Ouch -- that's a significant difference in graphics card.  I want this=20
for just this one game and nothing else.  It will be part of a tradeshow=20
display for 3 days, then sit in a corner until another trade show.  My=20
ex-robokids (who are in college now) are open to upgrading it to a=20
force-dynamics type racing sim later.  But that's it -- no other games, etc=
..

I've got recommendations for an HD6850, which is ~$150 or a EVGA GeForce=20
GT640 2GB at ~$105.  Quite a big difference from $400, so I really need=20
to ask if I need that much.  I found a benchmark on the HD6850 of 2745=20
(passmark) vs. 3057 for the HD6950 you're using.  The HD7970 comes in at=20
3939.  These numbers are way higher than I'm hearing that I need though.

I think the pieces settling in place right now are i5, win7, 8GB. I'm=20
not familiar with SLI, but I like the idea of being able to run 2 video=20
cards, so later we can upgrade to a 3-monitor setup, if we wish.  For=20
now, we'll be using a HDTV/monitor.  I notice these graphics cards don't=20
do VGA, but I can use HDMI.

Also, FWIW, Win XP is still supported for another couple years IIRC. =20
But I agree with not using it, due to RAM limitations.

Cheers,
-Neil.


On 10/8/2012 10:21 AM, V G wrote:
> I can tell you exactly what to get, and it can all be had for much less
> than $1000.
>
> Currently, as much as I'd hate to say it, Intel is producing slightly
> "faster" CPUs than AMD. The newer Intel motherboard chipsets are also doi=
ng
> quite well.
>
> What I have (just for reference):
> CPU: Intel Core i7 2600k
> Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 PRO (the P67 chipset is pretty good).
> RAM: 24GB (I need to run several VMs, and I don't want to be swapping do
> disk).
> Mass storage: 2 x OCZ Vertex 4 128GB SSDs in motherboard RAID 0
> configuration. The motherboard "fake" RAID on the P67 chipset is reliable=
..
> If your motherboard fails, any standard Intel RST capable board (like the
> P67) will be able to use your drives without any problem. The performance
> is excellent.
> Video Card: AMD HD6950
>
> What I recommend you should get:
> OS: Don't use Windows XP. It's unsupported by Microsoft and a lot of
> software is abandoning support for it. If you insist on Windows, get
> Windows 7 or 8 which will be released in a few weeks.
> CPU: I recommend you get an i7, but an i5 is fine for your application.
> Video Card: Graphics processing is the most important thing for gaming, s=
o
> get an AMD HD7970 which costs about $400. It's the top of the line single
> GPU card from AMD. If you want to go nVidia, get the GTX680. They're
> comparable in performance for gaming, but the AMD card is far better for
> GPU programming. I don't like nVidia due to their business practices, so =
I
> always recommend AMD.
> Motherboard: It's always good to get a board with SLI capability in my
> opinion, so you can stick a second video card in there for double the
> performance down the road.
> Mass storage: SSDs are always good. OCZ Vertex 4s are excellent.
> You don't need a separate sound card. Any half decent motherboard will ha=
ve
> more than sufficient integrated surround sound.

--=20
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