Gaming Computer II

[jack bauer]

Now I am kinda in a bind and have a few new questions.

1. I was looking at the ASUS A8N32-SLI. Should I go SLI? If I get a 7900 GT now, and get another one in a year or so, wouldn't that be cheaper than getting a new card altogether?

2. Would this combo be able to ran new game for 2 years:
A8N32-SLI MB, 7900 GT, 2G RAM (what speed? 3200?), AMD x2 4400+

3. Is this a good motherboard for gaming?


4. Is this a good processor?

5. My buget is 1000-1500 for tower/case components only. I have everything else.

 

[nippyjun]

In my opinion you have choosen well.

 

[m1ldslide1]

Your selections are fine, but it's unlikely that you'll ever go SLI. As other people point out, in a year or so directX 10 cards will be coming out that will perform superior to your previous generation SLI setup. Kinda like how a single 7800GT outperforms two 6800GTs in SLI...

So save yourself a hundred bucks on the mobo maybe and just get the a8ne or whatever is the single card option. On the other hand, the board you have picked out is really nice and I hear overclocks really well...

 

[KoolDrew]

1. No, SLI should not be bought for future-proofing. By the time you add another card you would be much better off selling the 7900GT you currently have and buying a newer single card. This would likely perform better and would definitely be cheaper in the end.

2. That system would probably be able to "run" newer games for 2 years. However, how long it will last really depends on how high your standards are. As for your choices, I would get rid of the SLI motherboard. I wouldn't spend much more then $100 for a motherboard. The 7900GT is a perfect choice. For the RAM, some Corsair Value Select is fine. I wouldn't get a X2 4400+. IIRC, it is around $100 more then the 4200+ and all it offers is some extra cache (both run at the same clock speed). I would stick with the 4200+ or 3800+. If you are overclocking I would stick with the Opteron 165 or 170.

3 & 4. See #2

 

[Bobthelost]

It's a good build, but KoolDrew's advice would let you get one 99% as good for much less money (enough to upgrade other parts maybe).

 

[Gadzookie]

i recently put this build togeather and love it !

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ Processor (San Diego) Socket 939
Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra Athlon 64(FX) Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard
Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 2GB Kit DDR400 XMS3200 Memory
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB Serial ATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive
BFG GeForce 7900 GT PCI Express 256MB DDR3 Video Card
Logitech Internet Pro Keyboard & Optical Mouse Combo
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (Full Version) Single-Pack
Liteon SHW160P6S04 16X Dual Layer DVD±RW Drive (Black) Retail
Sony 1.44MB 3.5in Floppy Disk Drive
Antec Sonata II Quiet Super Mid Tower Case (Piano Black) Retail

everything came out to around 1200

you can save some money and get cheaper ram i went with that corsair cuase i heard asus boards are picky with ram lately 😛

 

[jack bauer]

1. What about the Asus A8R MVP? Is this a good mother board?

2. Operon is better? The 170? Should I get a better CPU than 170? Whatever 2x 4400 costs, I can afford about that range.

 

[KoolDrew]

jack, do you plan on overclocking?

 

[zkaudio]

Jack^ i just put up a new thread about a 165+mobo+ram... i was going with a 170 until I went to some oc'er forums and saw that people are getting almost the exact same speeds with the two. I think we have similar goals... best bang for buck in the 400$ ish proc range.

 

[professor1942]

Yes it will run everything for the next 2 years. Of course, there will be some games in 2007 that run like crap on it, but that's just the way it goes. If you want stuff to run flawlessly, you pretty much have to buy a new card every year.

 

[jack bauer]

exacty speeds of what two?