# evaluate this gaming PC please **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 18, 2009, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evaluate-this-gaming-pc-please/518020 "2009-11-18T11:45:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evaluate-this-gaming-pc-please/518020/21 "2009-11-19T16:37:38Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > And a P55 board can do crossfire - if that interests you just make sure the particular motherboard you’re getting has 2 16x pci-e slots. I bought my system with this in mind, thinking I might want to add a 2nd 4870 card down the road. Once I assembled it, I realised that a full length graphics card in the 2nd slot would block a lot of the connectors on the motherboard, such as the front audio panel. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > For a video card you’re going to want something from the ATI 5000-series. These are the only directx 11 cards available on the market, and they’re massively powerful. Interestingly, Tom’s Hardware (an enthusiast site) doesn’t recommend them despite the features and performance, due to their cost. They get an honorable mention. [http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/best-graphics-card,review-31723.html](http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/best-graphics-card,review-31723.html) > [@SenorBeef](#): > > But it isn’t essential - once you actually have a game loaded and going, there isn’t really mid-game pausing to page out information or load it on demand like there is in the past - systems have enough ram that game designers don’t do this. The problem is, games developers have little control over this. It’s Windows that manages the memory, which is why you can still get occasional stuttering on high-spec systems. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > I also like to set my FPS targets higher - users are more bothered by minimum FPS than average FPS, so you want your lowest FPS to be somewhere around there, not your average. Yes, it’s the miminum FPS that affects gameplay, that’s why I emphasised the need for consistant framerates. I should have said a consistant 50fps+. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evaluate-this-gaming-pc-please/518020/22 "2009-11-19T17:42:50Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > And a P55 board can do crossfire - if that interests you just make sure the particular motherboard you’re getting has 2 16x pci-e slots. Actually I think socket 1156, while it may be listed as 2 x16 on the board, are inherently limited to 8x/8x in crossfire/SLI. This isn’t hugely crippling in real world performance, though if you are a multi-GPU fanatic it is something to consider. > [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > I bought my system with this in mind, thinking I might want to add a 2nd 4870 card down the road. Once I assembled it, I realised that a full length graphics card in the 2nd slot would block a lot of the connectors on the motherboard, such as the front audio panel But isn’t that down to the individual motherboard design, rather than inherent to p55 boards in general? ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evaluate-this-gaming-pc-please/518020/23 "2009-11-19T17:48:35Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > But isn’t that down to the individual motherboard design, rather than inherent to p55 boards in general? Yes, but it’s something that will affect a lot of P55 boards. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evaluate-this-gaming-pc-please/518020/24 "2009-11-19T17:48:43Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Actually I think socket 1156, while it may be listed as 2 x16 on the board, are inherently limited to 8x/8x in crossfire/SLI. This isn’t hugely crippling in real world performance, though if you are a multi-GPU fanatic it is something to consider. Woops. I knew this might be an issue (the p35/x38 boards were the same way) so I went onto newegg and checked some product specs and some said 2 16x ones anyway. What sort of reduction are we looking at for 2x8 PCI-E anyway? I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I’ve never found it practical or economical to do SLI or crossfire myself. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evaluate-this-gaming-pc-please/518020/25 "2009-11-19T18:07:27Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Interestingly, Tom’s Hardware (an enthusiast site) doesn’t recommend them despite the features and performance, due to their cost. They get an honorable mention. > > [http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/best-graphics-card,review-31723.html](http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/best-graphics-card,review-31723.html) Well, it’s hard for a $300 or $400 card to be the best value for the money card. But they’re actually surprisingly good. ATI owns the high end market right now - not only does the 5870 outperform everything else available, but it does it with a future proof new directx 11 feature set, so it’s both more powerful and will have more features/better quality. When Nvidia owns the market like that (like when the 8800GTX was the unquestioned king) they charge $600-800 for their highest end product. By comparison, having utter dominance in a market and charging $400 for your high end product is a pretty good deal. But no, if the OP was interested in cost per performance build, I wouldn’t recommend a 5870 (although a 5770 becomes an option - which is basically the same card with half the shaders/rops, which puts it into 4870 performance territory but with the new directx 11 features). But if he’s willing to put $500+ into a processor, I’m saying he’d be better off with a $200 processor and a $300 or $400 video card (and some money saved) instead. Although the 5870 is $400, it actually doesn’t fare that badly on cost per performance metrics. It’s not like intel high end CPUs where 10-25% increased performance costs 4x as much. It demolishes everything else out there in performance anywhere near its price point. The 5850 at $300 is even better in that regard… it’s about 10-15% slower (due to disabled shaders and maybe some other issues) but still ahead of pretty much anything else out there. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evaluate-this-gaming-pc-please/518020/26 "2009-11-19T18:07:31Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Woops. I knew this might be an issue (the p35/x38 boards were the same way) so I went onto newegg and checked some product specs and some said 2 16x ones anyway. Yeah, they’ll have multiple 16x slots and with one card it will run at 16x, but adding a second card will cause the lanes to split, so both default to 8x. In some cases ( depending on the board - it seems to be a cost issue ) it will just go 16x/4x, which is apparently even less optimal. Worth downloading the manual first to make sure. > [@](#): > > What sort of reduction are we looking at for 2x8 PCI-E anyway? On dual GPUs it’s real, but not that bad. Usually it’s just a few percent difference in scaling, so no big whoop. On quad GPUs it gets worse. But I don’t know how many people will use such an extreme solution on anything but the highest end system anyway ;). And the Lynnfield chips definitely aren’t intended for the super high end. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evaluate-this-gaming-pc-please/518020.md?page=1)