BF2S Forums "Good" or "Bad" time for a complete upgrade? Input needed!

1. I wouldn't wait for those to come out, and cyberpower allows you to buy computers with no operating system installed. I went this route, and just put windows xp on my computer for the time being.

2. Dual core is the way of the future, and although most games do not utilize both cores at the moment, but future games probably will. I run an AMD x2 4800, and its great.

3. You will have to make up your own mind as far as what your budget is, and how much processor power you want. The fx-60 is top of the line dual core for the moment (I believe), and the fx-62 should be coming out soon. The default heatsinks work just fine on AMD CPUs, as they tend to run much cooler than their intel counterparts. I overclocked my 4800 to about 2.6 (~8% overclock) using the default heatsink. I have since added a thermaltake big typhoon, and my cpu idles at 30 degrees C.

4. I would get one 512mb 7900 over 2 256 cards, as you can add another 512 at a later point if you need to upgrade.

5. Go with raptors if you can afford it, which by the sound of it, you probably can. A raptor raid setup will mop the floor with most other hard drives on the market. I run 2 74gb raptors in raid 0, and I am almost always first to load in battlefield 2.

6. Get a sound card, as using the built in sound on your motherboard will use up cpu power. I have an xtrememusic card, and the sound quality is fantastic.

Point by point reply...

1) Questionable at this point.  Vista will be more secure and likely to be more stable.  But it's uncertain right now whether if it'll be worth getting the new OS from the start.

2) Dual-core will benefit in the long run when future 3D engine take advantage of this as well as future drivers.  I personally say go with dual-/multi-core.

3) At the moment, either the 3800 or the 4400, depending on subjective value rate.  I have the 3800+ and it's running at 4600+ clock speed due to overclocking.  It's a better value for me but that's always a subjective matter.  As for cooling, the default heatsink will keep your processor cooled at stock speed.  Going beyond it would likely mean having to get a 3rd party heatsink for better performance cooling solution.  The Zalman can only take you so far in terms of overclocking.  However, so far I have no problems running at this speed with the heatsink I have (7000B-Cu).  Consider the XP-90 as an alternative choice if you can find it.

4) A single 7900GT will run virtually anything you can throw at it.  One of the reason to go SLI is for high-resolution gaming.  This means those 20 inch widescreen panels are going to need those extra 3D power to display at the native resolution.  I believe SLI ought to be an upgrade option, rather than something you put into your configuration from the start, unless you have oodles of cash to throw around.

5) A pair of SATA-II HDs in RAID-0 setup may net you bigger capacity and higher performance than a single Raptor.  I rather go with the regular SATA drives than go with Raptors.  But that's just me.

6) Onboard sound solution mostly don't offload the work from the CPU.  A sound card like the X-fi or even an Audigy will offload the audio processing from the CPU and will give some of the CPU cycles and resources back to the system.  This'll net in better performance in games.  It's really up to you if you wish to go with an audio card or go with onboard audio.  For better performance, go with an audio card.

First of all, DirectX 10 is hanging over all our heads. If at all possible, I think everybody should wait until DX10-listed and fully-supported hardware is on the market. Now...

meowmix wrote:

I've been thinking if purchasing a new computer from cyberpowerpc but some things have me worried.  Any input and help appreciated, thanks! 

1. What's the deal with Longhorn and Vista?  Would it be smart to wait for these to come out and then purchase a new computer?   

2. Should I go with X2 or single core?  I'm not going to be multi-tasking games but I would like to be able to use the features of future games, Vista and Longhorn. 

3. What X2 is the best deal and future conscious?  3800, 4200, 4400, 4600, 4800?  Are the default heatsinks decent enough to keep these chilled or would I need to upgrade to a Zalman? 

4. Would dual 7900 256MB GT's be worth it?  How much longer until we will see SLI being fully taken advantage of?  I've heard two cards don’t do much now?  Waste of money?   

5. Should I get a raptor HD, or would a SATA II 8MB or 16MB cache be alright?

6. I want the ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe nForce4 SLI mobo.  It has 7.1 sound built in, should I use the built in 7.1 or buy a Creative Labs X-FI XtremeMusic 24-BIT sound card.  My friend is using the exact same mobo with the 7.1 sound built in and on BF2 the sound gets sketchy at times, is that drivers or cheap mobo sound?

Just to add my opinions to the mix...

At this point, if your computer is already adequate, I would wait for later this year before I put together a system. If you're going to eventually upgrade to Vista, you want your hardware to be current, not late-2005/early-2006.

1. Vista claims to greatly enhance the performance of games with the help of DirectX 10. At the same time, there's some privacy concerns with its DRM system. I would recommend having Vista on your best hard drive, and XP on another. And yes, I would probably wait for Vista before I'd get another system.

2. Gamers argue that single core offers better performance than dual core, which is true to a point. Dual core systems are better for running several programs at once (including fraps+BF2), and will have better software support in upcoming patches and games. I also find that it's alot easier to alt+tab out of crashed processes with an AMD X2 system than a regular 64.

3. The following is a chart of prices and features.

3800+ - $295
* 2.0Ghz, 2x512KB L2 Cache
4200+ - $355
* 2.2GHz, 2x512KB L2 Cache
4400+ - $458
* 2.2GHz, 2x1024KB L2 Cache
4600+ - $545
* 2.4GHz, 2x1024KB L2 Cache
4800+ - $630
* 2.4GHz, 2x1024KB L2 Cache
FX60
* 2.6GHz, 2x1024KB L2 Cache

As you can see, it's probably going to be worth grabbing at least a 4400+. If you wish to wait, you can opt out of the upcoming Socket AM2 AMD processors and boards, if the new FX60 drops in price. However, that doesn't always happen. Old, highly-unavailable products can be more expensive than newer, more efficient components. The primary difference between the two is that Socket AM2 systems can use DDR2, which makes up for higher latency with higher clock speeds, and AM2 will be seeing 65nm cores down the road.

4. No. Wait for the 8000 series. Trust me. As for SLIing anything, you want to have a board like the ASUS A8N32 SLI-Deluxe, which can take full advantage of both PCI-e 16x channels if they're used for video.

5. Whether or not you get a Raptor drive is up to you. I like them because they are silent running, and good for video compression. Keep in mind that the 74GB flavor of Raptor is moderately faster than the 36GB. And yes, there is a 150GB Raptor, which has 16MB of cache over the other ones' 8MB, which results in awesome data transfer performance. But you'll be spending about twice as much for the 150 as you will the 74.

For storage, though, I highly recommend the Western Digital SE16, which is a 500GB SATA-300 (SATA-II) drive with 16MB cache, which is only $50 more than the 150GB Raptor. Not a bad deal for the cost-per-GB you save.

6. LOL! I just got to this question right after I mentioned the 32. But since you mention sound cards, then yes. I do recommend the XtremeMusic over the built-in sound. BF2 supports features available on these cards, and even non-audiophiles can tell the difference. Sketchiness can come from anything. Drivers, sound card, PCI slot, jacks, wires or even the speakers themselves.

the_heart_attack wrote:

there is no point waiting for the next hottest thing to come out before you upgrade, becuase you will be waiting for the rest of your life with the way pc tech is going. it doesntmatter what you get, it will be beaten within a few months by the bext big thing.

the only thing to do really is to buy the best you can at this point, as that will make your NEED to upgrade time longer.

I'm sorry, but yes...there is a point in waiting, expecially when the industry is so obviously and publicly about to shift into another gear...not just accelerate. Buying the best now will have people swearing at their monitors come the end of 2006. There is virtue in patience.

If someone already has a 64-bit system, they they can stand waiting. If they have something like an Athlon XP, then they're probably smarting just a bit...and I wouldn't blame them for upgrading now, but they still could wait. If you can live with what you have for at least the first three quarters of this year, do so.

Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2006-03-13 21:31:18)

meowmix wrote:

You guys are great, thanks for answering all my questions in wonderful detail *gives props to all*.

So back to the point, it would be a smart move wait for Vista and all this Socket AM2 / DDR2 mumbo jumbo?  I kind of had a gut feeling upgrading now would of been a mistake with all these new things coming out. 

But really how much of an impact will Vista / Longhorn, Socket AM2 and DDR2 have to gaming?  I don't know much about these subjects just familar with the names.  How much improvement will Socket AM2 and DDR2 really have?  Also, what the heck is the difference between Longhorn and Vista?  Are they the same?  Thanks again.  Oh, one more question, is Windows x64 version solid to run now with a 64 bit cpu or are people still waiting for it the develop fully?  Why even have x64 / Vista / Longhorn?

There's no real smart move in regards to Vista.  On one hand, it's got a much better foundation than XP and all of its previous NT4 derivatives.  On the other hand, Vista also (at the start) has a high system requirement to get the most out of the OS.  If you were to make the upgrade prior to Vista, the parts you have will come into question as to whether it can handle Vista by launch.  Right now it's unknown whether or not a system of today can handle Vista when it is released.  When we see Beta2 of Vista, we'll know just how much of a hardware hit we can expect from available parts.  And the Release Candidate will give us a better view to gauge how our hardware stacks up to the rest.

But that's thinking too far beyond and too much of the OS.  Vista will run on older hardware but not without any sacrifices.  Those with less potent video cards will end up falling back to using either XP-style or classic/vanilla themes.  It'll suck but we know that there'll always be a tradeoff somewhere.  Estimating from the given launch date, I think that cards such as the 6800 series and up will be able to run Vista's Aero Glass without any problems.  I'm not entirely sure if the 6600 series can take the Vista hit but those who have the two can always post here and let us know of the experience.  This is by rough estimation, so don't quote me on it. *grin*

In regards to Socket AM2, DDR2, and the upgrade bug, you may want to read this thread as I have mentioned some of the scenerios in regards to what you may have now.  The wait is hard for those who play BF2.  But it'll be well worth it in the end and will benefit in ways that you won't feel ripped off.  You'll find a couple of off-topic posts but generally the information has been posted there.

Why do you feel you need to upgrade?
(almost same ?, but) What do you have now?

*Get a 7900gtx then 2 7900gt's you wont need sli unless you run a big screen on high res (like mine 24" dell ) and then later you can get another 7900gtx
*definatley dual core, all of the line is good but get the best you can afford
*Go for the raptors, better performance and if your budget stretches far enough, i think it does get the 150gb Raptor or 2
*Yep go for the XFI, you'll need it

And i wouldnt bother waiting for AM2.....