bigl

hi everyone. i am looking to buy a gaming rig. i was trying to play nfs undercover on my ati radeon 4670 hd (which ran call of duty 4 smoothly on highest settings on 1360x768), but all i got was major decrease in framerate, even with all the settings on lowest possible and resolution on 800x600. these are my current pc specs:


amd athlon 64 3800+ 2.4Ghz 2Mb cache
scilly ga-k8nusli-nf v1.0 atx motherboard
2Gb ddr @ 800Mhz
ati radeon 4670 hd 512Mb

those are the most important bits. this is the pc i am looking at buying:

CPU - Intel Core i7 920 (2.66GHz) 8 MB 4.8GT/s 1333FSB
Mobo - ASUS P6T DELUXE/OC PALM SKT-1366 S/L 6.4GT/S (Intel X58)
RAM - Corsair 3GB XMS3 1600MHz CAS 9 (DDR3)
GPU - ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2 GB Crossfire
PSU - ThermalTake W0133 1200W
HDD - 500 GB SATA-II HDD 7200rpm 16Mb
OD1 - Samsung 16x DVD-ROM Black
OD2 - ASUS (DRW-2014L1T) DVD +/- RW 20x - Lightscribe (SATA)
Cooler Master Hyper Z600 - Silent CPU heatsink

what do guys think of the specs on both systems? should my current system be able to play nfs undercover? is my gpu being restricted by my cpu and ddr ram? and finally is the new pc worth getting for £1,350?

pioneerisloud

That's going to be a KILLER rig, and 100% overkill for any NFS game . However you will appreciate the eye candy that you will be able to crank out in future games too though.

And I believe your slow down is being caused by your single core CPU right now. I've noticed that NFS Undercover seems to be able to use more than one core (finally for the NFS series). So that's most likely your problem. I don't know how much RAM you have, but if you don't have enough RAM , that could be the cause as well.

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heelsparky0501

yes the single core cpu is the problem, that new system will be fasssssssst

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smoothjk

Your current system's CPU is pretty bad, as the others have mentioned.

Your new rig will be able to run NFS at medium-high settings at modest resolutions.

... just kidding. Will destroy everything in sight, but that IS a lot of money to drop at once. Overkill, for sure, but should be "future proof" for a good while.

edwardm

ya its the proc, the 4670 should be able to handle nfs definitely

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bigl

thanks for all your input guys. i was looking around and i found out i can actually buy a dual core cpu for my 939 socket. is it worth getting? £1,350 is alot of money all at once and will take me some time to save up. so for the time being is it worth buying an amd athlon 64 4800+ X2 for about £51.14?

soloz2

Looking at your system I think you'd be best going with 4Gb RAM and a dual core cpu. Granted a complete rebuild wouldn't be bad, but would cost probably 10x as much.

btw... not sure why this is in the silent forum.

If you do decide to rebuild here is where you should do a bit of extra research to cut down the noise.

1. psu, scratch that one and go for a Seasonic or one of the new Enermax Modu82+ or Pro82+
3.don't go with a single card dual gpu option. A lot harder to find an aftermarket cooler!
most gpu's can be cooled passivly or with a nice heatsink like the artic cooling acelero series and an undervolted 120mm fan
4. since you game try to pick up a velicoraptor. It'll be faster and quieter.
5. go with a single optical drive.

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Acreo Aeneas

If memory serves me right, the Athlon 64 does not have 2 MB of cache. It should have only 512 KB of cache.

That PSU is also way overkill for your i7 (future) rig. A reputable brand 600W PSU would be more than capable without needing a 1200W PSU and busting your wallet in the process.

version2

Maybe see if you can buy a used Socket 939 dual core to replace your single core. And save up, wait a few more months and get the i7 rig. By then, prices should be down, too.

bigl

yeah that was a typo right there. i was actually thinking and typing two different things. it is 512

the thing is, the gpu doesn't just slot into the pci like most others. it uses a 2x3-pin pcier power connector. i know for a fact a 650w would do but where i'm biying it from, the retailer won't let me buy it without the 1200w. it is cheaper, from my maths anyway and i have done it, to buy a rig with those specs from them and go with the 1200w. thanks for your input though acreo.