Looking to buy a new computer

[krzywica]

I agree with most of what you're saying. The arguments that I believe are mute are: the card is cheaper (sometimes 10-20 bucks...who cares- maybe if you only work a part time job), quieter (by 1-2 db..big whoop when within a range o 40 - 42db), better looking (really), or the famous "just because."...just to give few examples. I totally agree with what your saying when it comes to SSA and MSA...CUDA, Physx, Better DirectX 11 tesselation and others. Because some games were built using one cards features.

My research is pointing to the Nvidia 570/580, as opposed to the AMD 6970. If I were to utilize more than 1 monitor, then the 6970 all the way. For gaming the higher-end Nvidia cards seem a little better. Both definitely have their pros and cons.

I've had both brands cards for the last 10 years....mostly top of the line or nearly top of the line. I currently have 2 9600GT's (Nvidia) in my HTPC in the living room, a ATI HD4550 in the bedroom HTPC, and a heavily overclocked ATI HD 5850 in my main gaming machine/workstation. If you can snag a 5 series card used or find a good deal on one I would take it over most cards out right now. Unless you need the top most performance and you will pay a premium for a 570, 580, or 5870 x2. Like I said before its a back and forth and there are gems and duds from both companies, Nvidia has had better drivers over the years and that continues to be the case.

***IMPORTANT***
AMD/ATI changed their model structure with the 6 series. for example the performance from a 6870 is not comparable to the 5870, the 6870 will be significantly slower than the 5870. Its like this in the entire 6 series so be careful and know that you are not getting a like for like or upgraded part is you go with the same model from the previous generation.

 

[Patrukas777]

Lets say I were to run dual Nvidia 480's...how long would something like that be good for (on avg)? I don't mind spending the extra money, but only if it will give me performance for years to come. I've also seen a lot of bad stuff from AMD's drivers.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Lets say I were to run dual Nvidia 480's...how long would something like that be good for (on avg)? I don't mind spending the extra money, but only if it will give me performance for years to come. I've also seen a lot of bad stuff from AMD's drivers.

I don't think you will have balanced system with dual 480 and 2k budget

I'd say this - nVidia was to first to implement gpu acceleration, first to support accelerated flash, first to off-load general calculations (including video encoding) to gpu (cuda) and still only to do physics acceleration.

On ATI camp - they have support for lossless hd codecs, better power efficiency. Like krzywica said - some games faster on one brand and other on another...
I think ATI bad streak with drivers is over and I have seen issues with Nvidia drivers as well. No one really perfect

Then I pick cpu/gpu - I set approx budget. Find two or three close models in same price point and google e.g : "570 vs 6870" or something like it
typically plenty of result to answer your question

 

[krzywica]

Lets say I were to run dual Nvidia 480's...how long would something like that be good for (on avg)? I don't mind spending the extra money, but only if it will give me performance for years to come. I've also seen a lot of bad stuff from AMD's drivers.

I would NOT run 480's (especially dual 480's) as they run really hot, not sure what case you have but it could turn into a major issue. They are also very loud. Also you will need a 1Kw PSU at the least which are $$$.

I would NOT run dual video cards unless you really have to or you come across a steal of a deal. Dual cards do not scale 100% efficiently and some games won't even scale across 2 cards at all.

Best bet is to get the best card you can afford now and add another card down the road if you feel you need more power. I'm not sure what chipset you are running but make sure you choose the right camp as it may be only SLI or only Xfire compatible.

*Edit* also what bored said.....you don't want to create a big bottleneck in your system and anything short of a highly overclocked i7 or a stock 980x will bottleneck GTX480's in SLI.

 

[Patrukas777]

I want the i7 processor (sandy bridge when available), maybe the nv 580 video card....1-2TB ssd, probably about 6-8gb memory...something like that. Will that be able to play something like crysis in highest HD settings?

I'm going to be building from scratch. I'm not sure about those gigabyte motherboards...people still seem to be getting the neverending boot with them.

Any nice monitors recommendations?

 

[krzywica]

I want the i7 processor (sandy bridge when available), maybe the nv 480 video card....1-2TB ssd, probably about 6-8gb memory...something like that. Will that be able to play something like crysis in highest HD settings?

I'm going to be building from scratch. I'm not sure about those gigabyte motherboards...people still seem to be getting the neverending boot with them.

Any nice monitors recommendations?

I've never been a fan of Gygabyte.....I'm an Asus man myself.

You only need 4GB (6GB if you are running x58) for gaming and anything other than doing industrial/professional type tasks.

I would stay away from Sandy bridge as the P65/P67 chipsets are having major issues and being recalled like mad.

AFAIK they don't make a 1TB SSD under $3k. lol.

Gotta get back to you later but if you get us a ball park budget we can put something together for you.

 

[GranteedEV]

I'm going to be building from scratch. I'm not sure about those gigabyte motherboards...people still seem to be getting the neverending boot with them.

I would get EVGA personally!

 

[Patrukas777]

I've never been a fan of Gygabyte.....I'm an Asus man myself.

You only need 4GB (6GB if you are running x58) for gaming and anything other than doing industrial/professional type tasks.

I would stay away from Sandy bridge as the P65/P67 chipsets are having major issues and being recalled like mad.

AFAIK they don't make a 1TB SSD under $3k. lol.

Gotta get back to you later but if you get us a ball park budget we can put something together for you.

so there goes my budget on the hard drive lol...1-2 tb will be suffice. I hear the Asus is a lot more reliable than the Gigabyte. I'm waiting for the sandy bridge fix...I hear they are fixed, and will start shipping late feb...costing Intel 700 mil. lol.

 

[krzywica]

I would get EVGA personally!

Yes they make great stuff as well. I have an EVGA 750i sli board in my htpc right now.

OP check on the evga b stock site for deals. They sell factory direct. I got my 750i SLI board for $30 shipped.

 

[Patrukas777]

so if I buy all this stuff, are you guys going to give me tech support when/if something goes wrong?? 24 hour tech support preferably haha

 

[Alex2507]

I'm an Asus man myself.

I know exactly what you mean.

 

[Patrukas777]

so if I buy all this stuff, are you guys going to give me tech support when/if something goes wrong?? 24 hour tech support preferably haha

i take that as a no lol

 

[GranteedEV]

i take that as a no lol

feel free to ask questions. we will gladly google the answers.

 

[Patrukas777]

feel free to ask questions. we will gladly google the answers.

now i can rest at ease

 

[Warpdrv]

Are your computer crashes coming directly after a reload of windows...? Or slowly failing after a while of running (months / years)...
What browser are you using for surfing the web..?
Are you using Antivirus ?

 

[krzywica]

i take that as a no lol

I'll gladly support your PC, I just need to gather a little information first for account verification. Can I please have your mothers maiden name, your credit card number and your SSN......oh and the city in which you were born.

 

[Patrukas777]

Are your computer crashes coming directly after a reload of windows...? Or slowly failing after a while of running (months / years)...
What browser are you using for surfing the web..?
Are you using Antivirus ?

The computer crashes are random. Sometimes one right after another (crash, reboot, crash). I normally keep my computer running, and reboot it every few days...and sometimes daily, just depends. 3 of my crashes happened while I was typing something.

I'm currently using google chrome as my browser (majority of the time, and occasionally firefox 3).

Yes, I'm using Eset Nod32 4 antivirus. I run sweeps almost daily, and it is currently updated (as is windows).

BTW, im running windows vista (really sucks).

 

[Warpdrv]

Ok good man, I approve of the browser and AV, just cringe when I see people still use IE (immaculate enema). Nod 32 is an awesome AV, I personally wouldn't use anything else and have been through many but 10+ years on Nod32.

I had those big problems when I was running my bland inexpensive HP desktop I use for work, since I upgraded to Win 7 - I have yet to have a single bluescreen or crash... Might be something you want to look into trying first, its a whole new stable world.... If that doesn't fix it, I'm thinking as suggested bad sectors in the Hard Drive or hardware - then its time to dump it....

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

The computer crashes are random. Sometimes one right after another (crash, reboot, crash). I normally keep my computer running, and reboot it every few days...and sometimes daily, just depends. 3 of my crashes happened while I was typing something.

I'm currently using google chrome as my browser (majority of the time, and occasionally firefox 3).

Yes, I'm using Eset Nod32 4 antivirus. I run sweeps almost daily, and it is currently updated (as is windows).

BTW, im running windows vista (really sucks).

Did you installed Vista SP2 ?
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=a4dd31d5-f907-4406-9012-a5c3199ea2b3&displaylang=en

 

[krzywica]

The computer crashes are random. Sometimes one right after another (crash, reboot, crash). I normally keep my computer running, and reboot it every few days...and sometimes daily, just depends. 3 of my crashes happened while I was typing something.

I'm currently using google chrome as my browser (majority of the time, and occasionally firefox 3).

Yes, I'm using Eset Nod32 4 antivirus. I run sweeps almost daily, and it is currently updated (as is windows).

BTW, im running windows vista (really sucks).

I would be able to tell you within 5 minutes what was wrong with a few simple stress tests. Sounds to me that it is most likely the memory or the power supply. Most likely memory though as you usually won't get a BSOD with a PSU as it will either shutdown or hard restart without a BSOD.
Is this an OEM PC or a custom build? I would check the BIOS and make sure your timings and voltage are right for the memory that you have installed in the system.

If that doesn't work you can try one of the below apps.

OCCT
Orthos (multi-instanced prime95)
Intel Burn Test (doesn't have to be an Intel CPU)
LinX