Jcole said:
Yes, my goal is to build a PC that will be able to play all of the new games scheduled for release in the near future. I'll probably be playing current games like Call of Duty 2, City of Heroes, and future games like Age of Conan. That sort of gives you an idea of how this PC will be used.
Excellent.
As you can see from this thread, there will always be a number of judgement calls to be made when buying hardware. I don't think any particular comparison here is, per say, "wrong".. but instead various people with their own suggestions.
To give a "cliff's notes" version of what the past few pages encompasses:
A) Sound Card. Your motherboard does have integrated sound. For most purposes this is "good enough", but the possible shortcomings involve:
i) Fact- integrated/on-board sound does use more CPU resources. With a Core 2 Duo though, this is almost irrelevant as you'll have cpu-resource overage in a BIG way. Also, resource usage will vary by game, game settings, speaker settings and the like.
There is a soundcard benchmark, RightMark that I use to test soundcards. The on-board audio can take 11-14% cpu resources for 32/64 channel sound vs. the XiFi's 3-4%.
My suggestion for the XiFi is mainly from personal experience using headphones and 2-speaker configurations. Headphones + CMS3D is a really amazing experience on the XiFi and 2-speaker use is also incredible fidelity and simulated expansion. Moreso than the Audigy/Audigy2/Audigy4 or Live! series... and much more than any integrated solution.
If you're going with a 4.1/5.1 or 7.1 speaker setup, you'll find integrated or other cheaper solutions just as good. It's mainly the CMS3D and EAX support on headphones or 2/2.1 setups that shifts my opinion as well as Creative driver support and their hassle-free auto-update website for drivers.
The Diamond card listed by Rage is also a stellar soundcard. It's a great value at that price-point and a solid performing soundcard. It also uses reduced system resources.
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B) Videocard-
There are all levels of videocards available, with Vista and DirectX 10 right around the corner. The first DirectX 10 card has been released (The Geforce G80 GPU) but they are very expensive. The capabilities for DirectX 10 are greatly raised from DirectX 9.0, but anyone's guess when games that will fully use these new raised limits start hitting the shelf. My prediction is it's pretty safe to assume we'll have some DX10 games shortly after Vista is released, but actual GAMES (not tech demos or benchmarks) that have a *major* visual impact from the improvements are likely further away.
For this reason, I'd say get a really good/cheap card with good power today, but not go "all the way" to fire-breathing dragon 3d cards. The motherboard quoted will support both SLI and Crossfire (methods from ATI/AMD and NVIDIA for coupling multiple cards, so you have no current compatibility blockages).
I believe the first generation of DX10 cards will be pricey, but will have more choices and lower prices after Vista is released. Bleeding-edge/early adopters always pay more initially and it's up to you if you want to cut corners elsewhere to boost 3d card power. Overall, your real choice will be limited to what display you get, resolutions wanted and eye-candy/effects you wish to use. NV and ATI/AMD both make superb cards in the $170-$250 range. I'd truly recommend staying in that price bracket so as upgrading next year to a DX10 card wont carry the same "hurt" from expenditures now.
