Well all right.

Thank you, sir. This is an immensely helpful topic, you know.

I think there's not much point in spending 1500$ on PC.
You should be able to make something nice more in 800-1000$ range.

I'd suggest:

core i5 750 cpu
MSI GD55 mobo
2x2 GB of RAM (rated for 1333 Mhz or faster)
radeon 5850
small Intel 40 GB SSD for operating system and either Samsung F3 500 gb or Caviar blue 640 GB hdd for rest
OCZ 600W modstream or Corsair 650W PSU (even 600W is overkill but let's play it safe)

Hey quick questions.

in W7 64bits, what type of programs should I install?
XP 64 or Vista 64 (provided there are no W7 64 versions of course).
Tried running Crysis in 64 bit but it didn't work (32 bit worked though...)


Also I kept my SLI 260 (price wise where I am, it was more interesting than even 1 285) and when I entered crysis, it was in 1024 screen mode, they made a very high pitched sound, this disapeared when I went to 1900.... any idea why?
(plugged in HDMI right now for testing in a room where I can open the case).


Other SLI question, for dual screen, you do plug the 2 on the same card correct?
(as in use both cards to process both screens (or the main game screen when relevant) and not one card per screen).


last question, is crysis still the graphical reference? or do you just see FPS wise?
Just interested in seeing if my build is what I expected it to be, test overclocking the CPU (i5 750) and such....

The x64 platform natively supports both 64-bit and x86 (32-bit) instruction sets, so most apps in both categories should run without a hitch. It's hard to tell why Crysis isn't running on your system without knowing a bit more detail - are you getting some kind of error message? Is it just crashing to desktop or locking up?

The high-pitched sound may have been a result of your speakers picking up some sort of wireless device nearby. I wouldn't worry about it.

I've never used SLI myself, but I'd imagine you could use the video-out on either of the cards. If you can't, it's just a matter of unplugging and re-plugging the HDMI cable back in.

Crysis is still considered a major graphical benchmark, though I've seen tech websites use Far Cry 2 a lot as well - it's a lot more CPU-intensive of a game and presents a beneficial contrast to the former. Either way, good luck OCing the i5! Those things overclock like nothing else.

thanks for the answers =)

So no problems with the 32 bits instructions, great! I just had a black screen on the 64 crysis :/ I could come back to the desktop though.

An no speakers plugged in yet :p oh well I didn't plan on using 1024 mode anyways and the great thing about SLI is that if a card blows up, you already have a spare!

You should try the official Crysis forums. There may be a known issue with that game and one or more hardware components that you're running.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128401&Tpk=GA-P55-UD3R

I can actually find this cheaper than the MOBO in the power box. Would this be a suitable replacement?

If you can find it cheaper, sure. The only major differences, practically speaking, are a bunch more USB ports and the addition of coaxial S/PDIF out, so it's a solid mobo if you can find it for that cheap.

All right.

How much does the manufacturer of a part usually matter? Like, should I swear over looking at an MSI video card vs. a Sapphire of the same model?

It really depends upon the component type. Video cards are mostly build to specifications standardized by ATI and NVidia; the only differences are the cooling units and the number of DVI/HDMI/other video-out ports. That's why I recommend that you just buy the cheapest one you can find.

By contrast, the quality of power supplies and anything with moving mechanical parts (hard drives, DVD drives) is incredibly manufacturer-dependant. That's why I listed a couple of reliable manufacturers for each in the OP.