Will my PC Run this? What CPU/GPU to get? What settings? System Specifications.

[ICE-Raver 10]

Ok, so now I'm starting to feel like a real tool. You guys have been so helpful and I keep asking questions.

Can someone explain to me in simple terms what a lot of these terms mean?

A friend directed me to dell.com to check out their computers and I found one that has:

- Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor(8MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz)

Now, I've heard somewhere that i7 was a really powerful processor, but I've seen other computers that have a higher GHz. Honestly, I have no idea what any of this stuff means.

- 4GB6 Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM5 at 1066MHz - 4 DIMMs

My brother keeps telling me that DDR3 is really good, so I figure this has to be a good spec.

- 640GB 7200 RPM8 SATA Hard Drive

- nVidia GeForce GT 220, 1024MB

I guess this is the one that's got me really nervous.

I'm really attracted to this piece of hardware because it's actually less than a grand and every cent counts.

Again, if someone would be so kind as to explain what a lot of these terms mean, I'd really appreciate it and I wouldn't have to keep bothering you guys.

The i7's are top of the line processors at the moment.

IMHO the i7 920 is the best choice out of the lineup. I know your not an overclocker but the 920 easily clocks over 4ghz out of the box. There are guys on the evga forums getting upwards of 4.5 out of it. It is only a $279 processor at the moment and I've seen it on sale for as low as $199 compare that to the other i7's and it's a no brainer.

Guys over there that spent $1000 bucks on the i7 975 aren't having such luck overclocking theirs.;)

That ram is really strange. All the mobos that I have looked at for the i7's all support DDR3 triple channel ram and typically the speeds supported are 1333, 1600, or 2000.

Hard drive is decent

Graphics card is no good.

In all honesty a decent prebuilt i7 system is going to cost you a minimum of about 15-1600 bucks.

If you go below that on prebuilt you are going to sacrifice something.

It cost me $900 bucks just to build my i7 system and I already had the case, psu and graphics card.

However the i7 is a beast of a processor. So if you get an i7 base you will be future proofed for a long time.

Your best bet in all honesty is to have someone build you a system.

Here are some recommendations of a base system for you.

Processor:i7 920 $279 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

If your not going to overclock the stock heatsink will be fine. But don't overclock it without a decent aftermarket heatsink

Motherboard: EVGA x58 LE. $239 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188049&Tpk=evga%20x58%20le *you need a SATA dvd drive for this board. IDE (Ribbon cable) Is not supported. They are like $25 bucks for LITE on sata drives at wal-mart.

Memory: I like Corsair Dominator or mushkin but you can really save money here going with some cheaper memory. $124.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365

Hard Drive: I'm running one of these along with a second 1T drive. It's pretty decent. $69 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

Graphics card: I bought one of these about a month ago to go SLI (2 cards) and it is running great. It is recertified with a 90 day warranty. If that scares you the 275's are about the samme price. $239 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130427

OS: Try to get windows 7 RC if you can and then upgrade. Vista was coming with a free upgrade but I don't see any now.

All of that comes out to $950.99. If you already have the case and a power supply your golden. I would recommend at least a 650-700 watt psu for this setup btw so check your case. You may also already have a SATA drive and OS so you could save some money there.

Now I don't know anything about your case but make sure it has decent airflow as you need to get the heat out. If not you could get a good case for about 100 bucks if it is an issue. The HAF 932's are really popular.

Edited September 4, 2009 by ICE-Raver

[catintheengine 10]

Thanks Raver!

I'm glad to have a solid break-down of everything I'll need. I'm not sure how great the airflow in our old case is, so I'll have to double-check, but if I'm going to be saving up for $950 worth of internal hard drive, then shelling out an extra $100 for a case that's going to keep it safe would be a wise investment.

BTW, I checked out your rig - you've got the hook-up!

[echo1 0]

Guys over there that spent $1000 bucks on the i7 975 aren't having such luck overclocking theirs.;)

Yeah, a common mistake amongst those who don't properly understand overclocking. I often recommend that you can gauge how much someone knows about computing by how little their PC cost.

That ram is really strange. All the mobos that I have looked at for the i7's all support DDR3 triple channel ram and typically the speeds supported are 1333, 1600, or 2000.

Triple channel motherboards also support dual channel configurations. In theory, the triple channel is faster, in reality, the difference is trivial. But splitting out four gigs over four sticks is pretty stupid.

Motherboard: EVGA x58 LE. $239 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188049&Tpk=evga%20x58%20le *you need a SATA dvd drive for this board. IDE (Ribbon cable) Is not supported. They are like $25 bucks for LITE on sata drives at wal-mart.

Ouch, if you're building on a budget, the Core i7s are a terrible choice, and you're better off with the somewhat slower but much cheaper Phenom II. Look at it this way - by the time the Phenom II goes out of date, it will be time to replace the Core i7 anyway. They're also a terrible investment, as Intel will be introducing a new CPU socket in a few months time, and the current LGA1366 sockets will be reserved for expensive workstation chips only.

Graphics card: I bought one of these about a month ago to go SLI (2 cards) and it is running great. It is recertified with a 90 day warranty. If that scares you the 275's are about the samme price. $239 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130427

The ATI Radeon HD4890 is generally regarded as the best performing card with ArmA II. You can get a cheaper one like this which also has a proper warranty and isnt a refurbished discontinued model like the previously linked GTX280.

OS: Try to get windows 7 RC if you can and then upgrade. Vista was coming with a free upgrade but I don't see any now.

Unless you definitely have to have the PC sometime soon, I'd hold off buying the PC until Windows 7 is released in late October. It's that much of an improvement over Windows Vista to justify that.

[ICE-Raver 10]

Ouch, if you're building on a budget, the Core i7s are a terrible choice, and you're better off with the somewhat slower but much cheaper Phenom II. Look at it this way - by the time the Phenom II goes out of date, it will be time to replace the Core i7 anyway. They're also a terrible investment, as Intel will be introducing a new CPU socket in a few months time, and the current LGA1366 sockets will be reserved for expensive workstation chips only.

.

I only linked him core i7 because he had his eye on an i7 system at Dell.

It's definitely not a budget system. And yes in a few months time the prices will fall on them when the new chips come out.

That said the i7 is a beast of a processor.

When I was doing my new current build I considered doing an intel quad core build with a 9650 and the price difference wasn't enough for me not to go ahead and go with i7. Like 100ish bucks difference or something. I also considered going phenom x4 but after comparing benchmarks, futuremark scores and head to head tests the current intel chips always came out on top vs phenoms from what I have seen. Not that benchmark scores matter much when it comes to gaming, but anyway. I've ran AMD in the past and I probably will again when they leapfrog intel.

As far as the ATI GPU I didn't link anything ATI because I haven't ran it. The last ATI I ran was an x800xt plat back in the day and I had so many driver issues with that card that I haven't ran another. That said, from all I have read they are great. I just don't have first hand experience with them.

Edited September 4, 2009 by ICE-Raver

[echo1 0]

Yeah, ATI had atrocious driver problems back in the day, but even since the AMD takeover they've become an awful lot more stable. I have never owned one, nor are they an option for me for the forseeable future (ATI's Linux drivers are still crap, and that's a problem for me) but I'd still have no issues recommending them to other people.

When I was doing my new current build I considered doing an intel quad core build with a 9650 and the price difference wasn't enough for me not to go ahead and go with i7. Like 100ish bucks difference or something. I also considered going phenom x4 but after comparing benchmarks, futuremark scores and head to head tests the current intel chips always came out on top vs phenoms from what I have seen. Not that benchmark scores matter much when it comes to gaming, but anyway. I've ran AMD in the past and I probably will again when they leapfrog intel.

There was a period of a few months, where in my opinion, and the opinion of others (including several large tech websites and magazines) the Core i7 was far too expensive, even considering it's formidable performance. The Phenom II also used to be much cheaper than the equivalent Core 2 Quad parts (you could get a €230 PII that easily matched the €330+ Q9650) However, now that Intel has slashed prices, the choice isnt so clear cut.

Edited September 4, 2009 by echo1

[catintheengine 10]

EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard - Retail

$239.99

XFX HD-485X-YDFC Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0

$134.99

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 140W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ965FBGIBOX - Retail

$245.00

Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

$112.99

LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDP118-04 - OEM

$17.99

Subtotal: $705.96 (This is the subtotal after some rebates that I deleted when I copy and pasted it)

Does that seem like it would be a good build for a computer that would be able to handle the game? I tried to take your suggestions and apply them while also trying to keep the system relatively cheap.

[ICE-Raver 10]

EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard - Retail

$239.99

XFX HD-485X-YDFC Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0

$134.99

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 140W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ965FBGIBOX - Retail

$245.00

Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

$112.99

LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDP118-04 - OEM

$17.99

Subtotal: $705.96 (This is the subtotal after some rebates that I deleted when I copy and pasted it)

Does that seem like it would be a good build for a computer that would be able to handle the game? I tried to take your suggestions and apply them while also trying to keep the system relatively cheap.

That motherboard does not support the AMD CPU. It's an intel mobo.

[Rhammstein 10]

Why is everyone so hell bent on the i7? Sure, it's great, but you can get a Phenom II 955 Black Edition for what, $209?, or a 965 Black Edition for $250? Grab a Crossfire board and a single 4890 for now, you're around ~$600/$650 W/ 965BE. I'd go AMD, with a Crossfire certified board, and you'll have a machine that will rip through Arma 2 even before you add your second 4890 down the road. The i7's are dope, but the Phenom II's in the right hands are ~, regardless.

Shoot for a rig like this, and you can have a great Cpu with good overclocking abilities, DDR3 memory, a high quality Psu, and if you're not picky, a 1TB HDD, PLUS your second 4890 for just over a grand. I mean how can you mess with that?

Oh wait he can't build can he...uhg. Well then, heh, the doors are wide open, but like everyone has said steer clear of that machine you posted with the GT220, that card just won't run Arma 2(my 2nd rig has a 9800GTX+ 1GB and it's very playable, but it has far more grunt than a GT220), and most any other modern game as well. The lowest card I recommend is the GTS 250 (which is just a 9800GTX+ 1GB with an extra 240mhz in memory speed) and from AMD/ATI the Radeon 4850, but you really gotta shoot for the 4870. There are SLI systems out there with the good Phenom's and i7's for $1,200 or so.

[echo1 0]

EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard - Retail

$239.99

XFX HD-485X-YDFC Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0

$134.99

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 140W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ965FBGIBOX - Retail

$245.00

Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

$112.99

LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDP118-04 - OEM

$17.99

Subtotal: $705.96 (This is the subtotal after some rebates that I deleted when I copy and pasted it)

Does that seem like it would be a good build for a computer that would be able to handle the game? I tried to take your suggestions and apply them while also trying to keep the system relatively cheap.

1. I'd upgrade the graphics card to a HD4890. Here's one for a good price.

2. As has been raised before, you need an AMD motherboard for that CPU, here is a good one, and it's a shitload cheaper than the Intel one.

3. That AMD motherboard doesn't support triple channel so you need to get two sticks, not three. Here is a suitable set.

4. If you want to save some money, I'd get the slightly slower (0.2GHz) but much cheaper Phenom II X4 955 (here) Because it is multiplier unlocked, it would be trivial to make it as fast as the more expensive model.

What PSU and case are you getting?

Why is everyone so hell bent on the i7? Sure, it's great,

I think you answered your own question :p But yeah, value for money is definitely not the strong point of the i7, this is generally why I recommend the Phenom.

Edited September 5, 2009 by echo1

[bangtail 0]

Why is everyone so hell bent on the i7? Sure, it's great, but you can get a Phenom II 955 Black Edition for what, $209?, or a 965 Black Edition for $250? Grab a Crossfire board and a single 4890 for now, you're around ~$600/$650 W/ 965BE. I'd go AMD, with a Crossfire certified board, and you'll have a machine that will rip through Arma 2 even before you add your second 4890 down the road. The i7's are dope, but the Phenom II's in the right hands are ~, regardless.

Not.

And I'm sure I speak for others as well when I say that many of us use our PCs for a lot more than A2.

While I agree that the i7 is a little more expensive (not much anymore tbh), it is better than any AMD offering. AMD could turn it around in a New York minute and has done before, but for now, the reason why people buy the i7 is because it is quite simply the fastest mainstream consumer CPU you can buy.

I don't think there is anything wrong with AMD but I want the fastest performer and for now at least, that's the i7. And as far as ATI goes, they'll have the fastest card for a month or two with the 5870, but if the rumours are true, the GT300 flagship card will be quite a bit faster. ATI has said that the 5870 will be 60% faster than the 4870 while the GT300 is supposed to be ~twice as fast as the already fastest single GPU GTX 285.

At the end of the day, we win :D

Eth

[Rhammstein 10]

Not.

And I'm sure I speak for others as well when I say that many of us use our PCs for a lot more than A2.

While I agree that the i7 is a little more expensive (not much anymore tbh), it is better than any AMD offering. AMD could turn it around in a New York minute and has done before, but for now, the reason why people buy the i7 is because it is quite simply the fastest mainstream consumer CPU you can buy.

I don't think there is anything wrong with AMD but I want the fastest performer and for now at least, that's the i7. And as far as ATI goes, they'll have the fastest card for a month or two with the 5870, but if the rumours are true, the GT300 flagship card will be quite a bit faster. ATI has said that the 5870 will be 60% faster than the 4870 while the GT300 is supposed to be ~twice as fast as the already fastest single GPU GTX 285.

At the end of the day, we win :D

Eth

What are you talking about? Your post was completely unecessary. We're not suggesting what's best, we're giving advice to someone who wants to play the game, I don't get this post..... ??

I'm not comparing AMD and Intel the way you suggest I am, and whether or not you can afford a high end i7 doesn't mean the guy we're trying to help can. Whether you like it or not the Phenom II competes because of it's price(and damn well in numbers as well I might add), I paid @199 for mine, and at my 3.7 OC it's great, and I plan to OC further.

Money matters. Ugh, I feel like I shouldn't even click submit, it'll just get you to quote me and ramble on about Intel some more. It is what it is, you missed the point. This guy isn't looking to break 3dmark records, he wants to play Arma 2 and he's on a budget, okay? I won't debate or argue on the internet so lets leave it at that.

Peace.

Edited September 5, 2009 by Rhammstein

[bangtail 0]

What are you talking about? Your post was completely unecessary. We're not suggesting what's best, we're giving advice to someone who wants to play the game, I don't get this post..... ??

I'm not comparing AMD and Intel the way you suggest I am, and whether or not you can afford a high end i7 doesn't mean the guy we're trying to help can. Whether you like it or not the Phenom II completes because of it's price, I paid @199 for mine, and at my 3.7 OC it's great, and I plan to OC further.

Money matters. Ugh, I feel like I shouldn't even click submit, it'll just get you to quote me and ramble on about Intel some more. It is what it is, you missed the point. This guy isn't looking to break 3dmark records, he wants to play Arma 2 and he's on a budget, okay? I won't debate or argue on the internet so lets leave it at that.

Peace.

Not at all, you asked why people are so "hell bent" on i7's and I explained why.

I'm not trying to interfere with your advice - goosfraba :D

Edited September 5, 2009 by BangTail

[ICE-Raver 10]

Why is everyone so hell bent on the i7? Sure, it's great, but you can get a Phenom II 955 Black Edition for what, $209?, or a 965 Black Edition for $250? Grab a Crossfire board and a single 4890 for now, you're around ~$600/$650 W/ 965BE. I'd go AMD, with a Crossfire certified board, and you'll have a machine that will rip through Arma 2 even before you add your second 4890 down the road. The i7's are dope, but the Phenom II's in the right hands are ~, regardless.

Shoot for a rig like this, and you can have a great Cpu with good overclocking abilities, DDR3 memory, a high quality Psu, and if you're not picky, a 1TB HDD, PLUS your second 4890 for just over a grand. I mean how can you mess with that?

Oh wait he can't build can he...uhg. Well then, heh, the doors are wide open, but like everyone has said steer clear of that machine you posted with the GT220, that card just won't run Arma 2(my 2nd rig has a 9800GTX+ 1GB and it's very playable, but it has far more grunt than a GT220), and most any other modern game as well. The lowest card I recommend is the GTS 250 (which is just a 9800GTX+ 1GB with an extra 240mhz in memory speed) and from AMD/ATI the Radeon 4850, but you really gotta shoot for the 4870. There are SLI systems out there with the good Phenom's and i7's for $1,200 or so.

If you go back a page or 2 you'll see that no-one tried to steer him to the i7's until he brought it up because one of his friends recommended it to him.

The Phenom is a great processor but ATM the 955 is around $200 and the 965 is around $250. The 920 is $279 right now on newegg and you can actually buy one at microcenter for$199. http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0302727

For $199 or $279 that is not alot of difference in price compared to the phenoms and judging from all the benchmarks and reviews the i7 is alot more processor.

Of course, the i7 system will cost more to build to get a decent mobo, ram etc. But the i7 920 and the phenom 955/965 processors are very closely priced atm.

If I were on as tight a budget I would probably go AMD. But like I said he was asking about a prebuilt i7 system from dell and and thats why I I showed him how to build a better system for less money.

Edited September 5, 2009 by ICE-Raver

[Rhammstein 10]

I don't disagree lets get back on topic.

[bangtail 0]

If you go back a page or 2 you'll see that no-one tried to steer him to the i7's until he brought it up because one of his friends recommended it to him.

The Phenom is a great processor but ATM the 955 is around $200 and the 965 is around $250. The 920 is $279 right now on newegg and you can actually buy one at microcenter for$199. http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0302727

For $199 or $279 that is not alot of difference in price compared to the phenoms and judging from all the benchmarks and reviews the i7 is alot more processor.

Of course, the i7 system will cost more to build to get a decent mobo, ram etc. But the i7 920 and the phenom 955/965 processors are very closely priced atm.

If I were on as tight a budget I would probably go AMD. But like I said he was asking about a prebuilt i7 system from dell and and thats why I I showed him how to build a better system for less money.

Couple that with a Gigabyte EX58 UD3R (SLI Board with a simple BIOS Update) and some DDR3 1600 OCZ RAM and you've got a nice i7 system at a great price.

http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=42867&vpn=OCZ3OB1600LV6GK&manufacture=OCZ Technology&promoid=1055

http://www.ncixus.com/products/35760/GA-EX58-UD3R/Gigabyte/

Eth

Edited September 5, 2009 by BangTail

[catintheengine 10]

1. I'd upgrade the graphics card to a HD4890. Here's one for a good price.

2. As has been raised before, you need an AMD motherboard for that CPU, here is a good one, and it's a shitload cheaper than the Intel one.

3. That AMD motherboard doesn't support triple channel so you need to get two sticks, not three. Here is a suitable set.

4. If you want to save some money, I'd get the slightly slower (0.2GHz) but much cheaper Phenom II X4 955 (here) Because it is multiplier unlocked, it would be trivial to make it as fast as the more expensive model.

What PSU and case are you getting?

I feel like I'm learning more every time I check back here :p

I'm glad to see the motherboard that you recommend is cheaper. Cheaper = getting the game faster, for me.

Ok, so this is embarassing but: what is a PSU? Also, I wasn't planning on picking out a case until I started to buy up the internal parts, though earlier I did take a look at some cool cases just for kicks. Would you guys recommend I start to narrow down the cases now, or is it too soon?

Again, thank you everyone. I really do feel like I'm learning a bit more each time I come back to this thread.

Additional question: What is the difference between DDR2 and DDR3? All my brother can tell me is that DDR3 is new and supposed to be pretty awesome.

[bangtail 0]

I feel like I'm learning more every time I check back here :p

I'm glad to see the motherboard that you recommend is cheaper. Cheaper = getting the game faster, for me.

Ok, so this is embarassing but: what is a PSU? Also, I wasn't planning on picking out a case until I started to buy up the internal parts, though earlier I did take a look at some cool cases just for kicks. Would you guys recommend I start to narrow down the cases now, or is it too soon?

Again, thank you everyone. I really do feel like I'm learning a bit more each time I come back to this thread.

Additional question: What is the difference between DDR2 and DDR3? All my brother can tell me is that DDR3 is new and supposed to be pretty awesome.

PSU = Power supply :)

About DDR2 vs DDR3 memory :

http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2989

Cheers,

Eth

Edited September 5, 2009 by BangTail

[catintheengine 10]

Thanks. I was just looking at newegg.com and I saw a drop down menu with Power Supply on it and I was like "Wait a second....Power Supply...PS in the PSU. Oh, ok, I get it!"

Is there a certain kind of power supply that I need to be looking for?

[bangtail 0]

Thanks. I was just looking at newegg.com and I saw a drop down menu with Power Supply on it and I was like "Wait a second....Power Supply...PS in the PSU. Oh, ok, I get it!"

Is there a certain kind of power supply that I need to be looking for?

That really depends on the system you are buying.

Eth

[Rhammstein 10]

I recommend a power supply from PC Power & Cooling, they're the best in all my experience. Also, if you plan on using an AMD CPU, and a ATI video card, you should run DDR3 memory since any good motherboard you'll be looking at will support it, and DDR3 is faster. Honestly there's not a "huge" difference because very few applications will ever use all of your memory bandwidth, but if you're a hardcore gamer, or even want great performance in Arma 2, DDR3 is the way to go. Besides with a system like that it wouldn't make sense not to use DDR3.

Here's the case I use, some ppl talk sh1t about it, but in reality it's awesome for my particular rig. Lots of room, my water loop isn't in the way of anything and looks great, and it looks really awesome. I'm a pilot so that's what first turned me onto it, but after ordering it and putting the system together it's not all looks. The case is ice cold, the fans work magic, I could probably OC on air higher than most ppl with far more expensive cases. And yes, the jet engine looking fan in the front is extremely functional. You'd have to own one to truly judge it. It's the Xclio A380PLUS. $99.99 at newegg

http://i.testfreaks.co.uk/images/products/600x400/51/xclio-a380plus.2888755.jpg

Edited September 5, 2009 by Rhammstein

[echo1 0]

Ok, so this is embarassing but: what is a PSU? Also, I wasn't planning on picking out a case until I started to buy up the internal parts, though earlier I did take a look at some cool cases just for kicks. Would you guys recommend I start to narrow down the cases now, or is it too soon?

Here is a suitable PSU. And as for cases, I'd recommend ones made by Lian Li or Antec.

Additional question: What is the difference between DDR2 and DDR3? All my brother can tell me is that DDR3 is new and supposed to be pretty awesome.

In reality, if you have two identical systems, and you equip one with DDR2, and one with DDR3, the difference in overall peformance will be negligible. There are so many things that are more important in deciding system performance other than RAM speed.

[catintheengine 10]

Is there any difference between cube cases and tower-style, beyond aesthetic?

[echo1 0]

There are two main (there's a few others that are irrelevant here) standardized sizes for PC motherboards - ATX and Micro ATX. As you can probably guess from the name, Micro ATX is a smaller version of regular ATX. An ATX case will support an ATX or Micro ATX board. An m-ATX case will only support an m-ATX motherboard. Most cube cases are m-ATX. Also, with some of the cheaper and less well designed ones, there can be issues with cooling, and installation of parts can be difficult. The motherboard I linked was a ATX board, so if you wanted a cube, you'd need an m-ATX one.

That said, my PC is in a cube case (a Lian-Li V350B) and it serves me great.

[catintheengine 10]

Ok, so, basically if I wanted to go with a cube case, I'd just need to find a micro version of that motherboard?

Also, does it matter what brand of CD/DVD drive I choose, and what all am I still missing as far as hardware goes. The only thing I can think of is a sound card.

Edited September 5, 2009 by catintheengine

[usmc123 1]

Okay, my new PC. It isn't built for gaming but I'm curious if ArmA II would be worth an install on this machine. I don't have high expectations for it but here it goes.

Windows Vista Home Premium 64 Bit SP1

Intel Core 2 Quad 8200 @ 2.33 GHZ

8GB RAM

ATI Radeon HD 4350

I think my GPU will kill me.