Tek-Almighty

Yeah, like I said...I got the other 2 gig for a steal and since RAM prices are going up, I figured I would hedge my bets for Vista and get the 4 gig now. I tried to run 4 sticks of 1 gb DDR and no matter what it resulted in slowdowns in ALL my benchmarks...Too bad, eh? XP is the teh big suxors, as far as I'm concerned (see other threads in this topic for cobalt and I remarking on that.) Yeah, Preacher (I def respect you and all) but I've read about 12 reviews of gpu's and cpu's benchmarked with Oblivion and the outdoor segments deal some serious pain to high-end graphics cards (1600 x 1200 with 4x AA and 8x AF)...The marks I saw were in the 20's and 30's for high end cards and in the 30's and 40's for SLI/Crossfire rigs. As well, I would like to say that I started as an ATI guy, but the adaptability of nVidia won me over. That said, the AVIVO technology on the new X1000 series is the real deal...rich saturated colors, and great fluidity in video form... However, considering going to dual card graphics, from personal and anecdotal evidence, nVidia wins dual graphics hands down.

I was on the server that night and Cannon def Hax... For that matter, so does Bushwack. I shot them once each and neither died. Not only that, but after jumping from my raptor and pelting Bushwack with flak, he shot me and I still died....and he didn't...I mean come on!! Although...i have to say...Cannon and Bushwack are so good, when I first started, I could'a swore...(actually, I think I did...and was subsequently warned by Flitter) that hax were in play. There were times when (on Dawn) that I had lightening gun and was hidden...I mean hidden...and popped up for just 1/10 of a sec to shoot Cannon in the head, and BOOOOMMM>... he blasted my melon before I even could put a bead on him... Def...a haxor. Keep puttin the hurt on 'em boys...it makes me laugh.

1) Well, UT is really the only multi- I play... Single player, I play Half-Life 2, quake 4, COD2... I would like to start playing oblivion and Crysis when it comes out. I know that right now the GTX and the X1900XTX are the only cards that can even stand up under the severe abuse that games like Oblivion deal out at high res... 2) Funny things, such as sudden freezes, screen resizing constantly and spontaneously, sudden drops in framerates (I've documented this with benchmarks) and "static" on screen during game play. That kind of weird stuff. Cobalt... You know, AM2 really isn't even an option for me now, because 1 year ago I put $400 into the Athlon 4000+ and I just upgraded to 4 GB of OCZ platinum Ram (2 GB of which I cannot use until Vista debuts). I just saw some early benchmarking of the new AM2 based Athlon 5000+ and even DDR2 800 came in below DDR 400 because of the higher latency. I really think it will be another 2 years before DDR2 and DDR3 surpass DDR. By that time I will be ready for a new MOBO etc... I just would like to stick with the socket 939 for now, because my CPU is 1 year old and works really well (@OC it is just as fast as FX-55). So I suppose question is: spend the extra cash on the GTX or save $200 and apply that elsewhere down the line...I suppose the option to upgrade to SLI is always open (actually, I will do SLI probably 8-10 months after buying)...I know that games based on Unreal 3 will take a heckuva lotta horsepower... Thanks for input...keep it comin.

HS!...(holy shoes)...That just took me through 30 years of school dances... doh! But pleasurable too...I remember where I was when those songs were the stuff!

Well, I sit facing a pickle. My trusty old Geforce 6800 GT is doing funny things. I think one overclock too many. Now, I've been planning on replacing it and going to PCI-X when I have the money (which is coming up shortly). However, the dilemma is this: I have several routes to take. So perhaps my fellow hardware gurus can weigh in on this. Options: 1) Buy Asus A8N32-SLI, use my current CPU (Athlon 64 4000+), and get an eVGA 7900 GTX. 2) Buy Asus board, use current CPU, and get a superclocked eVGA 7900 GT (only 256 mb vs. 512 in GTX, and slightly lower clock speed) possibly aquire a 2nd 7900 GT within a month or two. Now option 1 is about $200 more than option 2, but I get about 15-20% performance boost on highend games from the GTX (really want to play UT2007 with most eye candy possible!) Option 2 is cheaper and I would possibly be able to get a 2nd GT down the line, and basically outdo the power of the lone GTX. Of course, there is always the issue of the new 940 socket AM2 from AMD...dual core and DDR2 memory... In that case, ahhh...heck...forget that scenario. In either case, I will probably replace my CPU in about 4 months, with a dual core. Anybody wanna say something?

Cyclops is No. 1??? Doubtful...and greater than prof x...ha. Lame list. Gambit def needs to be top ten.

go detroit! *adds...ho hum go suns!

I sympathize with you, but I got a good one too. How about dealing with TEENAGERS...? Right, teens were raised on electronic gadgets! They should be able to do anything! Wrong. I have kids that cannot figure out what words to use in a search to do a report on reptiles. I had a girl that asked me for the web address for google. I have kids that cannot turn computers on. I have kids that cannot use email!??!?? There are teens out there who can do nothing more on a computer than go to AIM and MySpace and that is the extent of their knowledge... Just freaks me out. I wasn't even raised on computers...Hell the GUI version of the internet didn't even exist until I was in my twenties! I keep telling kids that If I can go out and find anything on the net in 10 seconds, they should be able to as well...It just baffles them.

Yup, I have one of these and is far the best CPU cooling config I've owned. I have my fan thermally controlled by my motherboard BIOS and under heavy gaming hovers around 1200 rpm and is almost dead quiet. Also at that rpm my Athlon 64 hovers around 48 C under full load for hours on end. Just waiting to crank up the speed on my 64, but going to wait till I feel secure about blowing my new CPU. What mobo you have? If ASUS, they have adaptive overclocking that really works well. I am using the Zalman on mine and it is dead silent like you said...spinning about 1200 under load and running about 46-48degrees (depends on weather)...That is with a 10% overclock on my Athlon 64 4000+.

I was about to say...check to make sure HSF is spinning on card... There you go.

Depending on your CPU and graphics card, 2 gb may make a good difference. If you have high end processor and good graphics card, then 2 gb will help quite a lot on some newer games (BF2, UT2007, COD2, etc...). Primus is right...if you have a slow processor and slow graphics card upgrade those first. If you are on a budget, I'd say go with the geforce 7600GT, it is around $150 and gives outstanding performance for the money...if you run a slower processor, get an AMD 64 3500+ or 3700+...for the money ($190 and below) you get a heck of a deal.

If you have not added any hardware or made serious changes (are you talking windows updates???) then I would advise testing hardware bit by bit. Get Sisoft's Sandra program and it will benchmark and test everything in your system. I would always advise firsts, you run at least 3 pieces of anti-virus/spyware and dead end that right away. It could be that your memory or gpu are crapping out on you. I bought a 9800 3 1/2 years ago, and the framerates starting dropping on that after a while. I get the latest ATI drivers and get the latest Bios for your motherboard. Let us know what happens!

Do I get to vote? I would say (boy is this rough) Whudats for the boys and... Ebil for the ladies.

Ahhh...Yellow is seering my eyes!

Since almost everyone in this thread is talking CSS, I will throw in my two cents on UT2004. I've been playing online for about 2 years, the GC server for 1 year, and only been on the GC boards for a couple of months (?). But, having waged (admittedly poor at times) war against many GC'ers... I would have to say that Bushwack and CannonFodder are pobably some of the best UT players out there. Lex, Wentz, and Primus are definitely right up there too... But If I had to vote (gun to my head), I've been disgraced by Bushwack more times than not... so Bushwack!

Zalman all the way...my rig is super silent...can't even hear cpu heatsink/fan... However, I would go with the 120mm fan, and all copper for the heatsink... if you have room for RAM that is...heh.

Try some freeware...there is a program called "BartPE" that will enable you to burn a bootable CD with all current windows updates and drivers on it... You need to start fresh, man...erase that drive and reinstall.

Only good Jai Alai is in the opening credit for Miami Vice, baby!

I'll be looking for you too.

I have never heard in all my perusal of the internets any hint that UT2007 is going to be "tied" to DX10. However, DX10 will ship with Vista, last I heard. I just read an article today about system requirements for people running UT2007 in various "modes" (i.e. ultra quality, high quality etc...). The game will support Shader model 3.0, HDR lighting, and normal pixel maps, but no mention of any DX10 support. The earliest I've even heard of DX10 compatible hardware is at the very end of 2006 or early 2007 when Vista ships. That means, if you buy a GPU now, then it is only DX9 compat....however, 7-8 months later, DX10 stuff should be coming out. I wonder...Probably be a good 4-6 months after that, when software developers begin to take advantage. From what I read, if you have a X800 series ATI or 6800 nvidia, then UT2007 should run OK...if you are better than that, then you are good...specially with 2 GB of ram and mutithreaded processor (dual core). I saw a site that said "significant" gains with dual core proc.

Try to save some $$$ elsewhere in your build, but a good case makes ALL the difference with noise output, cooling, reliability, and the stability of your expensive gear in it. I recommend coolermasters (get pretty good for cheap, yo!). They have never let me down. If you want a smaller case, try the Centurion...good price...good construction....good airflow. Use 120mm fans whenever possible. I have a CoolerMaster stacker and it is the best case I've ever seen. Not very portable, but lots of room to work and super adaptible for upgrades and great with cooling.

What I am saying about making sure your pci-x cards are on sep. rails, is to make sure you don't use an adapter to power both cards from the same line. You need two PCI-x connectors on two different/separate lines coming out of the powersupply. If that is the case, you know they are on separate power rails. You can also read the schematics in the instructions that come with your gear to make sure.

Bahh... The cups you speak of are Solo brand cups and they sell them everywhere...even overseas. Look harder...then don't use them. Anything other than crap beer brands pour horribly into them. However, they do recycle well. And don't call all of us noobs. I drink out of glass (usually 1/2 liter), especially for Belgian brews or German beers. And, I don't know why you'd want to slam your beers like you mention above...Waste of the taste of good beer. You wanna get drunk faster, then try liquor. In college I couldn't stand those plastic crapolas, so I carried an insulated 32 oz (1 liter) mug with me for beer and mixed drinks. Much, much better.

PC power and cooling does make great PSU, but it will cost you.. I've used ANTEC as well as others for several years, but my new favourite is the Silverstone 600W modular for SLI systems... It has 78% efficiency, and it is rated to operate at that up til 50 deg celsius...that is pretty good. The other thing to consider is to make sure your PCI-ex power connectors are on separate rails...otherwise you risk failure. The silverstone has 4x 12v rails.

You know what's funny about all this is these guys are all like closet super geeks...they just study and work and do this all the time...I knew one of these guys in college...and he was a total geek...but could do all this... I was in a breakdance "crew" in 1983...what a joke...the best I ever got was a windmill and a decent headspin...