Tek's next desktop gaming rig

Hescominsoon said:
My current box:
500 gig hdd(stay away from ssd's as they have long term performance and durability issues)
core i-5 is't worth the price jump..stick with core i-3....or go for i-7.
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Crazy talk here for gaming rig! :p
SSD is like the greatest improvement you can make, the difference in speed is phenomenal. I have seen way to many gaming benchmarks showing the i5 is the way to go. There is no real improvement in games with the i7 but significant gains over the i3.
I could dig up some examples later, but I read this over and over on the gaming-rig enthusiast forums.
 
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ewoksrule said:
SSD is like the greatest improvement you can make, the difference in speed is phenomenal. .
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Times infinite. Having a 2sec boot from sleep is also a great benefit.

Joshinator said:
I didn't know AMD had anything out that could compete in benchmarks with intel's high end CPUs.... :p
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It doesn't at this moment, but then again at some limiting point the GPU/HDD is your next bottleneck. It all depends on how much money you want to spend.
 
Joshinator said:
I didn't know AMD had anything out that could compete in benchmarks with intel's high end CPUs.... :p
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Since most games don't even use more than 2 cores (at most) you really don't need an 8-core processor, or even a 4-core processor. All you really need to worry about with the processor is its speed.

Soooooo... Tek could really get away with buying a Phenom II, an aftermarket cooler, and overclocking it (I mention Phenoms because they overclock well) and theoretically save some money.
 
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Odale said:
Since most games don't even use more than 2 cores (at most) you really don't need an 8-core processor, or even a 4-core processor. All you really need to worry about with the processor is its speed.

Soooooo... Tek could really get away with buying a Phenom II, an aftermarket cooler, and overclocking it (I mention Phenoms because they overclock well) and theoretically save some money.
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I think 4-core is all a person needs. 8-core is bad. lol.

But I disagree with just buying Phenom II. We are also planning for the future. What happens when games a couple years from now start using more cores (or just utilizing all the power available in current chips)? If he got the Phenom II now, in a short while, he'd have/want to upgrade to something that'll keep him playing new games (assuming he stays a gamer :p).

If he got the phenom, he'd have to ditch both the CPU and the MOBO (maybe more) on his next upgrade (which is a lot closer than if he were to get a newer, beefier CPU with more cores).

Also, considering that the Quad cores are where the speed currently seems to be at in intel CPUs...
 
"High-end (but not crazy expensive) CPU"

Also, a 965, while a good cpu, is a budget CPU. Not a high end one.

Sandy Bridge beats it with a fair amount of ease.
 
Joshinator said:
I think 4-core is all a person needs. 8-core is bad. lol.

But I disagree with just buying Phenom II. We are also planning for the future. What happens when games a couple years from now start using more cores (or just utilizing all the power available in current chips)? If he got the Phenom II now, in a short while, he'd have/want to upgrade to something that'll keep him playing new games (assuming he stays a gamer :p).

If he got the phenom, he'd have to ditch both the CPU and the MOBO (maybe more) on his next upgrade (which is a lot closer than if he were to get a newer, beefier CPU with more cores).

Also, considering that the Quad cores are where the speed currently seems to be at in intel CPUs...
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Joshinator said:
"High-end (but not crazy expensive) CPU"

Also, a 965, while a good cpu, is a budget CPU. Not a high end one.

Sandy Bridge beats it with a fair amount of ease.
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I was simply saying it isn't about the cores with a processor but instead its speed. Also, more options is never a bad thing.
 
Well, I love daydreaming about a new shiny gaming PC as much as the next person, but I may have to delay building a new machine. Again.

/sigh

It's unfortunate, but other expenses (e.g. backyard fence, carseat-friendly new/used car to replace my wife's 2-door sedan, wife's laptop, etc.) may need to take precedent.

God has always been faithful to provide for me what my wife and I need, but I may have to go without what I want a while longer. I still have a crazy long backlog, so I'm set for single-player games, but I may not see you all in Guild Wars 2 any time soon.

It's something of a challenge to be content with an outdated PC, especially as the President of a large gaming group, but it's not uncommon for me not to play the games on which the largest ToJ chapters (e.g. WoW and GW) are based.

Put another way: Not playing the latest and greatest games doesn't keep me from doing my jobs as ToJ President and CGA President.
 
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