Having purchased Torchlight and looking ahead towards Mass Effect 2, I began contemplating building my PC once again.
The last time I thought this over, I was looking for a Micro ATX PC for the sake of downsizing, but now I want this PC to be small enough for the home theater set up. I want to turn this PC into a console if it needs to be; playing PC games with the Xbox 360 controller if I can. The Antec Mini P180 can still achieve this sitting beside the HDTV; that’s not a problem. The problem, as always, is the amount I wish to spend on a video card.
- Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 (~$114)
- Processor: Intel Core i5 750 2.66 GHz (~$220)
- Video Card: AMD/ATI Radeon HD 5850 (~$320)
- Case: Antec Mini P180 in White (~$90)
- PSU: Antec EarthWatts 650W (~$90)
- Memory: 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 (~$100)
- Hard Drive: 500GB – 1TB SATA HDD (~$60 – $100)
- Optical Drive: Most likely none
The Radeon HD 5850 costs approximately $320. That’s more than a console and while the video card can mop the floor with this generation’s console, from a purely entertainment standpoint, I cannot justify that price. I do have a solution to this problem though. I either wait for price drops or I settle for a AMD/ATI Radeon HD 5770 which I can get for about $175.
Decisions. Decisions.
What is it that I wish to play though? Mass Effect 2? It’s coming to the Xbox 360 as well and by the time I’m finished with that there’s a whole lot of other games coming out to consoles. Was this all for nothing then? Nah. If I keep going through this exercise enough times, I’ll eventually find enough reasons to pull the trigger. But for now, I will go play Torchlight. If only more games ran on older hardware like this game.
With the release of the Intel Core i5 & i7 (Lynnfields) and AMD/ATI’s Radeon HD 5870 video cards, it’s now time to plan my next rig. Not all the pieces are in place though. I’m still waiting on how well the Radeon HD 5850 performs along with its Canadian price tag. Nevertheless, I do have an idea of what I want my next rig will be.
It will be smaller, quieter and faster.
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AnandTech and TechReport reviews for the new Intel Core i5 and Core i7 are out now!
I was kinda bummed by the lack of HyperThreading for Core i5, but after reading these reviews, it’s not enough of a deterrent to warrant the price difference. What would I do with 8 threads?
Take a look at this:
| Processor | Clock Speed | Cores / Threads | Single Core Max Turbo Boost | Socket | TDP | Associated Chipset | Price (USD) |
| Core i7-860 | 2.80 GHz | 4 / 8 | 3.46 GHz | LGA-1156 | 95W | Intel P55 | $284 |
| Core i5-750 | 2.66 GHz | 4 / 4 | 3.2 GHz | LGA-1156 | 95W | Intel P55 | $196 |
That $88 price difference enables 4 virtual threads, additional overclocking headroom and higher stock clockspeed. Do I want it? I wouldn’t mind it, but I like the idea of on-die PCI-E controller on the Core i5 and the attractive price tag of just under $200 USD.
These new processors are making my wait for a new computer a little tougher. However, I think I can hold out until the new video cards are unveiled in the coming months. That way it could be a completely new PC from top to bottom.
Announcements
- Punisher: No Mercy Hitting PSN July 2, 2009 (via PlayStation.Blog)
- First person shooter
- online arena-style multiplayer w/ solo and team-based missions for up to eight players
- Single player mode as well
- Powered by Unreal Engine 3.0
- Price: $9.99
- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Coming to PSP (via CVG)
- Via Retail UMD and PSN download
- Will have additional content and cater to the PSP hardware
Miscellaneous
- Sonic the Hedgehog Turns 18 Today (via NeoGAF)
- PSN Release of Final Fantasy VII Passes 100, 000 Downloads (via Kotaku)
- Max Payne 3 Screenshots (via Official Website)
Technology
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Announcements
- Bionic Commando: Rearmed PSN Trophy Patch Coming (via PlayStation.Blog)
- Trophy Support
- New “Normal” difficulty setting with the following changes:
- When you die, you respawn at the last solid ground or checkpoint
- Albatross B level removed
- Added ability to reel out the cable when hanging or swinging to its full length
- If the player swings into a wall, they will no longer disconnect and be thrown away from the wall. Instead, they will keep connected and reel in
- Unlimited lives
- Super Joe Machine Gun bug fix:
- When upgraded, the weapon also becomes more powerful in addition to the larger clip
- Fixed for all difficulty levels.
Technology
- Intel’s Confusing Naming Scheme Revealed? (via AnandTech)
- Core i5, Corei3 and Core i7
- Most confusing part is the fact that there will be Core i7 for both LGA-1156 (new) and LGA-1366 (current)
- Core 2 Duo & Core 2 Quad naming scheme disappearing along with Centrino
Miscellaneous
- “New Xbox 360″ for 2010 “Confirmed” By Steve Ballmer (via TGDaily)
- Confirmed at “The Executive’s Club of Chicago” while discussing “the role of innovation in changing economic times.”
- Most likely “slim” Xbox 360 with Project Natal camera bundled
Opportunity to play more Bionic Commando: Rearmed? Nice. Confusing consumers with all these Core i-something nonsense? Insane.
New Xbox 360 with Project Natal in 2010? Not surprised.
This was actually written on Monday, but withheld due to E3 fun
For all intents and purposes, my next computer will be Intel’s mainstream native quad core processor: Lynnfield. Core i7 CPUs are cutting edge and nice, but they’re also incredibly pricey when you consider the platform components (Triple Channel DDR3 & motherboard). So it’s all about Lynnfield.
AnandTech took a sneak peak at a very early chip sample of Intel’s upcoming processor and the take away from the article is: Turbo mode.
I’m not sure how I missed this, but since the Core i7, Intel’s processors can dynamically overclock individual cores to match the processor’s load. For example, if you have a single threaded application which doesn’t need all four cores running, the processor will dynamically overclock one core to boost performance.
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Announcements
- GTAIV: The Ballad of Gay Tony DLC Coming This Fall (via PR)
- Will play as Luis Lopez, part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub manager Tony Prince aka “Gay Tony”
- Retail disc of both “The Lost and Damned” and “The Ballad of Gay Tony” will be made available for $39.99 — will not require GTAIV to play
- Cost 1600 MS Points
- Exclusive to Xbox 360
- Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is now available
- Notable changes can be found here.
- Raiden IV is Coming to North American Xbox 360s (via 1UP)
- BioShock 2 Coming November 2 (via Examiner)
- Zune HD is Official; Zune Marketplace Coming to Xbox Live! (via Engadget)
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