Help me Build a Computer

[sonofabishh]

Help me Build a Computer

Hey, I know this doesn't have anything to do with the Witcher, but I didn't know where else to post it so sorry in advance.I am looking to build myself a new computer, but am torn between hardware selections. (of course)First I thought i'd Go through Velocity ......any good or bad things I should know?Also can't decided between a Intel Core QUAD 2.4 ghz processor, or the Core DUO E8500 3.16 ghz?Some say the E8500 is faster than the QUAD (how can that be?)Also what about Video Cards....obviously I can't afford the top of the line but these two look good:512mb EGA GeForce 8800GT DDR3 PCI-E and then there's the ATI RADEON X3850 with only 256mb dedicated. Both are around the same price I think, but which is better?Which is more compatible with most games?Also, which of these setups does everyone out there prefer:A FASTER PROCESSOR and weaker graphics card, OR, A POWERFUL GRAPHICS CARD and a slower processor........thanks for your time

 

[szmik]

I'll cite myself Pieces most ppl would agree:- Intel Core 2 Duo (8xxx serie if possible);- motherboard based on P35 chipset;- GeForce video card, 9600GT 512MB DDR3 model at the least, 8800 GTS 512MB DDR3 at best, moneywise;- 2GB of DDR2 RAM at the least;- decent PSU unit (min. 450W)The rest is up to you.

 

[Maerd.298]

I'll cite myself Pieces most ppl would agree:- Intel Core 2 Duo (8xxx serie if possible);- motherboard based on P35 chipset;- GeForce video card, 9600GT 512MB DDR3 model at the least, 8800 GTS 512MB DDR3 at best, moneywise;- 2GB of DDR2 RAM at the least;- decent PSU unit (min. 450W)The rest is up to you.

You are the Intel fanboy Besides, for this particular game you don't need GeForce 9600GT. GeForce 7950 GT will run the game on full details and resolution 1900x1200 with no problem if all your other components are meeting the reqs The game does not use the features introduced even in GeForce 8xxx series, not mentioning Geforce 9xxx series that just appeared. For the choice of the video card the second number in the series almost as important as the first one, i.e. GeForce 79xx > Geforce 86xx, however 88xx > 79xx, so you need to be careful here. So, unless you don't know how to spend your money, be reasonable in your choices (GeForce 8800 GT is a good choice having in mind the future games that may appear, if you have more money try the same card with GTX suffix, Ultra doesn't worth the price, usually). And recommending 9600 and just 2 Gb of RAM... well, you may guess what will be your bottleneck. For the choice between ATI and GeForce you have to have in mind that many games are optimized for the certain graphics card, which is the graphic card of the lead engine developer ;D So, I bet the game will work the best on the same card Usually it means GeForce because it's more popular. It doesn't mean that ATI is worse but GeForce is just trying hard to screw ATI For the original poster's question about the CPUs.Faster processor in traditional view is the processor with more Hz. So 3.16 GHz > 2.4 GHz, obviously. Now when we have many cores the priorities are different. Theoretically 4 cores x 2.4 GHz ought to be better than 2 x 3.16 GHz (just multiply to see ). Practically some developers don't bother with parallel programming to use any cores other than one (and it's kind of a skill required to know how to make it right on more than one core, so it's not that they are lazy, they just don't have enough knowledge). I.e. The Witcher will abuse one core while other cores will remain unused, so in this case dual core processor with more GHz will be more effective just because the programmers wrote the code that way.

 

[szmik]

From my feelings I prefer AMD and ATI products actually, but I tend to make reasonable decisions, especially when someone asks for advice. heh, if you do much video editing you may prefer 4GB of RAM and Quad Core CPU, but it's overkill for games yet. Basically it depends on the funds, if someone can afford more, why not It's hard to get GF7950 at my place and its price isn't good at all while 9600GT is a bargain.