Help the Gerbil Select Computer Parts Please

The Mighty Gerbil

The Mighty Gerbil

Tribe of Judah TF 2 Chapter Leader & CGA Admin
Staff member
Everyone else asked so now is the Gerbil's time :) I am going to be getting a new computer and have many, many questions. Help me oh gurus of the gpu :p. Please be patient with me if I seem indecisive. I always am about such matters especially this being a lot of money to me. Actually it will be more than double the most money I have ever spent and equal to half my life savings SCARY :p! Here are the details...

The certainties are...

I'm buying a Intel PC not a AMD or Mac.

I am not going to overclock.

I'm getting the computer to primarily work with Photoshop 7. It would also be nice to do quicker Blender renders (which supposedly can benefit from multi-threading) but I haven't gotten deep into Blender yet. Of course running games decently would be nice too.

Price range is 1000 to 1500 dollars for everything. Spending less is always a plus but if I am going to spend a lot of money to start with I'm going to do it properly and not cut corners. I don't want bleeding edge tech just the best in the range I'm shooting for.

These parts are what is probable but correct me if you have a better idea...

The Processor
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037 It is currently sold out everywhere though (one store online "reportedly" has even been lying about having it in too). I can only find it on Ebay. I'd like to wait for it to come in on Newegg but they have no idea when that will be (anyone have experience with Newegg and know how quick they re-stock?). If I wait rebates on other items will expire. If I buy everything else I could get a DOA part and not be able to test for a return until I get a processor. I am uneasy about Ebay but that looks like the only course :/

The Video Card
EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130325

Hard Drives
I want to run a raid 1 configuration for a data backup so I am probably getting 2 Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA-300 Hard Drives http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144701 or possibly the RE version. Anyone know the difference between Caviar SE and Caviar RE drives?

Getting a 10000 RPM would effect load/save times but not so much actually program speed correct? I am also somewhat vague on if I actually need a motherboard with hardware that supports raid or if there is a equal way to do it with software that comes with the MB or Hard drives. Finally, out of curiosity, can one run a raid setup with hard drives that are not identical?

The Motherboard
Of all the pieces this is the one I am having the most trouble picking. I do know I need a LGA 775 board that can supports the wolfdale with 2 PCI slots and probably a raid controller. In the hope of upgrading I could get a board that uses DDR3, adding an additional 2gigs with faster timings down the road. However, I need to know if it is common, or even possible, for boards to be able to use memory with faster timings that are introduced later than the board itself? By the time I wanted to upgrade my last computer most everything wouldn't work with it at all (IDE went SATA and AGP went PCI E). That makes me wonder if I should even bother with leaving space to upgrade.

This one is pricey but seems to be the most popular board online. Would it future proof anything by getting it? ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131218 Factoring in this board and it's required DDR3 along with all the other parts would put me barely under 1500.

I'm leaning more toward an EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188024 and saving about $200. Supposedly there is going to be a new board replacing this that will run DDR 3 soon though :/. <side note> I wonder if DDR2 1200 will ever get popular if manufactures overshoot supporting it and go directly to DDR3. </side note>

The above boards have features I will probably never use though so I am also looking at lower cost ones. In particular I seem to keep seeing Gigabyte boards mentioned positively online for their ease and stability (maybe that's just their marketing though). I am going to stop researching for the moment as I need to go to sleep. I have yet to research Gigabyte in depth if anyone has insight into their boards (I'll also be looking at Asus).

The Memory
Still trying to decide what motherboard to get so the memory will likely be determined by that.

The Power Supply / Case
In a power supply I was thinking of 750 to 850 watts so I will have some power to spare for upgrading (note I care nothing about fan noise as I use headphones). There are a couple Rosewill power supplies on rebate at newegg which look good http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182070. I may get the S-B version but the difference is supposed to be irrelevant (fans). It should fit this case which I like ok http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147059

OS
While I'm probably just keeping XP pro there is the very small possibility of me trying Linux but have yet to discern the deference between the flavors of it. Also even after checking the wine compatibility chart I still wonder how stable some programs will be.

Forgive my beginner questions. I have spent a decent amount of time researching on the web so I haven't been lazy. Most of that research was bottom line "so Is it a good part stuff" so much of the technical terminology still eludes me. Without the memory and motherboard everthing comes to 888.77, plus one game hehe say $50~, its 938.77~ (that is without subtracting the rebate of $100 as $1500 is my limit before rebate). Here is a pre-emptive thank you to everyone who helps! I sleep now.
 
Last edited:
I use DFI, MSI or EPoX motherboards. I used to like ASUS somewhat but a half dozen faulty boards and their utter lack of intelligence in customer support made me rather angry at them.

For raid you will need at the very least "soft" raid which basically handles the beginning of the boot sequence until the OS takes over. Linux has native support for a variety of raid types "out of the box" without the need for special hardware but windows has to have a chip as windows does not support mirroring except in the server OSs.

If you are going to use a raid use 1 which mirrors the data between disks and nearly doubles the read speed (the write is still "slow" but you read much more then you write). Running in raid 0 gives you nearly double the speed of a single disk but if either one fails then you loose all the data.

I would use 500GB drives, I like hitachi and seagate. The seagate drives tend to be a little louder, my hitachis (3 of them) are only noticeable during heavy writes and spool up.

For linux download a live cd/dvd, basically it gives you a "preview" of the environment (but it is a LOT slower due to using a optical disk). I use Fedora on both my desktop and server. Some people like Ubuntu but I haven't bothered to touch it much since I like fedora.
 
do not use the raid on your mobo as it's proprietary raid that's not portable to another board. Frankly if you are going to do raid use either windows software raid or use an actual hardware raid controller. watch out though many so called raid cards are actually ide controller cards using FRAId(the proprietary software raid)

[SIZE=-1]http://www.linuxmafia.com/faq/Hardware/sata.html[/SIZE]
 
Ok lets see if I understand correctly. I can run a raid 0 using XP software but not a raid 1 because only the server versions of Windows support it. Raid 1 could be run off an integrated part of most Motherboards, a drive controller card or with Linux software.

My question is why isn't running a raid with a drive controller card proprietary while motherboard raid setups are? I am assuming that the problem is if the Motherboard failed you would lose your access to your data but wouldn't you have the same problem with a controller card? Wouldn't that negate most of the point of having a raid 1 anyway? Still even if a motherboard should fail buying a replacement motherboard may be better than losing my data. Most drive controllers seem to be PCI so it could be a problem too as I need 2 PCI slots already for other things. At the very least I think I need to start researching to see if a motherboard I like has a decent raid controller hmmm.

To be clear my reasoning behind having the raid is only to have a immediate backup of content I create images, music, etc. Any loading speeds I gain are a plus but not the goal (I don't mind the extra write time either).

As far as hard drive space I'm absolutely positive 250 gig will be more than enough. After ten years of computer use I only have about 10 gigs of irreplaceable data. I have 2 IDE drives right now a 120 gig which is half full and a 80 gig which basically holds 4 copies of backups made at different times. Of course neither are sata so I need new ones. If I should actually fill up 250gig I'd probably be making enough so much money off the content upgrading would not be a problem :).

Duh! Why didn't I just go to Western Digitals site to look up RE vs. SE http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc...nBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9cmFpZA**&p_li=&p_topview=1 . Here I was doing arcane google searches, silly Gerbil. Seems like RE (raid edition) is for raid but not for desktop boards... YAY that confuses me more as to which to use. Ooooh I could always go WD Raptor X http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=190. I feel the need to have a window in my hard drive and watch it spin... ahem. I do wonder how fast a raid 1 would be with those, no Gerbil you don't need it, aggggah but it's so shiny!

I'm am trying to get everything together to order next week but I could put off ordering a couple parts a few days and just order the rebate ones. So the ones I need to be certain of first are PSU, case and video card. I'm guessing I've avoided any grievous errors in the list thus far and will concentrate on selecting that all important motherboard. The more I think about it the more I'm certain about getting a cheaper DDR2 motherboard.

As far as Linux I am going to take a look at Ubuntu. I am certainly not committed to switching though, just curious.

...and you have only started to witness Gerbil obsessive indecision syndrome.
 
Hescominsoon said:
no you can run raid 1 from inside of windows. Raid 5 is the only one you cannot run w/o the server verson and you REALLY do not want to run raid 5 in software:

http://thebs413.blogspot.com/2005/09/fake-raid-fraid-sucks-even-more-at.html

What he says about FRAID also applies to software raid 5 in any form.
Click to expand...

um but what about...
Microsoft said:
A mirrored volume, also known as a RAID-1 volume, is a fault-tolerant volume that duplicates data on two different physical disks. Mirrored volumes are supported on dynamic disks, and provide data redundancy by using two identical copies (mirrors) of the volume.

You cannot create mirrored volumes on computers that are running Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional or Windows XP 64-Bit Edition. However, you can use a computer that is running Windows XP Professional to create mirrored volumes on remote computers that are running Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, or Windows 2000 Datacenter Server. You must have administrative privileges on the remote computer to do this.
Click to expand...
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307880

Please by no means discontinue helping. I was under the illusion that all raid implementations were equal, now I know better and I am doing more research :) I will read your page too. Right now I don't have the time as it is written in a form of Gerbil I am unfamilar with and will take a while to comprehend. I have no intent to create a raid 5 so don't worry about that though.

I go to do something other than stare at computer screen now, sleep. Aggggah I close my eyes and still see it! :p
 
Last edited:
The Mighty Gerbil said:
um but what about...
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307880

Please by no means discontinue helping. I was under the illusion that all raid implementations were equal, now I know better and I am doing more research :) I will read your page too. Right now I don't have the time as it is written in a form of Gerbil I am unfamilar with and will take a while to comprehend. I have no intent to create a raid 5 so don't worry about that though.

I go to do something other than stare at computer screen now, sleep. Aggggah I close my eyes and still see it! :p
Click to expand...

I would not trust anything MS says, or puts on the site, but I am not familiar with RAID...
 
Right now I am still trying to definitively dismiss getting a DDR3 motherboard. If anyone can answer or point to the answer to the following question it would be helpful. Hypothetically could I get slow timings on DDR3 (thus cheaper) and replace or add to it far in the future with DDR3, with faster timings, when it comes into existence? I realize a DDR2 board will never be able to use a DDR3 memory and there are speed limits but I do not know if that holds for faster timings (or if QVLs are added to). It's a simple question so don't over think it.
 
The Mighty Gerbil said:
Right now I am still trying to definitively dismiss getting a DDR3 motherboard. If anyone can answer or point to the answer to the following question it would be helpful. Hypothetically could I get slow timings on DDR3 (thus cheaper) and replace or add to it far in the future with DDR3, with faster timings, when it comes into existence? I realize a DDR2 board will never be able to use a DDR3 memory and there are speed limits but I do not know if that holds for faster timings (or if QVLs are added to). It's a simple question so don't over think it.
Click to expand...

Most recent motherboards come with a minimum timing of CL2. There are only a few vendors which offer the CL1.5 timing in their BIOS (and only 1 company that offered CL1.5 DDR). Chances are you wouldn't have any issues with DDR3s average of 8 CAS (yuk). Just note that ram will run at the lowest denominator in the set, so having a lower latency ram with junk ram will result in the lowest common latency (ie CAS 7 and 9 you will end up with 9).
 
kraniac said:
You may want to get an 8800GT instead of the 8800GTS.
Click to expand...

The GTS 512 appears to be just a tiny bit better than the GT and only approx. $20 more http://www.legitreviews.com/article/610/14/. You may be thinking of the older 320/640mb GTS vs. a 8800GT (or are you talking about that Akimbo thing?). I was getting an evga brand one though not XFX(which this page compares http://www.legitreviews.com/article/648/13/ .)

In the process of looking I noticed they have different bundles though.
Let's see what is packaged with the XFX version. The XFX PVT88GYDF4 number on the one newegg is selling does not match the one with lost planet XFX PV-T88G-YDD4 . It appears to be bundled with Company of Heroes. Company of Heroes, Crysis or $20 saved arrrraggggh more decsions.

vibrokatana said:
Most recent motherboards come with a minimum timing of CL2. There are only a few vendors which offer the CL1.5 timing in their BIOS (and only 1 company that offered CL1.5 DDR). Chances are you wouldn't have any issues with DDR3s average of 8 CAS (yuk). Just note that ram will run at the lowest denominator in the set, so having a lower latency ram with junk ram will result in the lowest common latency (ie CAS 7 and 9 you will end up with 9).
Click to expand...

Ah I think I see. I could mix and match DDR3 but the slowest speed out of them would bottleneck the other sticks.
 
Last edited:
I have definitively dismissed getting DDR3 and thus a DDR3 Motherboard. YAY! One decision down 4000 to go...

I am not sure what DDR 2 speed I will get though as it depends on what the motherboard I get will run and what is the best deal.
 
The Mighty Gerbil said:
I have definitively dismissed getting DDR3 and thus a DDR3 Motherboard. YAY! One decision down 4000 to go...

I am not sure what DDR 2 speed I will get though as it depends on what the motherboard I get will run and what is the best deal.
Click to expand...

lol good, and you will get almost the same speed as you would get with DDR3 with DDR2.
 
The Mighty Gerbil said:
Right now I am still trying to definitively dismiss getting a DDR3 motherboard. If anyone can answer or point to the answer to the following question it would be helpful. Hypothetically could I get slow timings on DDR3 (thus cheaper) and replace or add to it far in the future with DDR3, with faster timings, when it comes into existence? I realize a DDR2 board will never be able to use a DDR3 memory and there are speed limits but I do not know if that holds for faster timings (or if QVLs are added to). It's a simple question so don't over think it.
Click to expand...


There are 1 or 2 Motherboards that can use BOTH, DDR 2 and DDR 3 , The ASUS MAXIMUS EXTREME is one of them. DDR 3 has a HIGHER cl rating, but the timings are much faster, ie: DDR 2 1066 has a speed of 1066 hghz whereas DDR 3 1333 has a speed of 1333 mghz, unfortunately the lowest CL rating at this time for any DDR 3 is cl 6, DDR 3 is more expensive but the prices are dropping, so eventually replacement Ram with a lower or equal cl will be cheaper. [this article explains the cost difference: http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-4157-view-Ddr-3-evolution.html ], I am NOT saying you should not buy DDR 3, as I use it myself, but just want you to be aware that in certain circumstances[depending on the Hardware you match it with] that DDR 2 could be faster, but these days are coming to an end, DDR 3 will replace DDR 2 on the Market as evolution takes its course, The Question you have to ask yourself is: DO I NEED DDR 3 NOW, and WILL I BENEFIT FROM SPENDING THE EXTRA DOLLARS ON IT, Bang vs Buck? This Article might help: http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1...ive_look_at_the_intel_p35_platform/index.html ,it is one of many on the comparisons between DDr 2 and 3. At NEWEGG, they sell DDR 3 starting at 239. dollars for 2 gb cl 9 up to over 800 dollars, DDR 2 2gb starts at 32.99 up to 63.99 for cl 4, whichever RAM you decide to buy, make sure your Motherboard supports its speed as well as the PCI 2.0 standard for the video card you picked out, N1, I hope this helps MG :), Cya BB

C2E Qx6850, 8800 Ultra oc, 2 GB DDR 3 @ 1333, ASUS P5K3 Deluxe wifi, 2 x 500 GB Seagate Hard drives[Raid 0], Thermaltake Toughpower psu 1000watt, X-Fi sound, Thermaltake Kandalf tower[Water cooled Pc]
 
Last edited:
indecision update

Thanks BB but after adding a bunch of little etcetera stuff I figure I simply can't afford DDR3. It was always borderline price wise and after learning I'd really get no futureproofing by mixing different DDR3 memory speeds (which was why I was interested in it) I've given up on it. I am still stuck on which Motherboard.

Anyone have a opinion on this one?
ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131232
In theory it may be the best choice but there are no official reviews on it as it is apparently too new. Most of the forums mention bios problems but they seem to be clearing up. Then the northbridge is supposed to get exceedingly hot (more so than normal) but I don't know how relevant that is.

On the "decent motherboard that will get me by and I'll upgrade a few years later" end of things...
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059
However It has no raid controller. I could get a controller card but true hardware raid cards seem to be server cards and far, far beyond my budget. I wouldn't know which low cost card is good or if one can actually boot via one either. I either forgo raid altogether :/ or as I am trying to do look for another decent low cost P35 board. However once the boards get up to 130 the Asus starts looking like an attractive again.

I'm still looking at the EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188024
The board itself was described as a filler product by one site soon to be replaced by 790sli boards. So for $250 bucks I'd be getting something that offers little improvement over a P35 chipset other than the small possibility I'd upgrade later by running 2 cards sli (the 3 card I'd never do). It does support the wolfdale processor natively while other boards require a bio's update and may not run it as well though. (I have already bought the wolfdale processor as I am sure about it).

On the video card front I still like the 8800GTS but it takes up 2 slots. If I ever did run 2 in sli it would effectively eliminate a pci slot which I may need (altough I may be able to forgo the pci item). I could go for the one slot "8800GT superclocked" but I dislike overclocking, even if done in the factory. As for the 9600 series it actually seems to be less high end than the 8800s.

I'll probably just force myself to choose by the end of today as some rebates run out tomorrow and more importantly 24/7 research is taking it's toll on my eyeballs XD. So forum people don't bother with a lot of research as your efforts may be in vain. However please post something if you know it off the top of your head as I will check the forums before I buy. I will post if I do buy too.
 
Last edited:
The Mighty "Poor" Gerbil

Well I bought it. I basically had two ways of thought the cheaper "P35 chipset route and upgrade later to a DDR3 board when it gets cheap" or the more expensive "sli upgrade video card later" route. I went the expensive way.

Motherboard EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI (I hope to add a second video card in a couple years)
Memory Crucial Ballistix 4GB (getting it while it's cheap. $60 for 4 gigs and I'll use that switch in xp)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache
Two sata 10,000 raptors, 150gig each (I think it will be enough I still have my old ide drives if not)
EVGA GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX ATX12V / EPS12V 750W Power Supply

After adding various other ectera it was $1505.41 dollars, minus the rebates $155 (if they all come through) = 1350.41 (and then I bought 2 games in addition but I won't talk about that :p) I went a little over what I wanted to spend but not too much.

I could have gone with a lot of different things but it was taking to much of my life up researching so I went with what I thought would be safe purchases, though I think I could have gone cheaper. Specifically the motherboard may be overkill. Of all the parts I thought on it the most. A Gigabyte P35 board may of been ok but since I was already spending a huge amount of money I wanted to be on the safe side, oh well (before this the most money I've spent was $400 on my <3 wacom, WACOMS FTW! :D). I used my first computer for ten years and hope this one lasts that long.

AND NOW FOR THE GREATEST DEALS I JUST DIDN'T HAVE THE SENSE TO GET...
Newegg said:
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 Yorkfield 3.0GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 130W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
Free Quake Wars PC game w/ purchase, while supplies last
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115034
Click to expand...
Man for only $1,059.99 I could have gotten a Free Quake Wars game :p

Newegg said:
RAIDMAX O² ATX-302KP Pink Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 420W Power Supply - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156187
Click to expand...
I missed my chance to get in touch with my femmine side :p
...But I am getting this groovy felt bag that my PSU is coming in. Is that so it doesn't get cold while it's shipping? :p

...AND yes I bought UT3 Blackbeard. Sheesh, I feel like I've been shanghaied by a pirate :p

To everyone who posted thank you I tried to assess and read all the web links and posts that were given me but I didn't have the time to read them all. I didn't actually change to much from my original part selections but reading everything did help me decide so thank you for your efforts.

I'll be taking a few days off from computing (or at least try). My eyes are seriously shot from all the staring and I will have to do more when I actually get my new computer received and assembled. Anyway if you don't see me post for a bit that's why (do try to carry on without me :p). Of course for those who play UT3 I'd watch your back, you can never tell when a Gerbil might get you...
 
Last edited:
The Mighty Gerbil said:
Well I bought it. I basically had two ways of thought the cheaper "P35 chipset route and upgrade later to a DDR3 board when it gets cheap" or the more expensive "sli upgrade video card later" route. I went the expensive way.

Motherboard EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI (I hope to add a second video card in a couple years)
Memory Crucial Ballistix 4GB (getting it while it's cheap. $60 for 4 gigs and I'll use that switch in xp)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache
Two sata 10,000 raptors, 150gig each (I think it will be enough I still have my old ide drives if not)
EVGA GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX ATX12V / EPS12V 750W Power Supply

After adding various other ectera it was $1505.41 dollars, minus the rebates $155 (if they all come through) = 1350.41 (and then I bought 2 games in addition but I won't talk about that :p) I went a little over what I wanted to spend but not too much.

I could have gone with a lot of different things but it was taking to much of my life up researching so I went with what I thought would be safe purchases, though I think I could have gone cheaper. Specifically the motherboard may be overkill. Of all the parts I thought on it the most. A Gigabyte P35 board may of been ok but since I was already spending a huge amount of money I wanted to be on the safe side, oh well (before this the most money I've spent was $400 on my <3 wacom, WACOMS FTW! :D). I used my first computer for ten years and hope this one lasts that long.

AND NOW FOR THE GREATEST DEALS I JUST DIDN'T HAVE THE SENSE TO GET...

Man for only $1,059.99 I could have gotten a Free Quake Wars game :p


I missed my chance to get in touch with my femmine side :p
...But I am getting this groovy felt bag that my PSU is coming in. Is that so it doesn't get cold while it's shipping? :p

...AND yes I bought UT3 Blackbeard. Sheesh, I feel like I've been shanghaied by a pirate :p

To everyone who posted thank you I tried to assess and read all the web links and posts that were given me but I didn't have the time to read them all. I didn't actually change to much from my original part selections but reading everything did help me decide so thank you for your efforts.

I'll be taking a few days off from computing (or at least try). My eyes are seriously shot from all the staring and I will have to do more when I actually get my new computer received and assembled. Anyway if you don't see me post for a bit that's why (do try to carry on without me :p). Of course for those who play UT3 I'd watch your back, you can never tell when a Gerbil might get you...
Click to expand...

WOW, I am 100% POSITIVE you will be OVER SATISFIED with your NEW SHINY RIG, you will have to send your Favorite Pirate a few pics :p, I am glad you did not go with DDR 3, although it is Faster, its only a marginal step up from DDR 2 800 to 1066 unless you can afford 1800 speed, I also believe you will LOVE your Video card, some other Friends of mine have that card and they Brag about how it outperforms the 8800 GTX at a lower price, N1, and if you had not have bought UT 3 I would have been dissapointed, LOL, not really, but maybe, as for staying with Xp, NP there either as XP is a average of 10% faster in all games/apps over Vista, I know it hurts to see your bank account deplete so quickly, but If you are like me, then it will be worth every cent when you fire that BABY UP, here that 3 GHZ motor Purr and when it hits the 8800 GTS exhaust it will sound like a Ferrari, and when your eyes feast upon the Monitor that says all settings on MAX, then you will be happy......
BTW I also took your advice and bought the Orange Box today, CONGRADS Again my FRIEND!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top