Need help deciding what Nvidia to get

rastapeenor · Feb 21, 2008, 07:10 PM

I am a total noob at computer stuff. I know how to use a computer and everything but i am brand new on deciding what to get. I am looking for a good video card that will last me a while. I mostly do RTS gaming so I need something good in the RTS side. If anyone can help me decide on what Nvidia to get that would be great thanks.

BlueMak · Feb 21, 2008, 07:44 PM

What are the specs of the rest of your PC?

rastapeenor · Feb 21, 2008, 08:01 PM

dont have one yet but it will be 3gb RAM 2.4GHZ quad core processor.

kris23 · Feb 21, 2008, 08:32 PM

we need to know the rest of your planned system specs in detail before we can recommend a vid card.

firstly, what resolution monitor will you be using? RTS games tend to have alot of moving pixels and textures for huge radiuses so we're going to need the display size so you dont go running out of VRAM.

id like to point out that using 3GB of RAM is very inefficient and depending on the config, would give you less performance than 2GB set. go with either 2GB or 4GB hell even 8GB is a very good idea now, good RAM is very cheap.

your 2.4GHz Quad im assuming is the Intel Q6600, a good processor but Intel is releasing their new Q9XXX series in March and will have a i believe 50% increase performance to clock ratio. very good actually.

i'd also like to help you choose the best components for your system so do you have a budget?

ExitiosuS · Feb 21, 2008, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kris23

id like to point out that using 3GB of RAM is very inefficient and depending on the config, would give you less performance than 2GB set. go with either 2GB or 4GB hell even 8GB is a very good idea now, good RAM is very cheap.

Mind if I ask a newb question? lol. Why is 3GB of RAM very inefficient depending on the configuration? This statement is new to me!

aNy_oNE · Feb 21, 2008, 10:52 PM

ExitiosuS - Dual Channel improves performance quite a bit; I haven't heard of a 1.5gb stick of RAM so dual channel would not be possible with three sticks of 1gb, or 2gb + 1gb sticks - for it to work the sticks have to be basically identical in spec. Since dual-channel gives better performace, any configuration that doesn't allow dual-channel is considered to be not optimal.

kris23 · Feb 22, 2008, 12:11 AM

Dual-Channel can be run with 4 DIMMS (1GB + 512MB Channel A, 1GB + 512mb Channel B) its really a horrible waste of money since there are no good 512mb sticks, they tend to be close in price to the 1GB ones too.....

so basically, you take up space with useless sticks, get less performance to dollar and really just screws you over when you need that extra GB in the next couple months. the average set of DDR2 800 has like $20 difference or less between a set of 2x1GB sticks and 2x512mb sticks

and if you were wondering, running 3x1GB sticks of RAM would give you a single channel (64-bit) bandwidth vs 2GB in dual channel (128-bit) or double the speed.

ExitiosuS · Feb 22, 2008, 12:47 AM

Oh! Okay!

Thanks for the explanation! Haha, I remember asking a long time ago what dual-channel did... Oh well, what can I say, I guess I'm just a nubbie. :'(

... I love this site.

rastapeenor · Feb 22, 2008, 07:16 PM

since i dont have all the money in the world i could chose between these two processors

Intel� Core�2 Q6600 Quad-Core (8MB L2 cache,2.4GHz,1066FSB)
or
Intel� Core�2 Duo Processor E6850 (4MB L2 Cache,3.0GHz,1333 FSB)
I was thinking about the duo cause it has .6 more GHz which i here is alot.

My monitor i would have it this
19 inch S199WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel Monitor with TrueLife*
or
19 inch SE198WFP Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

and one last question about RAM

which is better:
2GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz OC'd to 1066MHz-2 DIMMsor
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs

Thanks.

kris23 · Feb 22, 2008, 07:52 PM

still alittle vague in terms of specs....

can you just give a budget because theres alot of different hardware out there and some is very expensive yet very poorly made (eg. Corsair Dominator DDR2 800 and 1066)

and the Q6600 is alot faster than the E6850

rastapeenor · Feb 22, 2008, 10:07 PM

umm i would say 1800$ or less but i mean 2000$ would be total max.

tullnd · Feb 23, 2008, 12:57 AM

Your budget is easy. I just built a machine for about $850 for the main PC. I had to buy EVERYTHING but speakers...so mouse, keyboard and monitor were separate. Here's a breakdown of my build. I'll notate MIR's afterwards and not reflect them in the total price, as I don't count on them. E8400 3.0Ghz Core2Duo $189 (Microcenter) Asus P5k $135 (Microcenter) Seagate 320GB $65 (Fry's) Corsair 2x1GB 800Mhz $70 (Microcenter) - $35 MIR CoolerMaster CM690 $60 (Microcenter) - $40 MIR eVGA 8800GT 512MB $225 (Microcenter) Antec EarthWatts 500 $85 (Newegg) - $40 MIR Samsung DVD+-RW/DL SATA $30 (Newegg) In addition, I spent $20 on a basic MS keyboard(all I want is a standard layout) and $230 on a decent 22" 1680x1050 Hanns-G(Best Buy). I'm using a left over mouse for now and will probably spend about $35-40 on a decent mouse. Now my build, skimped on the RAM. I have some CL5 Corsair sticks, which are just fine, but not good for OC'ing probably and may slightly affect performance, but nothing significant. Spending a little more on them would be worthwhile if going to overclock or you just have to have the absolute most performance. A better motherboard may be an option. Mine wouldn't boot with my E8400 so I spent $35 on a Celeron to boot, update the bios and then throw in my processor. Other boards were about $30 more to work right out of the box, but didn't have firewire(which I wanted for my external drives) and so the cost to add that as well would about even it out. I figure for another $300 you could make the main box a truely competitive machine. I don't see the point in spending significantly more on the video card for the game types you mentioned. I hardly think it's likely you'll even need a 8800GT for most RTS games. I'm not pushing my choices, just giving you an idea of a modest build that's significantly below your budget. Better deals can even be had than what I paid, but I was on a time crunch.

kris23 · Feb 23, 2008, 01:00 AM

1800 is a price to work with, ill get looking around.

rastapeenor · Feb 23, 2008, 01:44 AM

Thanks man also im pretty much just looking at a dell XPS 720 right now because if i attempted to make my own i would fail horribly. So Ill be on tomorrow night (i live central time) so if you can give me as much advice as possible that would be great. The more the Merrier.

Thanks

kris23 · Feb 23, 2008, 01:52 AM

dont buy Dell, horrible quality components that are valued at less than half the price of the machine........

good monitors but horrible towers.