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CrazyAce4200

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New Rig for Battlefield 2

Ok guys I have sold my current computer to a customer and I'm going to to rebuild myself a machine. I woutld like some input on what you think of the items I'm choicing from.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core processor 4400+* (2.2GHz) Retail

Asus A8N-E Socket 939/nForce4 Ultra/PCI-Express/Gigabit LAN Motherboard

or

MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Athlon64/S939/nForce4 Ultra/DDR400/PCI-Express/ATX Motherboard

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Platinum System Memory - Retail

now the big question is video card. The price I'm looking at is $300 and under so I have come up with either the X800XL or the GeForce 6800GT what would you Recommend?

PSU will be a 430 watt Thermaltake I already have.

Thanks for the help

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

09/01/05 09:40

BigDawg

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

I guess in my opinion why would you build up a musscle car and then drop a v6 into it? I would spend the extra money and go for the 6800 Ultra or 7800 GTX 256meg PCIe. I own the 6800 Ultra AGP 8x and there are no complaints coming from me....80 to 90 FPS on all hi settings.

09/01/05 15:12

BigDawg

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

Also...if you go for either of those vid cards you will need to upgrade your powersupply. The 6800 Ultra AGP requires atleast a 450psu. I went with a 600 Watt Ultra.

09/01/05 15:13

johnpenn

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

bigdawg you are not giving measured, situation applicable advise. CrazyAce clearly stated his price cap.

basically your solution is "Uhhh....why'ont ya just get something else that costs way more than what you were originally willing to spend." That is not help. That is just blather.

He said he has a Thermaltake 430. He stated he's trying to decide between an x800xl and 6800gt. Your solution is to get him to spend 300 more dollars than he was originally wanting to spend by the time he gets the card and psu.

*****

Anyway CrazyAce, what do you want her to do? Both the 6800gt and x800xl will do BF2 on mostly high settins well. And even with everything maxed out you will do at least well enough not to notice any lag at all. The 6800gt performs slightly better in many benchmarks and equal in many others. The 6800gt has come down to the 300 dollar range. So it would just be a matter of preference. I personally would look at the ATI Radeon brand x800xl:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814102543

6800gts are a bit more expensive.

by the way great choice in RAM.

Make sure that whatever card you get it specifically says:
16 pipes
256mb ram
256bit
ddr3
Don't be dupped into getting an 8pipe x800xl. There are some out there. If it doesnt say, beware.

Either mother board out of the two you have chosen would be great.

With either the x800xl or 6800gt, your therm.'take430 will be enough. Just don't load it down with peripherals and a bunch of extra drives.

09/02/05 04:13

CrazyAce4200

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

Thank You JohnPenn for your input. I have decided not to spend the $560 for the cpu after doing some research I have decided to go with the AMD 64 4000+ I hear these use the same cores of the old FX-53 and can be overclocked to reach close speeds of the FX-55. Multi core won't help for gaming so I figured I wait on getting one in the future when more games start using both cores. So what this has been able for me to do is use the extra funds for a better board and graphic card. If you can give me some input on the new items it be great.

XFX PVT70GUDF7 Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

or

ATI Radeon X850 XT PCI Express 256MB DDR3 Video Card w/HDTV-Out & DVI Retail

Now here is the motherboard I'm looking at but if you recommand something better please do. Plus I'm not sure why they offer 3 different types and what the differences are I'm going to try and hunt down the info.

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Thank You Again

09/02/05 11:14

CrazyAce4200

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

Wow I just found a special at Newegg for a a combo deal but I'm not sure how good the motherboard is.

eVGA 133-K8-NF41 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

with a

eVGA 256-P2-N518 Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

For $449.00

09/02/05 11:30

CrazyAce4200

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

Well I found a place that reviewed it and it looks good for the combo deal its worth a shot to save some bucks. Plus the eVGA cards come with a lifetime warrenty now they started that in June of this year.

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/evga_nforce4...d/page_13.shtml

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

09/02/05 11:49

johnpenn

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

If it is not a gtx7800 i would make damn sure you look at some bench marks before you buy. The gtx is faster than the gt. I am going to do a little research and get back with you today. Don't buy yet. Let my throw some things at you then buy. Just in the past month I have built 5 different systems for people and I have been doing alot of research. Let me get back with you later today.

When purchasing hardware you literally have to look at every single detail, down to letters and decimals. It is not as straightforward as people might think.

09/02/05 14:39

CrazyAce4200

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

Yes I know the gt is not the same as the gtx. Most Sli boards start at $130 and up and most of the Geforce 7800GT start at $380 and up. I figure the 7800GT is better then the 6800GT and it looks like a good deal. I just don't plan on spending $499 and up for a video card. Thank You for your help and I be waiting for what you come up with.

09/02/05 15:38

johnpenn

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

Guess what CrazyAce. YOU SCORED BIG TIME. I would go for that evga board/card combo. Just make sure there are no catches to it. Make sure that after its all said and done you are spending and getting what you anticipated. Keep in mind that 7800gt is working on 20 pipes, not 24.

I'm glad you started this thread. I was actually behind a few weeks on the latest stuff.

But, if that mobo gives you any trouble at all. Don't hesitate to send it back. Evga is getting their feet wet on mobos and you don't want to become there free beta testee. What is cool is that based on benchmarks and reviews I have seen, the 7800gt performs so well for its price, that even if the evga combo deal didnt work out for you, I would still encourage you to get the 7800gt and throw it in an MSI or ASUS.

And here is another suggestion. Make sure the evga board is x2 compatible, in case you wanted to throw a dual core in it later. Most recent model boards are dual core compatible but make sure. If I were you I would probably keep doing research for another 3 to 7 days. It can't hurt. It can only help. Get back with me on anything you find. I been behind a little. Already this thread has helped me catch up. Try to find info on whether the ram you have chosen works well with the evga board. You mentioned that you wanted to overclock your venice. Well, make sure the mobo is good for that. I would spend another few days looking into all this.

Also you may be interested in knowing that BF2 is a very 'card' dependent game. Benchmarks have shown that the venice 4000+ only performs 2(yes 2) fps better than the venice 3000+, all other things being equal. The tests have shown that having a better cpu (within a given series) provides practically no improvement in Battlefield 2 performance. Now of course if you are moving from one core to the next or architecture to the next you are going to see improvement, but not within a given series.

I welcome criticisms of this post by anyone who has seen more info on this or who has a different perpective. I need to catch up. Enlighten me.

09/02/05 15:45

BigDawg

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

Jon.....what the fuck is your problem you fuckin prick??? I fucking own the 6800 Ultra so I kinda know HOW WELL IT RUNS YOU DIP SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!! Also I know people with the 7800 and there cards are giving them sweet preformance. I didnt mention anything about it being an Nvidia or anything....I simply stated that if your going to build a machine up why not put the icing on the cake and put a bad ass video card into it. Why dont you stop being a prick and let me have my own opinion on things.

09/02/05 15:51

CrazyAce4200

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

Here is my understanding of the AMD 4000+ I'm getting which is the San Diego core and the research I have found on it its the old FX-53 core. I have some show them overclock it to speeds of the FX-55 and Higher. Now the mobo and video card both come with a lifetime warrenty from eVGA I just found that on thier website. Plus the specs at the website state that the board does support Dual core cpus.

Performance
Based on NVIDIA nForce4 SLI chipset chipset
Supports Dual-Core, Athlon 64 FX, and Athlon 939-pin processors

Thank You again for your help

09/02/05 16:00

johnpenn

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

Oh hi bigdawg what's up.

the 7800gt outperforms the 6800ultra for lesser price

09/02/05 19:58

BigDawg

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

Well thats kinda like comparing apples to oranges....of course the fuckin 7800 Outpreforms the 6800Ultra....for starters the 7800 is Nvidias best chipset out right now....secondly it is PCIe....thirdly I dont have PCIe....I have AGP 8x. Like I said before. I realize that he had a price cap but I was simply suggesting that if it was possible....that he attempt to spend the money and buy a realy realy good card. Thats it. But you had to pipe up and start talkin shit.

09/02/05 20:13

johnpenn

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

ok well why didn't you advise him to get a 7800gt? If he would have listened to your advice he would have paid more than he would have had to for a lower performing card. From what i can tell you just like getting on forums and makin noise like a drunk frat guy at a losing ball game.

what CrazyAce needed was a little research on what might be the best, most price/perfomance solution possible for his needs. i mean you werent totally wrong. He does need a better psu if he is going to get a 6800ultra or higher card.

i know i shouldn't be proud of this but the angrier you get the more fun i have. lol.

release your anger skywalker
take a drag off your ventilator
and chew on a buddhist koan

09/02/05 22:21

BigDawg

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

Why do you have to ask me what I said in a forum? Read above....I told him either a 6800 Ultra or a (( 7800 GTX )).
So to answer your question.....No I didnt tell him to get a 7800 GT.

09/03/05 00:08

BigDawg

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

By the way....as far as me getting angry.....Im not angry dude. Im 26 years old and own my own house and 2 vehicles. I have better things to be angry at. Im not angry, I just get frustrated with people who dont allow others to have an opinion. Thats what forums are for. Crazy can read these posts and decide for himself. I told him to attempt to try to put a good and fast card in his new rig since he already spent a bunch of cash to build up the rest of it. I hope he listens to your advice because yours is in depth and detailed. Mine wasnt so much about what card as much as it was about not spending a ton of cash to build up his computer only to put a cheap video card into it. Another reason I suggested a good card to him is I have a friend that built up his computer to play BF2 and didnt put a new card into it. He stuck with his 9800 Pro 128.....and now he is paying the price.

09/03/05 00:16

TNTJammer

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

QUOTE

Sounds like a sweet setup you are trying to piece together. I have two BFG 6600GT OC PCiE cards that I would gladly release for 300 or maybe less. These can be run in sli mode if your MB supports it. PM me if you are interested and we'll talk. Good luck and good gaming whatever you decide on.
Jammer

09/03/05 09:39

johnpenn

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

Bigdawg i don't usually mentor people for free, but i will make an exception with you. You have much to learn grasshopper.

09/03/05 14:50

Bloodless_End

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

id go with the Ato Radeon X850XT PCI E you where talking about

i have the Ati Radeon X850XT-PE AGP8X and i love it no regrets on buying it

09/09/05 23:49

Saito

GameAmp Staff
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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

LOL I seem to be doing a TON of tech write ups lately, oh well.

First off you are talking AMD, spare me the clock rate because you can OC that thus it means nothing, all that matter is cache, and you need 1mb, IIRC the 4400 has that level, but the 4600 only has 512 (note AMD’s system of marketing items is idiotic).

There is a side note. Dual Core is slower in games than single, but it will let you say burn a CD while you play. The choice is up to you for what you want.

Frankly both your MOBO picks suck. DFI owns the AMD market for performance MOBO’s they run faster, and let you change voltages at will. There is none better. If you must by a “play it safe and slow” mobo then go ASUS, MSI has horrid issues with their 939 mobos.

OCZ is nice ram but I question how much you understand what it is you want. Speed (ie pc3200) is one thing, timings are another. Telling us the speed without the timings doesn’t mean much. Give me your timings and I can tell yo more.

Your PSU is debatable. Granted 430 is fine, but I would go for more if you use Intel, or Nvidia parts (not saying you do just putting that out there).

For the vid cards you can read my rant about both companies for the nitty gritty. However the x800xl is the better buy in anything but linux, or OGL games (ie doom3), plus it’s native PCIE and doesn’t need a conversion chip. But if you plan on linux then ATI is crap.

Personal advice, 6800ultra, 7800, or x850xt is overkill, it won’t net you large gains and is over priced. Get an 800xl or a 6800gt and wait two cycles for the new cores. Unless of course you like to kick ass in benchmarks.

My PC
CPU P4EE Gallitan core socket 478 @ 4.2ghz, Abit IC7-G Max 3, 2 gb PC4000 corsair xms, PC Power and cooling 510 psu, Albatron 6800gt @ ultra, Creative Audigy 2 ZS, Cooler master wave master case, Switech Liquid Cooling, Dual NEC 22 inch CRT, Klipch Pro Media 5.1, Senn HD280 pro, MS 3.0, Steel S&S, logitech elite.

09/10/05 00:28

Bloodless_End

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Re: New Rig for Battlefield 2

yea for ur ocz ram we cant really tell you to much without timings pc3200 is great but still doesent tell much without the timeings.

Ex:
Corsair Twinx 2gb pc3200 (CL2.5-3-3-6)
thats what i have :)
clear me up if anything is wrong... im almost sure im not tho

hey um are you wanting to make just a desktop comp .... or a server ....

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

09/10/05 11:05

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