Valve's Devs Run Quad-Cores, 12 GB of RAM

[TsunamiWombat]

Doesn't it seem a little obvious that PC game devloper would use awesome PC's. I mean, if they were using 5 years old single core machines we wouldn't be very impressed.
Actually, if they made L4d on 5 years old single core machines everyone would be VERY impressed...

I run L4D on a 5 year old Single Core

 

[Aries_Split]

Doesn't it seem a little obvious that PC game devloper would use awesome PC's. I mean, if they were using 5 years old single core machines we wouldn't be very impressed.
Actually, if they made L4d on 5 years old single core machines everyone would be VERY impressed...

I run L4D on a 5 year old Single Core

Owned.

 

[DaxStrife]

So that's how much computing power it takes to not produce Episode Three. Fun time.

 

[SmugFrog]

Hahah, Valve is still using XP. That really says something about Vista.

* 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 1066MHz ram
(Crucial Ballistix, Kingston ValueRam)

I don't understand how that equals to 12 GB of RAM unless it is * 3 of them? Looks to me (the way it is posted) it is only 4 Gigs.

 

[Soulreaverm]

While impressive I feel I over did my build. See Im building a gaming PC with the budget of £1000, I'm a little over and heres what Im planning on building.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 3.0GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB)
OcUK Value JW-X48D2 Extreme-P Intel X48 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C6 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit
XFX GeForce GTX 295 1792MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM
Samsung TS-H353B 16x DVD-ROM SATA (Black) - OEM
Antec Signature Premium 850W Power Supply

I have all the rest (Moniter etc...) Running on Linux, 22" 1080p 2ms 50,000:1 Screen.

Though if they dont mind throwing some of that RAM this way? No? Awwh...

Costing me 10 months of wages ¬_¬

Gaming on Linux? Even with all that, it's gonna run pretty slow, if at all. Mine (admittedly pretty crap, but good enough on Windows for medium-high settings) only runs source games at absolute lowest settings, thats a 640x480 window with everything turned to low, and even then it gets about 10 fps. Like I said, thats if you can get the game running, since half the time you can't even get through the installation. Once you start the game, theres bound to be bugs, problems with textures, etc. I can't even bear to play anything, I'm desperate to get my (runs Crysis on highest settings) Windows pc back. So yeah, gaming on Linux? Really?

 

[Sol_HSA]

I don't see how they could ever need that much.

The machines are not expensive. People are expensive. If you can save an hour a day out of, say, build times, it can really pay itself off in a couple of weeks.

 

[Sol_HSA]

... Do they need alter boys, I mean, um... Yeah, alter boys. Seriously, I just wanna be near that rig.

Computing power aside, that rig probably heats the room pretty well. =)

 

[bkd69]

Because I must (prices from Newegg):

[blockquote]
* EVGA 780i SLI FTW Intel Motherboard
$219.99

* Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz Quad-Core Processor
$279.99 Free Shipping

* 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 1066MHz ram
(Crucial Ballistix, Kingston ValueRam)
$99.99 (1x4Gb Kingston)
$113.98 (4x1Gb Crucial)

* 1 x NVidia GTX280 1GB - OR - ATI 4870 1GB graphics card
NVidia: $459.99-$324.99
ATI: $261.99-$239.99

* 1 x 250GB 7200RPM SATA HD
(Seagate, Western Digital)
$74.99

* 1 x 500GB 7200RPM SATA HD
(Seagate, Western Digital)
$99.99

* Antec Sonata III desktop case
(no price here...get the case you want)

* Zalman CPU Cooler
$74.99

* 850W Antec power supply
$249.99

* 1 x Dell 3008FPW-HC 30" LCD - OR - 2 x Dell 2001FP 20.1" LCD monitors
30": $1,339.00
2x20.1": $658.00

* Windows XP 32bit
Ubuntu is free?

[/blockquote]

So, at the low end, an even $2k, plus case and OS.

 

[Zer_]

I run L4D on an old single core PC too. 3Ghz to be exact. I do have an X1950 Pro AGP though and that's kept my computer in the loop for a few years. Of course I will be buying a new PC soon.

 

[Corpse XxX]

what i wouldnt do for one of those

What about getting a job, save some money, and buy one?

Seems doable doesn't it?

 

[Radelaide]

* EVGA 780i SLI FTW Intel Motherboard
* Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz Quad-Core Processor
* 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 1066MHz ram
(Crucial Ballistix, Kingston ValueRam)
* 1 x NVidia GTX280 1GB - OR - ATI 4870 1GB graphics card
* 1 x 250GB 7200RPM SATA HD
(Seagate, Western Digital)
* 1 x 500GB 7200RPM SATA HD
(Seagate, Western Digital)
* Antec Sonata III desktop case
* Zalman CPU Cooler
* 850W Antec power supply
* 1 x Dell 3008FPW-HC 30" LCD - OR - 2 x Dell 2001FP 20.1" LCD monitors
* Windows XP 32bit

Is it just me or did anyone else giggle at that?

 

[L33tsauce_Marty]

How much would that cost? Anyone?

About 1200$ if you build it yourself. 5,000$ if you buy it from a retailer...but I'm sure Valve is smarter than that.

 

[EvilEngineNumberNine]

Old specs are meh.
Prolly cost you around 13-1500 USD to build. The new specs however, would need about 24-3000 USD, and an arm or firstborn of your choice.

 

[EvilEngineNumberNine]

Because I must (prices from Newegg):


* 1 x Dell 3008FPW-HC 30" LCD - OR - 2 x Dell 2001FP 20.1" LCD monitors
30": $1,339.00
2x20.1": $658.00




So, at the low end, an even $2k, plus case and OS.

See kids. Counting the monitor and accessories is grand scale cheating. The price of the Rig has nothing to do with these things.

 

[EvilEngineNumberNine]

I'll bet they
Word of caution: Do NOT buy a Viewsonic 27.5". Colour quality and viewing angle are awful.

lrn2research

Anyone could have told you that.

 

[Vlane]

* EVGA 780i SLI FTW Intel Motherboard
* Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz Quad-Core Processor
* 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 1066MHz ram
(Crucial Ballistix, Kingston ValueRam)
* 1 x NVidia GTX280 1GB - OR - ATI 4870 1GB graphics card
* 1 x 250GB 7200RPM SATA HD
(Seagate, Western Digital)
* 1 x 500GB 7200RPM SATA HD
(Seagate, Western Digital)
* Antec Sonata III desktop case
* Zalman CPU Cooler
* 850W Antec power supply
* 1 x Dell 3008FPW-HC 30" LCD - OR - 2 x Dell 2001FP 20.1" LCD monitors
* Windows XP 32bit

Is it just me or did anyone else giggle at that?

That's their old system so that's not surprising.

 

[theklng]

Isn't this kinda overkill for source games?

I mean with a crappy computer you could get 300 fps with highest settings pretty easily.

It's not just the speed, it's the consumation. I'd imagine that this would allow them to run several copies of the games they want and make software changes as they encounter glitches in-game.

I second the request to find out what these guys do with their old rigs and will gladly take them off their hands... no questions asked

compiling. compiling code, compiling levels, models, everything. compiling takes time in proportion to the size of the project. things people take for granted in any fps, such as the visualization(i.e., what is is visible to the player at any given location at any given time) takes a proper algorithm that could go on for hours for very large levels, would be dealt with significantly faster with machines like these.

 

[Spartan Bannana]

Christ, you would only need that kind of machine if you wanted to run ever "Cry" game on full settings at the same time, jesus.