I'm going to want UT2007, which means I'll have to build a new toy since my current one's like 18 months old. Unfortunately, I've been totally out of touch for more than a year and would like to know if any of youse know of good sites for product infos so I can research and catch up with the times. (My needs just haven't grown beyond its ability, or even approached the limit.) I really need to start studying up so I can be sure I don't regret any hardware choices. Prebuilts are not an option for me, so where do you start when you want to build a new rig?

Start with a motherboard, find one that supports what you intend to buy. I chose Asus A8NE, cheap and works great so far.

I don't think I should write more because by the time UT2007 is released, there will a lot more powerful parts available. If you are upgrading for UT2007, you should wait with the upgrade.

But if you are desperate, my system doesn't lag no matter what I do, I tried Quake 4 with Ultra 1024 x 768 and 16xAF/8xAA, and it runs usually above 30 FPS. :blink:
So you can use mine for comparison.

If you live in the US, you can use NewEgg.

[quote="http://www.sharkyextreme.com/"]Sharky Extreme[/url] and it's got articles, reviews and such. That's what I'm looking for, so when it comes time to put something together I'll know exactly what I want to buy.

You would want the new Conroe 65nm processor from Intel, it'll be released in a few months and you can wait for it to become cheap. It outperforms even next-gen AMDs so it is exciting news for those who still haven't upgraded.

And you also want to wait for the nVidia Geforce 8000 series or ATi X2000 series of video cards, and perhaps dual-core GPUs will also become available.

Bright future.

http://www.runestorm.za.net/components/com_joomlaboard/emoticons/love.gif[/img] I still have months to go; I'm not waiting in line for hours to pay release time price when I can sit back and wait. In the meantime, I'm trying to become prepared...

Edit: Holy fishsticks, batman! What the heck is a physics card? I don't know whether to be happy there'll be games that much more awesome or unhappy I'll have to cough up dough for yet another device a few years from now.

Post edited by: Spiced Hammer, at: 2006/05/14 12:57

$1500 - $2000 is very high-end.
SLi is not worth it yet, I can tell you that. :S

And Conroe kicks the next-gen AMD64 FX-62 AM2 in the butt, AMD need to seriously improve their next installment if they want to keep the crown. inch:

And physics card is a new hardware that will specialize in calculating the most complex physics equations known. But right now it actually makes games run slower according to some benchmarks.

I'd therefore not buy a PPU until they actually give a benefit.

High end, eh? Dag, I spent $1200 on my current setup a while back.

My current plan (very subject to change since I'm no oracle) is to go dual-core probably AMD with a single Nvidia card w/ support for SLI if I decide to buy a second one. (Nvidia because it's "how it's meant to be played" and AMD because I think they'll leapfrog right over Conroe by the time I'm ready to buy) From what I saw so far, Utech3 can thread physics through a PPU or another CPU core so if I get a decent CPU (which is a given) I can at least play even if not with any settings maxed out. I'll be buying and putting this all together after UT's release so I can get the latest info on who's most satisfied with their hardware choices. If the SLI and/or hardware physics adopters get a mind-blowing return on their investments, I'll have the upgrade capability already there. Some would call it unsportsmanly, but I call it smart. :evil: Besides, I'll probably have to wait a little longer than Windows users for my drivers anyway... I'm really glad to hear about the multithreading, I don't have to get yet another big card right away for decent performance and it can take advantage of the CPU platform I want to use.

Post edited by: Spiced Hammer, at: 2006/05/14 16:27

You don't understand one thing, both AMD and Intel are developing their next line-up of processors, AMDs next will be 90nm with the new AM2 socket and will be 5200+, but Intel's next one will be 65nm with an even better socket that allows higher data transfer bandwidth plus excellent support for DDR2 memory technology.

So AMD are scewed this time around. :S

And by all means don't go SLI, it is not long until video cards will go dual-core as well. Look at it as SLI inside one video card.

just in case[/i] I'm wrong. I'm not spending gobs of money so I don't have to choose between one bleeding-edge card or a pair of SLI cards; I just want enough to handle Utech3 nicely, but I'd like to be able to upgrade if it turns out it's worth it.

I'm not gonna make predictions as to whether AMD's screwed. I'll wait and see what happens; that's why I said "probably". Yeah, 65nm has me excited but shrinking the process isn't the only way to squeeze more performance. We still don't know how the AM2 socket chips will be different from the current generation, and we don't know what other new RAM technologies will come out or which platform will support what so it's still too early to say what'll happen. What I'm most worried about long-term is one company eliminating the other and establishing a monopoly.

As I just said, I'm going to hold back on the fancy extras since I'm sure I won't need them and only get them later if it turns out they offer a lot more benefit that we expect. All other things being equal, I'd pay a little extra for a mainboard with support for those options. I know multi-GPU cards are the next logical step; I remember reading about dual-CPU systems for the first time... but that was years before the dual-core dies that're just now saturating the market. I'm not holding my breath for the maturation and refinement of the technology; that usually takes time. Maybe I'll be playing UT 2010 with a multi-core GPU and physics hardware.

Post edited by: Spiced Hammer, at: 2006/05/15 02:16

I know quite a few things about the AM2 socket, it gives much better support for DDR2 technology, which is even slower than the DDR bus type, because current sockets lack support.

And 65nm has quite a few improvements, clockspeeds can be vastly improved without heating impacts, and it makes the chip smaller.

You are damn lucky, having all the goodies in front of you. But I'm in heaven for now with my new system, but everything gets obsolete at the end. ry:

I'll know more about it too by the time I consider buying. So, DDR2 is slower on current sockets because it's optimised for the next generation? It's music to my eyes.

We all know why engineers have been pushing the envelope for ever-smaller fabrication. Smaller is more efficient and thus inherently cooler but AMD seems to come up with more cost-effective architecture. Refinement of manufacture's great, but so is more elegant design. :cheer:

It's because everything gets obsolete that I don't bother trying to get bleeding-edge anything; it just feels stoopid. Now that I'm into games, though, I have to refine my formula for PC building and accept higher costs... Before it was just lots of RAM, mid-high CPU, and mid-range video device on a high-quality mainboard and decent slightly over-rated PSU/chassis deal- overall kinda between budget desktop and high-end. I think for gaming I need to beef it up to mid-high video and probably high-end CPU, though this will be my first time building a real gaming rig so I'm not sure. I'm fording into new territory for me, and with physics hardware entering the scene no less! Yeah, I'm lucky.

AMD are indeed much cheaper, but I don't know what Intel will do regarding prices.

And for gaming you should put high-end on both video card and processor, video card is more than 70% of the performance in most games. :S