Recent content by hyperjoe

I'd suggest these for RAM/Mobo/CPU Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $135 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358 CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80580Q8200 - Retail - $169...

What's your budget? That's fairly important to know when it comes to pricing a PC

That second one points to a dell not an HP

I am impressed by your tenacity to get to the root of all this. I would have given up after I got the refund from the retailer and went and bought a different laptop from a different company. I'm interested to see how this all turns out.

get a 2x2GB ram upgrade... not saying it will specifically help Crysis, but it could reduce bottlenecks elsewhere in the OS which could free up resources for Crysis..

I like shortstuff's build. It gives you the upper market price that you can just substitute cheaper parts one by one to get the price down to where you want. I'd go with an E8400 or E7200 CPU with a 650W psu instead that should drop the price somewhat

+1 on Shadow's post. The only way you'll get FULL usage of the crossfire is with X48 motherboards. P45 will only give you x8 in a Xfire build. That's not saying you'll need it for 1280x1024, but if you upgrade your monitor later, you'll kick yourself for not going for the max Xfire speed.

IIRC - 45nm processors are more sensitive to voltages than the older 65nm processors. I think the max sustainable voltages are in the 1.3-1.4v range, though I'm not completely sure.

Where did you screw up? You woke up this morning.... just kidding. Are you saying you're waiting for the 4870X2 ATI card? or are you going to wait to see how good ATI's R700 drivers compare to Nvidia's R180? Your call I guess... a bunch of people are just going to vouch for ATI regardless of...

You might be overdoing it with the PSU wattage. Probably can go down to 750W with no trouble. Otherwise I like the build, though you don't mention what type/amount of RAM you are getting. As far as Nahalem, unless you are an enthusiast and will purchase the nahalem Mobo/CPU's at their...

I would still go with the 750TX. Better safe than sorry. Also, when it comes to sound cards, there should be no conflict as long as you disable the onboard sound (sometimes referred to as Codecs) in the motherboard's BIOS menu. JR

I take it you are going with a Vista 64bit OS? Otherwise more than 4GB is a waste. Have you considered upgrading to a Q9450? Double the L2 Cache and a better OC'ing multiplier. Doesn't your motherboard come with a Network port or two already? Do you really need an extra? I give it no...

df1 - Thumbs up on your build I like all of it! As far as the xigmatek cooler, do some research, maybe on the website of the case manufacturer or the cooler manufacturer. They may have some information (in their forums?) as to if the cooler will fit the case.

You're mixing an Nvidia chipset with an AMD/ATI video card. Not a horrible thing to do (I did that with an Nvidia video card and Intel chipset) but not really recommended. In your case I would change your mobo to either of these chipsets: P45/X38/X48. The latter two are best if you intend to...

No significant issues with this build although i have a couple suggestions: HDD: If you want a raptor, pay the premium for the 300GB Velociraptor, it has better technology. As it stands the Raptor X probably doesn't perform much better than the newer 7200 rpm HDs you can get for similar prices...