Quote: Original post by Nytegard
I have a similar machine with an upgraded power supply and processor, and only 4 GB of RAM, and it came to ~$2400.

what? where do you live?
my pc;
-a core 2 Quad Core Q6600 cpu overclocked from 2.4 ghz to 3.15 ghz.
-2048 mb of ddr2 pc2 800 ram overclocked to 1,000 mhz at 4-4-4-12 timings.
-ga-p35-ds3p gigabyte motherboard.
-8800 gts 320 mb overclocked.
-enermax 500 watt liberty psu.
- striker 5.1 sound card
-2 7200 16 mb cache 150 gig hard drives, maxtor
-existing case
-existing license of win xp

all cameout to around $900, though i did get a few good deals, but even then it wouldn't have added to more than $1,200

and not to be arguementive or derail this thread:
" PCI Express 2.0 is coming out in October, and the upcoming NVidia and ATI cards will be taking advantage of it."
i find this hard to believe, as benchmarks have shown that all the 8800 needs is a single 8x pci express slot, meaning it is not even close to using the bandwidth of a pci-e 16x slot... so i wonder what improvements will occur with pci 2?

I came up with this example config using NVIDIA's compatibility shopping wizard tool (thingy). Though these may not be the exact components that I'll get, I'm curious as to what you think. How high could I get those settings in Battlefield 2142 with this setup? Sorry for using 2142 as an example again, but I think it makes a pretty good measuring tool. Thanks again for all the replies.

Motherboard
BFG nForce 680i SLI NVIDIA Socket 775 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / SLI Ready / Dual Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID
Price $199.99

Graphics Cards #1
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC / 640MB GDDR3 / SLI Ready / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card
Price $389.99

Graphics Cards #2
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC / 640MB GDDR3 / SLI Ready / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card
Price $389.99

System Memory
OCZ 4GB ( 4 x 1GB ) NVIDIA SLI Ready Edition PC2-8500 1066MHz 240-pin DDR2 Memory
Price $419.98

Power Supplies
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Black) 750W Power Supply
Price $199.99

Quote: Original post by brandonman

Quote: Original post by MARS_999
Here is what I have, and LOVE it

Intel C2D e6600
Intel MB Bad Axe 2 975x chipset
Mushkin 6GB DDR2 800 1.8v <-important
2x Raptor 10k 16mb HDs
Xfi Gamer extreme
SATA DVD drive
Coolermaster 830 case Black best case I have ever owned bar none
BFG 8800GTS 640mb OC edition
Vista 64 ultimate
Antec 650watt PS

Smooth as butter, fast and quiet!!!

I would get either the quad core 2.4ghz model, and stay away from ddr3 unless you have the money to burn.

As of now the new cpus are only at best 5% faster than the 1066fsb chips. Is the price difference worth it? Only you can answer that. And I have NO issues with Vista like some people say....


edit oops I just seen you want SLI

well MB wise Asus or MSI are great MBs. I would get a PC Power and cooling PS at least 750-850watts if you are running SLI to get rid of system instability.

How much did that cost ya not counting vista ultimate? I'm planning to build sometime in a few months. Sounds like a sexy rig, 6 gigs of ram, wow.

IIRC I paid around $1800 for the whole setup, back in Jan. As for the PCIe don't worry about it, PCIe2.0 is backwards compatible with PCIe1.0 so you can buy a new VC later and still use it, like AGP 8x will work in 2x, 4x ect...

And one positive to the PCIe2.0 standard is IIRC it will up the power to the VC through the MB's PCIe slot.

Quote: Original post by slowmike
I came up with this example config using NVIDIA's compatibility shopping wizard tool (thingy). Though these may not be the exact components that I'll get, I'm curious as to what you think. How high could I get those settings in Battlefield 2142 with this setup? Sorry for using 2142 as an example again, but I think it makes a pretty good measuring tool. Thanks again for all the replies.

Motherboard
BFG nForce 680i SLI NVIDIA Socket 775 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / SLI Ready / Dual Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID
Price $199.99

Graphics Cards #1
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC / 640MB GDDR3 / SLI Ready / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card
Price $389.99

Graphics Cards #2
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC / 640MB GDDR3 / SLI Ready / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card
Price $389.99

System Memory
OCZ 4GB ( 4 x 1GB ) NVIDIA SLI Ready Edition PC2-8500 1066MHz 240-pin DDR2 Memory
Price $419.98

Power Supplies
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Black) 750W Power Supply
Price $199.99

Ps is a great choice. Now the MB I wouldn't get the 680i I would get the 650 chipset instead as long as you get on with SLI.

And unless you are going to Overclock that RAM is worthless, DDR2800 is max for the 1066FSB as it is a waste of money.

Quote: Original post by Jarrod1937

Quote: Original post by Nytegard
I have a similar machine with an upgraded power supply and processor, and only 4 GB of RAM, and it came to ~$2400.

what? where do you live?
my pc;
-a core 2 Quad Core Q6600 cpu overclocked from 2.4 ghz to 3.15 ghz.
-2048 mb of ddr2 pc2 800 ram overclocked to 1,000 mhz at 4-4-4-12 timings.
-ga-p35-ds3p gigabyte motherboard.
-8800 gts 320 mb overclocked.
-enermax 500 watt liberty psu.
- striker 5.1 sound card
-2 7200 16 mb cache 150 gig hard drives, maxtor
-existing case
-existing license of win xp

all cameout to around $900, though i did get a few good deals, but even then it wouldn't have added to more than $1,200

and not to be arguementive or derail this thread:
" PCI Express 2.0 is coming out in October, and the upcoming NVidia and ATI cards will be taking advantage of it."
i find this hard to believe, as benchmarks have shown that all the 8800 needs is a single 8x pci express slot, meaning it is not even close to using the bandwidth of a pci-e 16x slot... so i wonder what improvements will occur with pci 2?

Prices from NewEgg of my computer (and unlike you, I didn't reuse anything):

Cooler Master Stacker 830 with 1000W Power supply: $400
Quad 6600: $290
Cooler Master Gemini 2: $40
2 RaptorX 150 GB HD's @10000 RPM: $260 * 2 = $520
Asus Striker Extreme: $300
4 GB Corsair XMS: $290
Arctic Silver 5: $6
Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatality Platinum: $175
EVGA 8800 GTS 640 MB: $395
Lite On 20x DVD Burner with Lightscribe: $32
Vista Ultimate DVD: $340
Logitech G5 (with 2 thumb buttons): $60
Microsoft Natural Keyboard (4000 B2M): $50
Logitech Z-5500: $293

That's $2555. I could have probably gone OEM on a few pieces, but I prefer retail. I'm reusing my monitors (LG 246WP 24" Widescreen Primary with Dell 2001FP 20" 4x3 secondary). I prefer the LG over the Dell, but it leaves a lot to be desired on non widescreen scaling.

Just a quick note about power supplies: bigger is not always better.

Unless you have multiple video cards, you probably don't need more than a 500W PS. A top-of-the-line overclocked system under full load is only going to draw about 350W.

The reason bigger is not better is that power supplies are inefficient when the load is low. A 1000W PS will generate a lot more heat under a 200W load than a 400W PS.

So, don't waste your money on a 1000W PS unless you are really going to be sucking that much power.

Other things to consider:

1. Some power supplies are quieter than others.
2. Detachable cables are very convenient.

Quote: Original post by JohnBolton
Just a quick note about power supplies: bigger is not always better.

Unless you have multiple video cards, you probably don't need more than a 500W PS. A top-of-the-line overclocked system under full load is only going to draw about 350W.

The reason bigger is not better is that power supplies are inefficient when the load is low. A 1000W PS will generate a lot more heat under a 200W load than a 400W PS.

So, don't waste your money on a 1000W PS unless you are really going to be sucking that much power.

Other things to consider:

1. Some power supplies are quieter than others.
2. Detachable cables are very convenient.

Good info. Thank you much.

For those of you who want to splurge for the dual raptors, take this anecdote into account (from several years ago):

My computer:
AMD 2600+
[SATA 1] WD Caviar 250GB 7200RPM
1.5GB RAM

Friend's Computer:
Intel P4 2.8GHz
[SATA 1] RAID 0 WD Raptor 36GB+36GB 10K RPM
2GB RAM


My computer loads Battlefield 2 maps several seconds FASTER than his. And mine's far cheaper. The moral of this story is that load times may not be dictated directly by your maximum transfer speed or seek speed of your hard drive(s)

Quote: Original post by Nypyren
For those of you who want to splurge for the dual raptors, take this anecdote into account (from several years ago):

My computer:
AMD 2600+
[SATA 1] WD Caviar 250GB 7200RPM
1.5GB RAM

Friend's Computer:
Intel P4 2.8GHz
[SATA 1] RAID 0 WD Raptor 36GB+36GB 10K RPM
2GB RAM


My computer loads Battlefield 2 maps several seconds FASTER than his. And mine's far cheaper. The moral of this story is that load times may not be dictated directly by your maximum transfer speed or seek speed of your hard drive(s)

Does anyone have any additional comments/info about this, because I was planning on getting 1 or 2 Raptors to hold my games? Is the type of GPU the unknown factor, or does that not matter?

RAID isn't always faster. IMO get 2 150Gb raptors if you can afford it and don't RAID them.