Brother's new system

[Smartazz]

He still needs the following parts for his new rig:
AM2 SLI Motherboard
SLI power supply

What he knows so far:
CPU: X2 3800+
RAM: 1GB of PC6400 RAM
Case: Cooler Master Centurion
NEC DVD-RW drive
250GB 7200RPM HDD Seagate
Dual eVGA 7900GTs

He games at 1600 by 1200 with all the details turned up. He will start building in about 2 weeks, just in case the G80 comes out by then. Any suggestions in what should be changed? And what about the motherboard and PSU? Thanks.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Get a perpendiculuar Seagate 7200.10 RPM drive, get a better quality PSU as well, make sure the 12V rail is above 20A (this is a huge plus for future upgrades), especially with that SLI going on, you will need some power.

 

[Howard]

What's so good about the 7200.10 drives?

 

[Rommel44]

Originally posted by: Howard
What's so good about the 7200.10 drives?

Performance + bang for buck

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: Howard
What's so good about the 7200.10 drives?

a 320gig seagate perp. drive is about 95$ shipped at newegg its MUCH faster, 16mb cache, 320gig space...what more could you want

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Smartazz
He still needs the following parts for his new rig:
AM2 SLI Motherboard
SLI power supply

What he knows so far:
CPU: X2 3800+
RAM: 1GB of PC6400 RAM
Case: Cooler Master Centurion
NEC DVD-RW drive
250GB 7200RPM HDD Seagate
Dual eVGA 7900GTs

He games at 1600 by 1200 with all the details turned up. He will start building in about 2 weeks, just in case the G80 comes out by then. Any suggestions in what should be changed? And what about the motherboard and PSU? Thanks.

Frankly, I don't think that cpu has the balls for 2 7900gt's. I hope he's overclocking.
As for the psu just look for the ones that are SLI ready and you should be fine.

Edit: try this psu http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=PS-EN0560G&c=fr

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage

Originally posted by: Howard
What's so good about the 7200.10 drives?

a 320gig seagate perp. drive is about 95$ shipped at newegg its MUCH faster

Than what?

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: Smartazz
He still needs the following parts for his new rig:
AM2 SLI Motherboard
SLI power supply

What he knows so far:
CPU: X2 3800+
RAM: 1GB of PC6400 RAM
Case: Cooler Master Centurion
NEC DVD-RW drive
250GB 7200RPM HDD Seagate
Dual eVGA 7900GTs

Edit: try this psu http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=PS-EN0560G&c=fr

He needs about half the power that the ENS-0560G can provide.

 

[Rommel44]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage

Originally posted by: Howard
What's so good about the 7200.10 drives?

a 320gig seagate perp. drive is about 95$ shipped at newegg its MUCH faster

Than what?

Most likely he wanted to say that Seagate 7200.10 drives are fast which is true.

 

[latino666]

Only 1GB of RAM? Get 2GB of RAM

 

[Smartazz]

Originally posted by: latino666
Only 1GB of RAM? Get 2GB of RAM

No games have an advantage with more RAM other than bf2 do they?

 

[PianoMan]

Priorities:

- Up the RAM to 2GB
- PSU around 500W
- Decent mobo w/OC'ing <or> inexpensive mobo w/better processor

- Interesting info on the perp HD's from Seagate - may need to look into those...

Originally posted by: happy medium
Edit: try this psu http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=PS-EN0560G&c=fr

Wow. Sub $100 and modular. I like it!

PM

 

[SniperWulf]

I'd add another GB of ram, and get a 7950GX2 instead of the 2 GTs.

 

[Bobthelost]

Definitly 2GB of RAM.

 

[Smartazz]

Originally posted by: SniperWulf
I'd add another GB of ram, and get a 7950GX2 instead of the 2 GTs.

Aren't two GTs faster?

 

[Bobthelost]

Depends which 2 GTs you're looking at and which 7950GX2 you're looking at, as well as which games you look at...

 

[webhusker]

Take a look at the Epox MB http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA22903

also reviewed on anandtech

about $130 US from MWave.com - I ordered on line Wednesday night and got shipping confirmation today. NewEgg and ZipZoomFly had them, but both sold out - I had never used MWave before, but might start using them more now

The board is based on the nVidia 570 chipset, sli and is supposed to overclock well which you're going to need with the 3800.

 

[bob4432]

i would go a x1900xt and save some $$$$. http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2769&p=5 x1900xt=2x7900gt in bf2 @ 1600x1200 and defnately go 2GB of ram

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: Smartazz
He still needs the following parts for his new rig:
AM2 SLI Motherboard
SLI power supply

What he knows so far:
CPU: X2 3800+
RAM: 1GB of PC6400 RAM
Case: Cooler Master Centurion
NEC DVD-RW drive
250GB 7200RPM HDD Seagate
Dual eVGA 7900GTs

Edit: try this psu http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=PS-EN0560G&c=fr

He needs about half the power that the ENS-0560G can provide.

For 100 bucks why skimp and buy something less powerfull?
Any way I'd wait for the 7950gt with 512 megs ram due out next week.
Then put the extra money into a better cpu or another gig ram. That should play anything at 1600x1200 res. When that no longer cuts it buy another 7950gt or mabe a G80. At least you know you have the psu to run them:beer:

 

[Smartazz]

I forgot to mention, he already has a 7900GT, but I don't think a single 7900GT could do the job for high resolution gaming.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Smartazz
I forgot to mention, he already has a 7900GT, but I don't think a single 7900GT could do the job for high resolution gaming.

have him game at 1280x1024 for a bit or lower the settings to medium...

 

[Smartazz]

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: Smartazz
I forgot to mention, he already has a 7900GT, but I don't think a single 7900GT could do the job for high resolution gaming.

have him game at 1280x1024 for a bit or lower the settings to medium...

Maybe I can convince him to game at lower resolutions until G80 comes out. Is there any idea how powerful the G80s will be?

 

[PianoMan]

Ah, so just adding 1 7900GT. In that case, I don't see a reason why to not go w/eVGA - you can always trade up in the next three months (to a 7950 or what-have-you [maybe R80???]), and the sell the other online.

But, I'll also put another shameless plug in for the X1900XT at great prices.

And, for all that is holy - start w/2GB of RAM!!!

PM

 

[Smartazz]

I just realized, I have a 7900GT, if the G80 comes out soon and I want to upgrade, I actually could use the step up program.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: happy medium

Edit: try this psu http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=PS-EN0560G&c=fr

He needs about half the power that the ENS-0560G can provide.

For 100 bucks why skimp and buy something less powerfull?

Why spend money if you don't have to?

EDIT: Who said anything about skimping?