Well Hell's Bells.
Holy cow. I finally finished Half-Life 2, and boy was I ever impressed with that game. AWESOME, baby. It was a fun ride the whole way. Last level was kind of a pain, but what else is new?
So that has left me in a conundrum. What next? I think I already decided that, because I have delved hard and heavy into X-Men Legends again, after a long hiatus, and I am happy to report that it is still awesome. I'm not sure exactly what should be next, though...
Here's my choices:
Star Wars KOTOR
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
Prince of Persia, the Sands of TIme
Transformers
X2: Wolverine's Revenge (this game makes me sad because I think it could have been awesome but it sucks, good thing I only paid $5 for it)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Hmmm. Hell, that's a pretty good order right there, isn't it.
So that has left me in a conundrum. What next? I think I already decided that, because I have delved hard and heavy into X-Men Legends again, after a long hiatus, and I am happy to report that it is still awesome. I'm not sure exactly what should be next, though...
Here's my choices:
Star Wars KOTOR
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
Prince of Persia, the Sands of TIme
Transformers
X2: Wolverine's Revenge (this game makes me sad because I think it could have been awesome but it sucks, good thing I only paid $5 for it)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Hmmm. Hell, that's a pretty good order right there, isn't it.
Print
Comment
Tag
Facebook
Digg this6800 - tweaked. Nice.
So I've been working with my Leadtek 6800, overclocking and tweaking, and it flat rocks. In fact, I'm pretty sure my Sempron bottlenecks it handily.
I have it stable at 400/800. which is ultra speed on the Core (I'll never hit it on memory though). It kicks. Here's my benches, without tweaking my machine in any way... the benches are being run with antivirus, antispyware, steam, etc. running. Oh, and Rivatuner's HW monitor, to keep an eye on temps.
3DMark01 - 12,000-13,000 (that's that Sempron)
3DMark03 - 9,000+
Aquamark-40,000+
I haven't downloaded 3Dmark05, but I think you get the picture. It's fantastic. I love it. According to Rivatuner, the temps have maxed out at 63, it idles around 47 or less, so that massive heatsink is paying off. It plays HL2 very well at 1280x1024 with everything on high AND 2xAA and 2xAF. It will run at that res with AA and AF juiced, but if I get into a large area it starts to chop, so I tuned them down. It runs about the same at 1600x1200 2xAA2xAF, occasional chops. Runs great at 1600x1200 no AA no AF.
It also runs Halo at 1600x1200 juiced... so I guess the bottom line is, not bad at all for $185.
I have it stable at 400/800. which is ultra speed on the Core (I'll never hit it on memory though). It kicks. Here's my benches, without tweaking my machine in any way... the benches are being run with antivirus, antispyware, steam, etc. running. Oh, and Rivatuner's HW monitor, to keep an eye on temps.
3DMark01 - 12,000-13,000 (that's that Sempron)
3DMark03 - 9,000+
Aquamark-40,000+
I haven't downloaded 3Dmark05, but I think you get the picture. It's fantastic. I love it. According to Rivatuner, the temps have maxed out at 63, it idles around 47 or less, so that massive heatsink is paying off. It plays HL2 very well at 1280x1024 with everything on high AND 2xAA and 2xAF. It will run at that res with AA and AF juiced, but if I get into a large area it starts to chop, so I tuned them down. It runs about the same at 1600x1200 2xAA2xAF, occasional chops. Runs great at 1600x1200 no AA no AF.
It also runs Halo at 1600x1200 juiced... so I guess the bottom line is, not bad at all for $185.
6800 - Awesome, baby.
Got my 6800 last night. Threw it in and watched my benches double, not to mention the performance of Half Life 2. Sweet as candy.
I haven't even begun to tweak the thing yet. The massive copper heatpiped HSF on it is begging me to do so, however. I mean it, that thing is HUGE.
I'll check back with more work under my belt.
I haven't even begun to tweak the thing yet. The massive copper heatpiped HSF on it is begging me to do so, however. I mean it, that thing is HUGE.
I'll check back with more work under my belt.
Configuring, reconfiguring...
Yeah, so my mind has changed somewhere in the vicinity of 50 times now.
I think this is going to be the final unit.
Athlon64 2800+
Chaintech Mobo
1 GB Corsair
Leadtek GeForce 6800 AGP
That oughta do ok, doncha think?
I think this is going to be the final unit.
Athlon64 2800+
Chaintech Mobo
1 GB Corsair
Leadtek GeForce 6800 AGP
That oughta do ok, doncha think?
Once again it's on
So, once again I find myself in the market for new PC parts.
Now, let me preface this by saying I'm actually very happy with the way my little machine has performed, given budget restraints when I was purchasing it. Were it not for the fact that I have an interested party willing to buy my Sempron/Motherboard/Memory off me, I wouldn't even be looking. But there is, so here is where I am going.
I'm selling my current setup (motherboard/processor/ram). With that money (plus some I've saved) here is what I will get to replace it.
AMD Athlon64 3000+ S754
Chaintech VNF3-250 S754 MoBo, AGP
1 GB Corsair PC3200 RAM with Heat Spreaders
For now, the old 5700LE will stay in place. Give me a month or two more, and that will be replaced by a 6600GT. Then it's on.
Now, I know what you are thinking. "Sock, why on earth would you buy a S754 when AMD is going to stop producing them?"
Well, here's why. I know that by the time this unit is obsolete,I will have to buy a new motherboard anyway, as I am sticking with AGP for now. Sure, I could go S939 now, but It's much more for an Nforce3 board in 939 than 754. And when I go to buy new equipment down the road, I'm going to need a new mobo anyway, to support PCI-E, SLI, and most likely DDR2, or DDR3, or some such thing. So I am saving money now knowing full well I will have to replace it all again in a year or two (probably two, I think AGP will hold out for a while as PCI has), which in my opinion would still be the case in two years if I bought 939 now, with the possible difference of not having to replace my processor at that time. But as we all know, why buy a new MoBo and not get one of the latest and greatest processor upgrades to go with it?
Anyway, I am rambling, but I've really thought this through, and I think this is the way to go. Yup, I think so.
Out.
Now, let me preface this by saying I'm actually very happy with the way my little machine has performed, given budget restraints when I was purchasing it. Were it not for the fact that I have an interested party willing to buy my Sempron/Motherboard/Memory off me, I wouldn't even be looking. But there is, so here is where I am going.
I'm selling my current setup (motherboard/processor/ram). With that money (plus some I've saved) here is what I will get to replace it.
AMD Athlon64 3000+ S754
Chaintech VNF3-250 S754 MoBo, AGP
1 GB Corsair PC3200 RAM with Heat Spreaders
For now, the old 5700LE will stay in place. Give me a month or two more, and that will be replaced by a 6600GT. Then it's on.
Now, I know what you are thinking. "Sock, why on earth would you buy a S754 when AMD is going to stop producing them?"
Well, here's why. I know that by the time this unit is obsolete,I will have to buy a new motherboard anyway, as I am sticking with AGP for now. Sure, I could go S939 now, but It's much more for an Nforce3 board in 939 than 754. And when I go to buy new equipment down the road, I'm going to need a new mobo anyway, to support PCI-E, SLI, and most likely DDR2, or DDR3, or some such thing. So I am saving money now knowing full well I will have to replace it all again in a year or two (probably two, I think AGP will hold out for a while as PCI has), which in my opinion would still be the case in two years if I bought 939 now, with the possible difference of not having to replace my processor at that time. But as we all know, why buy a new MoBo and not get one of the latest and greatest processor upgrades to go with it?
Anyway, I am rambling, but I've really thought this through, and I think this is the way to go. Yup, I think so.
Out.
