Ready to pull the trigger....Again....No I really will build it this time....Honest

[f1canadayyz]

Wasn't sure where to put this so if it's in the wrong spot I'd appreciate if the Mods would move it for me.

Well, it's that time again. Not entirely sure which way to go on this decision so here goes:

New build time has come around again, so far the parts of the system that will proboably remain static are as follows:

Case: Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC2-6400 2GB
Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P
MoBo: XFX Nforce 780I SLI
Optical: Samsung SH-S203B x 2
Power: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad
Audio: Creative Sound Blaster X-FI

Purely for gaming. Here comes the hard part...
Currently am using a 2 year old Viewsonic VX922 19in LCD that I'm very happy with. However the pull towards larger resolutions, and larger displays is very attractive. Looking for the best combination of Dispaly/Video card for all the latest games, including Crysis which I know is a crippler.

So here's the options, all other suggestions are appreciated as well:

1. One EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800GTS Crysis Edition 670MHZ 512MB with the VS 19inch
2. Two EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800GTS in SLI w/Samsung SyncMaster 275T
3.Two EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800GTS in SLI w/ VS 19inch
4. Wait for the 9800 GTX for the larger Frame Buffer and wider Memory Bus (I'm aware it is only going to be a die shrink of the G80)

All help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

F1

 

[f1canadayyz]

I know it's rude to bump, but I could use a little advice if anyone has the time.

Thanks

F1

 

[Nurn]

Don't bother with SLI, get one really good card and one really good monitor (like a 24 inch Dell widescreen). You can even keep your 19 inch as a secondary monitor.

 

[Angerisagift]

Well for one I would if you're going to go SLI I would save the money and skip the GTS, and just get two reputable 8800GT's the peformace gain doesn't seem like it's enough to justify paying close to $400 per card,

I'm not familiar with the Aurora, seems like a decent case from the gigabyte site, but haven't read any reviews on it.

most times if you ask around here everyone seems to recommend either

Coolermaster Stacker 830, supposedly one of the best air cooled solutions out there

Coolermaster Stacker 690 not as big as the 830 but still impressive cooling

Antec Nine Hundred, very innovative cooling scheme including a top mounted 200mm fan


I ended up going with the nine hundred for my own rig and so far am very happy with it, I can barely hear it with all fans set to the medium setting and it seems to keep my temps down.

good luck with the build I'm finally getting to see the payouts of pulling my own trigger, and was so glad that I went with the quad.

 

[f1canadayyz]

Thanks for the comments!

The Gigabyte case was maximumpc's best of the best case for a while. Seems like a good buy to me.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Cheers,

F1

 

[Puffnstuff]

When I built my current system I looked at the aurora case along with several others but settled on the xclio windtunnel for maximum cooling and space plus mounting racks for my drives.

As for a monitor have you considered the 24" LG L246? I looked at many monitors and ended up settling on this one and at the time bb at it for $500 if you bought from their online store and took in store delivery.

If you buy an eVGA gts card now you get a 90 day step up window so if the new cards debut you can pay the difference and step up to it.

I would also encourage you to skip the nvidia chipset mb and get an intel based mb. My son just got an abit ix38 quadgt and with my old e6400 it rocks at 3.2 with only a slight bump in voltage and very cool under the enzotech ultra-x hsf. I could only get it to 2.7 unless I did crazy stuff and then my system turned all weird. I can only run my q6600 stably at 2.6 so I'm also looking at getting one of the mb's when I can afford to. Right now I'm building a new home so that takes priority over all else.

Take your time and make sure that each component is what you want and you'll have a system that you'll be happy with. Also remember not to skimp on your ps or you'll be sorry.

 

[f1canadayyz]

Hi Puff

Have yet to check out the 24 inch LG, but if it's the same as the Dell 24, then it still carries the same resolution as the 27 inch Sammy, with a smaller pixel pitch. Either way I'll definately consider it , thank you. As well, the X38/48 chipsets don't support Dual Nvidia solutions do they? The only reason I'm so stuck on SLI is that there doesn't seem to be a single card solution out there today that can keep ahead of games both now and for the near future. As always, corrections and comments are appreciated and respected.

Thanks for all your time guys,

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[Puffnstuff]

Nvidia won't license sli to anyone so only an nvidia chipset will do it. With that said sli doesn't seem to scale very well in vista which is why I dropped my plans to sli my system with two 8800gt's and went with a single gts 512. The intel chipset does do crossfire, imagine that intel supporting an amd gpu.

Edit: BTW if you want an x-fi get the auzentech x-fi card over the creative one. They use hard caps and get better support than the creative cards. I know, I've got one and it's like trying to get blood from a turnip. It took them over a year to get functional vista drivers out. Auzentech wouldn't release their card until the drivers were usable and they've got a good support page on their website keeping their users up to date on what is going on with their support.

 

[f1canadayyz]

Thanks for the soundcard suggestion Puff. Much appreciated. As far as SLI scaleability in Vista, it seems to buy about 10FPS in most apps, which as time goes on could be important.

Not sure yet though.

Cheers,

F1