[Albino]

Okay, will hold back on the audio card then for the time being, thanks.

Good to hear about the hard drive - I'll eventually upgrade to SATA2 3GB/s I'm sure.

I'm still a little hazy with some of this terminology, sorry. I've googled for these things, but still can't work it out. So SLI is a type of motherboard right? Is P35 not then? What does chipset mean? Sorry, I'm really not up to scratch on this sort of thing.

Funnily enough I was just looking at the 640MB version. On the site I buy from, it has three very similar cards, for very similar prices, which would be most appropriate? 1st, 2nd, 3rd?

Thanks everyone, you're being really useful and helpful

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Ok SLI means two cards running at the same time. One card runs the left side of the screen and the other runs the right side for about 2x the performance. To run your computer in SLI mode you need two of the same cards and a Nvidia board (650i/680i). Every motherboard has something called a North Bridge. To run cards in SLI you need a Nvidia North Bridge (650i or 680i). If you do not plan to run two cards then you do not need a Nvidia North Bridge and can just get the reliable P35 North Bridge. A P35 North Bridge can NOT run two cards in SLI.

The first one has the best stats.

Edited by jackflash1991, 29 August 2007 - 07:24 PM.

[jackflash1991]

Ok SLI means two cards running at the same time. One card runs the left side of the screen and the other runs the right side for about 2x the performance. To run your computer in SLI mode you need two of the same cards and a Nvidia board (650i/680i). Every motherboard has something called a North Bridge. To run cards in SLI you need a Nvidia North Bridge (650i or 680i). If you do not plan to run two cards then you do not need a Nvidia North Bridge and can just get the reliable P35 North Bridge. A P35 North Bridge can NOT run two cards in SLI.

The first one has the best stats.

Edited by jackflash1991, 29 August 2007 - 07:24 PM.

[Troy]

I also would choose the 1st one, normally I would say don't bother because you could just do the overclocking yourself. But with the prices so close, you can get the factory warranty and not worry about overclocking it any more yourself.

Read about SLI here.

EDIT: SLI is also very heavy on the power supply, the one you have linked to above will not support it.

Edited by ruthandtroy, 29 August 2007 - 08:28 PM.

[Albino]

To run cards in SLI you need a Nvidia North Bridge (650i or 680i)

I understand that the 650i can't really work two 8800GTS cards (640mb version) or am I wrong. I think I'll definitely go for SLI, but just buy the one graphics card for now, and then get another in the coming months. Will one work alone?

I've also decided to go for the Quad Core Q6600 because I think it'll be better in the long run. Add this memory to the equation, and I just need a mobo and a PSU to support these things.

I need a bit of advice on cooling too. At the moment, even with my PC as it is, I have temps too high and the occasional crash which tells me definitely things are too hot down there. Could anyone help out here? And I need to fit it all into a case too - I think mine will be too small!

Thanks

Edited by Albino, 31 August 2007 - 01:11 PM.

[james_8970]

Depends what 650i model you purchase.

Whats your budget for the mobo and PSU?

Add more case fans, clean up the wires inside, lower ambiant temperatures. This is about all you can do in regards to case cooling, that and leave the side panel off if you feel comfortable with that (I do not).

James

[Albino]

Budget.....well whatever really, it's only money. Let's say £200 but if it comes to more, so be it.

Nah I won't leave the case side off, I have cats who like to sleep in the most awkward places and get hair everywhere.

I'll stick one of these in the case too, hopefully keep things cool.

Edited by Albino, 31 August 2007 - 01:29 PM.

[Lord Omega]

Do you game? And do you want to play the new DirectX 10 games?

I am not exactly sure of the conversion from Euros to USD but 500 Euros equals like $700 right.

Also take a look at this to give you some ideas: http://techreport.co...icles.x/12808/1
The Grand experiment is the closest to the 500 Euros I think.

The last time I checked, 1 Euro= 1.18 USD

[Lord Omega]

That HS isn't bad, but here is a site you might find interest in: FROSTYTECH

[jackflash1991]

If you have filled up every fan port try a slot fan. I had a couple friends say with it they got the temp. down almost 15*. Also what I have done, to get the air moving in my case, is had a 120mm fan suspended in it by two wires on the top.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

Edited by jackflash1991, 31 August 2007 - 07:28 PM.

[james_8970]

These European sites lack alot of information regarding their PSU's.....
http://www.ebuyer.co...pe=ZXh0ZW5kZWQ=
http://www.ebuyer.co...uct/125082/rb/0
James

Edited by james_8970, 31 August 2007 - 08:05 PM.

[Albino]

Yeah that's an interesting idea that, I can see where you're coming from. Hopefully with the new case I get with this upgrade, I should be able to find space to attach a fan somewhere.

I've had a look at a few motherboards, mainly the 650i and the 680i, but can't quite decide on which would be more suited to me.

The ASUS Striker Extreme looks like a good card but does come in at a heavy price, though I'd be happy to pay that If it was worth it.

The EVGA SLI Lite looks like another good board, but it has been noted in the customer reviews on that site that it doesn't support SLI mode in memory greater than 800mhz

I'm not really considering the one above this, the EVGA 680i Black Pearl - it's very, very pricey.

Or there's a MSI 650i which looks okay, but I don't really know about MSI.

That's about all I can see on that site that'll do the job - if I'm missing any let me know - so which do you recommend?






EDIT: Just read your post James, thanks for the reply. I did look at that board and wasn't sure about one thing with it:

2 x PCI Express x16
- Single VGA mode: x16 (Default)
- SLI mode: x8, x8

Does that mean with two GPU's it wouldn't run as fast?

Thanks for the link to the PSU.

[jackflash1991]

2 x PCI Express x16
- Single VGA mode: x16 (Default)
- SLI mode: x8, x8

Does that mean with two GPU's it wouldn't run as fast?

That is for the 650i.

The 680i is this:
- Single VGA mode: x16 (Default)
- SLI mode: x16, x16

The 650i would run faster with 2 cards but not as fast as running them on a 680i board.

[james_8970]

While I like EVGA better, I can't see the reason to justify it's cost difference between the ASUS and the EVGA board, however if cost isn't a issue then yes the EVGA board is better, but there isn't as wide as a performance difference as the cost suggests. Unless your using liquid nitrogen to cool your processor, the striker is overkill, as well as the black pearl.
It has been well noted that at this time the x8PCIe slots arn't a bottleneck to current cards, this will obviously change in the future. However x4PCIe slot cards have been noted to have only slight bottlenecking issues. The bandwidth far exceeds our current needs.
James

Edited by james_8970, 31 August 2007 - 08:24 PM.

[jackflash1991]

Oh so I guess I am wrong that the 680i would run faster.

[stettybet0]

The EVGA SLI Lite looks like another good board, but it has been noted in the customer reviews on that site that it doesn't support SLI mode in memory greater than 800mhz

I'm not really considering the one above this, the EVGA 680i Black Pearl - it's very, very pricey.

Above the 680i LT, you have the regular 680i before you get to the 680i Black Pearl. The regular 680i from EVGA is the best mobo I've ever had. Make sure to get the A1 revision, as it comes with a lifetime warranty and fixes some things with the previous versions.