef2604]

Well I changed a few items on my list and can not decide on which video card to go with..
I can:
A) get a 1950gt
B) Spend a little more on a 1950xt
C) Spend a lot more and stretch my budget on a 8800gts 640 mb
D) Order everything except video card and save for 6 wks for a 8800gtx

I'm a college student so saving takes me a while. Also I'm buying parts this coming weekend no matter what (for reasons not worth explaining).

I'll mention that I am using a 47" LCD at 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Also I should mention that I'm not a major major gamer, but I enjoy playing FPS games. I mostly use AutoCAD (hence the Q6600) for work and school.




Here is a list of everything except for a video card. Please let me know if this looks good or not. I REALLY appreciate any help.

OCZ OCZ2P800R22GK 2GB Kit DDR2 PC2-6400 Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel Memory Retail ***Free Shipping***
55.90 (After rebate)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85264&ps=ho1

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$99.99

Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail
$109.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail
$279.99

LG Electronics Black LG Super Multi 18x SATA DVD Burner GSA-H62NK, 10x DVD+/-R DL, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+RW, 12x DVD-RAM - OEM
$30.99

SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$109.99

Antec 900 Case I already own


Total %u2013 676.85 Without Video Card..

 

[notherdude]

You want this sytem to last and take you into the dx 10 era, so get an 8800, anything less when upgrading at this point would be short sighted, or you could go really cheap and wait for the next gen of dx 10 cards - gts or gtx, both good choices depending on budget constraints.

 

[crazywheels]

A hundred people could answer this for you and you would get a hundred different answers, so I rest my case.

J

 

[mad-dog]

Rule#1: don't count on rebates

Get a E6750 and save $85
Patriot RAM is priceless
8600GT will run DX/10

Folding@Home

 

[lakedude]

I agree with Mad-dude

Rebates suck.
The 6750 should be an option.

As far as the 8600 goes.....

It really is not that good of a card. The 1950 will stomp it in DX9 games and it is too slow to really see any benefit from DX10.

Why not the baby 320MB 8800GTS? I got one factory OCed to 580MHz for under $300. The 320MB 8800GTS kills the 1950xt (got one).

BTW where did the Sapphire 1950xt go? One day they were down to about $160 and then they were gone?

BTW2 the 1950xt is very noisy. I love how quiet the new 8800 is!

 

[bigbeef2604]

Well I'd like to stay with the Q6600 because I'm using AutoCAD 2008 and I'd like to have the 4 cores. I deal w/ a lot of large drawings for my job.
Do you really think 8600 is a good option with my high resolution? (1920 x 1080).

 

[lunyone]

Here are a couple of links for some of the products you stated. Yes there are MIR's, so if your already paying for it, why not try for the MIR's, you can't go wrong if you do get them back!!

PSU - $100 shipped - $45 MIR = $55!! can’t beat for this price
Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, TUV, CE, FCC, CCC, CB, C-tick – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103941

GPU - $296 shipped - $20 MIR = $276 eVga’s 90 day Step-Up program available!!
EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130082

And I just found this link to the 2900pro's coming out!! If the prices hold true, than you could get a 1gig 2900pro for about $299. Not exactly how long before you see them on Newegg or such, but definately worth thinking about.
AMD 2900pro pricing link
http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=17571

 

[martyjs]

Update the RAM!

 

[bigbeef2604]

Martyjs - What do you mean update it? Is that RAM old or something?

lunyone - I've heard from people in the past that with 1920 x 1080 resolution you'd want to get the 640mb version. what do you think?

 

[buzznut]

Ok, I think the 8800 is a good choice. so it's the 320 or 640. This is actually a (rare) case where I think the extra dough for the 640 is a good idea at these resolutions. At lower resolutions, the difference is negligible but with eye candy cranked up at 1920x1080...
the lg drive is nice, i have one.

So...the student loans finally come thru? mine should be along any day, then I get my new confuser!
yay!

On the ram he prolly means with that board you can get faster ram, such as pc8500. I'm guessing.

 

[bigbeef2604]

is it going to be a noticeable difference in RAM speed? Looks like there is a pretty significant difference in price.
No student loans.. I've been working at my internship all summer and this semester between classes to pay for classes and buy a computer.
I just want to make sure I get it right.

 

[lakedude]

Ok, I think the 8800 is a good choice. so it's the 320 or 640. This is actually a (rare) case where I think the extra dough for the 640 is a good idea at these resolutions. At lower resolutions, the difference is negligible but with eye candy cranked up at 1920x1080...

Whoops I missed that high res monitor. For me the 640 would not really be worth it but with that high res monitor it might.

 

[buzznut]

noticeable? well,yes a lot of folks use the higher bus speeds to overclock their processors, while still keeping the timings down on their memory. lower latency means faster performance. Theory being if you crank up your ddr2 800 mem to 1000Mhz, you need to relax the timings, increasing latency(say to 5-5-5-18). Some people believe low latency is more important than pure speed. Although I have seen (in cpu magazine tests) that lower latency does not necessarily trump high speed ram.
Still, you're right that the faster clocked ram prices are still high in comparison. And the ddr3 is even worse, but if you have to have the best...
I personally am getting 6400 ram after debating this exact thing. the ballistix I'm getting have been shown in various tests to be highly overclockable while still maintaining low latencies (4-4-4-10 timings @ 900Mhz and above)

It looks like you really want to spend your cash on a quality processor, I wouldn't spend a fortune on ram.

The step up program may be the way to go for you. I'm taking advantage of it. If you find the 320 isn't beefy enough, you can take a couple of months to save up for the 640, or even gtx.

It looks like a real nice pc, hope you have a blast.

 

[ira176]

Looks to me like you may want to consider a work station class video card. Check out this site for Autodesk: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=7107053&linkID=9240618
You can actually check recommended video cards out. You can also check for recommended specifications.

 

[andybird123]

I would be tempted to wait for a month. Nvidia are definitely releasing something new in November. Rumours seem unsure wether it's the next gen of high end cards, or a mid priced card with performance close to a GTX. Either way it's not very far away and may drive prices of current hardware down or give you extra options.

 

[martyjs]

Sorry bigbeef260 4 I mean add more RAM. It's usually the quickest and cheapest way of getting more out of a PC.

 

[AdamJ]

Do NOT get a video card with anything lower than 512mb of RAM. Do not get a 8600GT/S or a 2600XT. Go with a 2900XT. It performs better than the 8800GTS 640. Your resolution is 1920x1080 and playing games on that will not be pretty with the 8800GTS 320. Dont listen to the **** morons telling you to get it. O and if you really dont have that much money and/or dont wanna spend that much, go with a 1950XT

Looks to me like you may want to consider a work station class video card. Check out this site for Autodesk: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=7107053&linkID=9240618
You can actually check recommended video cards out. You can also check for recommended specifications.

AutoCAD doesnt need a video card to do anything. Its mainly processor related

 

[bigbeef2604]

AdamJ, Thanks for the information. I'll have to look into the 2900XT before making the final order.
Also AutoCAD does need a video card for the rendering. I agree it's mostly processor related, but AutoCAD2008 has a lot of new options like "fly by" and "walk through" where it puts you in a 3D environment. Very cool stuff.
Thanks everyone for the information. I'll be ordering tomorrow night so any more info or opinions would be a HUGE help.

 

[lunyone]

Martyjs - What do you mean update it? Is that RAM old or something?

lunyone - I've heard from people in the past that with 1920 x 1080 resolution you'd want to get the 640mb version. what do you think?

Yes the 640mb version would be better for higher resolutions that your talking about. If you want to save a little and don't want to wait another month or two for the new nVidia cards to come out, I would seriously consider the x2900pro models. The 512mb version is now on newegg and I'm betting the 1gig version will be out shortly too. Like I stated before the 512mb is expected to be around $249 ($277 on newegg right now) and $299 for the 1gig version. The other option is to go with the 8800gts 640mb (if you can afford it), but it's $100 over the x2900pro's right now. This doesn't mean nVidia is going to drop it's price, but that is the situation right now. Here's the link for the x2900pro on newegg:

GPU - $277 shipped Beats 8800gts 320mb most of the time
SAPPHIRE 100212SR Radeon HD 2900PRO 512MB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102706

2900pro 512mb vs. 8800gts 320mb benchmark link:
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1189/1/page_1_introduction/index.html

 

[systemlord]

Option D. I to am making myself wait till I save up $600 then getting the 8800GTX, if I have to wait till Nov so be it.

 

[bigbeef2604]

The more I think about it the more it makes sense to wait the month until the new 8800's come out or else buy the 1gig x2900Pro. If I was going to wait until say december until I bought a new card, which cheap card should I go with to hold me over?