Another building a computer thread

[GARGANTUAN]

Long story short...I don't know how to put together a new computer that will last me some time like this computer has.

Now with that done and said I'm looking into possibly building an Intel (not sure if AMD would be a better choice...for SLI I'm assuming yes..which is a path I'm not really looking to take, but pursuade me if it is). Regardless if I'm not going down the SLI path would I still want a motherboard that supports SLI and would it be able to work with the use of one video card? PCI-E is one way I want to go thus far, and due to ATI having the best PCI-E cards (imo) out to date, I'm waiting for a 1 gb video card to be released.

Now if I'm wrong in any way, and SLI is the way to go, and AMD is the best processor for sweet gaming (the primary use of the comp I'm looking to build) then persuade me otherwise. I've had a few people tell me that running the 2 512 graphic cards runs a lot better than one 1 gb card would.

Another question has to do with the power supply. What does the SLI ready power supply have to do with anything whatsoever?

[Dave]

Wait till the end of July, buy an Intel "Conroe" cpu. (They won't be out till then).

If you have a 30" lcd display, SLI is a fine thing, if, on the other hand, you have a 19 or 20" display, don't bother with it.

I have no idea why you think you need a gig of video memory, 256 works pretty well for everything, and 512 is more than enough for anything.

If ATI is your card of choice, the X1900XT is hard to beat. iNvida makes a dual gpu card that might be faster, but it's a lot like SLI in that a lot of that power is wasted.

An SLI ready power supply has an extra plug on it for the second video card.

[GARGANTUAN]

Wait till the end of July, buy an Intel "Conroe" cpu. (They won't be out till then).

If you have a 30" lcd display, SLI is a fine thing, if, on the other hand, you have a 19 or 20" display, don't bother with it.

I have no idea why you think you need a gig of video memory, 256 works pretty well for everything, and 512 is more than enough for anything.

If ATI is your card of choice, the X1900XT is hard to beat. iNvida makes a dual gpu card that might be faster, but it's a lot like SLI in that a lot of that power is wasted.

An SLI ready power supply has an extra plug on it for the second video card.


thank you...and believe it or not noone could answer these questions...hahaha. A gig vid card would be fucking sweet dude...which I know ATI will be most likely releasing something sweet soon since nvidia has already released a 1 gig.

[Janus]

well what size monitor will you be using?

[GARGANTUAN]

most likely a 20-23.

[andr3w]

theres no way ur going to use a gig of memory on a video card.

u wont even scratch the surface and ur going to drop 575+

i only know of an nvidia card currently that even remotely gets close to what ur asking for...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130023

[Nine]

Even if you get that card.. by the time it's useful, there will be a lot more cards for much cheaper that will probably be faster and cooler.

[GARGANTUAN]

theres no way ur going to use a gig of memory on a video card.

u wont even scratch the surface and ur going to drop 575+

i only know of an nvidia card currently that even remotely gets close to what ur asking for...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130023
I wasn't asking for an nvidia card that was pci-e...because I found nvidia crap after they released their 5000 line..At that time I bought a radeon 9800 and have been in love with ati since.

[thrash_head]

I feel the exact opposite as you, I hate ATI because of their shit drivers... Plus, I never get one to work right. Nvidia for pres.

[ass*assassin]

I feel the exact opposite as you, I hate ATI because of their shit drivers... Plus, I never get one to work right. Nvidia for pres.

same here bud... we have THRASHED (pun intended) this topic of drivers over and over again when it comes to gaming.. nvidia has superior drivers/compatibility with the most games right now and in the past.. for cad/cam and 3d work, again, nvidia for the win.. i do these things for a living, and am always amazed at the huge differences in the way these cards will work or not with highly specialized programs and some of the games.

when someone comes into my shop with a video problem in a game, we switch them over to an nvidia-based solution and the problems go away.. pretty much everytime..

[adamantium]

I could never get the Catalyst drivers to work on my Alienware with my Radeon 9700 Pro. Got an Nvidia (7900 GT) with my computer I just built, and the drivers have worked flawlessly. I'd definitely agree that Nvidia drivers > ATI Drivers.

[thrash_head]

I have used 9600, 9700pro, and 9800pro. None of the would work very well due to driver issues. I think the best i ever got was 40 fps on the 9800pro. I tried Catalyst (old and new) and I also tried omega drivers. I never got any of them to work. Right now my gf has my 9700pro and she runs source at 12 fps.. Its bullshit.

[Dave]

I've used both ATI and invida, and to be honest both worked as expected. Games and cad.
I don't like invidas marketing methods, though ati seems to be going down the same path.

[Bp-2X]

i never bought a ATI card but my current nVidia card ( wich is a gf4 4800ti SE )
give me a cool +40 fps with like 20 ppl or 60fps with 15 less. In counter-strike:source

I <3 nVidia