Nvidia video: No quad-core chip needed

[Capper]

Nvidia has posted a video that involves the new GTX 280 chip, overclocking, lots of liquid nitrogen, and the Nvidia labs. Oh, and no quad-core processor. Get the point?



"A lot of people believe you need an Intel quad-core or Intel quad-core Extreme to build an extreme PC," says the post by "Steffee" on the Nvidia Web site. "Today I'm going to build a gaming PC using the Intel Core 2 Duo. That's duo. Got that? Duo, two cores."

I think the point the blogger is trying to make is that the test system has only has two cores, though I could be mistaken.

Here's an excerpt from the blog: "Think you need a quad-core CPU for an extreme gaming PC with impressive 3DMark Vantage numbers and gaming performance?...I overclocked and hyper-cooled an SLI gaming rig using two of our latest and greatest GPUs--GeForce GTX 280...and a sub-$200 CPU."
Intel, of course, has a different take on this. "Most of what people do today with their computers requires powerful processors. Examples of processor-intensive applications include: creating content, viewing/editing high definition video, using social media sites, office tools, downloading music, and editing photos," Intel said in a statement.

In the test, she uses an NForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard, Intel core 2 duo E8400, in addition to the GTX 280 graphics card.

With the single GTX 280 board, the first score she gets is a 3DMark Vantage extreme score of "X4796."

Then the blogger (an Nvidia employee) takes a hike to the Nvidia lab. "Now we're going to take a field trip to Nvidia labs to do some serious overclocking," she says. After adding what seems to be prodigious amounts of liquid nitrogen and adding another GTX 280 SLI board, she gets a 3DMark score of "X10,282."

Intel could respond (which it hasn't) by saying that the E8400 is not a slow processor: it runs at 3.0GHZ and has 6MB of cache. And overclocked with liquid nitrogen, it would probably get some pretty good scores too. And then, of course, it might be simpler to just get a quad-core extreme CPU.
The Nvida GTX 280 core clock has been overclocked to 727MHz and the shader is at to 1458MHz. The core clock is normally 602MHz and the shader clock 1296MHz.

System specifications:
--2× NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 graphics cards running in SLI nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard
--Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 CPU
--4 GB SLI-ready Corsair DDR3 memory
--PC Power and Cooling TurboCool 1200W power supply
--Windows Vista 32-bit operating system

Nvidia video: No quad-core chip needed for extreme PC

[screwballl]

great way to kill hardware for the rest of us... I would like to see some normal every day benchmarks and numbers from an E6600 and E8400 without all this overclocked GPU with liquid nitrogen type crap...

[stinger608]

Yea, no kidding Screwballl, I don't know how much bucks this character can lay down, but damn, I would hate to have to buy Nitrogen!!!! I use it fairly regular charging up Accumulators at work, and damn, that's some high dollar chemicals!!! Of course the Nitrogen that I use is not liquid, but none the less, very expensive!!!

[Capper]

Yeah, unfortunately for most, fortunately for us.....this is what marketing has become. The casual user looks at the end result, without realizing the cost or risk involved.....

I've brought this issue up on countless occasions.....you have to look around at user experiences as well as review sites you trust (The key word being "TRUST") before making a decision.

How many times have you seen some incredible result by some guy using a cascade setup, dry ice, or LN2 at XS or other forums....only to have the retail product not perform nearly as well?

[JazzyJake]

And we appreciate it cap!

[Parker]

Originally Posted by Capper

How many times have you seen some incredible result by some guy using a cascade setup, dry ice, or LN2 at XS or other forums....only to have the retail product not perform nearly as well?

A lot of times, and it's annoying!
I mean, cool.... your overclocking like crazy, with some cool sub-zero temps... wooptydew! But that doesn't help me, because I know that "retail" won't overclock like that......

Originally Posted by JazzyJake

And we appreciate it cap!

JAKE SITING!!!!!!!!!!! OMGOSH, GET THE CAMERA!!!!!!

+1 on that though, we really do appreciate it Rich.

[Capper]

Originally Posted by Parker

A lot of times, and it's annoying!
I mean, cool.... your overclocking like crazy, with some cool sub-zero temps... wooptydew! But that doesn't help me, because I know that "retail" won't overclock like that......

You guys know it, because you have experience, and understand how things work.....the real problem is people who don't know, or understand. People just starting out, people that have saved and saved, and saved.....who see these results and think they can do it right away.....those are the people that burn up their systems.

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by stinger608

Yea, no kidding Screwballl, I don't know how much bucks this character can lay down, but damn, I would hate to have to buy Nitrogen!!!! I use it fairly regular charging up Accumulators at work, and damn, that's some high dollar chemicals!!! Of course the Nitrogen that I use is not liquid, but none the less, very expensive!!!

The dewar is still the most expensive part.

[drew and not u]

edit: do not read this.

[screwballl]

Originally Posted by drew and not u

edit: do not read this.

doh! too late