CPU/Mobo/RAM recommendation...

[dimsumXP]

I need some suggestions for a new computer I'm building as I've been out of the loop for a few years. I recently acquired a couple of Geforce 7800GTX 512MBs to run SLi in and would like to build around these cards as my current rig doesn't support PCI-e.

My research so far is leaning me towards the Athlon 64 X2, though I'm not sure which socket and speed would be ideal for the budget I have in mind.

I have about $500-$600 to spend on the CPU/Motherboard/RAM...do you guys have any suggestions? What's the best bang for my budget and these cards? What are my overclocked and non overclocked options?

Thanks!

 

[Ruptga]

I believe you can get at least an E4300 and a p965 based system for that much (since you already have your graphics cards), and that is definately the way to go for overclocking.

For stock speed on a budget though, AMD will be the best until the E2100 is released, but I don't know when to expect those.

Anyway, s939 is dead, AM2 and 775 are the sockets you want if you plan on upgrading the thing before you do a complete overhaul.

Also, I'm told that SLi is a real pain in the butt, it may be worth it to sell those two cards and get a single card that outperforms the two in SLi (this is the recommendation when buying new. I don't really know if it would be worth it to trade in, but do check it out).

 

[dimsumXP]

Well, from what I've been reading (and please correct me if I'm wrong, forumers!), the 7800GTX 512MB SLi performs pretty close to the 7900 and X1900s. I'm assuming that these cards in SLi configuration would give me decent performance for a good amount of time.

Would I want to replace them for a a single 8800, just for DX10??

 

[dimsumXP]

whoops doubleposted by accident.

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: dimsumXP
Well, from what I've been reading (and please correct me if I'm wrong, forumers!), the 7800GTX 512MB SLi performs pretty close to the 7900 and X1900s. I'm assuming that these cards in SLi configuration would give me decent performance for a good amount of time.

Would I want to replace them for a a single 8800, just for DX10??

If you only have 500-600 to invest in this rig, I would avoid looking at the Nvidia 8800 cards.


Ausm

 

[Boyo]

Originally posted by: Ausm

Originally posted by: dimsumXP
Well, from what I've been reading (and please correct me if I'm wrong, forumers!), the 7800GTX 512MB SLi performs pretty close to the 7900 and X1900s. I'm assuming that these cards in SLi configuration would give me decent performance for a good amount of time.

Would I want to replace them for a a single 8800, just for DX10??

If you only have 500-600 to invest in this rig, I would avoid looking at the Nvidia 8800 cards.


Ausm

:thumbsup: 8800 GTS 640 costs $400 alone and that's the middle card.

 

[zagood]

FYI: 965 chipset mobo that a poster recommended isn't compatible with SLi, if you're going to go that route look at 680i, 650i, and 680i LT chipset mobos.

You can always upgrade the cpu/mobo/ram now, and look at video cards later.

-z

 

[dimsumXP]

Thanks! Back to the original question, what would be recommended for these cards with roughly $500??

And to clarify, not $500 for the entire rig, but just a good recommendation fro CPU/Mobo, and the right ram to go with said Mobo.

 

[dimsumXP]

If I were to go with an AM2 motherboard, would I want to use the 570 or 590 chipset for these cards? I can't seem to find anything recent on the 16x bandwidth vs 8x for the PCIe slots, do they make much of a difference in games currently?

 

[ionoxx]

Here is an actual suggestion with details:

ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus 186.99$

OCZ Platinum Revision 2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 180.99$

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz 2M shared L2 Cache 218.00$

TOTAL: 585.98$

You could always cut down the proc to fit the budget. The E6300 and E4300 are good buys.