New Games PC

r0nn13

Hi,

Want to play the latest games at the highest resolutions and a decent screen size so looking at completely replacing my current computer (Athlon XP 2600+; 768MB; FX5600).

I did a bit of research and looking at this setup for myself this year:-

Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz (800FSB) [TEMPORARY]
EVGA nForce 780i SLI nForce 780i
Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 512MB GDDR3 x2 in SLI
Thermaltake BigTyp 120 VX CPU Cooler
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
Samsung SpinPoint T HD501LJ 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - I have 1 of these already so going to use RAID1.

Overclock E2160 from 1.8 to 3.0 (at 1.375 volts)

I plan to replace the E2160 with the Q9450 when it is fully released this year.

Will the Antec case hold 2 8800 GTS cards?

I plan to run XP 32bit only, so do i have enough memory and is it fast enough?

I could get 4GB instead, but is there a 3GB limit with 32bit XP?

RoyalMarine

Will the Antec case hold 2 8800 GTS cards?
yes. its a great case. just watch the temps.

I plan to run XP 32bit only, so do i have enough memory and is it fast enough?
2gb is perfect for win xp.

I could get 4GB instead, but is there a 3GB limit with 32bit XP?
yes there is a limit in windows xp. i think its 3gb with a patch of some sort.

what size monitor are you using?
2 8800gts 512mb in sli would be a waste if its a smallish monitor.

personally, i think sli is a waste. it will cost you 300 euro more and you will only see a performance increase of about 20 - 25% and some games dont support sli at all.

if i were you i would only get 1 8800gts, invest in a big monitor and wait to get another 8800gts when its really needed.
thats when the drivers are great, and the games are actually supporting them.

and id drop the 780i and go with this
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=341381

r0nn13

Will the Antec case hold 2 8800 GTS cards?
yes. its a great case. just watch the temps.
>>Cool.

I plan to run XP 32bit only, so do i have enough memory and is it fast enough?
2gb is perfect for win xp.

I could get 4GB instead, but is there a 3GB limit with 32bit XP?
yes there is a limit in windows xp. i think its 3gb with a patch of some sort.
>> Will stick with 2GB then for now.

what size monitor are you using?
2 8800gts 512mb in sli would be a waste if its a smallish monitor.
>> I have a 22inc Samsung Widscreen (1680 x 1050 native resolution)

personally, i think sli is a waste. it will cost you 300 euro more and you will only see a performance increase of about 20 - 25% and some games dont support sli at all.
>> Will get just 1 8800 then for now, and see how it goes
if i were you i would only get 1 8800gts, invest in a big monitor and wait to get another 8800gts when its really needed.
thats when the drivers are great, and the games are actually supporting them.

and id drop the 780i and go with this
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=341381
>> Think the X38 chipset doesn't support SLI?

Anti

Personally i would go with a 780i, as it brings the option of tri-sli ( three card sli ) further down the road. IT is a very very hot running board, especially when overclocked. The NB design from nvidia is a joke. It can easilly hit 100c And it blows the air onto the back of your graphics card. If you can afford it hang on untill the 9800GX2 comes out ( close to 1000€ mind ) Or get an 8800gtx.

Beware of SLI though, it does not mean a 50% improvment in all games, only in games that support it. And its very unlikly to see 50% increase in such games.

r0nn13

Anti wrote: »

Or get an 8800gtx.

Beware of SLI though, it does not mean a 50% improvment in all games, only in games that support it. And its very unlikly to see 50% increase in such games.

I see you have 2x 8800GTX's

Have you ever played with just one of these cards to see if there was a massive dip in games?

IronWolf

Hi,

I'm not the most experienced PC builder by any stretch of the imagination but I am also currently researching parts for a new gaming PC, so I hope I can be of some help.

It might be worth waiting another week or two for some of the 9 series cards to become available (21st?), if only for the inevitable price drop on the current 8 series cards.

And as for the processor, why not go for one of the newer wolfdale based processor's?

example of processor in question

Benchmark comparison

Hope this helps.

r0nn13

IronWolf wrote: »

It might be worth waiting another week or two for some of the 9 series cards to become available (21st?), if only for the inevitable price drop on the current 8 series cards.

And as for the processor, why not go for one of the newer wolfdale based processor's?

I plan to replace the E2160 (temp CPU which will be faster than my XP2600+, and overclocked to 3.0ghz) with the Q9450 when it is fully released this year, as this seems to be the new Q6600 in terms of price/performance benchmark (though time will tell).

Think i will wait for the GeForce 9 cards to come out and see whats what then i think.

Think i am pretty happy with the current spec though, and don't see any config issues with it, yet... :P

ghost26ie

i had an antec 900 with 2 640mb 8800gts in it. they will fit but ii will be tight. about an inch between them and the hard drives. also very little space for other cards like a seperate sound card and such. the case has some nice big fans so cooling shouldn't be an issue.

Anti

r0nn13 wrote: »

I see you have 2x 8800GTX's

Have you ever played with just one of these cards to see if there was a massive dip in games?

In some games there is a massive dip, in others not so much. It really is game dependant.

dazftw

2 8800 GTX's will fit in a Antec 900. Its a real shame the actual good boards dont support SLI! You will have to stick to a Nvidia chipset.. like myself lol!

Hopefully when the 9series cards come out they will be able to be two 8800GTX in SLI.

Not the 9800GX2 though.. they will release that then in a few months something so much better! It was the same with the 7950..

r0nn13

Is there a case that has more room inside it than the Antec 900?

Gloopy

r0nn13 wrote: »

Is there a case that has more room inside it than the Antec 900?

Yeah, lots, but obviously the price will go up too! Do you have a particular amount you want to spend on the case?

dazftw

r0nn13 wrote: »

Is there a case that has more room inside it than the Antec 900?

The Antec 900 should more than adequate for two 8800GTS.

Shiminay

I have a 8800GTX in my Antec and it's right on the edge of the hard drives, may have to shuffle them around if I went for an SLi set-up (highly unlikely for me).

Anti

Gloopy wrote: »

Yeah, lots, but obviously the price will go up too! Do you have a particular amount you want to spend on the case?

If you can stretch your budget to 300-400€ then a silverstone tj-07/09 or a lian li v2000a. They are about the biggest cases you can get. room for 10+ hdds. Then can even accomodate a Eatx board ( server size )