Building first rig and I have a few questions

[CrazedAssembler]

To set the scene, I want to build a new gaming pc and this will be my first build. I've done upgrades on my old one (a presario 5000 series) but I want to make my own monster rig that will last a while before I have to upgrade, and make it w/o devouring my bank account.

First off, is SLi worth it? Do you really see a big difference in performance for the extra bills? For that matter, has anyone benched a game playing with only one vid card, and then run it again using Sli and seen a good jump in performance?

Secondly, am I better off going w/ a dual core processor and being prepared for apps that can take advantage of multiple threads, or tone it down to a single core CPU. I know some people say stay with a single, but to me 2x 2.0GHz is better than 1x 2.8 as it is.

Next is power. What is a good PSU for a SLi rig that might be running a dual core processor. (My system so far has a AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ but I might spring for the 4400+. 2GB of RAM either way.) I don't know what indicators determine an appropriate PSU so any help on that would be appreciated since it would be... bad... if it decided to stop working because of a lack of power.

Lastly is cooling. If i'm running a dual core processor and SLi, I imagine that I would need to replace/add some cooling. The case I'm considering comes with 1x 80mm fan and has room for another 80mm fan right under it. Is the single fan enough? I'd think that i'd at least need a better cooling system on the CPU. What should I do here?

I know I haven't included an overwhelming amount of info here but I'm not sure on a bunch of things here. Thanks in advance

-CA

[Science_guy]

First of all, what is your budget? $1500? $2000? $2500? $3000? Money no object? More than anything, your budget will determine how monstrous your monster gamer will be.

Check tomshardware.com for some video card/SLI comparisons.

[CrazedAssembler]

*see edited reply below*

[CrazedAssembler]

I was hoping to spend no more than about $1500 if I can help it. Basicly the stuff that i'm looking at is about 3 steps down from top of the line. The most bang for your buck type hardware.

-CA

[freakitchen]

I was hoping to spend no more than about $1500 if I can help it.

First thing I'd suggest is to search the forums for 1500 dollar builds, it's a popular figure so you should find a basic list of parts that you can then change to fit your requirements

First off, is SLi worth it? Do you really see a big difference in performance for the extra bills? For that matter, has anyone benched a game playing with only one vid card, and then run it again using Sli and seen a good jump in performance?

SLI is a bit of a grey area. Yes, your gaming performance will increase with 2 cards, but these are always out-performed by a single higher-spec card. For this reason, I'd recommend getting the best single card you can afford. Later on, when this card struggles, you can greatly increase the performance by adding another card. By this time, the card should be significantly cheaper too.

Secondly, am I better off going w/ a dual core processor and being prepared for apps that can take advantage of multiple threads, or tone it down to a single core CPU. I know some people say stay with a single, but to me 2x 2.0GHz is better than 1x 2.8 as it is.

Again, a bit of a grey area. Dual core is great for multi-tasking within the Windows environment. However, at the moment, games only take advantage of one of the cores, effectively reducing your cpu's performance to that level. For this reason, it is generally advised to buy a high-end single core processor for gaming purposes. Maybe someone else could advise further here.

Next is power. What is a good PSU for a SLi rig that might be running a dual core processor.

Get yourself a quality SLI-Certified unit, you'll need one if and when you add 2 cards. The list is available from www.slizone.com, the Antec Truepower 550w seems the most popular at the moment.

Lastly is cooling. If i'm running a dual core processor and SLi, I imagine that I would need to replace/add some cooling. The case I'm considering comes with 1x 80mm fan and has room for another 80mm fan right under it.

I'd recommend choosing a case with space for 2 120mm fans - one at the front for intake and one at the rear for exhaust. These fans spin slower than 80mm types, and are therefore much quieter whilst providing very effective cooling. See the Thermaltake Tsunami as a good example of this. Regarding the CPU, if you're not going to be overclocking then the stock cooler that comes with the retail version will be fine. If you are, then consider an aftermarket unit from companies such as Zalman.

Phew, hope all that was somewhat useful, and somewhat correct!

Freakitchen

[jayb1234]

Another thing that you can look for in a case is the side fan mounting locations for fans to blow on the CPU and video cards. If you get a case that is on Intel's thermally advantaged chassis list, you shouldn't have any trouble.

[blue60007]

An A64 3700+ San Diego and a 7800GT, plus maybe 2GB of RAM will give you the best bang for the buck. Personally, I'd skip going with SLI.

[MakeYourslf2012]

In a couple years, if you think money is no object or you have $300 to drop on a great GPU, then you can skip SLI.

Basically, the way I look at it is: If money is (and will be) tight, get the SLI feature and get a good card now. Then in a couple of years when the system needs an extra "boost", buy another card for much less than the present price.

But if you think you will be able to afford a great card in a 2-3 years or so, skip SLI. A new card 1 or 2 generations above two of your present cards will greatly out perform it.

[CrazedAssembler]

Thanks to all who put in their two cents, and especially to Freakitchen who put in about 3 bucks worth into this.

With the info you guys have given me and a few things I looked at, not the least of which was tomshardware.com (thanks science_guy) I'll skip a second GPU for the time being, but get a mobo that can handle another one for down the road. (And put (most of) the "saved" greenback into a better vid card.)

However, I do have new questions on all of this with these opinions in mind... Does anyone know roughly how long it will take for developers to release applications that can use multi-core processors? It wouldn't supprise me if they are working on them now, but if the market isn't going to have products that can use multi-cores for a while, like another 2-3 (or more) years, I'll just go single core and upgrade later as I'd most likely have to at that point anyways with how games are taking more and more resources.

On the power-supply, I'll still get an SLI ready one in case I do get another vid card later down the road.

Finally, since it seems that I will be running one GPU and a single core processor, would the case I was thinking of with the 2x 80mm fans on the back of the case be enough, or should I look for a case with 2 fans in separate locations (ex: one back, and one side or front) anyways?

Hopefully I can put up my final spec list after the next wave of replies.

-CA

[Science_guy]

The ideal setup for case ventilation is what Freakitchen described: a fan at the front bringing cool air in, and a fan at the rear blowing the hot air out. If you can arrange this with 120mm fans, all the better, because they run very quietly. If you want a third fan, a good choice would be another exhaust fan at the top of the case.

[MakeYourslf2012]

Remember, The advantage of dual-core that it cannot only process multithreaded applications, but more importantly, it can process multiple applications at once - making it great for a multi-tasking system.

If you have the tendancy to have a game, 2 browsers, music software, photoshop, and MS office open simultaniously, then a DualCore CPU is for you.

If you are a big gamer, it's probably best to get a single core right now.