Kotaku
Back in late December, AMD saw fit to send me one of their new Spider systems, which combines the AMD Phenom Quad-core processor, the new ATI Radeon 3800 series of graphics cards, and AMD's 790FX chipset to create what AMD considers a complete gaming platform, with the processor, chipset, and graphics all created by AMD and designed specifically to work in conjunction with each other. Over the past several weeks I've been putting the system through its paces, playing copious amounts of Stranglehold and Crysis—both of which were provided with the system—along with a selection of my own games, including World of Warcraft, The Witcher, and for some stupid reason, Second Life. Yeah—not a game, I know.
What follows is a look at what it's like using this particular system, how it feels to have one at your disposal, and ultimately if it is worth spending upwards of $1200+ for a similar set up. What you won't find are benchmarks and technical specifications. If you're into that sort of thing, you already know where to go and most likely can look at the system specs and guess how the AMD Spider is going to perform.
Speaking of which...
The System Specs
- CPU: Phenom 2.4GHz- Graphics: single Revelation RV670 256mb
- Motherboard: Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe (RD790)
- Floppy: Sony (black)
- DVD Rom: SATA Asus (black)
- DVD RW: SATA Sony (black)
- Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD SATA (150GB)
- Western Digital SE16 500GB SATA
- Power Supply: SEASONIC M12SS-700HM 700WATTS
- Chassis: Lian Li PC-7B Plus (Black)
- Heat Sink: AMD validated B3 model AJIGO MF091-096 CPU COOLER
- Memory: Corsair CM2X1024-8500C5D (2x1GB = 2GB total)
- Operating system license (Vista Ultimate 32-bit - OEM version)
Initial Impressions
The system came preloaded with Windows Vista Ultimate, so installation merely consisted of the usual plugging in, turning on, and waiting for Windows to do its mystical Windows setup thing. Gathering data, making me type in tiny numbers, etc.
Once the system was up and running, I set about downloading the latest drivers, updating the BIOS, and downloading a few choice applications that I cannot operate a PC without (Firefox, for instance.) In standard Windows Vista the system is as smooth as butter, sliding through the interface like a hot knife through said creamy goodness. It certainly put my other Vista computer - a dual core Pentium laptop - to complete shame, but laptops are of course a whole other animal. Now I know I said I wouldn't be dropping any technical specs, but the built-in Vista system performance tool hardly qualifies as technical. It does give a pretty accurate gauge of performance, however, and the Spider system hit the max of 5.9 across the board. The max definitely needs to be upped.
Once I felt comfortable with the PC, I started packing on the gaming goodness.
Crysis
I feel kind of bad using Crysis as a test point on any computer really, but AMD provided it and I felt compelled to put it through the wringer. At medium settings—which is what Crysis automatically set me to after scanning the system—the game performed...okay. The frame rate was hardly smooth, and there were definite stuttering moments throughout. Lowering the settings seemed to smooth things out somewhat, but overall I was not too impressed with how the Spider handled things. My usual PC, which is a low-end dual core Pentium with an ATI Radeon x1950 Pro installed in it, seemed to get much better performance out of Crysis at similar settings. Not a good start.
Stranglehold
The Spider fared much better with John Woo Presents Stranglehold from Midway. I had played the game on the Xbox 360 and not been too impressed, but on this system, with settings maxed and resolution at 1650x1080, the game ran perfectly smooth, and I found that I enjoyed the mouse and keyboard controls much better than the Xbox 360 controller when it came to controlling Tequila. An excellent experience.
The Witcher
Atari's action RPG barely taxed my normal system, other than with the recently patched loading times issue, so it was no surprise that the AMD system performed admirably in tackling the massive game. Details seemed much sharper than when I had played the game previous, and overall my frame rate saw a massive improvement over my dinky little dual core.
World of Warcraft
Let's face it - if your computer cannot handle WoW at 60 FPS in a nearly empty newbie zone, it is time to purchase a new system. Thanks to my renewed interest in healing, I spent the most time on the Spider leveling a newbie Blood Elf priest, and I had a blast. Upgrading to a shiny new high-end system is the best thing for rekindling World of Warcraft lust, and the AMD Spider had me grinding up a storm. A triumph.
Second Life
Just a footnote, really, since many of you don't consider Second Life to be a game. Kind of a bummer, but it seemed like the system really struggled with the virtual world simulation, with performance marks via the program's built-in utility far below what I normally get with my home system. I was planning on using the Spider exclusively for the testing period, but thanks to this limitation I had to hook up my extra monitor to get my stripping for Lindens on. Most likely a problem with the game itself...generally any problem with SL is a problem with the game itself.
In Conclusion
I'd have to say the best thing about the Spider series system I've gotten to play with, is the fact that it is the complete package. You don't have to worry about compatibility between parts, and most drivers are conveniently located within the same couple of web pages, so staying up to date is a snap. It performed great with most of the higher end games I ran on it, and we can hardly fault a computer for choking a bit on Crysis. The real question I suppose is, "Had I the cash and the need for a new PC, would I feel the AMD Spider system a wise purchase?" I am a bit torn, really. As a PC user comfortable with putting together my own components into a case, I could probably build a faster machine for less. Having said that, if I were not comfortable putting together my own system, I would definitely consider the Spider a fine choice for a complete PC gaming package.
Comments
Is the config of Vista in x64 or x86?
Never mind, I just saw it at the bottom of hardware specs. Dur.
But, will it run Crysis?
Supreme Commander?
Will it blend?
Arachnophobia?
Still is way better than my computer.
so, not worth it after all. Free pc, atleast.
Cool. Sounds like a nifty system.
I can't get over the GPU they put into that. Also, I cannot understand why they supplied Crysis. I really can't.
Mr. Fahey we are friends right?
And you know friends share~ ;D
Its innards look ugly. AMD and ATI have kind of been dead to me since the advent of dual core. Since then Intel have just been the way to go, and since ATI's are generally made to work best with AMD motherboards you end up getting an nVidia product if you have an Intel processor. That and ATI's quality has just been waning lately.
The only obstacles I really have now to putting together my own system besides price of course, is that compatibility. I still don't know how or where I'd be able to find out what parts are compatible with what parts.
I don't know why anyone with enough technical know-how (or willingness to learn) and a bit of free time for research/building shouldn't just make their own computer.
I just build my new system with the new evga 780i mobo evga 8800gt 4gigs of OCZ memory and a q6600 intel quad-core and I am really happy with it. its running 64-bit vista Home premium but it still runs all my games smooth as butter...then again I haven't throw crysis at it yet. But also my whole rig cost over 2 grand since I had to start from the ground up. But I am really interested in how this spider platform will do even though from the sounds of it the graphics card they supplied you while is kinda gimped.
excuse my ignorance but is this "spider platform" a computer that AMD will sell directly (I see nothing on their site) or is it something that other manufacturers make and then brand it "Spider", just like NVidia had "Designed by NVidia"
I guess I am confused by what the "Spider Platform" is, from what I read here and on other sites it seems that the "Spider" name is just marketing for when you use all AMD components, you can then use the "Spider" OC software with per-core overclocking. Please correct me if I am wrong because AMD's marketing is making me dizzy.
For the price tag, not worth it so much. Not a bad computer though, but yeah, we need more games for testing this, Crysis ain't going to cut it lol.
Also, I think the casing is poor, a computer like this need to be cooler looking, seriously.
@SSJPabs:
Normally you pick a processor and then you pick a motherboard that fits your processor and then you find which ram works with mobo at their website (say if it is an evga mobo you go to evgas site.) and then you just make sure you have power supply that powers all of your stuff. As far as video cards go check newegg.com for your mobo and see what other people are using in the comments area to get an idea.
@SSJPabs: I'd be happy to help you out with that this instant. Just need something like your MSN address and I'll add you so we resolve that issue :)
I seriously need to build my own computer.
Time to start researching.
@BigBadBlender:
Since AMD acquired ATI they did a collab project where they created a processor and a graphics gpu that are supposed to work together and that project is technically what spider is. This a "spider" computer because it uses those technologies that they created.
Do you have to send it back to them?
@BigBadBlender: As far as I know, Spider is a specific combination of approved hardware which has been designed to work together, as opposed to a specific model or single product. I assume that resellers will assemble their own boxes and say that it has a spider inside. If that works as well as saying it has an Intel inside i do not know....
@OniBeowulf: Agreed. Any decent Onine store will tell you the specification of the product they are selling, and even if they don't the manufacturers site should. I have built several systems and actually been surprised at how well most things fit together. As long as you make sure you have the right connectors on your Motherboard for the stuff you want to plug into it you are generally fine. I thnk that a lot of people make a lot of noise about getting an extra 5% performance here or there, but most of the time stuff works pretty well on the default settings. Toms Hardware Guide is pretty god too. Couple of rules of thumb...
1) Most things only plug in one way so don't force anything
2)Try and have a spare computer available to download drivers and/or Google for questions when your new system is in bits
3)DON'T PANIC. It's probably supposed to make that noise. Google it (see 2).
Does any one know of a computer building for dummies site? I know the terminology fairly well, I've just no idea how on earth to build a computer. My PC is maxed at about Half-Life 2 level, and for a gamer, that's not too great, but I can't afford anything like this. So any easy PC building sites would be welcome.
rather have a blackbird... that thing looks like it could eat me in my sleep.
@b06r011:
@ rule number 3 LOL yup when i was building my beast i had never worked with 775 sockets before and they switched from pins to contact points so when I put my processor in and secured it made a horrible crunching noise and it scared the crap out of me. luckly it was supposed to make that noise I guess lol.
@geekgrrl:
IMHO the blackbird is highly overrated if I had to buy instead of build my own I would still rather go with alienware even if just for the reason I wouldn't have to deal with HP's horrible customer service.
With an ATI HD3870 512mb graphic card instead of the ugly 3850 256mb card they gave you, this comp would've given you stellar performance. But the graphic card REALLY held the rest of the platform down... Too bad...
@OniBeowulf: Heh.. i know the feeling. Nothing worse than turning on your beatuiful new system and hearing those dreaded beeps... then realising that you forgot to put the graphcs card back in...
I'm worried that i am going to sound arrogant here, but once i saw a picture of what ecach bit did, i found it pretty straightforward. Maybe all that lego i played with as a child worked out for me after all.
@Krondonian: To be honest, i don't think that the core aspects of design have changed that much ever. Most Boards are now ATX factor (which most think of as "standard desktop / tower") and the principles are the same now as when your HL2 machine was made:
CPU
Graphics
RAM
Power supply
Motherboard
Hard Disk
CD/DVD drive
Keyboards/Mice/monitors etc
and a case to keep it all off the floor.
If you have a look in any computer you should be able to spot these bits...
the other problem is that most PCs now ship with Windows restore disks as opposed to a Windows install disk. I have never used one, but I suspect that it would specially not work with anything other the bits f kit it arrived with.
I wonder how much of the issues with the the top end games have to due with the Hardware and how much it is a fault of Windows Vista. Granted, Vista does look sexy.... but often times it has crappy framerates on games that run marvelously on my Windows XP computer.
I'm glad that AMD/ATI is at least trying to compete... competition is a healthy thing, even if I'm a fan of Nvidia (not so much Intel).
But watch out, Mike, it's only a matter of time before spiders learn to eat bunnies too:
[www.youtube.com]
sigh it just seems amd and ati are doomed. ati can't get passed nvidia's middle market and amd can barely touch let alone scratch the intel equal. sad days ahead.
I wonder if it would have performed any better running XP. I've heard several games lose some significant FPS on Vista.
I really need to upgrade my computer....I am still stuck in AGP-land =(
building a rig is pretty damn simple, the only hard parts come about if you're attaching some wacky fan to the mobo or your case comes with bad documentation and you need to try and figure out the pin connections for the power on button HD light etc.
The rest a small child who's learned square pegs don't fit into round holes, could figure out.
I wish AMD would send me a free computer.
While I love running my amazing*** PC, I think I would have much more fun with something new.
*** Not amazing.
Specs:
1GHz Pentium 3 Processor
512 MBs of RAM (That's all my MoBo can support)
Some random 16MB Video Card
20 GB RAM
It keeps me going. :/
I still think a unified gaming rig with all components located onboard and fit into a compact case that would compete with Consoles would be a good idea.
Yes, what i am saying is that the Phantom was a sound idea that was never executed properly.
@b06r011:
Yeah I was lucky enough not to have any beep code errors. But yeah the only hard part if you are not used to it is installing the jumpers. I fix computers for a living so my pretty used to it by now. But if you read they guide they are getting better and better about identifiying the jumpers and where they go.
Nice Lian Li case =)
@_Argyle_: That's kinda how i feel about it... I reckon it is a lot easier than people think it is, they are just scared of busting something they have spent a load of cash on (and fair enough...)
@Cell9song: Some people are onto this... is small PCs are your thing check out someone like Hoojum. I'm sure there are many others out there. It's just that a lot of "hardcore" [shudder] gamers feel they need monster towers of bits; which, if configured slightly differently, would pass for an off-shore wind farm, what with the fans and all...
@OniBeowulf: In fact, it was a dodgy shop repair that made me first open up my PC. some muppet plugged in an LED the wrong way round...
@b06r011:
LOL yeah I am one of those hardcore guys lol here is a link to my pics from the experience
[s151.photobucket.com]
and hey if you live in cali i would be more than happy to fix it for ya lol.
@Krondonian: here is a pretty good article that list several different build ideas from budget to money is no object. [arstechnica.com]
Is it just me or does $1200+ seem a little overpriced for that system. Also if AMD was trying to make a good impresion why didn't they send him at least 2 HD 3870s. One more thing correct me if I'm wrong here but the system specs say 2.4ghz phenom but last time I checked they arn't releasing those models for at least a few months.
You never really control Tequila - Tequila controls you.
I'm wondering if could do a performance comparison of a rig like this to a super-budget gamerputer(sub $400-$500).
I appreciate this Fahey. Seeing as I'm currently in the market for a new computer and in the group of people not comfortable building their own computer, I'm scouring the intertubes for any and all computer deals I can get my pasty, lily white hands on.
I'd like to say it'd be nice to see more articles like this on Kotaku, but really, that sort of hinges on companies sending the Kotaku staff loads upon loads of free shit. Which I do, in fact, advocate.
My AMD 4200 X2 and HD2900XT handle Crysis fine...
I use 1280x800, and the "very-high-on-the-cheap" tweaked settings suggested by tweakguides.
But this is coming from someone happy with 20-30 fps average.
It looks gorgeous though...
Side note: Why did they send 32 bit Vista? Crysis runs better with 64 bit (according to tweakguides, not from personal experience).
Yeah, I'm surprised they sent Crysis when the auto-detect set everything to medium. For a pre-built rig though, it's not awful, and the price is really good for what it is.
I've been dishonoring my system and played far too much WoW since I bought a new setup last september. But the colors of max settings and full spell detail are sooooo pretty..
@Mienvard: November! bloody absent mindedness.
- HD 3870 512MB
- Intel Quad core Q6600 2.4ghz
- 4x1024mb of ram (not the fastest, however...)
- 500gb samsung HDD
- Asus deluxe motherboard
~€800
And it doesn't choke on Crysis.
I want to love AMD/ATi so much. But they push me away, and I'm thinking of leaving this relationship because of all the emotional abuse.
The Phenoms are subpar. The AM2+ platform is good, but not great.
The only thing they've done right are the 3850 and 3870. I've got the HiS 3870 installed and it's performed great running in XP Pro. And Nvidia is actually scrambling to put out the 9600 cards to compete with the 3850, as it's the only decent gaming card under $200 to come out in almost a year and a half.
If they could just be competitive as a platform.. Not even better, just the same general ballpark.. I could forgive, and then it would be like it was, when I had the 9700Pro and Barton core Athlon XP and we were so very happy together..
I am building a spiderplatform but do I use my xp home or my vista 64 bit that is lacking drivers for now?
Apevia / Iceberg / 680-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm Fan / 20/24 Pin / SLI-Ready / SATA-Ready / Blue / Power Supply
2 Apevia / Iceberg / 680-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm Fan / 20/24 Pin / SLI-Ready / SATA-Ready / Blue / Power Supply
1 AMD Phenom X4 9600 Quad Core Processor HD9600WCJ4BGDC - 2.30GHz, 4MB Cache, 1800MHz (3600 MT/s) FSB, Agena, Quad-Core, OEM, Socket AM2+, Processor
1 MSI K9A2 Platinum Motherboard - AMD790FX, Socket AM2+, ATX, Audio, PCI Express 2.0, Gigabit LAN, S/PDIF, USB 2.0, Firewire, eSATA, RAID
1 Philips SPD6104BD LightScribe Internal Drive DVD Burner - 20X DVD±R, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+RW, 48x24x CD-R/RW, SATA, Retail Black
1 set Patriot Dual Channel Viper 4096MB PC8500 DDR2 1066MHz Memory (2 x 2048MB)
1 Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB Hard Drive - 7200, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM
1 ZEROtherm / Butterfly BTF80 / Socket 775/754/939/AM2 / Copper Base / Heatpipes / CPU Cooler
2 Visiontek Radeon HD 3870 512MB PCIe w/Dual Link
1 Windows Vista Home Prem 64-bit DSP OEM DVD
1 CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008 With 2GB USB Flash Drive (Free)
1 Ultra Black Aluminus ATX Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports
I also ordered 2 more 2 gig of ram for the furure.
Rick
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