Curse

dark_prince2023 · Jun 23, 2008, 08:41 PM // 20:41

• CAS: ThermalTake ThermalRock Series Circle Case
• CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX6850 @ 3.00GHz 1333FSB 8MB L2 Cache 64-bit [+800]
• FAN: CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling System (Superior Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)
• KEYBOARD: Wolfking Timber Wolf Gaming Keyboard with Ultimate FPS Gaming Pad [+47]
• MOUSE: Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse [+36]
• MOTHERBOARD: (3-Way SLI & QX9650/9770 Support) Asus Striker II Formula nForce 780i SLI Mainboard FSB1333 DDR2 3 x PCIe X16 SATA RAID w/ USB2.0,IEEE1394,&7.1Audio [+195]
• MEMORY: Geil 2048MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Dual Channel (4 x 1GB)
• NETWORK: Killer M1 10/100/1000 Gigabit High Speed Online Gaming PCI Network Interface Card [+249]
• OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate w/ Service Pack 1 [+105] (64-bit Edition [+19])
• POWERSUPPLY: 1,300 Watts Power Supplies [+269] (($35 off Mail-in Rebate) Tagan BZ 1,300 Watts Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready)
• SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
• VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
• VIDEO2: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB 16X PCI Express [+279] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
• VIDEO3: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB 16X PCI Express [+279] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

I need a new build my comps about 5 years old and my vid card is pretty much fried. Just wondering if this is worth the 3k it says on cyberpowerpc.com?? Memory and case are from my current rig so don't be too hard on me. Also have 20.1" lcd: (Display Colors:16.7 million, Vertical Refresh Rate:50 ~ 75Hz, Horizontal Frequency:30 ~ 80kHz, Contrast Ratio:600:1, Brightness:250 cd/m², Response Time:16 ms, Maximum Resolution:1600 x 1200 @ 75 Hz, Unit Dimensions (WxHxD):17.5" x 14.75" x 9")
Thanks lol yes I know 3 Vid cards over kill.

Yogismith · Jun 23, 2008, 08:56 PM // 20:56

Is this building it yourself? And is that 3 vid cards? If yes, why? If it is 3 vid cards drop two of them and get a sound x-fi sound card. With Vista you might want 4 gigs of ram.

Brianna · Jun 23, 2008, 09:06 PM // 21:06

it may all add up to 3k, but I don't think it is worth it.

Should probably wait a while till the newer stuff comes out at the end of the year, then buy up - GTX 280's and the other likes should drop by then too.

Lycan Nibbler · Jun 23, 2008, 09:21 PM // 21:21

No.................

FlareStorm · Jun 23, 2008, 09:32 PM // 21:32

Yeah thats a rip off. I dont think anything would actually use 3 video cards. And $3k for a computer?....no. No monitor in there either, thats a big money sink.

Take out two video cards, increase the RAM to 4 gb, and shave 1.5k off the price.

cebalrai · Jun 23, 2008, 09:34 PM // 21:34

No way...

And on a side note, if you were going to spend 3k on a computer, why would you stick with old RAM?

FlareStorm · Jun 23, 2008, 09:36 PM // 21:36

lol good point

dread pirate fargus · Jun 23, 2008, 09:44 PM // 21:44

get rid of vista to start with.

hooded player · Jun 23, 2008, 09:59 PM // 21:59

Get rid of 2 video cards incress RAM to 4gb and get your self a nice moniter

Raiin Maker · Jun 23, 2008, 10:20 PM // 22:20

You want your RAM speed to be at least 800Mhz, if your making a gaming PC I'd personally go for 1000Mhz+.

Get rid of two of those graphics cards and get the 1GB 9800, lower the PSU wattage now your not having 3 cards, 500-750W more than enough.

After that I'd get a 2 PCI-E SLI motherboard, as 3 must be amazingly expensive.

3 Cards is totally pointless, as i believe the 9800 barely gains any performance SLI'd, I'd be better to SLI some 8800's then 9800's.

Snograt · Jun 23, 2008, 11:28 PM // 23:28

If you really want to spend that sort of dough, get yourself a pair of GTX 280s and build a system around them

Lord Sojar · Jun 23, 2008, 11:45 PM // 23:45

Quit hating on Tri-SLi folks. It scales better than quad SLi and quad crossfire.... *cough*

Get the eVGA 790i SLi board. Better chipset, better BIOS, better quality. I loathe ASUS boards now...

You don't need the network card... our nVidia network controllers are primo anyways.

Get the Microsoft Sidewinder Gaming mouse... trust me, you will adore it.

I would go with high end air cooling, as coolermaster's (except for 1 kit, the ESA one) suck... Get a Zalman, Scythe, Thermaltake, or ZeroTherm cooler, PERIOD.

Keyboard? Get the Logitech G15 or Saitek Cyborg. Worth the extra money.

Keep Vista Ultimate 64bit, or you will be wasting money on tri-SLi.

Upgrade to 4GB RAM, and that is the wrong type of RAM for that board. Buy two kits of this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820609237

Saves you money, and is higher performance with good latency ratings. Fast as well, still exceeding the FSB of the motherboard.

Don't get that CPU, get this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115042

You can overclock it just fine and easily, and it is on 45nm technology, which is infinitely better than 65nm.

However, you might put in 3x GTX 260's instead of 9800GTXs. Either that, or just do 2x 9800GX2s for quad SLi and be done with it.

See below for link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130355

Cyb3r · Jun 23, 2008, 11:50 PM // 23:50

rahja one thing i disagree a bit about is the nvidia network controllers

can't state about the newer ones but the ones that shipped with the A8N series wheren't super and no comment on that firewall of you guys unless that's finally fixed (i know it isn't in the latest driver for the A8N board) but i agree on all other stuff you say tho

Lord Sojar · Jun 24, 2008, 12:05 AM // 00:05

Our firewall is software related, which automatically makes it rubbish in my opinion.. lol.

The new nvidia network controllers (700 series boards) are amazing. They use a pipelined system that runs through the south bridge coprocessor rather then filtering through the northbridge. That takes load off the northbridge, and makes it take a LOT less CPU, while managing traffic better. These things handle packets like champs.

Cyb3r · Jun 24, 2008, 12:25 AM // 00:25

neat thnx for the info rahja oh and people pls never ever install the Nvidia software firewall it's the biggest piece of junk i ever had once installed on my system and frigging hard to remove too -_- (buddy had even worse problems than mine with it and i remember an old thread on one of the other forums where i'm either admin or mod that there where loads of problems with that thing)
and should check the clubsli forums again =(

would love to try the network controller of the 700 series but kinda lack the money atm since i'm without a job =( so i'll have to stick to the Gigabit lan pci card of belkin which does the job better than the one on the A8N series

dark_prince2023 · Jun 24, 2008, 01:23 PM // 13:23

lol wow so many heated responses lol oh it is 4 GB of ram already but the ram is kind of old some people can't read if they thought it was less. Yes the 3 cards were just thrown in there I'm just wanting 2 9800gx2 cards as obviously stated by rahja wish I had the money for the 3 X 280's. The board is a 780i. And this is not a self build as stated it came from cyberpowerpc.com. thanks for all the comments. I was using you to update my outdated knowledge.

Oniralas · Jun 24, 2008, 01:54 PM // 13:54

What do you want to do with the box?

I've got a grand total of 800$ into my rig, which includes a 28" LCD monitor (hansg). It will play anything I care about -- AoC is about the only thing that will tax it hard.

Forget all the SLI/Crossfire tech, keep it simple & clean. Spec the parts you want, realize that 80% of the stuff out there is simply "resume" build crap (who cares) and put it together.

Tamuril elansar · Jun 24, 2008, 02:29 PM // 14:29

get a intel chipset with 2 HD4870's, their awesome.

Etta · Jun 24, 2008, 03:11 PM // 15:11

Is this just for gaming or other things like, 3d rendering, decoding, photo, video & graphic editing as well? Not worth 3k just for the former, worth it if you're going to do the later as well as the former. But whatever it's your money.

You seem like a rich guy, get this as well.

Serafita Kayin · Jun 24, 2008, 04:05 PM // 16:05

Quad cards scale perfectly well in some games. If it just so happens to not be the TWIMTBP games, well, those were really meant for AMD too. Somebody just paid off a developer. I can speak from experience, I have quad cards.

I think for general gaming an AMD Spider platform setup would be a lot cheaper, provide the same experience, and leave you with more for storage/backup options or more to put into a display. And if you're not crazy about working on your PC, as Rahja said, then stick with air. Water is a whole nother beast.