Buying Fever

[sandman1485]

So, I've got the urge to make my computer a lot faster for gaming.

I want to go to RAID, add another 512mb of ram, and make my computer completely silent. 4 Silenx 14db fans to replace the 3 on my koolance water cooling and one for intake. Another Hitachi 80gb Sata to setup RAID, and an additional 512mb Corsair XMS 2-3-2-6 to push me to 1gb.

These three (actually 6 if you count all the fans) items come to a whopping $280. Do you guys think that is a worthwhile purchase to see dramatic improvement in gaming and other general apps, or would you invest that money elsewhere? I also hope to upgrade to a 2600+ mobile sometime in the next few months.

[DarkScorpion]

Well, I would say that if you were going to buy another 512, you will lose your dual channel memory, so I wouldn't do it, since 512 is pretty much good enough. If I were you, I would use all that money towards a new graphics card, like the 6800Ultra or X800Pro/XT. If you can keep saving, I would buy a new PS now (like, a good 500 watt one) and wait until you have enough money for a 6800Ultra or X800Pro/XT. But if you really insist on upgrading NOW, ditch the silenx fans and try to get a 2600 Mobile or forget the additional 512Mb of RAM and try to get a 9800Pro.

[4MD_4_M3]

ya 98000pro ownz

[sandman1485]

Well I like the idea of the Silenx fans because I can almost achieve complete silence - am I wrong?

With the ram, I think I might need more because when I exit games like UT2K3 my computer lags for a little while and I can't help but think that that is because I only have 512mb of ram. Would the RAID be likely to solve those problems?

My 9600xt suits me right now, and until I can say build someone else's computer and put that in their's, I dont plan on replacing it just yet. There currently aren't many games that can completely own an overclocked 9600xt. So I like the idea of the SilenX fans and the RAID, but the Ram is a maybe...that's the most expensive item too! ($161). I don't fear that I would lose dual channel if I put the 2x256 + 512 - I believe that works as 512x512 dual channel. So, would going RAID show a dramatic improvement and make the necessity for expanding ram obsolete?

[hardnrg]

forget raid... for gaming anyway there's not much point... you'd be better off adding a new hard-drive with decent access latency, data rates, and cache, and then storing your os on one hard-drive and games on another...

 

you'd be better off with a mobile barton and testing your theory on the dual-channel +512 stick of ram

 

you could just get a fan controller for your current fans (or better yet get some new ones)

 

if you get some fans with a max dBA rating of say 30dB then that's fairly quiet and then with the fanbus you can reduce them to around 16dB usually... but you have the option of turning them up for performance gaming!

 

"There currently aren't many games that can completely own an overclocked 9600xt."

 

hmm, true, but doom3 and HL2 are on their way (supposedly )

 

you could hold off til then i guess... hehehe

[SkullZ]

Hmm, i dont know anything about RAID setups or anything but im suggesting savin your money for something you REALLY need or want, since next generation games are coming up you might want to save for that x800

[sandman1485]

hardnrg, you are pretty wrong about the fans. The ones I have in the koolance exos right now are around 21dba on the low setting, as is my exhaust. The fans I'm looking to get run at 11.8dba which is approximately 15 times quietter. BIG difference. 31/24dba is hardly quiet in my opinion. I went ahead and bought another SATA hd to put my system in RAID0. I will hold off on the ram until I see what the RAID can do to speed up my computer.

[Shadowfactor]

get two Raptors in Raid 0 and pm for the Raid settings ( Mine are usally @ 145 m/b's)

Edited May 20, 2004 by Shadowfactor

[cracker75357]

What's the point of making it completely silent? It costs a ton with NO performance benefits (unless they are better at cooling). Unless you have extremely sensitive hearing or something, then I recommend spending your money on something useful like a new mobo or cpu or something.

[CmpFreak88]

I agree, my computer sounds like a fighter jet taking off when I start up with all the fans in it; 2 120's, 2 80's, CPU and GPU fan's all running at max speed. I only go for the performance, and if sound is an issue for you, upgrade your speakers to some nice Z-640's

[jammin]

hardnrg, you are pretty wrong about the fans. The ones I have in the koolance exos right now are around 21dba on the low setting, as is my exhaust. The fans I'm looking to get run at 11.8dba which is approximately 15 times quietter. BIG difference. 31/24dba is hardly quiet in my opinion. I went ahead and bought another SATA hd to put my system in RAID0. I will hold off on the ram until I see what the RAID can do to speed up my computer.

I may be wrong (and probably am as i can't be bothered to check), but doesn't the Dba system work on the premise that a difference of 10dba is an audible equivalent of twice as quiet/loud? If this is right, it would only be half as loud, not 15 times quieter.