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mofo gaming machine

My new rig project

In is going...

Silverstone Temjin TJ01 Silver Case (I may spray it to match the decor if Liberty thinks it's too big!)
ABIT AN8 32X SLi S939 mobo
Some watercooling thingy I've got left over from a project at work which I can't remember the name of
Opteron 165 CCB1E 0606VPMW (ripe for overclocking!)
2x 1GB Corsair Value Ram (which I have already so I may flog if I can't overclock with these)
200 gb Seagate Barracuda (which I've had lieing around, will probably add to this. May dual boot with linux so may want and IDE drive in there for that!)
Enermax Liberty 500W PSU (great name!)

Not sure what GFX card to go for.... the motherboard is calling out for a 2x 7900GT I suppose. Thing is, what resolutions do flatscreens go up to, do many go up to 1600x1200???? I read a review of the 7900GTX that below that resolution it's the same speed as a 7800tgx. Or I am I getting confused?

Lots of the stuff I've got because it would be stupid for me not to regards price and I wouldn't have bought them if I'd have to pay full price. There's some stuff left over from projects that I have that I will use. I have pcmcia Audigy 2 ZS for my laptop, so I will probably get a PCI adaptor for that as it sounds pretty sexy.

I also have an Adaptec 4 port SATA Raid adaptor. Any ideas whether this is worth using over the on board? Will have to dig out the model number.
 
You thought about AM2 or conroe? AM2 is a few % faster than 939 and has the potential for future upgrades. Conroe looks like it's going to be a massive improvement over Prescot and a significant increase over A64. AM2 is out now, Conroe isn't going to be here for a month maybe more. Advanced previews are very nice, but also rather suspect for various reasons.

The standard LCD resolutions are 1240x1080 @ 17/19"
1600x1200 @ 20" square
1680x1050 @ 20" widescreen
1920x1200 @ 23/24" widescreen

For 1280x1040 there is no reason to get more than a 7900GT, if you're an overclocker you won't belive what you can do with them. With a 7800GT i run at high settings or better.
 
These bits were available to me a prices too good to miss, so that's what's driven my setup mostly. I can't get AM2 below high street prices, so it's way to expensive for me to go down that route at the moment.

The motherboard was a steal (not literally!) and I know I can get an Opteron with a good stepping for cheaper than high street here so this is partly an excercise in bargain hunting.
 
oicur0t said:
These bits were available to me a prices too good to miss, so that's what's driven my setup mostly. I can't get AM2 below high street prices, so it's way to expensive for me to go down that route at the moment.

The motherboard was a steal (not literally!) and I know I can get an Opteron with a good stepping for cheaper than high street here so this is partly an excercise in bargain hunting.
Click to expand...
In which case you've got a very nice computer. The graphics card is the most important thing for gaming anyway. If you're using watercooling on the 7900GT then you can OC it to a higher speed than a stock 7900GTX.
 
hey bob

Do Dual SLI cards have to match exactly? The other things I'm gonna be doing are music and 3d Studio max, so I can justify a gaming rig for improving that as well!
 
dual 7900gtxs fucking fly

I am getting 190fps in gameplay on css and over 300 in a video stress test (css again).

at 1280x1024 (20" Iiyama flatscreen)


however...

the card has some problems with some games at certain resolutions and on some the graphics speed actually causes problems due to it processing images faster than the main machine can supply them so you get judder. There are patches out there but its a bit of a pain in the arse tbh.

they are silent though as opposed to the xts which sound like a tornado has taken up residence in your pc
 
The cards don't have to be an exact match, you can use an XFX and eVGA or Asus or any other brand. They have to run at the same speed, but you can underclock/overclock to suit. They do have to be the same model of card, you can't mix 7800GT with 7900GT etc. Also anything made by gainwards should be avoided for SLI, they tend to do special editions of the cards which aren't compatible with the normal lines.

If you've got a choice and all things are equal eVGA has the best warranty around, XFX are second and then all the rest follow up behind. There have been some bad batches of the former, however the warranty covers overclocking and 3rd party heatsinks, it's simply the best.

I don't know if SLI will help with non gaming apps i'm afraid.

Pingu: Have you got Vsync turned on? That might help, probably won't though, SLI and crossfire both have issues, i've got the A8N32 board but i'm almost certainly never getting dual cards.

The 7900GTX has a very good cooler, the 7900GT doesn't, it's pretty shite and almost as annoying a noise as a X1900XT.
 
yeah vsynch is currently on. but it has been off too - didnt make much difference with the buggy stuff.

I am well impressed with the gtx tbh. yes its pricey but its silent and fast and the aim of what i was doing was to build a mofo machine.. which i think I have achieved. OK in 3 months time it will be superceded but its going to be capable of a lot for a good while.

i replaced my audagy 2 with a xfi platinum and this has improved sound quality a fair bit too.

one thing I will say though. dont bother with 4 gig of ram. I am seeing no performance diff whatsover when there is 2 or 4 gig in there. the ram didnt cost me anything so I am not arsed but if anyone is thinking of going for more than 2 gig .. think hard and make sure its worth the hassle of having to put switches in things so it recognises the additional ram. even with xp 64bit I am seeing very very little difference
 
It's a bit six of one, half a dozen of the other between a 7900GT SLI and a 7900GTX. I'd probably go for the single card, a single card will be less hastle, quieter (much), use less power and otherwise do you quite happily. Having said that, I think the SLI would have a slight lead over the 7900GTX at stock settings and if you're thinking about a voltmodd then the SLI option is clearly the winner of the two.

For your perusal: http://www.microwarehouse.co.uk/catalogue/item/XFXGC017
 
I think I'll go for the single card GTX, mainly due to noise issues!

My PSU has just arrived. I'm getting excited now!

I've just bought a XFX GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB PCI-E Dual DVI Extreme Edition! for £290
 
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