4+ GHz

[glc]

SATA II is capable of SATA 300 on a compatible controller.

[Amazin Caucasian]

that doesnt make any sense to me, ha, Sata 300? compatible controller? shows how much I know.

[rightcoast]

I got your PM's AC, I haven't had time to look them over really but I read the posts here I have missed. Regarding SATA, here is some great advice given in all seriousness.

When glc said SATA 300, I didn't know what it meant for sure either. I had an inkling it was twice as fast as 150, but I wasn't sure. So, I hit up Google. Typed in "SATA 300" here is the fourth result down's headline

SATA-300 a.k.a. SATA-II vs SATA-150 reviews

I haven't R(all)TFA yet, but that title tells me SATA 300 and SATA II are one and the same. (turns out they kind of aren't and NCQ is one of the bigger pluses, not the theoretical doubling of speed.)

I'm sure you don't get that either yet, but like I said , 20 mins and I figured out that much and you can too. I know there is a lot to figure out, but you'll be able to grab quite a few 20 minute blocks between now and build time...plus what you will learn here. By the time you want to build, you will be plenty ready.

With the hard drive size, that is kinda hard for someone to pick for you. It really depends on what you are going to do with the computer. I know what you plan on, but what I mean is, try and weigh how much music, video, game, picture, general downloads and all that stuff you want to be able to store locally vs. the cost.

To help you understand RAID here is the Wiki on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redunda...ependent_disks

If you don't know of Wiki yet, it can be a great resource for you to look stuff up on. Some entries are so-so, but some, like this one, are fantastic.

Even though RAID 0 can help performance, I wouldn't recommend it unless you plan on being very diligent about backups. Especially if this will be your main PC and not "just" a gaming rig.

HTH

[Amazin Caucasian]

Thanks a ton rightcoast. Two things: there was a previous thread that said Asus A8N SLI Deluxe only has a couple of ports extra compared to the Asus A8N SLI. therefore is it necesary to spend that extra 20 bucks? (here's the thread http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=130203)

Originally Posted by David M For your graphics cards not only do the cards need to be identitical but so does the bios version in the card. Best thing to do is to buy them at the same time.

Also, previously posted in this thread it was said that in order to run SLI not only the video cards have to be the same but that the bios version needs to be the same is this correct?

[glc]

Remember, the speed (150, 300) is maximum theoretical burst transfer speed, not sustained throughput. Real world speed difference is a LOT less.

[Amazin Caucasian]

ooo, I have not had time to research SATA, so that is what the numbers mean ha. Any responses to my previous post above GLC's

[rightcoast]

Any responses to my previous post above GLC's

I don't know if they (bios) need to be the same, but like David said, it sounds resonable though.

I don't think you need to buy them at the same time though. Lots of people are buying one now and one later. If you need to update the bios when you get another it isn't that hard to do. Depends on how much you want to spend now. 2 will be a lot better, but put it in perpective. The best card I have now is a 9800XT. One 6800 would be tons better. So I will do that, then when one is not good enough for really good graphics, I will put in the other.

As for the ports. I like having two LAN ports. But you may not need them. You would be hard pressed I would imagine finding someone using 8 SATA ports. Maybe not in a couple years though. It may be a lot more common then.

[Yuanji]

as far as the BIOS versions of cards go, Video card BIOses rarely get changed and if they do, you could always just flash one bios onto both using a floppy.

[Amazin Caucasian]

sweet, does it make a huge difference when using two 6800 gts? SHould I get the 6800 gt or ultra? is there that big of a difference?

[Amazin Caucasian]

Do Intel processors fit into AMD mobos?

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by Amazin Caucasian Do Intel processors fit into AMD mobos?

No, they use different socket types (462, 754, 939, and 940-pin for AMD, and 478, 602, 603, and 775-pin for Intel).

[Amazin Caucasian]

that's what I figured, just checking. Is there that much of a difference from a 6800 gt to a 6800 ultra? From what I have read there really isn't. Just want to hear what you guys think.

[Amazin Caucasian]

For the video cards, the Asus A8N SLI Deluxe has 2 x16 slots, will x8 vid cards work?

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by Amazin Caucasian For the video cards, the Asus A8N SLI Deluxe has 2 x16 slots, will x8 vid cards work?

By x8 I assume you mean AGP 8x -- no, they are completely different standards. You will have to get a PCI-Express video card, and only the nVidia 6600 GT and 6800 series cards (including GT and Ultra) will work in SLI. AS for the difference between GT and Ultra -- they both have 16 pixel pipes, and I have heard of people overclocking their GTs to Ultra level, so there's not really a whole lot of difference.

[Amazin Caucasian]

I am getting two 6800's, eVga, most likely gt's. Anyone know when 64-bit games are coming out? That will be the day.

[Yuanji]

64bit only games will probably take awhile to emerge as windowsXP will remain in many machines for some time. I predict that 64bit supported games will come out in mabye 2-3 years.

[Amazin Caucasian]

that sucks, but I agree. There isn't a market yet for 64 bit games and no real purpose considering the needs that they would require other than to make some friggin' awesome games.

[Yuanji]

it depends. I predict WGF 2.0 (DirectX10 basically) would have a much larger impact on a game's quality then making the jump from 32 to 64bit because i don't think games are up to the level where they benefit from adding the bandwith.

[Amazin Caucasian]

Well I believe it's just a beta right now. It doesn't really matter though b/c they will come out around the same time anyways so they will make a killer combo when hand-in-hand.

Anyone have any cool case suggestions?

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by Amazin Caucasian Anyone have any cool case suggestions?

I would personally go with a Lain-Li PC-V1000 in silver (with or without a window) or a Cooler Master Praetorian in black, but both are available in both colors. If you like how the cae in my sig looks, that's the WaveMaster and is also available in black, blue, and yellow.

[Amazin Caucasian]

What is with all of those Lian Li cases. They are quite expensive in general let alone not having any PSU. Any other suggestions or support for buying a Lian Lia case?

[thefultonhow]

You do pay for quality. Lian-Li cases are among the easiest to work with of any I have used, and at the same time they look great. All the same, you are right that $200 is a lot for a case, although ideally your case wouldn't come with a PSU anyway so that you wouldn't have to replace the built-in one.

[Amazin Caucasian]

That's true. What makes it soo easy that costs $200?

[thefultonhow]

Easy isn't the whole story -- Lian-Li cases in general are very high-quality, and the PC-V1000 looks great too.

[Amazin Caucasian]

What makes a case of "very high-quality"? I don't mean to be rude, just trying to justify the price of those cases.

[thefultonhow]

It's almost intangible -- it's how looks, ease of use, construction quality, etc. combine to make you say, "Wow, this is a nice case."

[Amazin Caucasian]

Gotcha, I am still unsure of whether I am willing to spend near 200 bucks on a case. Any cheaper case suggestions?

[thefultonhow]

As I said, the Cooler Master Praetorian is good. That one is only about $120 but does not come with a window, although a windowed side panel can be purchased for about $30. I have the Wave Master, which uses the same chassis but a different front, and there are two major problems with the case design -- the ease of installing the CD drives (they're only supported by the screws and thus they must be held up while installing them until the screws are in -- I advise installing the botton one first so that the top one can be supported by it while you are putting that one in), and the fact that the motherboard tray must be slid out if you want to install a new hard drive (although that's not a big deal if you don't put hard drives into your computer frequently to copy data off like I do). More importantly, though, the case looks very elegant.

[glc]

I use $50 Enlight cases - because I could care less what it looks like, I just want a sturdy functional case that's easy to assemble. That price is WITH a decent power supply, too.

[Amazin Caucasian]

A cool case makes the computer to those who know nothing about computers, aka my friends.