Good or bad Godly gaming specs?

[gomerr]

As mentioned in my memory forum post, im intending to make, for lack of a better word a godly computer. My hardest decision came down between the P4 and AMD. My first custom had a athlon xp, and performed well. With p4 however, and all the "extra doo dads and features", i swayed. But hearing about all the heat issues and compatibility issues in games i made my choice.

so here it is, the specs including prices from just newegg.com and pricewatch.com

AMD Athlon 64 FX-55, 1MB L2 Cache, 64-bit Socket 939 Processor - $879.00
A8N-SLI Deluxe mobo - $254.00
Leadtek nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT Extreme x2 - $428.00
Corsair TwinX1024-4400C25 1gig- $270.00
LOGISYS CS888CL case - $95.00
WD Raptor Series 74GB 10,000 RPM SATA Hard Drive Kit, Model WD740GDRTL retail - $225.00
Thermaltake Silent PurePower 680W Power Supply Model W0049 - $169.00
NEC ND-3520A black dvd+RW - $66.50
Logitech Elite Keyboard - $29.99
Logitech Laser Cordless Mouse MX1000 - $62.99
Razer eXactMat bundle - $34.99
ARCTIC-COOLING Freezer 64 CPU Cooler Model ACFZ64 - $32.99
Arctic Silver 5 3.5-gram tube - $7.59
COOLMAX Aluminum Filter for 80MM fan x5 - $14.95

totalcost: $2570

missing new monitor, sound card, and speakers.

DELL UltraSharp 2005FPW 20.1" LCD - $749.00
Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro Sound Card - $249.00
Logitech Z-680 5.1 Speaker Set - $399.95

$3967.95 Ending

grantid this is a time enducing venture, christmas and me saving for 6 months straight should do the trick i pray with prices comming down relativly slowly.

the ram is the only thing im worried about. compatibility with everything else has been phenominal from what i have heard and read. If the ram listed is bad however, i intend to get 2 gigs of the Corsair Xpert memory, whenever that comes out with decent speeds for a gaming computer.

Really what im looking for is CREATIVE criticism. Don't flame because i chose a AMD over p4, etc. etc. just looking to get some help from a broad range of informants. thanks again

 

[peteroy]

Get a cheaper CPU like Athlon 64 3500+ and buy a 6800 GT or Ultra instead of the 6600.

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[gomerr]

buying 1 6800GT or ultra really isnt what i want to do. i can get 2 6600's for that price and it performs better then a single 6800.

the fx-55 however is my bread and butter. if your going for a 64-bit processor, i intend to get the best one i can at the moment. =)

one thing i can say is i might swap out that 21" dell and replace it with just a single 19" viewsonic with 12ms response time....hrm

 

[tweebel]

Most important thing with LCD is that you will always have to play at the native resolution to get good image quality. If you buy a really big one you might end up needing to play at 1600*1200 all the time. You might wish not be be stuck to this all the time. That's why most hardcore gamers still prefer a big CRT screen. LCD response times are nowhere near CRT and they can handle whatever resolution (well, almost) you give them.
Remember that SLI looks great on paper but only performs better than a single card if the game is supported by nVidia.

 

[pat]

"buying 1 6800GT or ultra really isnt what i want to do. i can get 2 6600's for that price and it performs better then a single 6800."

It perform better only when the drivers has profil for the game you intend to play. As of now, there is not many. Let say you want to play Need for speed underground2 with your expensive SLI machine..well, A cheaper socket 754 3400+ cpu wit a 6800Gt will run circle around your machine, as since there is not yet profil for this game, it will run as fast as the 6600 is able to.

So right now, it is better to invest in a better video card that will run all your game fast instead of an expensive setup that would play some of them....

This is an <A HREF="http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzEx" target="_new">interresting article</A> about what I mean.

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[Rugger]

If you're going to spend $428 on the video card you're better off going with the Sapphire X800XT ($455.50 at Newegg) or getting a 6800GT ($385 at Newegg) and getting another GT later to use the SLI.

Take a look at Tom's video card comparison here:
<A HREF="http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041222/index.html" target="_new">http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041222/index.html</A>
The X800XT outperforms the 6600GT SLI in nearly every benchmark, most notably in higher resolutions with AA/AF enabled in: Half Life 2, Battlefield Vietnam, Call of Duty and Unreal Tournament. For that matter, the 6800 <b>GT</b> outperforms the 6600GT SLI in all but 2 benchmarks and the Ultra outperforms in every benchmark. Where did you get that the 6600GT SLI was better than the 6800GT? Is there a specific application that you're looking at? Information about the particular 6600GTs you're buying? Another comparison?

If you want to have the dream machine be "2 video card cool," then that's ok - to each his own. If you want the best performance, then take a harder look at what you're spending you're money on. JMHO

"He who will not risk, cannot win"
- John Paul Jones

 

[Rugger]

I forgot to mention what Tweeb and Pat said on SLI having to be supported by the software. Another argument against SLI for the now, but I think support will get better as time goes by. But better support is not a given - if SLI goes away, then so will furture support...

"He who will not risk, cannot win"
- John Paul Jones

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Wow. For that kind of money I'd personally be looking at a three disk RAID 5 array for my hard drive. I'd possibly even go SCSI for 15K RPMs to do it too. It's not just about the speed. It's also about the data redundancy.

And I have to agree with folks about the two 6600GTs. It's not worth it. Two 6800GTs might be, but two 6600GTs wouldn't be worth the effort to me.

Oh, and I also agree with the CRT over the LCD. There are a lot of reasons. I'd only go with LCD if I had to save space on my desk. :O

And is there a reason that you're only going with 5.1 sound?

<pre><b><font color=red>"Build a man a fire and he's warm for the rest of the evening.
Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life." - Steve Taylor</font color=red></b></pre><p>

 

[pat]

By the time support will be there (if any more support get there for current game), then maybe 6800GT will be priced at 6600 price, so it will be time to go SLI. If nvidia want SLI to break thru, it will have to push support for very fast.


-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[pat]

Bah..... I think he just want a technology show up and money blow off instead of a nice gaming machine..

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[prolfe]

My two cents:
Get a PCI Express 6800 GT, and you'll have comparable speed to your 2X6600 now, AND have an opportunity to expand a few months from now.
It's the best of both worlds.
I must also agree with everyone about the big CRT, I use a compaq p1220 for gaming.