Campquake Senate

Alright, I finally got a shuttle system, as I have been wanting to for years.... check out these specs and let me know what you guys think - then I'll tell you what I paid.

System Color: Black
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (add another $180 to this, b/c i got xppro upgrade online...b/c i dont like xphome. heh)
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 2000MHz HyperTransport 939-pin
Memory: 2GB (1024 x 2) Kingston HyperX PC3200 400MHz Dual-channel DDR
Drive Bay 1: 160GB Serial ATA 7200RPM 8MB Buffer HDD
Drive Bay 2: 160GB Serial ATA 7200RPM 8MB Buffer HDD
Optical Drive: 16X DVD+/-RW DL Lite-On IDE
Sound: Onboard VIA Envy24PT 7.1 Channel Audio w/Digital (SPDIF) Ports
Graphic Card: ATI Radeon X800 (can't remember if it is AGP or PCI-E but I do know that it has 256mb ram..)
Network Interface: Onboard 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
Card Reader: Built-in 8-In-1 Card Reader

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I already have an 'alright' lcd 19" monitor, and a logitech wireless k/b and mouse that are fine so all I got was the box itself...

I like the fact that I can turn the settings way up in hl2 and it looks soo much better than it did....I was running that at 1024x768, and now at 1280x1024, but the hdl is amazing and the details and all... WOW... this game is so much better now. hehe

OS: Yay!
CPU: Yay! (although you coulda gone dual-core hehe)
RAM: Yay! (2GB will be the standard amount real soon)
HDD: You'll never use it all!... til next year when games come on 6 DVDs
Graphics: X800 is already obsolete, you paid too much for this card I think, but its a good card.
Sound: You'll be happy with it and wont notice you're missing a Soundblaster really

Baron[CotC] wrote:OS: Yay!
CPU: Yay! (although you coulda gone dual-core hehe)
RAM: Yay! (2GB will be the standard amount real soon)
HDD: You'll never use it all!... til next year when games come on 6 DVDs
Graphics: X800 is already obsolete, you paid too much for this card I think, but its a good card.
Sound: You'll be happy with it and wont notice you're missing a Soundblaster really

HDD: I have a bunch of games..this way I can have them all installed at the same time. lol... that, and the songs and tv shows I download with iTunes.

Graphics: Maybe obsolete...but its better than the radeon 9600 w/ 128mb ram, that i have right now. hehe

I have noticed a difference in speed in using onboad vs carded sound but try it and see I have an extra soundblaster live to get you by.

HHD are you going to stripe them? That will speed you up a bit and give you 1 320 drive...

you went with XP Pro and not media center? just a question

Reaver I figured with a 4000+ processor where the sound comes from won't be a factor hehe

Yeah that is what I thought too, but I run the 939 socket with a 3500+ but I noticed a good 20+ fps increase when I moved to my SB live card and I also stppoed having TS issues.

it was just a suggestion

I want a good computer ><

NightReaver[CotC] wrote:Yeah that is what I thought too, but I run the 939 socket with a 3500+ but I noticed a good 20+ fps increase when I moved to my SB live card and I also stppoed having TS issues.

it was just a suggestion

What sound provider were you using in-game? EAX or Miles? 20+ fps sounds like the CPU was trying to do some 3D environmental sound effects that could have been turned off.. interesting hmmmmmmmmmm

was using miles

Baron[CotC] wrote:Reaver I figured with a 4000+ processor where the sound comes from won't be a factor hehe

But the processor doesn't process the sound, otherwise that would be a good theory. Sound would be funneled into hardware through the VIA Envy chip.

I had a massive improvment from my onboard SoundMAX to Sound Blaster X-Fi. But that chip is an craptastic AC '97 based unit.

The real test for me was Serious Sam 2. That game either pushes sound technology to the limits or has the most aweful sound engine design in the world. Your pick. With AC '97, enemy sounds at medium range were missing. Some enemies never had sound. With Sound Blaster X-Fi, I hear every single enemy sound at max distance. I agree with Night Reaver, PCI carded sound wins over on-board audio. But this is a next generation audio chip... makes ya wonder! On paper, it's a good chip, and supports lots of features. But, one would have to ask, is that just bells and whistles on a clown car, or is that the real fire truck complete with the mega GPH water cannons?

Instead of loading a CPU with operations with audio streams just partially, as it takes place in not expensive HSP-solutions (YMF7x4, FM801AU), in case of the "AC'97-sound" a central processor implements the function of a digital controller on the driver level completely! And an ICH (ICH - I/O Controller Hub) integrated into a chip of a motherboard by means of an AC-link bus controller controls data exchange with an AC'97-audio codec on a hardware level. So, instead of a bit strange term "AC'97-sound" it would be more correct to say "AC'97 codec based integrated sound with a program digital controller", or just "integrated sound".

Why Intel promotes such a pure program solution is clear. A processor power is constantly growing. And in 3D games in middle and high resolutions a role of a CPU is not so noticeable - everything is limited by a video card or by incompetent programmers. A user has not so much reasons to buy newer and better processors. So why not to load an almost idle Pentium 4 with sound calculations?

http://www.digit-life.com/articles/inte ... index.html

With AC97, the CPU handles the audio processing and a separate chip (typically a Realtek chip) handles the analogue output and provides some extra features, such as EAX, via software drivers.

http://www.custompc.co.uk/custompc/feat ... page6.html

CPUs do the work! Honest!

Just out of curiosity, how much did this run you?

I could get by with the sound that you get from something like an ancient Atari game system...

If I can hear footsteps and gunshots it's all the same to me.

And the best processor out there will always be AMD's Dual processor

I think an Atari could manage that.