My computer is better than yours!!!

[Andy]

I got to thinking, lets have a friendly li'l competition to see who's got the biggest dick...err fastest gaming style computer. I'm sure those interested in this stuff have heard of 3dMark05 or 3dMark06...so lets see some scores along with whatcha got. (use 3dMark default options) The highest scores win you a Bozo button, LOL.

To start...me!

3dMark05-7106
3dMark06-3634

Computer: Dell laptop with Nvidia 7800 GTX video OC'ed to desktop reference speeds (430CPU/1200Mem), P-M 2.0, 1GB memory.

[RJC]

no idea what my 3dmarks are, i'm not big on benchmarking... i just know my sys smokes...

Antec P180 + optional 120mm cooling fan
Antec Trio 650watt PSU
Conroe Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.66 GHz)
Scythe Ninja Plus heatsink
ATI x1950 Crossfire 512mb (main card)
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe mobo
2 GB RAM - Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C4 (4-4-4-12)
Seagate 7200.10 500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s
Pioneer DVR-111D Dual Layer DVD±R/RW Drive
LG 16X Black DVD-ROM (48X CD-ROM)
Viewsonic PF790 19" monitor
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi ExtremeMusic
Cambridge Soundworks 4 points speakers + Subwoofer
Window XP PRO SP2

[bob clark]

Hi Andy,

That's really good for a laptop. And a Dell to boot! My computer is getting old (1 & 1/2 years) and in need of a processor and graphic cards upgrade soon.

ThunderboxPC Liquid Cooled XFuel
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
AMD Athlon FX-55
Dual GF 6800 Ultras
2GB Patriot PDP PC3200LL Memory
Sony 21" Multiscan E540 Monitor
74GB 10,000RPM Barracuda HD
120GB 7,200RPM Barracuda HD storage
Creative Audigy2 Platinum Soundcard
Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 Speakers
Thermaltake 700watt Toughpower PSU
HOTAS Cougar w/Uber NXT & Hall Effect Sensor Upgrade Joystick

I'm droolin' for a Bozo Button!

EDIT: To download the free 3DMark 2006 program click HERE. Go to where it's written 3DMark06 Basic (Free Limited Version): Free CLICK TO DOWNLOAD!
But it's a huge 580MB file.

[Timaru]

Bob - It's probably because we're about the same age and post SCI time that I understand your posts without having to give them much/any thought but out of all of the above all I understood was.......

"Hi Andy" ;-)

[RehabRhino]

Originally Posted by RJC

no idea what my 3dmarks are.........

Me neither but I have one of these...............

Sony VAIO VGC-VA1

SPECIFICATIONS:
2.8GHz Pentium D 820; 1GB PC4200 RAM; Asus Custom 945 motherboard; 250GB Western Digital 7200.7 hard disk; Matshita UJ-840D DVD writer; 20in 1,366 x 768 integrated TFT; 128MB ATi Radeon Mobilty X700 graphics; AVerMedia A16C analog/DVB-T/FM tuner; S-Video in; SigmaTel High Definition audio; digital optical audio out; integrated 10/100 Ethernet; 802.11b/g WLAN; 56K modem; 4 USB 2; mini-FireWire; Windows Media Center Edition 2005; 1yr RTB warranty

[RehabRhino]

TX Series - VGN-TX3XP/L

Please be aware that the features/specifications can differ from country to country.Operating system Genuine Windows® XP ProfessionalService PackMicrosoft® Windows® XP Service Pack 2ProcessorIntel® Core™ Solo Processor Ultra Low Voltage U1400 1.2 GHz* 533 MHz FSB, Supports Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® TechnologyCache memory2 MBHard disk drive80 GB Ultra ATA (4200rpm)Standard RAM1GB DDR2 SDRAM (512MB on board, 1x512MB)Maximum RAM1.5 GB DDR SDRAM ***LCD screen11.1" WXGA X-black LCD (1366 x 768)GraphicsIntel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with maximum 128MB Dynamic Video Memory shared with Main Memory ****Optical drive typeSuper Slim Double Layer DVD±RWOptical drive reading speed24x CD-ROM / 24x CD-R / 12x CD-RW / 8x DVD-ROM / 4x DVD-R /
4x DVD-RW / 4x DVD-R DL / 4x DVD+R DL / 4x DVD+R / 4x DVD+RW / 2x DVD-RAMOptical drive writing speed24x CD-R / 10x CD-RW / 4x DVD-R / 2x DVD-RW / 2.4x DVD+R DL /
4x DVD+R / 2.4x DVD+RWCommunication capabilitiesEthernet network (100 BASE-TX/10 BASE-T) - PSTN: built-in V92/V.90, K56 flex data/fax modem - Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g - Bluetooth®Built-in capabilitiesStereo speakers, touchpad, Plug & Display, Instant ONInterfaces on notebookPort replicator connector, 4 Pin i.LINK™ (IEEE1394), 400 Mbps, 2 Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) ports (high/full/low speed supported) Type A connector, monitor (VGA) connector, connector for headphones and external speakers, microphone connector, DC In (AC adapter) connector, Memory Stick™ standard, Memory Stick™ Duo, Memory Stick™ PRO, Memory Stick™ PRO Duo, high speed data transfer and MagicGate compatible. Security platformInfineon Trusted Platform Module (TPM)Security featureTCG Ver.1.2 compliant Trusted Platform Module (TPM), Finger Print RecognitionFeaturesKensigton Lock, G-Sensor HDD Shock ProtectionSpecial buttonsPower button, Wireless switch, Mute, Volume Control, AV Mode ControlWireless LAN802.11a/b/g standard - Frequency band: 2.4 GHz ISM - Speed: max. 54 Mbps (IEEE 802.11g) (1) - Distance: max. 100 m. (open space) (2)Bluetooth® technologyBluetooth standard Ver. 2.0 + EDRBattery typeLithium ionBattery charging timeapprox. 3 hrs 30 minBattery life ***up to 6 hrs 40 minDimensions (w. x h. x d.)272.4 mm x 21 mm x 195.1 mmWeight with battery1.25 kg

[bob clark]

Originally Posted by Timaru

Bob - It's probably because we're about the same age and post SCI time that I understand your posts without having to give them much/any thought but out of all of the above all I understood was.......

"Hi Andy" ;-)

Hi Timaru,

There are regular computers that are fine for just about anything that you want to do except high-end video editing. And then there are gaming computers with the top-of-the-line, state of the art, fastest components in them that are good for gaming. Or in my situation, flight and combat flight simulation. The newer games and flight and combat flight simulators are very resource hungry. In other words, they write games and simulators that are usually beyond what even the best, currently available hardware can handle with all the graphics options maxxed out. It kinda gives you time to grow into a game or simulator but at the same time they kinda force you to buy the most expensive parts available if you want to play the game or simulator anywhere near where it was designed to be played at without waiting a couple of years. What came first, the chicken or the egg? In this case it's the software, with the hardware trying to keep or catch up. A year and a half ago I bought the fastest computer/components available and still wasn't able to fully max out my graphics options and get good framerates (# of frames per second... 30 FPS is minimum that looks good) with my favorite combat flight simulator, Lock On: Modern Air Combat. It's now been upgraded and is called Flaming Cliffs 1.2A and needs even more speed. Combat flight simulators really put a hurting on a computer, especially the processor because there are so many mathematical calculations going on at the same time. For example 10 aircraft flying around at different attitudes firing different bombs, rockets, cannons, missiles, some guided and some unguided with different types of radars being turned on and off plus all the ground action, tanks, trucks APCs etc going on. And the speed, directions and trajectories of each one needs to be calculated constantly and kept track of. Plus sound effects etc. So the processor needs to be as fast as possible to keep up with all this stuff. I have 2 graphics cards in my computer that work in tandem (SLI) so I don't have to worry too much about them so my bottleneck is still with my processor. I need more SPEED, a faster processor!

You can easily pay $6,000 for a top-of-the-line gaming computer today and buy the same one in 2 years for $1,000.

Now they've gone just about as fast as they're gonna go with the technology out today as far as processors are concerned so they're starting to use dual core (1 big and 1 little processor in one casing) processors and now even separate dual processors. So you need to pay for 2 graphics cards (Dell has a setup with 4 graphic cards... @ $600 apiece!) and two processors and an expensive motherboard to tie them all together with in order to get good framerates and good looking graphics. Then the third leg of the performance stool which is the amount and speed of your system memory. And then fine tune all three of these components/parameters together until you reach the maximum matched output or performance. Plus good cooling to keep all these heat producing components cool or within spec.

But the game or simulator needs to be written with single core, dual core or dual processors in mind. Since most people only have a single processor (although the dual cores are becoming quite popular now) that's how most of them are written.... to appeal to the largest consumer market so they can sell the most games and simulators and make the most money.

It's usually a trade-off between framerates (performance) and graphic quality, how "real" everything looks. Commonly referred to as "eye candy".

A benchmarking program is just a program that tests all the parameters of a computer and gives you a base number. Futuremark puts out a free version called 3DMark 2006 that most people use to compare computer systems with and the performance is rated using 3DMarks. It's just a number. There are other benchmarking programs out but Futuremark (formerly Mad Onion) is the most commonly used.

And you can post your score online at Futuremark and compare your system to other identical or like-systems. It's as Andy said, a my dick is bigger than your dick competition. Some people use nitrogen to keep their processor "cool" so they can pump as many volts as possible into it in order to get a better score without burning it out! I was going to get a refrigerated heatsink (a small compressor using refrigerant) but decided that was a bit much. Too many things to go wrong plus they're pretty loud too. And they need time to get cool so you need to wait for that to happen before you can use your computer. So I just got a liquid cooled one, much like a tiny car radiator with anti-freeze/coolant in it, that is very quiet, quieter than air cooling.

So that's gaming computers 101!

Have a good day Timaru.

Bob.

[bsnl]

Hummm my 64kbps connection and that 580 meg file just not gonna happen

[Juke_spin]

Originally Posted by bob clark

...and needs even more speed. Combat flight simulators really put a hurting on a computer, especially the processor because there are so many mathematical calculations going on at the same time. For example 10 aircraft flying around at different attitudes firing different bombs, rockets, cannons, missiles, some guided and some unguided with different types of radars being turned on and off plus all the ground action, tanks, trucks APCs etc going on. And the speed, directions and trajectories of each one needs to be calculated constantly and kept track of. Plus sound effects etc...I need more SPEED, a faster processor!

Explanations of computer gaming needs like this remind me of just about exactly why I stick to solitaire and centipede...with a little helicopter thrown in for variety.

[darkeyed_daisy]

Mine is a Dell XPS M140. I got it last November.

I got it to view my pictures and watch movies on when camping. I am not really into high tech gaming.

I like scrabble on the computer myself. I deleted the helicopter because it was like internet shopping= addicting!!!!