Opinions wanted

[Baltan]

Does the motherboard come with the bridge that is needed to connect the two graphic cards?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

No, but each card will come with one.

 

[Baltan]

Oh ok cool. I will only need to use one right? Also will the cables from the power supply be long enough on top of that why is the power supply more money when you can get better watts for the same price?

I will be using vista for the build as i cant afford to xp pro, so i will be using vista 64 bit premium.

Thanks

Baltan

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Yep, you need to use only one.

The PSU costs more than others delivering 700W of power because the M12 delivers 700W of continous power at normal operating temperatures (i.e. around 50C). Other cheaper PSUs deliver 700W of peak power, which is not sustainable for more than a couple of minutes. Also, Seasonic's PSUs usually cost more than others but have a reputation for being long-lasting and reliable. Lastly, it provides a hefty 56A on the +12V rails and provides modular cabling, which other PSUs at the same price lack.

 

[Baltan]

I see, i am going for the antec 900 case so i am hoping the wires will reach.

What do you think of this monitor http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142526

-Baltan

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The wires will easily reach, no problems there.

As for the monitor, getting a Crossfire setup to play games at 1440x900 is really not worth it, since at that res, a single HD 4850 would be more than enough to run any game completely maxed out (except Crysis of course, but that's the case with most other cards in the same price range). So unless you get a monitor capable of at least 1600x1200, there's no point of getting two HD 4850s.

 

[Baltan]

Right i will have another look. By the way i have added all the parts up ect and it is going to come to over £1,000, which is way more than i would like to spend.

Maybe i should look at an AMD system, what amd system would nearly match this? Maybe the phenom?

Thanks

-Baltan

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

For gaming, a powerful GPU is more important than a very powerful CPU about 90% of the time. There are very few games out there that are CPU-limited more than GPU-limited, so a faster video card and a slower CPU will be better than a very fast CPU and a slow video card.

If you feel like the Intel PC's budget is too much for you, try this alternative build:

• Gigabyte GA-MA790X-DS4 790X Socket AM2+ 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard - £71.79
• AMD Phenom X4 9550 Socket AM2+ 2.2GHz 4MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor - £99.4
• Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5(5-5-5-18) Heat Spreader Lifetime Warranty - £55.98
• Sapphire HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card - £185.54
• OCZ Stealth XStream 600W PSU - SLI Ready ATX2.2 12cm LED Fan - £54.91

That along with the monitor you picked will give you enough power to run any game (barring Crysis) with all the detail settings maxed out.

 

[Baltan]

Maybe i could go sli with the amd? I dont really think that intel is to much i think it is when i add the memory and the GPU that it becomes expensive.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Then go for the AMD PC.

Also, as I said before, don't bother using SLI\Crossfire at such low resolutions, since it is mainly meant to be used at very high resolutions such as 1920x1200 with lots of AA and AF. That's where the true performance potential of such a setup will come through. Also, newly-released games take a patch or two to become properly optimized for SLI. So I don't recommend it.

 

[Baltan]

Right after thinking about it I have decided to go with the intel setup as i will be more happier in the long run.

Will this monitor be a good choice as i want to use the crossfire setup if not recommend one please

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143283

and will it have the correct cables for the graphics cards as i know you have to match vga and dvi ect?

As for the pu i would like to upgrade that to a quad processor if possible and find a cheaper power supply that is still good!

-Baltan

 

[Baltan]

Will be ordering the parts 2night

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

1680x1050 is still a very low resolution for two HD 4850s. I think you should stick to one HD 4850, and add another one later when you get a bigger monitor, assuming you're going with the Crossfire-capable P5Q Pro.

Anyways, for an HD 4850 Crossfire setup, I recommend this PSU.

 

[Baltan]

Yeah i am using that board and i think i might go quad core, if i was to get two card with that monitor what would happen?

If that is the case to get 1 graphics car then should i not go for something better more higher?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Nothing would happen, you'd see a performance boost, but you wouldn't be using the setup to its full potential, and thus it would basically be a waste of money unless you got a bigger monitor in the future. And yes, for 1680x1050, the HD 4850 is fast enough.

 

[Baltan]

Ok cheers, by the way is there any point in going quad core?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

If you're not looking to upgrade for at least 3-4 years down the road, then yes. Otherwise, a fast dual-core will be plenty for now.

 

[Baltan]

Hi guys sorry it taken ages to post up.Finally built my new gaming system here are the specs:

Antec 900 case
Corsair 650w powwr supply
OCZ PC2 8500 2GB- I have 4GB installed
Intel core 2 duo E8400 socket 775 3.0GHz
ATI Sapphire HD4850 Toxic edition - One installed will be getting another one soon to make crossfire.

All this sits on a ASUS P5Q PRO Motherboard

Using the software provided by the graphics card this being 3D mark vantage i have got a score of:

GPU- 6434
CPU- 6025
3DMARK SCORE- 6327

Can anyone tell me if this is good?????

Also a big thanks to Rage_3K_Moiz for all the advice given. Quality build has come out of this thanks for the help!! A+.....

Thanks Baltan!!

 

[LinkedKube]

Good compared to what? You should be able to play most games on that setup along with the monitor you're getting no on high settings.

Are you looking for a reference for vantage. A copy of it came with my rampage board, my scores are:

gpu- 21,104
cpu- 33,089

3dmark- 26,099

Frankly, my system is over kill. If you want a reference to a system that's similar you can always go to future marks site, they have a ticker with updates scores as they are submitted.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Is that right? I think those are 3DMark06 scores innit supersmashbrada? 3DMark Vantage scores are far lower, no?

 

[LinkedKube]

Its right, I havn't tried 3dmark06 yet, you know vantage scores because they always have a "P" in front of them. Top vantage score is almost 37,000 with the "p" in front of it of course.

If you get a chance you should go check out the ticker

 

[Baltan]

Hi guys sorry it taken ages to post up.Finally built my new gaming system here are the specs:

Antec 900 case
Corsair 650w powwr supply
OCZ PC2 8500 2GB- I have 4GB installed
Intel core 2 duo E8400 socket 775 3.0GHz
ATI Sapphire HD4850 Toxic edition - One installed will be getting another one soon to make crossfire.

All this sits on a ASUS P5Q PRO Motherboard

Using the software provided by the graphics card this being 3D mark vantage i have got a score of:

GPU- 6434
CPU- 6025
3DMARK SCORE- P6327

Forgot to put the p infront of the 3DMARK SCORE!!!!

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Ah supersmash it's the score for your i7 rig right? I was thinking you were getting that with the Core 2 rig. Am I right?

 

[LinkedKube]

yes you're right

 

[Baltan]

Hey guys if i was to get a second graphics card the same one of course to make crossfire would this improve my score on 3DMARK VANTAGE???

This is my score currently- 3D Mark Score P6327

What i would also like to know is how do i set the crossfire up when i put the new graphics card in?? is it easy??


Cheers

Baltan