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grumblestorm Profile
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Lil Zen Master

Registered: 01-2009
Posts: 439
Karma: 5 (+5/-0)
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New Gaming PC


Looking at a new gaming PC...not much choice in Canada, so looking at:

Alienware Aurora
i7-2600k
8GB RAM
Dual Radeon 6870 or Nvidia GTX460
1 TB HD
Etc etc..

My question....is it worth going the dual cards, (I have a 25" monitor (1920x1080).

And if so which cards, the radeon or nvid?

 

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6/27/2011, 3:50 pm Link to this post Send Email to grumblestorm   Send PM to grumblestorm
 
Ryverwynd Profile
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Head Administrator

Registered: 06-2003
Posts: 2753
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Re: New Gaming PC


I would suggest getting one capable dual cards but buy only one. Get the second if you need more FPS.

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6/27/2011, 4:58 pm Link to this post Send Email to Ryverwynd   Send PM to Ryverwynd Yahoo
 
grumblestorm Profile
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Lil Zen Master

Registered: 01-2009
Posts: 439
Karma: 5 (+5/-0)
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Re: New Gaming PC


They have a deal on the CDN Dell site...save $600 on dual card model...

So...it is $1500 for single card GTX150 with overclock to 4.1GHz (525W Power supply)

or

$1600 for dual cards and overclocked to 3.9GHz (875W Power Supply)

Same ram, everything else, etc......

Thoughts???

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6/27/2011, 5:40 pm Link to this post Send Email to grumblestorm   Send PM to grumblestorm
 
Ajop Profile
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Sleepless Stablehand

Registered: 02-2005
Location: Carrollton, Georgia
Posts: 1340
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Re: New Gaming PC


Very few current games properly utilize dual cards, but for only $100 difference...that is certainly a nice incentive. I'd still stick with one card and buy games with the extra $100. By the time you need 2 cards, you can buy the model you didn't get for $100.

Edited to note that the step up in power supply might actually make it worthwhile now. I mean, you need the wattage if you ever go to dual cards, and the card + the psu MUST be worth $100.

Last edited by Ajop, 6/27/2011, 10:51 pm


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6/27/2011, 10:50 pm Link to this post Send PM to Ajop
 
grumblestorm Profile
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Lil Zen Master

Registered: 01-2009
Posts: 439
Karma: 5 (+5/-0)
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Re: New Gaming PC


yes, they make the dual card setup look good with the upgraded PS also..., the PS upgrade alone on the CDN site is $100, so it's like you get the 2nd card for free.

I like the single card option, but the best card they let you upgrade to is the 6870 for single......

I'd rather go for a single 6970....but.beggars cant be choosers I guess.

Dell has some after hours sale starting Tuesday, so i might wait and see what cooks up there......

In the USA, I would go Falcon, or Velocity or something, but they do not ship to CAN I believe...would be tough to get warranty anyways. emoticon

And I am too old and shakey to put together my own system like the good old days..

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6/28/2011, 12:01 am Link to this post Send Email to grumblestorm   Send PM to grumblestorm
 
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Lil Zen Master

Registered: 01-2009
Posts: 439
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Re: New Gaming PC


Thanks guys, after your advice, and more snooping, I found a boutique dealer and managed to get a new CPU for Nancy (upgrade her Athlon 64 x2 to a Phenom II x6 1090T with a copy of W7) AND build me a basic gamer box (i7 2600k, MSI P67A-G43 (b3) mobo, gskill ripjaws ddr3 8GB 1600Ghz, 1 TB WD HDD 6Gb/s SATA3, amd radeon 6850, 620W PS) All for $100s less than the Alienware.

Now I have to sit and wait in front of the mail box for a week or two.....

FYI for the geeks

Nancy's current Athlon 64 x2 with GeForce 9500GT walks all over my Dual Core 2(2.13 GHz) with same vid card.

Nancy's current 3dmark 06 - 10,422
Gerry's current 3dmark 06 - 3,464

Danny, I'm interested in seeing your 3dmark 06 on your dual core with the better vid card...

What's everyone else running....just for giggles?


Ok......gotta go sit in front of the mailbox,
 

G

Last edited by grumblestorm, 7/1/2011, 6:39 pm


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7/1/2011, 6:21 pm Link to this post Send Email to grumblestorm   Send PM to grumblestorm
 
Ajop Profile
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Sleepless Stablehand

Registered: 02-2005
Location: Carrollton, Georgia
Posts: 1340
Karma: 26 (+26/-0)
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Re: New Gaming PC


quote:

grumblestorm wrote:
Nancy's current Athlon 64 x2 with GeForce 9500GT walks all over my Dual Core 2(2.13 GHz) with same vid card.

Nancy's current 3dmark 06 - 10,422
Gerry's current 3dmark 06 - 3,464


Was that default settings? Here are my results on default settings. See if you can identify the bottleneck in my build emoticon (sticks out like a sore thumb)

3DMark Score 12940 3DMarks

SM2.0 Score 5796
HDR/SM3.0 Score 6769
CPU Score 2590
GT1 - Return To Proxycon 47 FPS
GT2 - Firefly Forest 49 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley 1 FPS
HDR1 - Canyon Flight 71 FPS
HDR2 - Deep Freeze 64 FPS




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7/1/2011, 10:55 pm Link to this post Send PM to Ajop
 
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Lil Zen Master

Registered: 01-2009
Posts: 439
Karma: 5 (+5/-0)
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Re: New Gaming PC


hehehe, yeah....the ole dual core ain't what it used to be...but, you still smoke mine....so far...mwhahahaha.

yes, default settings, but in reality we run at 1900x1280 cuz the size of our monitors...so we need that much more 'umphhh' to get the pixels lit...hehe

Kethral, DL 3dmark 06, I wanna see what you're hitting!

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7/2/2011, 2:59 am Link to this post Send Email to grumblestorm   Send PM to grumblestorm
 


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