GOT ATI X1800XT! Now what??

[shunail]

Hi there,
I've heard very good reviews about X1800XT, without knowing anything else I bought it (big motivation was big sale and store coupon though ), not what??? I need BIG FAVOR that is your advice. Which motherboard would support this card. I've searched and found "ASUS P5WD2-E Premium" is Crossfire capable. Card's box says Crossfire compatible motherboard is required and this motherboard is ATI Crossfire capabale. Other I've found was "ASUS A8R-MVP" but thats AMD base board. I prefer Pentium base processors because I always had bad experiences with AMDs. I want to play Battlefield 2 without any jitters and its all for that. I would like to use my 2 x 1 GB DDR RAM if useable, PCI Creative Audigy 4, ATI All in Winder TV Tuner card, PCI IDE controller for my 4 Hard Drives and 2 DVD Burners.

In short, I'm looking for
- system board with processor (Intel Pentium D if its worth buying or AMD)
- with no builtin video,
- no sound (may be),
- 2 PCI Express,
- 3 PCI slots (minimum),
- DDR RAM slot (if possible).

by the way, do I need a master video card too??? 80

Thanks for reading. Merry Christmas and Happy New year!!!

 

[Cooler]

I have a P-D the motherboard is great but go with an AMD X2 if ya can.

 

[fierydemise]

The Asus A8R-MVP is a great motherboard according to AT, for games AMD is faster then intel depending on your budget I'd suggest getting whatever X2 fits in your price range.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

for gaming go A64 X2.........dont let your bad experiences get to you, your asking our advice and i guarantee 90%+ people here will recommend AMD for games.

nice card BTW

 

[VERTIGGO]

bad experience with AMD, pffft! I had one too... when I dropped my laptop. AMDs are awesome.

 

[5150Joker]

Buy a DFI crossfire motherboard and an AMD dual core chip. Screw Pentium chips, they suck.

 

[Capt Caveman]

For the money that you spend an Asus P5WD2 and Pentium D, you can get the Asus A8R-MVP(half the price of the P5WD2) and A64 X2 3900+. The AMD system will destroy the Intel in gaming. With the AMD system, you'll also be able to re-use your memory. Intel uses DDR2.

Also, you do not need a Mastercard unless you plan on doing Crossfire but if BF2 is your main game, you'll be fine with the single X1800XT.

ps. Welcome to the Forums!!!

 

[smthmlk]

An AMD cpu will do you right. Pick up a 3800+ and whatever crossfire mobo you can find to go with it. You'll be alright

 

[junkyardDawg]

one thing to keep in mind, if you run crossfire on the asus(or any crossfire board AFAIK) you're gonna lose a pci slot, leaving you with 2 usable pci slots. you'll have to give up a pci device.

a single x1800xt and A64x2 plus your 2gb ram should do Battlefield2 just fine

 

[buzzsaw13]

Theres a good deal at Mwave for a Opteron 144 and an asrock motherboard for $208+shipping and tax

 

[RussianSensation]

Are you sure you need to have a crossfire capable motherboard? From what I understand, that is only required to have crossfire enabled. But I cant see how a MasterCard cannot work in any motherboard of non-crossfire nature.

Also go with AMD, preferably Opteron 165 or so and overclock. If you are not overclocking, get X2 3800+