And he does it again! --> My newly ordered hardware upgrade! ;)

[NoPeace]

Yep, right now Im running a 750w Thermaltake Toughpower, beautiful PSU, but running an SLI with one of those woudl be nuts.. I would 'personally' jsut stick to using hafl that power with dual 8800's if it came down to that The added 1 KW power is exponential, youll be paying more for the PSU, more for the cards, and your energy bill will go up about 30% on your computer usage (just for computer.. so it might be another 20-30 bucks a month). So, yoru in it for the long haul if you go that route.. it gets very expensive

Hence why I would refuse to get dual AMD cards. Even though they push well over a teraflop of FP computing power. O.O

Then again the 8900's (pair) should do it also and the 8800GTX's (pair) pushes like 900 gigaflops of computing power. =P

AMD is just becomming a real joke. They used to be the top of efficency but they are now lazy. Look at their quad FX setup.

Running 3dmark 06 with a dual FX-74 setup and SLI 8800GTX's pushes a 450-500 continusious load. Now if that was dual x2900XTX it would be well into the 700w rage. And who knows what dual x2900XTX2 (quad crossfire) would do. 800w maybe? O.O

Now here it costs $0.15 for a 1kw/h. So at .8kw/h it will cost $0.12 to run per hour. Given that the average gamer will use it for 6 hours a day it'll cost $0.72 a day to run. With 30 days a month it'll cost $21.60. And that's here in southern MA. Out in CA it'll be even more as power costs more there.

Now with that said you also need to look at cooling the thing. Sure Winter time it's no problem with the extra 800w heater. But in the summer time you don't turn on your 800w heater to warm up the place. You turn on your 5000 BTU AC to cool of the place it just wont handle as 5000 BTU is just able to cool down 1465w. So with the PC making 800w of heat the effency of the AC will only be 2200 BTU not enough to cool down the room. So what do you need to do? You need to buy a new 7500 BTU AC to cool your self down. And what does that do? Adds another 800w of power. But the thing is. Who only runs their AC for 6 hours? You run it 24/7. So at the extra $21.60 a month it takes to run your PC it will cost you an extra $86.40 to cool your house. So now that computer is costing you well over a $100 a month in the summer months!

NoPeace - out

 

[Sardaukar]

Exponential And then, you also need to add in the extra cost of snacks.. because I, for one, woudl be on the computer more often trying to use that 100+ a month on my computer for something good

 

[Sardaukar]

Sorry for the double post.. but figured I shoudl do this to bump it (heh) and give an update


My new 22" 226BW Samsung 22" LCD monitor shoudl be here by Monday, along with a Razer Tarantula Tempest Blue Keyboard...


Monitor:

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Keyboard:

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ALong with that, earlier yesterday right before I left for work, I got my other package I ordered up.. to go along with my red cathode lighting (enough to lighten.. not blind) I ordered up 2x4" and 2x12" UV Cathode lights.. or blacklights for those unfamiliar with the term UV Lighting.


I installed these, and my next project is to install the blue sleeving/heatshrink tubing to my cables.. the part before that though, is I am going to rewire.. literally.. any inside component, and the light's themselves with new UV Reactive wiring to extend the lengths to reach the store-bought switches i purchased and top everythign off with a neato look, and then purchase myself a new CPU heatsink with a blue UV fan to help cool things down a tad more.



And for anyone not in the know.. my current case is a very highly modded Silverstone case



Case:

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Currently, I have 4 switches in the front of my case.. two of them each controlling a 12" and 4" UV, and the other 2 controlling my 12" red cathode's.

Perhaps I may get a hold of a digital camera on my break this next tuesday and snap some pictures for you all

 

[Rishwin]

not rly a fan of the razer tarantula, would personally have gone with the reclusa gaming keyboard which they made with microsoft.

 

[Sardaukar]

ENded up getting an instant -$20 off from the monitor, and -20$ off from the keyboard when I ordered them.. a darn steal if ya ask me hehe.. Haven't ever used a Razer before, but I'll let ya know how it goes.



Edit: Saw the video on the Reclusa.. and it doesnt seem very ingenious or special at all.. Yes, it has the macro buttons, but those 4 'bumper' buttons are completely useless.. I highly doubt anyone would use them mid-game, as they are too inaccessible for being on a keyboard.. and the jog buttons.. those roller ones.. even if its volume or something, I highly doubt I woudl personally use those, I already have a control knob and a remote for my current speaker system.. having a knob on the keybaord to control windows audio volume wouldnt really impress me too much.. easier to just use the weighted knob on my logitech x-5500 speakers.

 

[SantaClaus1]

only 1680 x 1050 , thats pretty bad for a 22 inch izent it ?
my 20 inch 205bw can do that

 

[Sardaukar]

all 22" do that, you have to pay twice the money to get 19x12 for a 24" monitor, and at that point, they arent widely used for gaming because of the refresh rates.. a 22" at 2ms G2G and the 3000:1/700:1 contrast ratio is amazing for its size.. hence why its rarely in stock and being gobbled up by computer enthusiasts

 

[NoPeace]

all 22" do that, you have to pay twice the money to get 19x12 for a 24" monitor, and at that point, they arent widely used for gaming because of the refresh rates.. a 22" at 2ms G2G and the 3000:1/700:1 contrast ratio is amazing for its size.. hence why its rarely in stock and being gobbled up by computer enthusiasts

Dell (well Samsung makes the panel) is coming out with a 22" that does 19x12. Looks pretty sick ans is 1/2 as thick as normal LCDs.

But anyways... Tell me how that monitor is. I'm thinking about getting the 20" version (as I can't stand big text/icons) and would like to know how well the picture quality and if it ghosts or not.

My stupid ViewSonic as great colors but the thing ghosts like a witch when there is light backgrounds and not to mention it's playing up to much on me. Need to wait 2 mins now to turn it back on if it turns off. -.-

Also it's amazing on the difference between a 700:1 contrast ratio to a 3000:1. My monitor is 700:1 and it's great but my HDTV is 3000:1 and it's like.... WOW... Don't see how people can buy something with less contrast and costs more. O.O

Also how could you spend that much on a keyboard! $129.99 with a $20 rebate. O.O

Sure it's sick looking but damn... I'll stick to my $1.29 Dell keyboard that I've been using for 4-5 years. =P

NoPeace - out

 

[Sardaukar]

hehe, actually, my keybaord was 99.99 at Circuit City, with a 20 dollar rebate.. so 79.99, $80 on it. Damn good deal if you ask me. My current keyboard/mouse combo I bought a while back was $150 when it first came out.. and its for the Laser MX Mouse and Logitech Bluetooth MX5000 Keyboard. The bluetooth is nice, the hub lets me connect to my phone and several other friends phones and transfer files over wirelessly.. and I don't get any interference.. but I really am sick of haing to replace batteries in the keyboards, hence why im getting this dual USB plug keyboard.. they last ALOT longer then any wireless based type.


The monitor is supposed to have no ghosting affects on it, I read hundreds and hundreds of reviews before I made an actual decision.. the Viewsonic 22" i was intereste din for a while, but from the reviews of it, it pales in comparison to the Dell//Samsung 22" 226BW. the 225 is good, but i might as well pay the same amount or less for the upgraded version of it.

 

[Sardaukar]

--------------------------


Alright well.. for the info, NoPeace.. there is NO ghosting whatsoever on thsi monitor, I've switched between dark and light backgrounds dragged things all over, played many games (Pretty much every new big name game out) and there is no delay, nothing.. the 2ms GtoG is actually true for this monitor


The desk space I saved.. wow..

Lets just say, when I pulled off my old 20" CRT, I had about 2 more feet back on my desk to use.. this equates to about a foot and a half on each side.. along with the sides where I normally didnt use.. roughly, I gained about 6 square feet on my desk to actually -use- now.. I can put a plate of food in front of my monitor on my desk, and still have enough room left over to put.. more food! heh.. well, anyway

So, the 22" Samsung 226BW is an amazing purchase, I woudl highly recommend it.. no color distortions.. jsut opened up microsoft paint and did a full screen white image, its true white all around the center and edges of the screen.. no backlight//bleeding anywhere, true color sall around. and the contrast is amazing as well, along with a button I can switch the contrast colors at night/day depending on how my eyes are feeling.







The keyboard (Razer Tarantula) is friggin awesome as well.. easily tops any microsoft base keyboards I have used, took a bit to get used to having those macro keys on the sides.. my fingers kept wanting to hit the far bottom left one thinking it was a CTRL key, but after about an hour of gaming on battlefield 2142 it cured that problem right away.. great useability.. and I have my webcam plugged into the USB plug on the back. There are 2 gold plated USB connectors that are used to connect into yoru computer, and its easily just an amazing keyboard.. plus the LED visuals are awesome as well.. the Razer insignia on the hand rest glows from nothign to a bright blue slowly, enough to make it look awesome, but definatly not enough to distract the eyes. More of a "Wow, look at that!" type of glow.


All in all, I think in terms of money spent.. minus upgrading from my 6800 GT to an XFX 8800 GTS XXX edition 320mb GPU, this is the best purchase I ahve made this year.. goign from taht CRT to this monitor is amazing.

















p>S. Did you know Battlefield 2142 doesnt support 1680x1050 o.o it does the resolution below that.. 1280x960 or whatever one that was... rather depressing, seeing as how on my CRT i coudl pump out 1600x1200 and it looked great, runnign from that down to the step below 1680x1050 res is ratehr depressing looking :-(

 

[NoPeace]

Yeah BF2 engine doesn't support widescreen. I think there are some tweeks out there that will force it though.

And thanks for the info on the monitor. Now it's becoming even more appealing. I just hope the 20" is the same. Then again. It's just a 2" smaller screen and nothing else is different. =P

NoPeace - out

 

[Sardaukar]

The reason I chose 22" mainly.. is because I can push the monitor all the way to the back of my desk and have the same view as a 20" pulled closer to me.. gives a ton more deskspace... and I think the 22" outperforms the 20" right now, alot of people complain of the refresh causing a minimal buzzing sound on the 20" ones that isnt fully audible to most people, but its enough to give you a headache after a while.


Oh, this screen fuggin kicks some major arse also.. really do love it My next big purchase (Well.. not big.. but needy) is to get a new mouse, im 'tempted' to look into the Razer brand mouse types.. but the only problem with mice.. you really really do have to feel it before you buy it, or you coudl screw yourself over :-( The keyboard has surprised me at how well it performs and feels.. so perhaps the mouse will as well.. who knows!

 

[NoPeace]

The reason I chose 22" mainly.. is because I can push the monitor all the way to the back of my desk and have the same view as a 20" pulled closer to me.. gives a ton more deskspace... and I think the 22" outperforms the 20" right now, alot of people complain of the refresh causing a minimal buzzing sound on the 20" ones that isnt fully audible to most people, but its enough to give you a headache after a while.

Didn't hear about the buzzing sounds of the 20". Thought they were the same panel but just shrunk.

And the reason for the 20" is the monitor's just 2 feet from my face. So 22" would be too big. But in your case the 22" makes since.

Oh, this screen fuggin kicks some major arse also.. really do love it My next big purchase (Well.. not big.. but needy) is to get a new mouse, im 'tempted' to look into the Razer brand mouse types.. but the only problem with mice.. you really really do have to feel it before you buy it, or you coudl screw yourself over :-( The keyboard has surprised me at how well it performs and feels.. so perhaps the mouse will as well.. who knows!

Razer mice perform well. My school has them in the game dev labs, but their design is just yuck. Works well but feels naff. The Logitec and MS mice perform nearly as well (the laser ones perform better) as the Razer ones but fell nicer, in my opion.

NoPeace - out