SLi Question ...

[Cosworth]

Guys,

Simple question (I hope) I'm speccing up my new machine (still) and I'm down to the final decisions ...

2x LEADTEK GeForce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3, Tv-Out, DVI, Retail, PCI-Express

or

2 x XFX GeForce 7600GT Fatal1ty 256MB GDDR3, PCI-Express, 2xDVI/HDTV, 650/1600Mhz

or

1 x XFX GeForce 7950GT 610M 256MB XXX GDDR3, PCI-Express, HDCP, 2xDVI, Heatpipe


Danke

[jeffy777]

Move up a level in preparation for DX10:
BFG Tech BFGR88320GTSOCE GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 OC HDCP Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143086

According to Tom's Hardware, it performs about as well as the 640 MB version and it's about $100 cheaper:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/12/the_amd_squeeze/

If you buy the cards you posted, you'll be regretting it once DX10 takes off.

[Cosworth]

Holy shaft monkeys there is some price difference !!!

Okay, I hope this to be the last thread before I buy ...

I have €1300 waiting to spend.

So far, the system specs are : (current specs in brackets)

Core2Duo 6600 - I reckon that should be more than quick enough for my needs (P4 3.2Ghz)

2GB RAM with enough room to upgrade when more funds become available (1GB)

250GB HD is enough, have a 300GB External so no need for much more yet ... (160 + 40 + 300 External)

XP Professional - Dont want to go near Vista for another year or so (XP Home)

Then the GFX cards were down to the above choices and that was just barely ringing in at €1300

I'm going to then sell my own machine and buy a new 22' LCD and speaker system after that ... Can anyone tell me can I run my IDE drives on a "ABIT AW9D-MAX, I975X, Socket-775,SATAII, Silent Otes,2xGbLAN,DDR2,ATX, 2xPCI-Ex16" as well as the SATA drives ? Also, should that board be capable of running an SLI configuration ?

[Dark_Templer_102]

Sounds like a kicken system! Your Photoshops/photos will be even faster, greater, and greater after this right?

[Cosworth]

Lol, doubt it ...

TBH, this whole PC system building is doing my head in, the money involved is astronomical and I'm pretty sure Komplett's prices change every week !

I'd nearly buy a Mac.

Nearly.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally Posted by Cosworth

I'd nearly buy a Mac.

Nearly.

But you're not a quitter, are you!

[Cosworth]

lol, not yet dude !

Have my own Mac Pro in college so no need for one at home, yet !

[jeffy777]

Originally Posted by Cosworth

I'm going to then sell my own machine and buy a new 22' LCD and speaker system after that ... Can anyone tell me can I run my IDE drives on a "ABIT AW9D-MAX, I975X, Socket-775,SATAII, Silent Otes,2xGbLAN,DDR2,ATX, 2xPCI-Ex16" as well as the SATA drives ? Also, should that board be capable of running an SLI configuration ?

That motherboard has one IDE port. You can run up to two IDE hard drives (or IDE optical drives) in addition to SATA drives.
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2829&p=2

Are you a gamer? If not, you really don't need to spend so much on the video card, nor would you need SLI.

[Cosworth]

Occasional enough, but when I do play, I like to play hard

[ESPNSTI]

I'd recommend just buying 1 card (I bought an eVGA 8800 GTS), since it'll probably be powerful enough for quite a while.
Then after a few years, when there are games that will be able to put it under some strain, you should be able to pick up the same card relatively cheap to go SLI.

[jeffy777]

Originally Posted by Cosworth

Holy shaft monkeys there is some price difference !!

Well, the 7950GT cards at newegg aren't that much cheaper than the 8800GTS I posted above:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143086

Of course, there are more expensive models of the GTS, but that one is the cheapest and just as powerful as the more costly models.

As far as SLI goes, I agree with ESPNSTI's logic

[cvrefugee]

A 7950GT will kill a pair 7600GT cards in SLi.

[BlitzR]

The 8800GTS is a very big card, and is said to run a little warm 45C to 50C idle and 60C to 70c with load. So good to have a big well ventilated case.

[jeffy777]

Originally Posted by BlitzR

The 8800GTS is a very big card, and is said to run a little warm 45C to 50C idle and 60C to 70c with load. So good to have a big well ventilated case.

Those temps really aren't high. Pretty much all the cards I've ever had have ran in those ranges, and even higher.

My 7900GS is currently idling at 50C and that's in a big well ventilated case

Even old school 6600GT cards idle at about 40-50C for most people.

[Viper007Bond]

From what my friends have experienced with SLI, if you can manage to stick to one card and still get the same price/performance, do it.

SLI is alright, but has (had?) it's issues.

[eddysdaman]

Originally Posted by BlitzR

The 8800GTS is a very big card, and is said to run a little warm 45C to 50C idle and 60C to 70c with load. So good to have a big well ventilated case.

Just to make it clear. I have the 8800 GTX (768mb Version) and that idles at 83C which is normal, So I imagine the GTS is the same. I have a Big Black case with 3 8" intake fans and my room STILL jumps a good 10C when its on. Its a beast but god I love it.

[Quiky]

My 8800 GTS idles at 50C, and at full load hits around 65-70C. BUT, the exhaust port is at the bracket of the card, so hot air is expelled from the case.

It is a monster card, I don't regret buying it.

[Cosworth]

Is there any cheaper DX10 cards out there ?

How would an AMD X2 5600+ compare against the 6600 ?

[ESPNSTI]

My 8800 GTS idles at 41C and 50-55C under load (with the fan manually set to 85%).
I have a very well ventilated case though. (7 fans in total).