Setting up new machine - Advice needed please

[Altsoba]

Ok, after going through lots of posts here, I came up with this:

INTEL CORE I7 920 (2.66GHZ) SKT 1366 BOX (D0)
ASUS P6T DELUXE V2 ( 6Slots, Socket 1336)
ASUS GTX295/2DI 1792MB DDR3 PCI-E
CORSAIR KIT 6GB DDR3 1600MHZ DOMINATOR (CL8)
CORSAIR HX-1000W
INTEL SSD X25-M 80GB MLC (G2) SATA 2.5" (R 250MB / W 70MB)
COOLERMASTER HAF 932

I'll be running Windows 7 64 bit and two monitors.

My questions are:

What kind of performance can I expect from this kind of machine? Can I have a maxed out main with 4 minimal alts and still run 250 fps (joke :p) in Isle of conquest?

What would you change, if anything?

Thanking you all in advance.

EDIT: Was recently adviced to put instead MSI Radeon R4870X2-T2D2G-OC, better and about the same price. What do you think?

[Owltoid]

It depends what you plan to use this machine for and when you'd plan on upgrading. I personally went with a less expensive/powerful video card, though yours will likely last a bit longer. Many will disagree, but I don't really see the point in paying for the Intel SSD if its only purpose is WoW. You can get a cheaper, and just as effective SSD for now and then get a nice SLC version in a couple years when they're significantly cheaper.

You have a lot of nice options there, but only 6GB of RAM. I'd upgrade to 12GB... if that means downgrading the video card or SSD, then I'd do it.

[Ess]

I estimate you can do with a lighter powersupply.

I think you need 95 Watts for the processor
75 Watts for the motherboard + mem
200 Watts for the videocard (this is a rough estimate because I am not a 100% sure about the actual mitigation)
2 Watts for the harddisk :)
And then maybe a few more for other things

450 Watts total if you want to work at 80% of your power supplies maximum output you still only need a 650 Watts

And then the estimate can still be off by 100 watts. I would advice getting a good brand like the one you have so you can be sure you will not have any trouble maxing a 12V line.

[Phanes]

I would also recommend you upgrade to 12 gigs of RAM mainly due to Dalaran.

Also the 295 is not the best choice for dual monitors. The 295 is in fact two cards SLId in on package and while the drivers have come a long way its performance on two monitors will not be that great. I know this from personal experience I bought a 295 and it performed worse than my single 265.

Take it for what it is I have my Masters in computers and work in the field so I like to think I know my way around computers. ;) So I know my drivers and everything were ok. This was about 6 months ago so the drivers may be better today. I currently run a 285 with my main, 30 inch monitor, maxxed out and he gets average 150 FPS. The four slaves are all turned down to min.

[Owltoid]

What does your main get in Dalaran? 150 FPS on AVERAGE is really damn high... higher than I've ever heard before since that means you're often getting well over 150 FPS.

[Altsoba]

I would also recommend you upgrade to 12 gigs of RAM mainly due to Dalaran.

Also the 295 is not the best choice for dual monitors. The 295 is in fact two cards SLId in on package and while the drivers have come a long way its performance on two monitors will not be that great. I know this from personal experience I bought a 295 and it performed worse than my single 265.

Take it for what it is I have my Masters in computers and work in the field so I like to think I know my way around computers. ;) So I know my drivers and everything were ok. This was about 6 months ago so the drivers may be better today. I currently run a 285 with my main, 30 inch monitor, maxxed out and he gets average 150 FPS. The four slaves are all turned down to min.

Impressive :) Need that ^^ Can you please share your comp specs? Thank you.

[Phanes]

He will run in the 90 to 100 range in Dalaran.

It is not uncommon to see 300+ FPS while flying around.


I7 Extreme
16 Gigs DDR3
Vista 64 Bit
BFG 285
ASUS Mobo
Antect P190 with dual 1KW power supplies
Dual 30s
Magnetic tip drive fans
Cooler Master V8
Logitech Wave Keyboard
Logtiech MX 1000
Dual Velociraptors(SSD was not avaiable when I built this rig)
Blue Ray
DVD
Creative Sound Blaster(came with the board)


I am watching the SSDs right now the second gen Intels are doing really well but 400 bucks for 32 gigs is still a little too pricey for me. Plus I am not sure if it will give me any better performance in WoW.

I will be upgrading to Windows 7.

I can't recall the model numbers of some of my stuff I am at work right now.

Also I found that Quest Helper is an FPS killer. When I turn it on it is not uncommon to see my FPS drop at least 100. My slaves all run with the graphics set at stick figures and the FPS turned down to 10 when non active and 30 when active window.

[Owltoid]

I'm sorry, but I think you're grossly exaggerating. There's no way even the top systems out there can typically get 100+ FPS in Dalaran with MAX settings (including shadows) and four other clients in Dalaran... mind screen shotting?

[Phanes]

Sure next time I am in I will pop an SS for you.

[Phanes]

Here are some various shots from around Dalaran. My worst performance is 51 FPS at the fountain and my best is 114 at the landing pad. I also feel that my rig is in fact a "top" rig system. Outside of putting in Dual 295s which is pointless for wow and SSDs I am not sure how more power you can fit into a home system.

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r196/conruse/WoWScrnShot_090909_183041.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r196/conruse/WoWScrnShot_090909_183048.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r196/conruse/WoWScrnShot_090909_183053.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r196/conruse/WoWScrnShot_090909_183150.jpg

[wowphreak]

wtf is "Magnetic tip drive fans"

[Phanes]

They are fans have magnets on the tips of the blades and they ride along a path that has opposing magnets. Similar to rail gun theory. With no ball bearings and the tips encased in a magnetic field they run silenty and on almost no power. The magnets are of course very small so as to not disturb any components on the computer.

[Freddie]

TMD fans have tiny hubs because there's no motor there. This produces greater airflow. The manufacturer claims about 30% more airflow compared to ordinary fans of the same diameter. In addition, there's more airflow close to the center of the fan.

It's a very clever idea. It seems remarkable to me that nobody thought of it sooner.

http://www.tmdfan.com/

Phanes, I hope you'll keep posting. You obviously have some useful things to say. :)

[Owltoid]

Here are some various shots from around Dalaran. My worst performance is 51 FPS at the fountain and my best is 114 at the landing pad. I also feel that my rig is in fact a "top" rig system. Outside of putting in Dual 295s which is pointless for wow and SSDs I am not sure how more power you can fit into a home system.

Nice pics! Not to be a stickler, but are you sure you're on max settings? I don't really see shadows or some of the higher performance settings. I'd still be really amazed if you get 100 FPS with 5 toons in Dalaran with max possible settings.

[Fizzler]

It's a very clever idea. It seems remarkable to me that nobody thought of it sooner.


It is amazing how some things that seem obvious after the fact elude us for so long. Heck it took an Engineer walking his dog in the 40's to come up with velcro. A few years short of the nuke we come up with Velcro.. amazing.

[Phanes]

Owltoid I do not have shadows on everything else is set at max. I forgot when they came out with enahanced shadows I saw an FPS hit so I turned them off. Everything else is set out to max. I can probably squeeze more FPS if I did not have windowed mode on but that is kind of a necessity of multi boxing.

Thanks for the compliment Freddie. :)

[Owltoid]

Still very impressive numbers!

[Fizzler]

Those are numbers I dream of I like having that much margin. I am quite happy with 45fps outside of Dal but do my best to just avoid having all 5 toons in any capital city at the same time.