Recommend Guynemer some computers

[Sava]

If you have money to burn, go with Intel. If you want to spend money wisely, go with AMD. My Athlon XP 1700+ runs anything at the highest graphics settings and resolution without a hiccup. A gig of RAM and a GeForce 4 TI 4200 help also . 6 months ago, I bought the components for the system and built them for around $650.

[Asher]

My Athlon XP 1700+ runs anything at the highest graphics settings and resolution without a hiccup.

Exaggeration.

I've got a similar system, only it's an Athlon XP 2100+ and a GeForce 4 Ti4600 128MB, and it certainly doesn't run "without a hiccup" at the highest graphics settings (8x anisotropic, 4xS FSAA) and resolutions (1600x1200).

[Sava]

Well perhaps you don't know how to tweak your system then... and I'm not exaggerating... the newest games I have: Battlefield 1942, Simcity 4000, Madden 2003, and Unreal2k3 all are run at the highest settings and highest resolution without hiccups at all. Perhaps you have too much crap in your system tray, or not enough RAM dedicated to your programs. I also run a processor controller prog that functions similar to a Mac OS, allowing me to reserve not only RAM, but processor power to programs.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Sava
Well perhaps you don't know how to tweak your system then...

and I'm not exaggerating... the newest games I have: Battlefield 1942, Simcity 4000, Madden 2003, and Unreal2k3 all are run at the highest settings and highest resolution without hiccups at all. Perhaps you have too much crap in your system tray, or not enough RAM dedicated to your programs.

You know who you're talking to, right?

Link me to your 3DMark2001SE stats.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Asher
You know who you're talking to, right?

Yes, the local Wintel fanboy. What about it?

[Asher]

As for system tweak settings, let's try it:
What's your AGP aperture size set to?
Which driver version do you use?
What mipmap setting?
What z-buffer depth? Do you force one, or use app default?
What aniso setting do you use?
Which pageflipping/buffer flipping mode?
AGP fastwrites enabled?
AGP sidebanding?
What LOD settings?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Yes, the local Wintel fanboy. What about it?

Oh, give it up, Urban.

I've got an AMD gaming rig and I run a Linux dualboot.

Just because I happen to think Intel processors are better in general than AMDs doesn't mean I'm an Intel fanboy. Just because I happen to think Windows is a far better OS in general than Linux for the average consumer doesn't mean that I'm a windows fanboy.

I know people all think that, but they're all very wrong.

[Sava]

I know your kind Asher. You're a little-know-it-all that thinks he's smarter than everyone else. No wonder I have you on ignore.

UR

[Asher]

Originally posted by Sava
I know your kind Asher. You're a little-know-it-all that thinks he's smarter than everyone else. No wonder I have you on ignore.

UR

You're bull****ting, Sava, and I'm calling you on it.

Not only is it patently ridiculous to run even the latest games in full-res with full graphics settings on an Athlon 1700+ with a G4 Ti4200, but it's ridiculous for you to add me to your ignore list when I ask for detailed information (since you're obviously so 1337 when it comes to "tweaking your system") and 3DMark compares.

You and UR both don't like me because I constantly call you on BS no one else usually does. It doesn't surprise me you'd put me on your ignore list.

Grow up, and stop blatantly lying.

I worked at Voodoo Computers (have you heard of them? 'Fastest gaming rigs on earth', that kind of thing?) and tweaking the computers for optimum 3D performance is what we did.

[OldWarrior_42]

Guynemer.... just consider cost when buying either Athlon or Intel. I'd go with 2 gig at least and not bother with more than 2.4 The money you save plus what you will save by not needing a monitor as well, can be put into the best video card, sound card and memory ( I'd suggest a gig of memory, at the least).

That should be enough for extreme gaming for a few years.

I have a Dell Dimension 4300... 1.6 gig, 512 ram (only sdram 133mhz, but it works fine) 19 in. monitor. 64mb geforce2 card... blah blah.

Cost me under 1300 US and runs every game I have ever bought, no problem.

The system you can get, with higher specs will be good for at least 2 years or more.

But all that is just my opinion and I am no Einstein.

[Wraith]

--"What I'm looking for is something good enough to keep running top-flight games for a few years."

Ah, so you're looking to spend a fair bit, then.
The main remaining question is what's your timeframe? How long you are willing to wait will effect the recommendations.

--"I've heard that the new flat panel monitors do not offer as sharp a picture as the old school monitors"

This is incorrect. LCD monitors offer a sharper picture than CRT monitors, although they do need to be run at their native resolution. They aren't perfect, however. The main current weakness is pixel reponse time, which can be a problem with quick moving games like FPS.

Personally, I just got an LCD and am extremely happy with it. If you do go for one, make sure to get a video card with DVI output, and make sure you see the monitor in action on your favorite game before you buy.
(Mine is the Samsung 181T, btw, but I'm not a big gamer anymore so I can comment there.)

--"I'd recommend the Intel route simply because then you can use an Intel motherboard."

Intel does good motherboards, but you're ignoring something.

If you get an Athlon, go with an nForce 2 motherboard (probably from Abit or Asus). Excellent performance, features, and stability.

General recommendations:
Don't ever buy the latest released processor. The price premium is never worth it for 99% of users.
The same usually goes for video cards, but these can sometimes be worth the money if there's something specific you've got planned (same as with processors, really).

You'll want at least 512 MB of RAM. Depending on your games, you may want to go all the way to 1 Gig.

Video cards... well, that depends. If you're planning to do stuff like multimedia, home theater PC, things like that, you'll probably want to go ATI. Otherwise the Geforce 4 TI line is still a good buy. Best bet is probably to wait a little until the new lines come out and all the other prices drop.

You will want a CD burner. I've got a nice Yamaha myself. I'd hold off on DVD burners for now. I'm waiting for one that can burn to dual-layer DVDs (available in Japan, but not the US).

And don't forget a good hard drive. You're going for a gaming system, so you aren't going to get whisper quiet, but noise levels are something else to consider. The new Segate Barracuda V (Serial ATA, make sure your next motherboard supports that) looks like a good choice.

Another reason to recommend the nForce 2 boards is their sound. It's up at or above Creative Audigy levels, and the nVidia drivers don't have anywhere near the same amount of problems Creative's do.
They also have an integrated 10/100 NIC (or two, depending on the model you get), along with the other necessities like firewire and USB. If you don't go with nForce 2 make sure to get a good NIC, like the Intel Pro 10/100 or even 10/100/1000 NICs.
I also recommend Alpha heatsinks.

--""Significantly outperform"? AMD's been in the backseat for performance for many months now..."

Asher, I know you read places that do good reviews, like Ace's Hardware. Why in the world are you linking to Ziff Davis results? They aren't exactly the cream of the crop...

Ace's just did a Gamer's Upgrade Guide, too. And it sounds like an interesting NDA will be ending on Monday, so keep an eye out for it.

Wraith
"America is like a candy store. You can have anything you want, anything at all... as long as you pay for it."
-- Italian proverb

[Asher]

Asher, I know you read places that do good reviews, like Ace's Hardware. Why in the world are you linking to Ziff Davis results? They aren't exactly the cream of the crop...

AcesHardware doesn't have nice purty images to link to for benchmark results.

Same with Anand...

Edit: By the way, the NDA being lifted in monday is probably 3DMark2003. They've got a countdown till 3DMark2003 on their website in seconds, and by my calculations, that's about when it'll launch.

[Guynemer]

One last question--

As I said, I'm not particularly tech savvy, so I can't put these components together myself. Did a little comparasion shopping online on very similar systems (2.66 MHz, 1GB RAM, ATI, no monitor, etc.) and here's what I found--

Dell $2300
Gateway $2100
Compaq $1800

Now, I've been using Gateways for years, never had any problems. But, from what I've heard, they've dropped from a neck-and-neck quality with Dells, and the formerly poor quality (by comparasion) Compaqs have, at the very least, caught up with the Cow. Is this more or less true? Would slightly increased reliability and improved support be worth $500, from Compaq to Dell? Any other online sites I should check out for price comparasion?

Hope that video card price drop happens soon...

[Urban Ranger]

My recommendation - go to the local computer shop and have them assemble your rig. You get to pick and choose your components, and you get top quality service.

[monolith94]