Recommendations?

[Archangel22]

I'm new to the pc world and am currently building my first gameing pc. This the setup thus far. Mobo = Asus An8-Sli, Processor = AMD Athlon 64 FX 55, 2 Western Digital SATA drives (to be ran in raid), 4 GB kingston Ram, Tsunami Case, with a seperate 550w coolmax powersupply. I'm wonding what Recommendations you all would have on a video card that would be best for my setup. I'm not sure I'm going to run SLI at the moment but I do want a more top of the line card capable of SLI. Thanks in advance!

[kram 2.0]

4GB RAM :eek:.

You might consider a look into the GeForce 7800GTX - it will leave the SLI option open, but will certainly give you a lot of gaming power - I'm presuming from looking at your system that you have a generous budget planned out for the graphics card?

kram

[Hi Ho]

Since it looks like you have a rather large budget I would second the recommendation of the 7800GTX. It is the top of the line card right now. Your other specs look good except for the power supply. You will need a better quality one to power that beast. Take a look at the Power Supply Reference Guide (http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195) and the Power Supply FAQ (http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=101151).

[glc]

Stay away from the Coolmax PSU. Get one of the Nvidia SLI-certified power supplies.

Antec TPII-550

Antec TP2550EPS12V

Antec TrueControl II 550

Enermax EG701AX Noisetaker 600W

PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool® 510 SLI (510ATX-PFC)

PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool® 850 SLI (850ETX-PFC)

Seasonic S12-600 Watt

Silverstone ST65ZF 650W

If you are spending that kind of money on a system, get at least a 6800GT, if not an Ultra.

[fedz]

7800GTX, definitely:

This is the best GTX available nowadays
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143036

And XFX also has a 'better-than-stock' card for the same price as all the other standard clocked cards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150100

Here are two v. solid PSU's
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104982
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103462

:) fedz

[Archangel22]

Nvida sli cert PSU???? Never Seen or Heard of such an animal, where can I find one. Also what's wrong with the Coolmax 550, I read that it's a reliable PSU.

[fedz]

It's made by coolmax, coolmax are NOT a reliable brand. It has a MUCH higher chance of failing, and will most likely not output its rated voltage, not even a significant percentage of it. SLi certified PSU's can be found everywhere, but the two PSU's that I have posted will run two 7800GTX's without a problem

:) fedz

[glc]

The eight units I listed are the only Nvidia-certified SLI power supplies so far. If you are spending that kind of money for a high end system with the option to do SLI, it would be senseless to use anything but certified components. SLI and economy is an oxymoron.

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build.html

[Archangel22]

Will newegg allow me to send the PSU back when it comes in the mail...

[fedz]

The second one I posted is SLi cert, and the first is a massive Fortron source, the best of the best, so no worries there

:) fedz

[Hi Ho]

Will newegg allow me to send the PSU back when it comes in the mail...
Yes, they should.

[Archangel22]

Just wanted to thank you all for your input. I called newegg and got and RMA number for the coolmax and will be sending it back as soon as it comes in. I went ahead and ordered the Enermax SLI cert PSU. I will be ordering the BFG Tech 7800 GTX. I'm looking foward to seeing how this computer runs and how it handles gaming. Thanks Again!

[fedz]

You should have no worries about its game handling abilities :eek:

:) fedz