My new Build

I finally could build up a new build. Here is the spec:
GA P35 DS4, Q6600, ATI 4870, 4 Gb Corsair 800 mhz, Antec sonata case 3 including an earthwatt 500 W, 1 HD 350 Gb, 1 HD 750 Gb, Pioneer DVD burner.
I am very satisfied so far with the performance; the 4870 delivers a great performance in all games but Crysis which is a bit disappointing. Nevertheless I play this game all very high 1440*900 2AA with an average of 24 fps, though this fps might seem low the game is very playable.
What really makes me disappointed is the PC platform. It seems like it’s lacking games that will truly take advantage of the hardware, almost all the games announced will be released for consoles, so what a GTX280 or cross firing any high-end card will do except making crysis and the likes playable at higher resolutions with AA enabled, it’s good  but it’s not worth the money. I believe that once you exceed the 4870, you’ll be only taking advantage of the extra power for the higher resolution. Even the 4870 seems an OVERKILL  for 95% of the games that will be released, those include almost all AAA titles announced for 2008 and 2009.
Dirext X 10.1 does not want to take off, heck even direct 10 doesn’t offer something really attractive, it’s far from the impact of directx 9. The pc is hold by console hardware, this is a fact , specialy today when developers are more concerned about higher costs and increased piracy.
Anyway I hope things will change but I really doubt that. Here are some pics I took  using FRAPS, the fps is included in the shots . ALL games very high direct x 10 2AA 1440*900

[img=http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/5429/iw3sp2008080619245172or5.th.jpg]

[img=http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/4466/crysis64200808052018117xw8.th.jpg]

[img=http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/1657/crysis64200808031502570yl0.th.jpg]

[img=http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/4639/wic2008073010334893at8.th.jpg]

Attached Image(s)

Listen to the wise

You can't have a PC that's overkill.  Anything you buy today will eventually be obsolete.  You only have you're budget, performance target and price/performance ratio of the parts you buy.  Anyways it looks like you built a smart rig.  Your power supply might cause problems though.  It's not meant for high end parts.  If your computer crashes for no apparent reason especially when playing games, it's the PSU.

"This is sad. There's no other word for it. The person who invents a way to punch someone in the face over the Internet will make millions from the demand generated by people like this." Youtube comments

Why are you only playing in 1440 x 900??? How big is your display???

Also, why are you using AA (at all) in Crysis??? It's a major framerate killer in Crysis, ...even just 2 x AA.

yeah, turn off your AA make a huge difference.

Currently playing:
Korg DS 10 (ds) /  Metal Slug 7 (ds)
Rhythm Heaven (ds) /  Fire Emblem (ds)
Super Stardust HD (psn) /  Virtua Fighter 5 (360)
FSX (P

Nice Build I just built one my self . I went AMD Quad core 2.3ghz. I would have went intel but I wanted a ture Quad Core with seperate cores . I was to lazy to wait for intel to come correct with a true quad core.

Nice build I need to test out my new rig when it comes to gaming. I think there was a spot where you could test the requirements. Anybody know that site.

I found it Good Site

Dam I need to update my video card. I got a Geforce 8500 gt512mb. I thought that was a pretty good card. I pass everything else but themain one. At least I meet the minimum requirements

Well well, it seems that nobody made comments about those fantastic shots, gotta kill somebody.

Agent:

My 500w earthwatt is 80+certified, might not mean much but it’s a damn great PSU, very efficient, in fact 500 is more than enough for a 4870, for all benchmarked systems I’ve seen their load with this card is about 350 way far from 500, and this psu is 80% efficient… I’ve seen people in forums usin,g this card with rubbish psu and less watts (430-400) and it plays fine… well so far for them… anyway that was just FYI.
Yes there is an overkill, you should always buy smart, build an optimal system, if you have a small display like mine and start crossfiring a 4870 or even 8800 gtx, I believe this is a very poor purchase, unless of course you throw money out of the window, by the time you really gonna start to use your setup , it’ll be obsolete much like a single 4870… why ? because PC is now very tied to consoles, the console decide and pc get it later, heck even the new engine from Carmack , a pc follower turned to focus more on consoles, he said it himself YOU WILL NOT SEE some dandy graphic features that will not be able to run on consoles. So TODAY and for another one or two years, my pc will run all those 360-ps3 games with at least 60fps with some very few exclusive pc games, but then when the consoles will move to next generation, BAM my pc is suddenly dead. Well it might probably play their first gen titles , like Crysis Predator or some shit like that …
Gone are the days when PC had some serious games that squeezed most of the hardware. There will only be some very few exceptions.

Nitro & virtua:

There is almost no difference in fps with noaa and 2 aa, and only about 2 fps when 4aa is enabled!! I’m very lazy to upload some pics , I just got them ready for you to see the difference, you gotta show me how do you guys display those pics directly on the forum because posting links suck … well I love this card, the 4800 series are known for handling well antialiasing… I run GRID with an average of 75fps with 4AA enabled and all maxed out , 1440*900. Yes I only have 19 inch, poor me :p 

Listen to the wise

Actually AA does make a huge difference with Crysis, just not with ATIs new cards.  They do AA on their shaders instead with seperate ROPS (saves memory bandwidth) and the HD4870 has a fuck load of shading power.  1200 giga flops, a 8800GTX has half that.   

As for the powersupply, you don't want to go close to the max output, specially if you use your computer often.  People don't realise the power supplies in PCs are not designed to operate at their rated output all the time.  You'll probably be fine with the components you have now but if you upgrade and say add another  HD4870 down the road you'll need to replace the PPU.  Not a big deal.  

Yes there is an overkill, you should always buy smart, build an optimal system, if you have a small display like mine and start crossfiring a 4870 or even 8800 gtx, I believe this is a very poor purchase, unless of course you throw money out of the window, by the time you really gonna start to use your setup , it’ll be obsolete much like a single 4870… why ? because PC is now very tied to consoles, the console decide and pc get it later, heck even the new engine from Carmack , a pc follower turned to focus more on consoles, he said it himself YOU WILL NOT SEE some dandy graphic features that will not be able to run on consoles. So TODAY and for another one or two years, my pc will run all those 360-ps3 games with at least 60fps with some very few exclusive pc games, but then when the consoles will move to next generation, BAM my pc is suddenly dead. Well it might probably play their first gen titles , like Crysis Predator or some shit like that …
Gone are the days when PC had some serious games that squeezed most of the hardware. There will only be some very few exceptions.

You know I wasn't being condesending when I said you made a smart build.  You hit a nice price/balance, I understand this.  Still "overkill" implies that you can build a system that will always have untapped power.  That's not the case.  If I had 10 grand to spend a gaming rig, I still couldn't build anything overkill.  It's still going to be obsolete in 2-5 years.  It will work but forget about the highest settings for the top games.  I agree that PC performance climb will slow down eventually and consoles are catching up but we're still decades from PC hardware maxing out with current trends.  Even if we reach a point when software developers can't feasibly use this extra muscle.  I just refuse to believe this.  Game assets like textures take time and money to produce and it's going to get harder to do future hardware justice but their are easier ways to use the extra power.  You can add more enemies, better physics, AI, more scripted events, shorten loading times, faster frames you can have more at the same time without comprimise.

Furthermore, there are infinit game concepts that are not even possible today because of certain limits in technology and many don't need super high res textures or other expensive game assets.  Developers just need to think outside the box.

"This is sad. There's no other word for it. The person who invents a way to punch someone in the face over the Internet will make millions from the demand generated by people like this." Youtube comments

It seems we don’t understand each other, when I said overkill I was not talking theoretically like what you imply, I’m talking real, I’m talking about the current industry and trends,I’m talking about the games announced and today releases.
I didn’t say at ALL that crossfring 4780 won’t be needed because developers don’t need anymore that power…. HELLLLL NOOOO , games have a long way to go , and there are a lot to improve and that needs a lot of power. However , currently developers are NOT investing anymore in PC’s, gone are the day of new techs and new revolutions in graphics like what Half life 2/ doom 3/ far cry did back in 2005. Those days are almost over. Your 4870x2 for exemple will NOT be used only for the highest AA and the highest resolution… well except in some few games like crysis but other than that, consoles will be the leading platform.

THEREFORE playing: gears of war 2, fable 2, mass effect, and every single game that will be released on 360 and ps3 at 100 fps is of course an OVERKILL !! this sentence explained it all. Cross firing higher end GPU will be an overkill for 90% of the games that will be released these 2 years and will be good enough for the rest 10%. But that SUPERPOWER CARD will suddenly start to be obsolete when the next gen of consoles will hit the market. now do you get my point ? 
Again, for 90% of the games you’ll play in those 2 upcoming years, you won’t really be using your card unless you have a large monitor.
About AA in crysis I was obviously talking about my card and I did say that the 4800 series handle well AA. And the PSU is more than enough for my rig as you said, but crossfire , well that’s a totally different story, it might work but it’ll be on the edge , and that’s bad for ya.

Listen to the wise

Agent Ghost


Actually AA does make a huge difference with Crysis, just not with ATIs new cards.  They do AA on their shaders instead with seperate ROPS (saves memory bandwidth) and the HD4870 has a fuck load of shading power. 

That's interesting. Maybe i'll be going the ATI route this time then...