Help me pick out a new computer!

[Asher]

If it's not working with your system, and you don't know why (and there are no documented incompatibilities with your motherboard), then you should be pushing hard to get it replaced under warranty. It could very well be a defective card.

If it doesn't play nice with your motherboard, contact the motherboard maker and demand they fix it.

[Ted Striker]

Originally posted by nostromo
Get this beast, you will not regret it

PWN3D!

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by Asher
If it's not working with your system, and you don't know why (and there are no documented incompatibilities with your motherboard), then you should be pushing hard to get it replaced under warranty. It could very well be a defective card.

If it doesn't play nice with your motherboard, contact the motherboard maker and demand they fix it.

I suspect the mobo. My ASUS cheapass mobo (the K8V-MX, its so cheap its not even on Asus' website) was acting funny since I installed the Radeon. If I either plug or unplug the videocard, the integrated network card stops working and the only way to make it work again is to reinstall Windows. I got fed up of that crap and bought a network card.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Hey, Asher.. what do you think about the AMD Dual Core vs. the regular AMD (which will basically be a $200 difference because of different models from VelMicro)?

[Asher]

For gaming right now, I'd go for the AMD chip with the higher clockrate. The second core won't help you in gaming for a while. So a faster single core is preferable.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well, I'm planning to keep the computer for 4-5 years without many upgrades (if any). Will dual core help in gaming in the next, say, 3 years or so?

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Well, I'm planning to keep the computer for 4-5 years without many upgrades (if any). Will dual core help in gaming in the next, say, 3 years or so?

That means you'll want to install Vista eventually. Here are some quotes from the Vista article I linked above.

Processor, Core Logic and Memory

The CPU probably isn't as critical as the core logic or motherboard. Almost any mainstream desktop CPU shipping today will run Windows Vista just fine. It's worth looking for some key CPU features nonetheless. These include 64-bit support, hardware virtualization, and a dual-core architecture.

On the motherboard front, you'll want access to the latest graphics technology available. Yes, it's finally time to give up on AGP. The Vista graphics subsystem will actually make use of PCI Express's bidirectional capability, which means you'll see the graphics card write back out to main memory. So a PCI Express x16 graphics slot becomes highly desirable.

(...)

Even if you don't move to 64-bit computing, more memory becomes increasingly necessary. It's likely that Vista's memory footprint will be larger than Windows XP. A good rule of thumb in the past has been to go with 4x the minimum memory requirements. The suggested minimum for Windows XP was 128MB; 512MB is a much more useful minimum. Microsoft is recommending 512MB for the Vista beta builds, but the actual minimum requirements haven't been finalized yet. However, we can guess that a good working minimum will be 1GB, while 2GB will likely speed things up considerably.

One note for people contemplating moving to AMD systems: AMD is switching sockets for desktop PCs to a 940-pin socket that's not the same as the existing Socket 940. Instead, the new socket, variously dubbed "M2" or "AM2", will replace socket 939. CPUs built for these sockets will support DDR2/667 memory, so the PC industry will finally be moving to a single memory standard, at least for the time being. The switch to the new socket infrastructure won't happen until Summer, so if you want DDR2 support, waiting is a good idea

Graphics Hardware Considerations
It's well-known that Windows Vista will be much more graphics intensive. As we noted earlier, each window will be an individual, Direct3D surface. If you want to take advantage of features like Flip3D (see screen below), you'll want a DirectX 9–capable graphics card.

According to Microsoft, the minimum requirement for the full Aero Glass experience is a DirectX 9 capable GPU with 64MB of video memory.That's a little deceptive. If you're anything like me, you'll often have several dozen windows open, which eats into graphics memory. You'll also want lots of graphics memory bandwidth. So a PCIe x16 graphics card with at least 128MB of RAM becomes de rigueur. Microsoft is suggesting that 256MB of graphics memory would be optimal. So it's a good thing that we're starting to see graphics card with 512MB of RAM.

Do you need a high-performance card, like a GeForce 7800 GTX or ATI Radeon X1800 XT if you're not into PC gaming? Probably not. A strong midrange card, like the GeForce 6800 GS or ATI Radeon X1600 XT will yield good system responsiveness.

3D performance will yield better overall system performance, even with 2D only apps. Since each window—even those generated by old-fashioned GDI apps—is a 3D surface, multiple open Windows can be a drag if you're running on limited capability integrated graphics hardware. This is true even if you use the "Vista Classic" UI, which resembles the current Windows XP user interface. You simply lose all the shader effects and capabilities like Flip3D.

To reiterate, what you'll ideally like to have for a graphics subsystem should look like this:

* DirectX 9 capable GPU
* 128MB video memory—256MB preferred
* Good graphics memory bandwidth
* Good pixel shader performance

[Asher]

Probably.

[Imran Siddiqui]

That means you'll want to install Vista eventually.

Yep. I'll give 'em 6 months or a year to iron out some of the major bugs that'll appear after release .

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Asher
Probably.

Alright then.. screw it... I'll splurge this year and get the dual core so I won't have to spend for a number of years.

[Nostromo]

And you should get this case

[alva]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


Alright then.. screw it... I'll splurge this year and get the dual core so I won't have to spend for a number of years.

Not listening to teh Alva...

[Imran Siddiqui]

If I'm not listening to teh Alva, I must be doing something right .

What didn't I listen to you on, now?

[Colon™]

You're right not to listen to Alva. It's always better to listen to me.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Btw, I'm also thinking of a monitor. I got two:

Samsung 740B

http://www.buy.com/prod/Samsung_740B_17_LCD_Display_600_1_8ms_740B_BLACK/q/loc/14971/201934665.html

Viewsonic VX724

http://www.buy.com/prod/ViewSonic_VX724_17_LCD_Display_500_1_4ms/q/loc/14971/201642348.html

Both are 17'' and have a DVI-D connection (for the 7800). Which would you recommend? I've heard decent things about Viewsonic, but how is their rep these days?

Oh, and according to Tom's Hardware, the 4 ms response time isn't accurate... at least it wasn't on the VX924, so I don't think it'd be here.