1) I've never run dual card systems because I've never needed that much horsepower - even running full dev boxes on next gen games I've never needed that kind of horsepower. Get a high end NVidia card for 200-300 and you'll be fine for at lest two to three upgrade cycles (so 3-4.5 years). If it starts to show it's age then get a second and go SLI to extend it's lifespan, but given that features on cards are advancing quickly enough and prices fall quickly enough it's really not worth it.
2) If you have Employee discount then just go Dell. The pendulum hasn't swung back far enough to make building your own worth it.
3) Nope, stick to a mid grade processor and you're fine. Go for a high grade of last generation and you'll likely do even better. I'm finding that high grade of last gen is actually better than mid grade of current generation and about the same price.
Go for Windows 7. XP64 is a horrid abortion of an OS with almost no support. Windows 7 is good enough that my new company is jumping from XP directly to it (skipping
thanks for the advice - followup questionsistarisilverJuly 18 2009, 19:32:59 UTC
1) good to know. So, get an SLI motherboard an 1 good card, and in a few years, buy a duplicate card if necessary and turn it into a dual card system which will keep it going for a while longer (assuming the same card is still available - I heard that you need identical cards - is this true or can you mix and match?)
2) I'm seeing that as I look at prices. agreed.
3) what do you consider "mid grade" these days? the E series or the Qs? Obviously, staying away from the i7 and "extreme" processors for price reasons.
Re: thanks for the advice - followup questionsdelwinJuly 20 2009, 14:24:35 UTC
I haven't looked at processors in a while, the advice is general and eternal :)
As for Win7 no, it's not out yet but RC2 is already better than Vista and you can still get beta keys. Make sure that whatever you get has a 'free upgrade to Windows 7' as part of it then slap the RC on it until final hits. Yes Win7 really is that much better than Vista.
... don't go XP. Just don't do it. Go pure 64 bit and stay there.
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2) If you have Employee discount then just go Dell. The pendulum hasn't swung back far enough to make building your own worth it.
3) Nope, stick to a mid grade processor and you're fine. Go for a high grade of last generation and you'll likely do even better. I'm finding that high grade of last gen is actually better than mid grade of current generation and about the same price.
Go for Windows 7. XP64 is a horrid abortion of an OS with almost no support. Windows 7 is good enough that my new company is jumping from XP directly to it (skipping
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2) I'm seeing that as I look at prices. agreed.
3) what do you consider "mid grade" these days? the E series or the Qs? Obviously, staying away from the i7 and "extreme" processors for price reasons.
4) I thought windows 7 wasn't out yet?
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As for Win7 no, it's not out yet but RC2 is already better than Vista and you can still get beta keys. Make sure that whatever you get has a 'free upgrade to Windows 7' as part of it then slap the RC on it until final hits. Yes Win7 really is that much better than Vista.
... don't go XP. Just don't do it. Go pure 64 bit and stay there.
Reply
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