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General Setup Question

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gonesy   06-01-2009 at 11:32:08 AM

Hi all,
I have a general question about system set-up.

I have 2 computers at the moment, 1 has an MSI P7 Diamond 780i motherboard with a Q6700 processor in it and the other is an ASUS Striker II Formula 780i and has an E8600 processor in it. I have 2GB of 1066MHz in each system.

I have recently bought 2 x GTX 260 (216) Graphics Cards that I am using in SLI. I also have 2 x 8800GTS 512 that I could run in SLI although I could sell them. One computer is used for gaming and the other my 13 year old uses to chat on MSN and do girly stuff, but no gaming to mention.

I want to get the best set-up possible for gaming so I can use any combination. I am also running Windows 7 32bit and Vista 32bit on one computer and just Vista 32bit on the other, if that helps at all.

I am running the 2 GTX’s at the moment on a 700 watt PSU, using 2 dedicated PCI-E 6 pin connectors to power 1 card and 4 Molex connectors to power the 2nd card, is this acceptable?

I do not intend to overclock anything, I like to have things running at stock, my head seems to tell me that the components may just last a bit longer.

All your input is gratefully received as usual, and if you have any questions then please ask, thanks.

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flyin15sec   06-01-2009 at 02:43:29 PM
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Your system is fine. The only thing I would add is 2 x 2gig modules to your system, and move the other 2gig to your daughter's system. Giving each system 4gig.

Keep one 8800GTS as a back. You should always keep extra hardware around.

The questionable item is your PSU. As it is, your probably drawing around or a little over 500w on full load with CPU + GPUs. Make sure your PSU is supplying enough wattage on your +12v.

Reply to flyin15sec
gonesy   06-01-2009 at 04:44:07 PM
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Which setup is fine? Which combination would you pick? Could the spare 8800 be used a PhysX card in the spare slot?

Thanks

Reply to gonesy
flyin15sec   06-01-2009 at 04:59:06 PM
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The E8600 would give you the best in terms of gaming, pair the GTX260s with that CPU and board.

An 8800GTS is overkill for PhysX, as it is you can dedicate one of the GTX260 for PhysX and it won't hinder any performance at all. Reason being is your 700W is stress already with 2 GTX260, adding another 8800GTS is really pushing that PSU.

Reply to flyin15sec
gonesy   06-01-2009 at 08:16:56 PM
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That sounds cool, but how do I dedicate just 1 of the GTX's as a PhysX card? I am sorry to appear a bit silly but this is all new to me.

Thanks

Reply to gonesy
flyin15sec   06-01-2009 at 08:36:05 PM
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right click on your desktop, go to "Nvidia control Panel". In the 3D Settings, you'll see "Set PhysX configuration".

By default it should already be on or "Enabled" and dedicated to one of your video cards.

Reply to flyin15sec
gkorjax   06-02-2009 at 04:57:18 PM
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Flyin15sec,

Could you explain to me why you stated that the e8600 compared to the q6700 would be better for gaming? I don't know very much about things, but from what I can see on some benchmark charts...the q6700 is a better processor. What am I missing?

Thanks,

Looking to learn some things.

Reply to gkorjax
flyin15sec   06-02-2009 at 05:28:55 PM
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You stated that you did not plan on overclocking. A E8600 runs at 3.3ghz while Q6700 is at 2.6ghz, thats close to a 670mhz difference. Most games will show a difference to the higher clocked processor. However sometimes it will also depend on the game you play, since some games are optimized to use more than 1 core, and in that situation then a quad core would be better suited.

If you go over Toms CPU charts comparison, E8600 outperform Q6700 on all games except Supreme Commander, which is multicore.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts [...] .html?prod[2183]=on&prod[2193]=on


Message edited by flyin15sec on 06-02-2009 at 05:44:46 PM
Reply to flyin15sec
gkorjax   06-02-2009 at 05:47:42 PM
- 0 +

Flyin15sec,

I'm not the original poster, just to let you know. I realize that there is almost a 700 MHz difference between the processors. I'm trying to figure things out. So, in general, the faster processor wins for gaming? Basically my confusion comes from this website...
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

which gives the Q6700 a cpu benchmark of 3176, whereas the E8600 is given a cpu benchmark of 2466.

Are these benchmarks not suitable to gaming? Is there a website that has benchmark results that ARE more suitable to gaming? Could someone list them for me?

Thanks

Reply to gkorjax
flyin15sec   06-02-2009 at 06:13:20 PM
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Oh, I didn't realize that. I thought you were the OP. LOL.

If you go to the link I provided, and pick E8600 and Q6700, then go over the various applications. You'll see that in gaming faster speed wins out most of the time.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts [...] 4,818.html

Reply to flyin15sec
gkorjax   06-02-2009 at 06:26:15 PM
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Ah,

Thanks for the links, I didnt see your edit until after I posted my follow up question. Interesting.
I can assume that as future games get made utilizing the quad core, that dual cores will lose out to the quads...in the non uber ranges...but the proof of the pudding is in the gaming benchmarks!

I plan on keeping my eyes open for any good deals on E8600s !

Thanks again.

Reply to gkorjax
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