NEED HELP -- AMD and nVidia or ATI?

[GamingDaemon]

Good day on this great NFL Draft Day!

I am looking to build a new gaming machine on a budget and am venturing into the AMD world for the first time. This is new territory for me, and only my second build.

Here are the two mobo's I'm considering:
[*] Lian Li PC-60USB B2 Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
[*] Lian Li PC-7B plus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

So I have two questions:
1) Should I go nVidia or ATI?
1a) Why?
1b) Which card in particular -- trying not to spend more than $180?
2) Depending on which one I go, should I change the mobo's so I can go nVidia SLI or ATI Crossfire?

TIA?

 

[LW07]

I would go with this 7600GT.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130283

and I wouldn't get an SLI or crossfire motherboard as SLI and Crossfire isn't worth it IMO. A new card is always out 6-12 months later that is roughly the same speed as the SLI setup of the older cards.

Examples of this:
The 7800GTX 256mb had roughly the same speed as 2 6800Ultras in SLI.
The 7800GT had about the same speed as 2 6800GTs in SLI.

 

[morgash]

i agree with lw in pretty much every point he made. if u HAD to go ATI tho i would recommend and x850xt. While it doesnt fully support HDR, and doesnt support SM3.0 at all it is slightly faster than the 7600gt. Truthfully tho the 7600gt is by far the best sub $200 card and if u cant afford to spring for a 7800gt or above then its gonna be ur best friend. As a side note u can get a x1800xt 512 for 250 bucks on newegg right now, brand new retail. something to consider.

 

[GamingDaemon]

Thank you LW07. The 7600GT looks great.

Were you suggesting the Sapphire X800GTO because of its price? I'm willing to spend the $180 for the 7600GT, so should I still go with the eVGA card?

 

[GamingDaemon]

Thanks morgash!

So it sounds like the 7600gt is the way to go. I'm trying to stay under $200. I have an X850XT card in another system and am only getting a 6100 3dMark05 score.

Anyone else agree that for < $200 the 7600gt is the card?

 

[GeeFizzleDizzle]

I have an XFX 7600GT XXX Edition and it kicks some serious ass.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150140

 

[LW07]

I would get the 7600GT. Either the XFX or EVGA will be fine. With EVGA, you get a lifetime warranty that covers even overclocking!

 

[secretanchitman]

another vote for a xfx or an evga 7600GT!

 

[aatf510]

Originally posted by: GamingDaemon
Thanks morgash!

So it sounds like the 7600gt is the way to go. I'm trying to stay under $200. I have an X850XT card in another system and am only getting a 6100 3dMark05 score.

Anyone else agree that for < $200 the 7600gt is the card?

If you already have a x850xt I doubt you will find big improvement getting the 7600GT.
Consider a 6600GT is only marginally faster than a 9800Pro, and a x850xt is supposed to be way way way faster than then 9800Pro, but the 7600GT is only a scale up of the 6600GT.

 

[JBT]

I Don't mean to be an ass but the things you are calling mobo's are cases. Normally a mobo = motherboard which would be something built by an Asus, Abit, DFI, Intel, etc.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: JBT
I Don't mean to be an ass but the things you are calling mobo's are cases. Normally a mobo = motherboard which would be something built by an Asus, Abit, DFI, Intel, etc.

lol happens to the best of us.
google motherboard wiki or guide to computer building.

 

[GamingDaemon]

Doh! Wrong cut & paste!! I meant to do write this...

Here are the two mobo's I am conisdering:
[*] Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
[*] MSI K8N SLI-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard

Does that make more sense? LOL

 

[GeeFizzleDizzle]

Originally posted by: toattett
but the 7600GT is only a scale up of the 6600GT.

Wrong...the 7600GT would destroy the 6600GT in head to head benchmarks. The biggest advantage to upgrading to a 7600GT over the X850XT he has would be the HDR support and SM 3.0 support.

 

[GamingDaemon]

Originally posted by: GeeFizzleDizzle

The biggest advantage to upgrading to a 7600GT over the X850XT he has would be the HDR support and SM 3.0 support.

That right there is an awesome selling point to me when the prices pf the two cards are essentially the same, and I want this to last through two years of new games.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: GamingDaemon
Doh! Wrong cut & paste!! I meant to do write this...

Here are the two mobo's I am conisdering:
[*] Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
[*] MSI K8N SLI-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard

Does that make more sense? LOL

Not bad choices, don't forget about Asus though. Aside from having very good motherboards Asus also includes good documentation, which might be indispensible for someone doing their second build.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131524

Edit: LOL... I just re-read that, and I sound like a paid endorser for Asus. That's not the case, I just like Asus motherboards.

 

[GamingDaemon]

Interesting, nitromullet.

When I look on newegg, I do see a good amount of negative comments about ASUS. A lot more positive ones, but still...

What do you make of that?

 

[aatf510]

Originally posted by: GamingDaemon

Originally posted by: GeeFizzleDizzle

The biggest advantage to upgrading to a 7600GT over the X850XT he has would be the HDR support and SM 3.0 support.

That right there is an awesome selling point to me when the prices pf the two cards are essentially the same, and I want this to last through two years of new games.

I mean if you are choosing to buy a new card under $200 then of course the 7600GT is a no-brainer, but from my understand is that you already own a x850xt, and in that case, you might be disappointed from the minimal performance increase.

 

[GamingDaemon]

Originally posted by: toattett

Originally posted by: GamingDaemon

Originally posted by: GeeFizzleDizzle

The biggest advantage to upgrading to a 7600GT over the X850XT he has would be the HDR support and SM 3.0 support.

That right there is an awesome selling point to me when the prices pf the two cards are essentially the same, and I want this to last through two years of new games.

I mean if you are choosing to buy a new card under $200 then of course the 7600GT is a no-brainer, but from my understand is that you already own a x850xt, and in that case, you might be disappointed from the minimal performance increase.

Well, that is a valid point, toattett. But doesn't the HDR and Shader 3.0 support swing it back in favor of the 7600gt?

 

[JBT]

I would say no. HDR + SM3 barely play with acceptable frame rates on high end cards so I would say going from an X850XT to a 7600 GT would be a plain waste IMO. Also again HDR and AA can't be used except with a few games at the same time on Nvidia cards and AA is much more important than HDR esspeccially with the resolutions you will be playing at.

 

[GamingDaemon]

Hmmmm...so maybe I should use the X850XT card for now...

Ok, here is my final parts list using NewEgg (not including rebates):

[*] Lian Li PC-7B plus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $89
[*] MSI K8N SLI-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard $98
[*] eVGA 256-P2-N553-AX Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card $179
[*] AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 2000MHz HT Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3200BPBOX $154
[*] CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model Twinx2048-3200c2pt $189

Total: $710 - ($65 in rebates) ==> $645

And to reiterate, I am intending this to last me two years. I am using parts from a previous rig.

So what do you think?

 

[GamingDaemon]

And can I put the AMD 3200+ in the 939 dual core socket of the MSI mobo?

Just want to make sure before I pull the trigger on this!

EDIT: Never mind, looked it up on the MSI site...it's all good.

 

[GamingDaemon]

Well, I am driving myself crazing along with probably everyone else on this board. I have decided to go fro mthe 3200+ to the 3700+. Everything else stays the same. This adds about $80 to the total price.

Does this make sense?