Gaming Pc

[hanno]

Good afternoon,

As ARMA 2 looks more like a slide show than a game on my current rig, I am on the market for a new gaming PC. Any recommendations for a decent shop? I do know Phanthiep (spelling?) Plaza, but would prefer a shop where I can be sure that what is on the sticker is also inside the PC.

Thank you in advance,

Hanno

[dave_boo]

Why don't you just upgrade your current system? Most likely the culprit is an older videocard; unless you're pimping an AGP version it's really easy to upgrade the capabilities and save money over getting a whole new system...

I'm not sure of good shops, but when you go take a thumbdrive with CPU-Z and GPU-Z on it. IIRC, neither require installation, but rather run directly from the binary. Gives you everything you need to know except for the hdd....

[TigertheCat]

I can highly recommend Jedi,they have 2 outlets in Panthip Plaza,I got then to build me a high end PC about a year ago,water cooled CPU WD Velociraptor,8Gb RAM etc.

Talk to Judy,she speaks good English and will take care of you 086 300 8537,mention Khun Steve from Pattaya

www.jedicool.com

Edited August 19, 2010 by TigertheCat

[hanno]

Thanks Dave,

But I am not sure that just updating the GPU will be enough; still running on a Core2, 2.4GHz; getting a bit long in the tooth. Don't know how you managed to get the CPU-Z screen into your post?

[dave_boo]

Thanks Dave,

But I am not sure that just updating the GPU will be enough; still running on a Core2, 2.4GHz; getting a bit long in the tooth. Don't know how you managed to get the CPU-Z screen into your post?

"Alt"&"Prt Scr" at the same time and paste them into Microsoft Paint. Save As...a jpeg to your desktop. Upload the file and insert it. However, I just linked to the picture off of CPU-Z's website....

If you're running an 8800GTX (as indicated in your attached thumbnail), than going up to even a 465 should net you a nice performance increase. Granted the comparison I linked to is actually for the 8800GT, but the results wouldn't be that different. Jedicool has them for sale at 6690 THB. Things only get better from there.

And a 2.4GHz Core2 Duo(or better Quad?) is nothing to sneeze at. Compared to the Core i3 530, it's within 72.6% of the frame rate averaged over the games. Scroll to the bottom and see what I'm talking about. It's even closer if you run at a higher resolution since the GPU will be the bottleneck then.

[Llareggub]

I upgraded my PC recently from a p4 3.0GHz, 2MB PC3200 Ram with the Intel d101gc M/b to an ASUS P7P55 D MB, 4GB DDR 3 (1600) and the Intel Core i5 -750, it runs (overclocked) at about 3.8GHZ with the addition of a bit of after market cooling, it plays most of the newer games quite well, with decent frame rates, apart from Battlefield which still drops to about 5 f.p.s at times, and Flight Simulator X, which seems more processor dependent than anything else. (I also added an Nvidia 9400GT (512MB) which seems a bit crap to be honest.

If I were you with the value of hindsight, I would go for the fastest overclockable processor you can get, some decent speed RAM, I don't think you will ever use 8GB at current game specs, but if you can afford it what the hel_l. and a decent graphics card, NOT the Nvidia 9400GT, look at Nvidea GTX250 or better, and a fast hard drive,

If anyone knows which graphics card would improve my FSX frame rates, I would be interested to hear from them, RAM over 4 GB is not an issue, nor does multi threaded processors seem to make a difference, it looks like games like FSX need raw speed from the processor.

The cooler I found that was pretty good, that took my i5 from an egg frying 85C + under O/C full load was the Cooler Master 212+, about 1200 Baht, it won't run like an air con, but it never gets over 65C even in my Fan cooled room (ambient temp is 40C at the moment)

You should also check out the INVADE IT website featured here, I have bought most of my recent purchases from these guys and they are VERY VERY GOOD! - not the cheapest, but you get what you pay for at the end of the day!

Edited August 19, 2010 by Llareggub

[dave_boo]

I upgraded my PC recently from a p4 3.0GHz, 2MB PC3200 Ram with the Intel d101gc M/b to an ASUS P7P55 D MB, 4GB DDR 3 (1600) and the Intel Core i5 -750, it runs (overclocked) at about 3.8GHZ with the addition of a bit of after market cooling, it plays most of the newer games quite well, with decent frame rates, apart from Battlefield which still drops to about 5 f.p.s at times, and Flight Simulator X, which seems more processor dependent than anything else. (I also added an Nvidia 9400GT (512MB) which seems a bit crap to be honest.

If I were you with the value of hindsight, I would go for the fastest overclockable processor you can get, some decent speed RAM, I don't think you will ever use 8GB at current game specs, but if you can afford it what the hel_l. and a decent graphics card, NOT the Nvidia 9400GT, look at Nvidea GTX250 or better, and a fast hard drive,

If anyone knows which graphics card would improve my FSX frame rates, I would be interested to hear from them, RAM over 4 GB is not an issue, nor does multi threaded processors seem to make a difference, it looks like games like FSX need raw speed from the processor.

The cooler I found that was pretty good, that took my i5 from an egg frying 85C + under O/C full load was the Cooler Master 212+, about 1200 Baht, it won't run like an air con, but it never gets over 65C even in my Fan cooled room (ambient temp is 40C at the moment)

You should also check out the INVADE IT website featured here, I have bought most of my recent purchases from these guys and they are VERY VERY GOOD! - not the cheapest, but you get what you pay for at the end of the day!

Pretty much any modern card would be better than your current. The 9400GT was barely mid-range 2 generations ago--say late 07/early 08. IIRC they had the 92XX, 94XX, 96XX, and the 98XX and the 94XX barely, if it did at all, outperform the 8600GT which was the mid-range card from the generation before it.

If I were you I'd look at three things; overclocking the PCI-E bus and the memory bus and getting a better hdd. All would help with the transfer of textures to be displayed. Obviously getting a videocard with the most VRAM to store those textures in would be a plus. Overall I prefer nVidia simply for their better drivers in Linux, although it seems that ATI has come a looooong way since when I first used them (Rage128 days on through the 9800).

[hanno]

Thank you very much, some great information here

Looks like I will go for the GeForce GTX 480, though I might also need to get a new power supply and cooling if I go that route.

Dave, thanks a lot for that comparison site, looks like with my Core2, it is a Quad, I am still pretty much in the game.

Llareggub, mail order is not an option as I live in Cambodia and am only coming to BKK for a few days next week.

Tiger, I will certainly look up Jedi.

Once again, thanks a lot

Hanno

[dave_boo]

Thank you very much, some great information here

Looks like I will go for the GeForce GTX 480, though I might also need to get a new power supply and cooling if I go that route.

Dave, thanks a lot for that comparison site, looks like with my Core2, it is a Quad, I am still pretty much in the game.

Llareggub, mail order is not an option as I live in Cambodia and am only coming to BKK for a few days next week.

Tiger, I will certainly look up Jedi.

Once again, thanks a lot

Hanno

Actually if you look at the benchmark from my first reply to you, you can change to the GTX 480, then scroll down and see power consumption. The 460 (mis-labled earlier) is only some 12% more power draw than the 8800GT (and most likely less than that for your card). The 480 is some 71%(!) more. Granted the 480 is nearly twice as fast, so if that's what you're looking for and can ignore the noise, the increased power draw (which is still less than 500 watts), and possibly need a bigger PSU, go for it.

[Llareggub]

Thank you very much, some great information here

Looks like I will go for the GeForce GTX 480, though I might also need to get a new power supply and cooling if I go that route.

Dave, thanks a lot for that comparison site, looks like with my Core2, it is a Quad, I am still pretty much in the game.

Llareggub, mail order is not an option as I live in Cambodia and am only coming to BKK for a few days next week.

Tiger, I will certainly look up Jedi.

Once again, thanks a lot

Hanno

Actually if you look at the benchmark from my first reply to you, you can change to the GTX 480, then scroll down and see power consumption. The 460 (mis-labled earlier) is only some 12% more power draw than the 8800GT (and most likely less than that for your card). The 480 is some 71%(!) more. Granted the 480 is nearly twice as fast, so if that's what you're looking for and can ignore the noise, the increased power draw (which is still less than 500 watts), and possibly need a bigger PSU, go for it.

Dave_Boo, do you know of a decent graphics card that would improve FPS on FSX without having to upgrade the PSU?

My son is using the Nvidia EN210, which appears to be shit too!

I don't want to have to spend an additional 3-4K for a power supply just to power the graphics card if at all possible.

The PSU I have is at its limit, it is crap.

your suggestions are welcome.

Also, do you believe a graphics card upgrade will improve FSX? or is it simply processing power? I read somewhere that this program was written for super computers and we are nowhere near reaching the capabilities of FSX

[Llareggub]

Then why do I get down to 5 FPS???

[Llareggub]

Is this the reason??

[dave_boo]

Dave_Boo, do you know of a decent graphics card that would improve FPS on FSX without having to upgrade the PSU?

My son is using the Nvidia EN210, which appears to be shit too!

I don't want to have to spend an additional 3-4K for a power supply just to power the graphics card if at all possible.

The PSU I have is at its limit, it is crap.

your suggestions are welcome.

Also, do you believe a graphics card upgrade will improve FSX? or is it simply processing power? I read somewhere that this program was written for super computers and we are nowhere near reaching the capabilities of FSX

Actually with this PSU (which is a Cooler Master 500 watt) you would only spend 1900 THB. With that GT 460 I linked to earlier you'd end up spending less that 9000 THB.

Is this the reason??

Yes. If you look at this benchmark for that particular game, you'll notice that it is mostly CPU-bound. It is the exact same CPU that you have, so it is directly comparable. However that's at Ultra high settings, and if you're willing to bump some settings down (conspicously "Traffic" per this link which has it at 2560x1600(!) and no framerate under 19), you should get good framerates with the afore-mentioned upgrades. On your current rig(s) try disabling "Bloom" and lowering "Weather" to see if that helps out.

[Llareggub]

Dave_Boo, do you know of a decent graphics card that would improve FPS on FSX without having to upgrade the PSU?

My son is using the Nvidia EN210, which appears to be shit too!

I don't want to have to spend an additional 3-4K for a power supply just to power the graphics card if at all possible.

The PSU I have is at its limit, it is crap.

your suggestions are welcome.

Also, do you believe a graphics card upgrade will improve FSX? or is it simply processing power? I read somewhere that this program was written for super computers and we are nowhere near reaching the capabilities of FSX

Actually with this PSU (which is a Cooler Master 500 watt) you would only spend 1900 THB. With that GT 460 I linked to earlier you'd end up spending less that 9000 THB.

Is this the reason??

Yes. If you look at this benchmark for that particular game, you'll notice that it is mostly CPU-bound. It is the exact same CPU that you have, so it is directly comparable. However that's at Ultra high settings, and if you're willing to bump some settings down (conspicously "Traffic" per this link which has it at 2560x1600(!) and no framerate under 19), you should get good framerates with the afore-mentioned upgrades. On your current rig(s) try disabling "Bloom" and lowering "Weather" to see if that helps out.

Cheers!

[hanno]

and can ignore the noise

After wading though all sorts of reviews, noise and heat seem to be a real problem.

BAck to square one The ATI Radeon 5970 punches all my buttons, but the prize!!!!! I guess the GeFOrce GTX 470 is the way to go. Still a seriously fast card and reasonably prized.

[spacemunk]

all the fermi cards are having heat issues thus the price cuts going on.