Hardware discussion

[RedRaven]

PC,
HARDWARE
AMD Athlon 64X2 dual core processor 4200+ 2.21 Ghz (***)
2.00 GB of RAM
physical address extension (***)
HD capacity 300GB using approx 40GB, 
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT
HPw1907 wide lcd monitor
SOFTWARE
XP home edition,
SP3
FARCRY2 & DLC
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. S.O.C. & loads of mods / altered files
couple of media players & codec packs

thats about it, it is not conected to the net, like to keep my game engine clean as possible, also if anyone can explain exactly what the HARDWARE marked (***) means to me as a user would be really thankful :-X

display is set on classic, and as far as my ability goes its settings are all geared toward perfomance. any tips would be greatly recived by myself and probably others who read the posts.

would just like to add that this Forum has so far proved to be mature, insightful and well managed. have looked at many others on wide variety of topics and TBH alot are either purile and waste of net space, elitist and cold or just plain stupid.

So kudos to those who founded it and maintain it.

[Art Blade]

"AMD Athlon 64X2 dual core processor 4200+ 2.21 Ghz (***)"

If you want to know more, I recommend you specify what exactly you want to know (which part of the entire info).

AMD= manufacturer
Athlon=processor class/name
64=64bit
x2 = dual core
dual core= 2 CPUs
2.21Ghz= CPU speed

4200+= ??

at least this is a start :) I'm no expert either.

[RedRaven]

get your point, question was bit vague. its the info shown by START button, CONTROL PANEL menu SYSTEM PROPERTIES, and its in the bottom right area of GENERAL tab.
AMD Athlon 64X2 dual core processor - as far as i know that means its got 2 processors each of newer 64bit variety,  and think 2.21 GHZ is the frequency they run at,
but go no clue what 4200+ means or relates to!
question was also askin for a gamers rating as a setup, a comparison or marks out of 10 kind of thing.
should of thought it out a bit more before posting but was in a rush at the time.

any advice on what to upgrade or replace first would be cool if possible,
and defo looking into getting better graphics card but which one ?

[JRD]

dke58
Your system is very good...
2 core processors with 2,2 GHz, 64 bits...
I'd say 2 GB RAM is very good, 3 is excellent
PZ is buying a new computer so he can give you precise info. But allow me to suggest you start with a good video card. A VC today is kind of a processor itself that can manage memory to better handle images (get the point ? ;) )
Any Nvidia / ATI with at least 512 MB will be fine. One with 1GB would be excellent.
Can't help you with estimated prices or where to buy cos I'm in Brazil and I believe you are in USA... again, will let some of the guys here help you with that...
But I guess you won't spend too much since you already have a nice system.
Except fo the VC I'd say 8 / 10
Hope it helps

[PZ]

I'm so excited - guess what was on my doorstep this afternoon - yep, you gessed it, the parts for my new PC!  It came in 3 separate boxes, one from Tennessee and two from California - strange that they all arrived at the same time.

I purchased all separate parts and hope that I have not messed up with what I bought (i.e., I hope all parts fit together).  As to the graphics card, I did some research on the card that D_B recommended and decided to go with that one - the Nvidia GTX295 with 1700 mb ram.  According to what I discovered, it is one of the more advanced video cards that should last me through quite a few years.

[Art Blade]

it is :) I got a little sister/brother of your card, nVidia GTX260/896mb and i7 920 @ 2.66Ghz (4 physical CPUs + 4 virtual CPUs = 8core), XP32 professional, 3GB RAM. ASUS TFT 22'' widescreen monitor (going to buy a 26'' sometime soon)

[DKM2]

Just a few points;
Don't worry about the physical address extension its just an internal memory paging system,
and means the CPU has a few extra memory address lines. Desktops normally don't use it.
But if you enjoy headaches google it.

The 4200+ is a marketing thing AMD uses, arguably it's the equivalent to speed to a Intel processor.
Which I believe they still use a Pentium 4 as the reference, its not just frequency thou. (GHz)

As has been said, Video card is your first upgrade.
First step is to verify the Bus type you have, likely PCI-e, but still
check your current display properties, under VGA Information to make sure.

If you know the exact motherboard model number that'd be helpful.
(be warned thou, I've never owned a AMD before)

[DKM2]

I'm so excited - guess what was on my doorstep this afternoon - yep, you gessed it, the parts for my new PC!  It came in 3 separate boxes, one from Tennessee and two from California - strange that they all arrived at the same time.

I purchased all separate parts and hope that I have not messed up with what I bought (i.e., I hope all parts fit together).  As to the graphics card, I did some research on the card that D_B recommended and decided to go with that one - the Nvidia GTX295 with 1700 mb ram.  According to what I discovered, it is one of the more advanced video cards that should last me through quite a few years.

that vid card is pretty much the Ultimate right now, basically a pair of GTX260s in one package. power hog too from what I hear.
any chance  you could list your system specs. we love specs.

[PZ]

it is :) I got a little sister/brother of your card, nVidia GTX260/896mb and i7 920 @ 2.66Ghz (4 physical CPUs + 4 virtual CPUs = 8core), XP32 professional, 3GB RAM. ASUS TFT 22'' widescreen monitor (going to buy a 26'' sometime soon)

Wow, FC2 must scream on your system!   :-X

[Art Blade]

yea, runs smoothly with everything maxed (ultra)...

btw, congrats... that was your 900th post :)

[PZ]

Wow, 900 posts... wouldn't have thought that would occur this soon!

OK DKM2, here are the specs on the parts that I purchased:

i7 920 2.66 GHz
6x Blue ray disc burner
EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 - 1792mb SLI
EVGA x58 ATX motherboard
Cooler Master HAF black steel ATX full tower case
Corsair 850 SLI ready, Crossfire ready active power supply
OCZ platinum 6 gb DDR3 tripple channel kit
WD 300 gb 10,000 RPM VelociRaptor
Logitech cordless RumblePad
Logitech G15 gaming keyboard
Razer eXactMat wrist rest
Logitech G9 5 button tilt wheel Laser gaming mouse

[JRD]

PZ... after you finish putting that Ferrari together maybe we (I mean all of us interested) could try run FC2 windowed and check CPU performance...
I really want to know how much CPU use is needed to play FC2 on my machine and compare it with yours.
I know I drive a beetle compared to yours  ;D , but it runs smoothly and I want to evaluate the need to upgrade in the near future

Intel dual core 2,2 GHz
Nvidia 9800GTX 1 GB DDR3
2 GB RAM
550 W power supply
MoBo ASUS (can't remember model)
Ordinary set of mouse, keyboard etc....

[PZ]

That would be an interesting comparison - see how things w@&k especially with video capture and all...

[JRD]

What I'm curious about is the performance of the processor.
A dual core is the cheapest processor money can buy, but can do exactly what I need... should I spend some cash and get an i7?
Or wait a year or two and get the latest processor and go to a full upgrade?

If the team is winning, you don't change the players, as we say here in Brazil... but I want to think ahead...

[PZ]

Sounds like a question for DKM2, Art, or D_B - they seem to know quite a bit about hardware, and are the reason why I chose some of the parts I did.  However, when I get the beast running, I'd be glad to report about the performance.

[DKM2]

Wow, 900 posts... wouldn't have thought that would occur this soon!

OK DKM2, here are the specs on the parts that I purchased:

i7 920 2.66 GHz
6x Blue ray disc burner
EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 - 1792mb SLI
EVGA x58 ATX motherboard
Cooler Master HAF black steel ATX full tower case
Corsair 850 SLI ready, Crossfire ready active power supply
OCZ platinum 6 gb DDR3 tripple channel kit
WD 300 gb 10,000 RPM VelociRaptor
Logitech cordless RumblePad
Logitech G15 gaming keyboard
Razer eXactMat wrist rest
Logitech G9 5 button tilt wheel Laser gaming mouse

Wow, that's going to be quite the system, excellent choices, I don't see any problems.
You won't have any trouble running anything on that setup.
Fun weekend for you putting it together.  I'm envious.

[Art Blade]

A dualcore is sufficient. I only got that i7 because it was only €1,300  (complete pc) around christmas 2008 and I wanted a second PC to go online with, the "old" amd64 x2 5200+ never has and never will. It is still good enough.

My i7 (same as PZ's) with 3gb ram has a G15 (same as PZ's) keyboard, which has a display, and with the display a feature "ram and cpu usage". The CPU uses (fullscreen) around 30% of its capacity, the RAM is at about 45% (right now, browser running and FC2 in the task bar.

So far I have never seen CPU usage over like 40% with my i7, no matter what game.

[DKM2]

PZ... after you finish putting that Ferrari together maybe we (I mean all of us interested) could try run FC2 windowed and check CPU performance...
I really want to know how much CPU use is needed to play FC2 on my machine and compare it with yours.
I know I drive a beetle compared to yours  ;D , but it runs smoothly and I want to evaluate the need to upgrade in the near future

Intel dual core 2,2 GHz
Nvidia 9800GTX 1 GB DDR3
2 GB RAM
550 W power supply
MoBo ASUS (can't remember model)
Ordinary set of mouse, keyboard etc....

JRD, there's lots of things to consider and alot of them personal preference (and money), so its hard to advise.
You have a good system there, a good balance between CPU and video.
Usually for me upgrades come when some software, usually a game, comes along that runs like crap.

At this point it sounds like your happy with it, so when planning upgrades one big factor  is screen size and resolution you want to game at in the future.
When I did my system I did it that way, found a good sale price on a 24" monitor first then built the rest up around it.

Are you planning a complete system buy, or just a slow upgrade until it is all new?

[DKM2]

PZ, you have this;
http://www.memtest86.com
First thing you run on a new build, a non operating system memory test, bootable from a CD.
Its a good simple first test for memory, cpu, mother board, video, etc.

[Art Blade]

should I ever consider to build a rig myself, I'll keep this topic in mind for further reference :) <follows topic with interest>

[PZ]

DKM2 - thanks for the link - sounds like something I should run.  (The link seems to be down right now).

I briefly glanced through the mb documentation and it says to hook up DVD, HD, power supply, 1 DIMM, monitor, and keyboard to see if the board lights up before you even assemble it into the case.  It sounds like all I need do is plug in the bootable CD while I'm in the process above and do the test, correct?

PS: thanks to everyone for all the help in this project - you've recommended many of the parts I have laying on the floor of my living room!   :-X

[Art Blade]

I'm just glad you didn't say bedroom

[Art Blade]

hehe

[DKM2]

Yeah, you could do that.
If everything is ok, it should go though the BIOS post, then boot from the CD.
It's a simple one screen interface. (link worked fine for me, hmmm)
Then pull the plug and try all three rams.

If I can be so bold here;
MB usually come with a dark wrapper, flatten it out and keep it on that. static electicity and all that.
Make sure the power supply switch is off, and cord removed. Off doesn't mean no power!
Power cord is the last component to connect.   :-X
After you get everything hooked up and just before you power on for the first time,
go make a coffee, and come back and check everything again!   ;D
Especially power connectors to the MB, the big 24 pin one and the 6 or 8 pin aux.

You ever had to mount a CPU and put thermal paste on before?
It's the hardest part for most people.

[PZ]

Please don't hesitate to be bold DKM2; I greatly appreciate your help! - It's been decades since I built a PC - have never set a CPU before.

[You're a funny guy Art!]   ;D