Upgrade / New computer suggestions

[KillerPotato]

Hi all. Im about to buy new parts for my system, but am keeping my hard drives, optical drives, case, and hopefully my PSU.

So far I've got down:

Motherboard: CHAINTECH VNF4/Ultra
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813152049

System memory: CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB DDR 400 (2 x 512)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145440

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103535

I'm torn between a choice of an X800 pro and X800XL for the video cards. I have a 20 pin PSU (Thermaltake 480W) and am not sure whether it alone will be able to power the X800XL without the extra 4 pins of a 24 pin PSU, while the pro at least has an extra power connector on the card to provide power. If anyone can shed some light on this issue on whether or not i should be worried, please do. I'd much rather buy upgrades over time than spend a huge pile of cash all at once, so if I can get a X800 pro and keep my PSU, but buy a new PSU and a next gen card later, that would prefferable.

If anyone sees anything I should add/change, your advice is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Arcanedeath]

You need a 24pin PSU w/ the X800XL if it doesn't have an external power connector period. In your case I'd either get the X800XL and a new PSU or just get an X800Pro (or get one of the Vivo models of the X800XL w/ the extra power connector.)

 

[MobiusPizza]

huh? 24 pin supplies extra power to motherboards that needs it yes. But the PCI-Express power is supplied by the 6-pin separate PCI-Express connector. So shouldn't really be the case

Check whether your motherboard requires 24-pin. It may requires regardless of what GPU you plug in inorder to be stable. Most nForce 4 motherboards requires 24-pin to be stable

 

[w00t]

x800xl easy has 16pipelines x800pro has 4 if ur thinking about unlocking pipelines forget about it and get x800xl.

 

[KillerPotato]

I know the X800XL is better, its just more of a question of whether or not I can run it using my current power supply without it constantly crashing. I'm looking in to some decent power supplies that have a 24 pin ATX connector, but that and an XL would significantly increase the price of my system, so I still have some more work to do. Does the rest of the system look fine?

 

[KillerPotato]

A couple people in the stickied PSU thread at the top said they were running an X800XL stable on a 20 pin board, so I think I may go that route anyway. If it does become a problem, hopefully it will be at least a month or two afterwards so I wont feel bad about spending too much (to me, I feel like I'm spending too much if it goes over 700 dollars)

If anyone has any suggestions about the parts i was thinking of buying at the top, or any reason to change my decision about the VC, help/advice is appreciated. Thanks all