New PC build

[dangerous_dave]

OK, I understand that this may get a few people going, but what does Direct X do?

[xenophobe]

OK, I understand that this may get a few people going, but what does Direct X do?

DirectX is a program interface for rendering graphics. If you want more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX

[Freyr]

Oh man, have I ever been down this road.

Don't trust a single thing manufacturer specs tell you. That's the grand learning from multiple experiences

Also, I've had horrible experiences with thermaltake. Their customer support is shit, they charged me for shipping when their fucking LCS pump broke in three days of owning it, and they didn't send me back the fucking resovaur tank!

The 8600's do more then enough to get the job done too, btw. Everyone is going off on the 8800's, but I have two 8600GT's in SLI, and they kill UT3 at full graphics.

Operating System: Go linux

[Spivonious]

DirectX is a program interface for rendering graphics. If you want more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX

Not just graphics. That's the DirectDraw (2D) and Direct3D parts (although I think they did away with DirectDraw in DX10).

There's also DirectSound (sound), DirectInput (mice, joysticks), DirectPlay (networking), and DirectShow (video/animation, I think this was removed in DX9).

While we're talking about video card manufacturers, never buy from Sapphire. Their RMA process stinks (you pay shipping plus a service fee) and their cards are unreliable.

Finally, Lou: DX10 cards work just fine in XP. You just can't use DX10 features. If DX10 cards couldn't run DX9 (or older versions) then they wouldn't be able to run 99.9% of games out there. This includes Nvidia's 8000 series, and ATi's HD2000 and HD3000 series.

Personally, I have my eye on the HD3850, since it is presently the best bang for the buck and I have no need to play my games at 1900x1200 with 4x AA.

[Soap]

To verify and to make sure I'm understanding this DX10 card compatibility disscussion with XP. Not one single DX10 card whether a 8600 series or 8800 series will NOT run with XP, right? If thats true I find that hard to believe, because all the reviews of people (newegg) are running them with XP with no problems. If no DX10 card will NOT run on XP than XP is becoming obsolete nearly overnight, right?

Explain this to me clearly, please.

[marcus]

To verify and to make sure I'm understanding this DX10 card compatibility disscussion with XP. Not one single DX10 card whether a 8600 series or 8800 series will NOT run with XP, right? If thats true I find that hard to believe, because all the reviews of people (newegg) are running them with XP with no problems. If no DX10 card will NOT run on XP than XP is becoming obsolete nearly overnight, right?

Explain this to me clearly, please.

The DX10 cards work fine under XP. They just won't support DX10. They will be forced to use DX9, which as everyone is saying, is not much of a sacrifice at this time. So you should be fine.

[Soap]

Operating System: Go linux

If I do, it'll most likely be Gentoo or Suse.
My first experience with Opensource was redhat 5.0.
Practically no desktop mainly and mostly shell commandline driven.
What desktop interface I was able to get out of it was very limited.
Opensource has came along ways since then.

[Soap]

The DX10 cards work fine under XP. They just won't support DX10. They will be forced to use DX9, which as everyone is saying, is not much of a sacrifice at this time. So you should be fine.

Ooooooh, thank you for clearing that up.

[Soap]

The case is in route should be receiving it late today or early tomorrow.
Its the last piece I'm waiting on, purchased a Li Lian PC-7 black case from newegg to throw all the goodies in.
I've been building for yrs and I still get anxious like a kid.
I love this stuff.

[LouSiffer]

Yes, the cards will work fine under XP running DX9....I typed it poorly, but, my points are this:

Xeno come off like an ass about it. He could have been polite and said " I think what you mean" or " I think you are mistaken"....nope....I get a " sorry, you dont have a clue" .

Secondly, why spend more on a DX10 card if you are going to use XP and have no plans to change to Vista when you can buy a DX9 card that will respond the same and save money? Sure, someone will say the DX10 will do do this a little better running at DX9, but, in reality, its a change that is probably not noticeable.

Thirdly, just go to www.ibuypower.com . Its hard to build a gamer PC yourself cheaper than you can get from these guys plus once you add in their warranty, saving the $100-150 building it yourself isnt worth it.

I used to be into PC gaming, but, it just cant compete with the consoles out there for graphics and stability. I have the XBox 360 and PS3. The 360 is shaky due to the fact its a Microsoft product....but, its online play is great. The PS3 is like a tank and never crashes, but, its online setup is not as nice as the MS deal. I think with time, Sony will be as good , if not better than MS. They have had to eat alot of mud lately and are tired of it.-Lou

[xenophobe]

Not just graphics. That's the DirectDraw (2D) and Direct3D parts (although I think they did away with DirectDraw in DX10).

Yes, I know. I was trying to explain it simply to someone who didn't know and told him were to find more info. :p

[xenophobe]

Yes, the cards will work fine under XP running DX9....I typed it poorly, but, my points are this:

Xeno come off like an ass about it. He could have been polite and said " I think what you mean" or " I think you are mistaken"....nope....I get a " sorry, you dont have a clue" .

Secondly, why spend more on a DX10 card if you are going to use XP and have no plans to change to Vista when you can buy a DX9 card that will respond the same and save money? Sure, someone will say the DX10 will do do this a little better running at DX9, but, in reality, its a change that is probably not noticeable.

Thirdly, just go to www.ibuypower.com . Its hard to build a gamer PC yourself cheaper than you can get from these guys plus once you add in their warranty, saving the $100-150 building it yourself isnt worth it.

I used to be into PC gaming, but, it just cant compete with the consoles out there for graphics and stability. I have the XBox 360 and PS3. The 360 is shaky due to the fact its a Microsoft product....but, its online play is great. The PS3 is like a tank and never crashes, but, its online setup is not as nice as the MS deal. I think with time, Sony will be as good , if not better than MS. They have had to eat alot of mud lately and are tired of it.-Lou

Sorry if I seemed rude. I thought I was being civil... well at least for me. lol

Why buy a DX10 card? Even if you don't use DX10, you will still benefit from massive improvements in performance. An 8800GTX is twice as fast as a 7900GTX in DX9. If you want to play the latest games at the highest quality settings with resolutions of 1440x900 or better, you really need one of the newer cards.

The XBOX 360 is like a childs toy compared to a gaming PC. A gaming PC has better and more accurate controls, can render distances farther, use higher textures, and you don't have to spend $60+ a year on an XBOX live account to play online, and games are cheaper. Even though the XBOX 360 can run in 1080p mode, games are designed and play at 720p upscaled. The resolution when I'm gaming is 4x that of an XBOX 360.

Consoles are great if you want to sit on a couch and play games with friends. If you are a serious gamer and have the burning need to keep your system relatively up to date, PC Gaming is much better in pretty much every other respect.

Oh, and a complete KICKASS gaming machine can be bought for under $800 including widescreen monitor.

[marcus]

The XBOX 360 is like a childs toy compared to a gaming PC. A gaming PC has better and more accurate controls, can render distances farther, use higher textures, and you don't have to spend $60+ a year on an XBOX live account to play online, and games are cheaper. Even though the XBOX 360 can run in 1080p mode, games are designed and play at 720p upscaled. The resolution when I'm gaming is 4x that of an XBOX 360.

Consoles are great if you want to sit on a couch and play games with friends. If you are a serious gamer and have the burning need to keep your system relatively up to date, PC Gaming is much better in pretty much every other respect.

Oh, and a complete KICKASS gaming machine can be bought for under $800 including widescreen monitor.

PC gaming is cool, but you have to spend a lot more than $60 a year to keep your PC up to date. An $800 PC will play cool games now, but a year from now it will be slide-show city This really frustrates me about PC gaming, I love the games, strategy and RPGs being some of my favorites. But the developers seem to think that I love handing over piles of my cash to Nvidia, which, to be honest, I really don't. A few years ago I decided to get off the upgrade train, and now my PC won't play any games released in the last year.

It also pisses me off when I have to patch a game 3 times to make it playable. Don't get me started lol

[Spivonious]

PC gaming is cool, but you have to spend a lot more than $60 a year to keep your PC up to date. An $800 PC will play cool games now, but a year from now it will be slide-show city This really frustrates me about PC gaming, I love the games, strategy and RPGs being some of my favorites. But the developers seem to think that I love handing over piles of my cash to Nvidia, which, to be honest, I really don't. A few years ago I decided to get off the upgrade train, and now my PC won't play any games released in the last year.

It also pisses me off when I have to patch a game 3 times to make it playable. Don't get me started lol

I spend about $1500-$2000 every five years on a completely new gaming PC. I might have to turn down some graphics settings in year five, but it always lasts me until the next upgrade. Of course, Crysis runs like crap on anything but an 8800 Ultra

Current machine:
Core 2 Duo E6600
2GB DDR2-800
ATi Radeon X1900GT (first revision)
SoundBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty

My video card is dying (never buy Sapphire crap) so I'm shopping around for an HD 3850 to put in it.

[marcus]

I spend about $1500-$2000 every five years on a completely new gaming PC. I might have to turn down some graphics settings in year five, but it always lasts me until the next upgrade. Of course, Crysis runs like crap on anything but an 8800 Ultra

Current machine:
Core 2 Duo E6600
2GB DDR2-800
ATi Radeon X1900GT (first revision)
SoundBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty

My video card is dying (never buy Sapphire crap) so I'm shopping around for an HD 3850 to put in it.

Yeah, I was exaggerating a little bit, but not much. An XBOX360 + $60 a year is still less than 1500-2000 every 5 years. I don't actually have an Xbox, I just wish PC gaming companies would spend more time optimizing for lesser hardware than assuming their audience always buys 2 of the latest video card. Disabling graphical features, lesser resolutions, and scalable polygon engines help, but I get the sense that I am paying the same price for a lesser game than somebody with Der Uber PC. Like I said, don't get me started

Oh yeah, in 5 years, you may be able to buy a PC that will play crysis decently for 2000 bucks. I can hardly wait