Is this mobo and card a good start?

[arachnid69]

http://www.evga.com/articles/public.asp?AID=258

I figure I will start there. Can anyone recommend a cpu/hd/ram/fan/powersupply that will work in conjunction with these?

Or if just about any would work, some good priced/great performance gear.

That is if that's a good start. I mainly want a gaming rig that is geared towards future upgrades and dual processing. Thanks.

[ktkendall]

You don't need dual processors for what you want, and the board does not have the capability of dual processors anyways, put the money towards a good quality high end power supply, and at least 1G of good quality memory. You don't want to scimp on the power supply especially with high end motherboard and vid card like that. Maybe what your thinking of is dual vid cards which is what SLI capable motherboard IS capable of, but with a vid card like that you should be good for quite awhile..

[freakitchen]

What is your budget for this system? Does it include a display?

eVGA make great quality graphics cards, but most of us on PC Mech are reserving judgement on the motherboards until we've heard more users' experience with them.

FK

[scomac]

Welcome to PC Mech forums!

That video card/mobo combo seems to be a pretty good deal, although I don't know that much about their motherboards.

As for the additional parts you would need, I would check out Newegg.com. I would go with atleast a 550W PS (you will want an SLI approved one)especially if you are going to add another 7800 vid card. As for HD: I would recommend the SATA Seagate Barracuda's (5 yr warranty). I'd go with PC3200 ram (make sure you buy matched pairs to run in dual channel mode) Kingston ValuRam offers a 2 pack and as for amount, I'd go with 2x512 or 2x1024 since that board will take up to 4 gigs of memory.

As for a CPU, just make sure you get one that is for socket 939.

Don't forget to get a case too!

Scomac

[arachnid69]

Originally Posted by Freakitchen What is your budget for this system? Does it include a display? eVGA make great quality graphics cards, but most of us on PC Mech are reserving judgement on the motherboards until we've heard more users' experience with them. FK

I'm looking to spend around $1500, and no I do not need a monitor.

Also I must be confused, but how can I use 2 7800's if the mobo isn't dual core? I thought the architecture of being able to use 2 video cards was based around dual core processing.

I'm new to all this so I guess i'm missing something.

[scomac]

That board is capable of using a dual core processor, such as the Athlon 64 3700+ Venice. SLI is for multiple video cards that go in 2 PCI-E x16 slots. So, you can put 2 of the Geforce 7800's in and run them in SLI mode.

Scomac

[freakitchen]

That board is capable of using a dual core processor, such as the Athlon 64 3700+ Venice.

Although a good processor, it is not dual core. These are marked by the 'X2' suffix.

Arachnid, i suggest searching the forums $1500 builds. There should be plenty, and it will give you an idea of what parts you can get for your money.

FK

[scomac]

You're right, I was actually looking at the 3800+ Manchester, but when I wrote that last post I copied the information from the 3700.

Scomac

[arachnid69]

Ok, so you suggest an SLi power supply, no problem, are there any in particular that are well known?

You also recommend PC3200 value ram, can I go higher ram than that, the type that runs at like 533? One area I don't want to skimp on is ram, i've bought value ram in the past and not been very pleased. So really if there is a better option here i'm very interested.

As far as CPU's go I see this being the hardest choice. I've had great results with Pentium in the past, but not so great with AMD. I guess that can be attributed to "out of the box" mentality, cause I never tinker with CPU's and maybe I wasn't getting much out of the AMD cause of my lack of knowledge in this area.

I guess the big question here is which one will give me great dual performance without having to get into overclocking much. Everytime I hear AMD i usually hear "overclocked" in the same sentence, not so much with Pentium's it seems. I'm taking baby steps in this area cause i'm not familiar with it at all. Unless AMD's are better out of the box than i've experienced, or certain one's.

Thanks.

[arachnid69]

Originally Posted by Freakitchen Although a good processor, it is not dual core. These are marked by the 'X2' suffix. Arachnid, i suggest searching the forums $1500 builds. There should be plenty, and it will give you an idea of what parts you can get for your money. FK

Ok, will do, but this brings me to another question.

If I was to get the processor he recommended, would it work with this set-up? If so what would become of the SLi technology, would I still be able to use 2 video cards?

I just don't understand exactly what the 2 video cards run of off, the dual core processor, THE SLi technology or are both needed? I'm guessing SLi is kind of like George Lucas's THX? Which would mean the dual core is used to drive the 2 video cards?

[scomac]

Fortran Source makes an SLI approved Power Supply as do many of the better PS makers (thermaltake, coolermaster).

As for the RAM, you can put a faster memory in it, but the max that mobo will accept is 400mhz RAM, so it would clock down to the slower speed. I'm using Kingston Valuram and haven't had any issues. You could go with the Corsair XMS series or the mushkin high performance ram.

I just don't understand exactly what the 2 video cards run of off, the dual core processor, THE SLi technology or are both needed?

The SLI is what the video cards run on. You don't need to have a dual core processor for SLI to work.

Scomac

[freakitchen]

The Pentium/AMD choice is very almost personal preference. Going AMD by no means requires overclocking, nor does it need any extra 'knowlege' to get the most out of them. I'm an AMD user/builder simply out of experience than anything else. It is the most important choice to make, however, as subsequent part choices depend on it.

Using SLI does NOT depend on Dual-Core. They are completely seperate. To utilise dual core - great for multitasking - you need a dual core processor, and a motherboard that supports one. To use SLI, you need an SLI motherboard with two PCI-E slots, two NVidia graphics cards, and an SLI-Certified power supply.

Value PC3200 RAM is perfectly fine for most uses. I'd suggest Corsair Value Select here. The more expensive RAM, such as Corsair XMS, is specifically designed with overclocking in mind.

The most common SLI-Certified Power Supply is probably the Antec Truepower 550w, currently on Newegg at $85 after rebate. It's of great quality.

FK

[arachnid69]

Ok here's what i've come down too "thanks for all the advice". Everything I feel fairly comfortable with.

Just as I thought though, the cpu is the biggest decision, but maybe I can cut it down with this question. The board i'm getting seems to specify AMD and Dual Processors, but never actually says "Pentium", so could this be a concern?


My Build:

Case:
GIGABYTE 3D AURORA GZ-FSCA1-ATB Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window - Retail

Mobo and Graphic Card:
e-GeForce 7800 GT/nForce 4 SLI Mainboard

Power Supply:
Antec TruePower 2.0 TP2-550 EPS12V 550W Power Supply - Retail

Ram:
CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail

Harddrive:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 3.5" Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM


Processor: "here goes"

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail
or
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor - Retail
or
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail
or
Intel Pentium D 830 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core, EM64T Processor - Retail
or
Intel Pentium D 930 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core Processor - Retail
or
If I decide to go NON-DUAL:
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor - Retail



What have I missed, I just know i've missed something, lol. Is that enough cooling in that case? As far as wires and bios/drivers go am i covered?

How about an OS? Home or Pro? Media Center doesn't seem the one, i'm in this for gaming.

Thanks guys

Btw, I have CD/DVD/MONITOR/KEYBOARD/MOUSE/FLOPPY already covered.

[scomac]

You can't put an Intel processor in that MOBO. It is for AMD only!! The Intel processor uses an LGA 775, and the MOBO only supports socket 939.

Scomac

[arachnid69]

Yeah I knew that.

[freakitchen]

Regarding processor choice, if you are going dual core I'd get the fastest you can afford. At the moment, because it's new technology, the majority of games are written only to utilise the one core. Until they catch up, you'll want a processor with the quickest individual cores as possible. Don't let this worry you too much, much gaming performance depends on your graphics card, and you've chosen a powerful one.

Although a great Power Supply, you've got the server version listed there. This would be better:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103931

That case should be fine for cooling, it looks spacious and has dual fans to the rear.

All the cables you need should come with your motherboard.

XP Home should be fine as an OS. The only difference between it and pro, are the advanced networking features of the latter.

FK