Final conclusion

[the_autopilot]

I just finished building my game engine rapeing computer yesterday. I changed some of the stuff from the orginal design. My specs are in the sig. I've decided to use this as my regular computer.

Here's some quick specs:
total hd space: 1746
total: RAM: 16 gigs
total vid RAM: 512mb
Total sanity of builder: 0

3 OS installed. All on the same HD (the 73 gig 15000) in different 24 gig partitions.
XP pro
XP Pro x64
Server 2003

Game performence:
I haven't bothered to do formal benchmarks (like 3dmark) yet, mainly because they have trouble either installing or running.
I am able to run all my games though. I'll list each game, its settings and overall performence. All games were installed on the second 15000 rpm HD.

Doom 3:
Ultra mode. 8x AA, 16x AF. 1600 by 1200. Image bias set to very high. Settings forced through drivers.
Runs on both XP's (32 and 64 bit). Doom3 gets a dedicated opteron to itself.
Constant 60 fps in gameplay.
83 fps in demo1.
82 fps in demo2

Half life 2:
All settings to high. 8x AA, 16x AF. 1600 by 1200. Image bias set to very high. Settings forced through drivers.
Runs on both XP's (32 and 64 bit). HL2 gets a dedicated opteron to itself.
average 100 fps in gameplay. Lowest I saw around 85.
no included timedemo to test.

Fs2004: This game surprised me a lot. I knew SLI wasn't compatible with fs2004, but not by this much. fs2004 also had problems with dual CPU's.
All settings to highest setting. FPS cap disabled. 8x AA, 16x AF. 1600 by 1200. Image bias set to very high. Settings forced through drivers.
Runs on old XP (32 bit) only. fs2004 gets a dedicated opteron to itself.
Average fps:
15 fps, dropped to 0 fps many times
fs2004 with crippled settings:
800 by 600 res, all settings to lowest possbile, image bias set to low. No AA or FS.
Average fps: 60, dropped to 20 many times

Far cry:
All settings to high. 8x AA, 16x AF. 1600 by 1200. Image bias set to very high. Settings forced through drivers.
Runs on both XP's (32 and 64 bit). FC gets a dedicated opteron to itself.
average fps 76, dropped to 65 once.
Cooler01 demo:
69 fps
This game was run with patch 1.3.

That about rounds it up. I'll post more info soon.

Comments anyone?

[the_autopilot]

At first, you guys are like, thats not too big in performence from a fx-55 with 2 6800u.

Well, I tried something. Since I have 2 CPU, I assumed my multi-tasking ability would be awesome...and it is.

I can play all the games (except fs2004) at the same time, with NO fps drop.

I would start playing HL2, Get tird of it, and then mininmize it. Then, I would start up Doom 3, get tired of it, and start up far cry. My FPS for all the games was the same as the ones posted above, all settings were the same as well.

I was litteraly alt-tabing between 3 games with no game recieveing a performence impact. It was awesome. Then started Counterstrike source and HL2 deathmatch. Still no decrease inperformence. When I died in playing counterstrike source and was waiting to respawn, I simply alt-tabed to Doom3 and played a level or 2 and alt-tabbed back. I had 5 games (d3, HL2, CS:S, HL2 DM, FC) going at the same time with amazing performence. It was awesome.

Another I discovered was that the Page file must exist. Some programs instantly put data in the virtual memory. My page file use was about 146 mb (measured from task manager). Without the page file, the programs simply crash. And this is true of almost any program, including games. So, I have my page file set to 4 gigs on the same HD as the windows install.

[ctjoyce]

u spend way too much on the hardware for that computer. but man do I respect those stats

[Saitek]

Super - but you sure paid for it.
Seems rather a waste of resources to me as you could halve that and halve the cost and it would be just as good for all your games. Anyway you'll be sure eready for FS10.
have you some pics?

Ben

[4_Series_Scania]

Great system, what a shame its apparently, not up to FS2004!

I'm extremely puzzled why you have FS9 issues, I know of a friend with Dual 6800GT's in SLI who gets a consistent 35+fps (with an intel p4 EE Northwood)

Your specs are vastly better, the fact the generic benchmarks don't work tells me theres something up elsewhere in your system.

That said, you get more than I do @ Very high settings!!!  ;D

[Weather_Man]

Wow! I hope you do more than play games with that setup.

I'm just awed by the 16GB RAM. That's over $6000 alone.  :o

[GunnerMan]

OMFG, well I like how you can multitask them games like that. Well it may be a waste of recorces but obviously hes got money to spend and moneys no good if you don't spend lol. Also I have some Qs about W64, I heard it was slower than Win 32bit because the emulator slowed it down, is this true? I guess its not very knoticeable with that rig. So what did you do with your FX-55 rig?
If you dont mind me asking uhh what was the prrice tag?
Yes I think Overkill was an understatement, thats like taking a nuke to a knife fight.

[the_autopilot]

OMFG, well I like how you can multitask them games like that. Well it may be a waste of recorces but obviously hes got money to spend and moneys no good if you don't spend lol. Also I have some Qs about W64, I heard it was slower than Win 32bit because the emulator slowed it down, is this true? I guess its not very knoticeable with that rig. So what did you do with your FX-55 rig?
If you dont mind me asking uhh what was the prrice tag?
Yes I think Overkill was an understatement, thats like taking a nuke to a knife fight.

Windows x64 is NOT slower. In fact, its much faster overall. 64 bit apps run like crazy.

32-bit runs slightly faster because they get all the 4-gigs of bandwidth to themselves.

As for my fx-55 rig, well, I'll be using it to play fs2004. LOL. And like you mentioned, its not the SLI that cripples it cause it works fine on my old fx-55 with 2 6800u's.

As for generic benchmarks, I got 3dmark 05 installed. I orginalled had some problems with it, but after restarting it and SLI (turning it on and off), it worked fine. I didn't let the benchmark finish though, because I was anxious to try other stuff. To tell the truth, I've never been into 3dmark or any genric benchmark, because I care about in-game, aka "realistic" performence. I can get 2 million in 3dmark, but if I only get 15 fps (like I do in fs2004) in a game, guess which one I care about more...

And yes, I do do more than gaming. I do CAD, video editing, 3d animation (with XSI or maya), etc. I plan to swap out the 6800 ultras and replace them with dual quadro 4400's eventually.

Also, keep in mind that these are at stock speeds. I will overclock the 6800's on water and the 2 opteron's with 2 vapochill LS's that were shipped today (supposedly, according to the fedex website).

[GunnerMan]

Wow, yeah I was wonderin f you were gonna OC but decded to keep my motuh shut. I root for 4 vapos for cpus and video lol.... Hmm yeah I imagined 64 bit apps and overall would go fast on X64 but i wonder if a "normal" system would slow down any.... I wonder wha kills FS, confict with the cpus maybe? Also would it be possible to have a quadro and Geforce in there so you have both cards to utilize because those Qudros wont game to well?