Curse

Astro Pubes · Feb 06, 2007, 08:42 PM // 20:42

Ok, so here's the deal about 5 days ago my personal PC died on me and now I'm looking to upgrade to something that will be able to function for the next 3-4 years like my old PC did without any problems. I know (that my pc crapped out at the wrong time) that Vista has been released and that DX10 is coming out but I won't be running Vista for awhile until they can get all their bugs fixed so I'll be running XP either 64bit or Professional.

Here's what I've got in the works for my current PC build.

ASUS: Striker Extreme Motherboard with nVidia 680i chipset

Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 "Conroe" (2.67GHz) processor

eVGA/BFG/ (which ever is currently cheaper) GeForce 8800GTS DX10

2GB (2x1024) 240pin DDR2 800mhz Corsair XMS2 RAM

Thermaltake 700W SLI certified

Now, I know alot of it is "Generation 1" DX10 stuff but will the GeForce 8800GTS be able to work under DX9 with XP? Any thoughts or comments or experiences with the suggested setup/parts? Thanks for your help/comments/suggestions/experiences

tijo · Feb 07, 2007, 01:13 AM // 01:13

curently there are no games that work under directx 10 and it will be a while before any comes out. I dont know for sure if the 8800GTS will work under directx9 but i dont see any reason why it wouldnt. Altho at the moment since there are no available games for directx 10, it wouldnt really matter if you went for a 7800 or 7900 generation GeForce (could make you save some money) and you wouldnt have to wonder about it supporting dirext x9 under windows xp since it was designer for those. (Thats just a personnal opinion tho)

eggrolls · Feb 07, 2007, 03:43 AM // 03:43

The 8800GTS will perform very well in DX9 games under XP. For the CPU, consider getting the E6600 instead, since it's $200 cheaper and only slightly slower.

Astro Pubes · Feb 07, 2007, 05:01 PM // 17:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by eggrolls

The 8800GTS will perform very well in DX9 games under XP. For the CPU, consider getting the E6600 instead, since it's $200 cheaper and only slightly slower.

I thought about that but wasn't quite sure whether or not to go with the E6600 or not, I'll look into that as well though.

Thanks again and please, keep the replies coming.

easyg · Feb 08, 2007, 06:47 AM // 06:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astro Pubes

Ok, so here's the deal about 5 days ago my personal PC died on me and now I'm looking to upgrade to something that will be able to function for the next 3-4 years like my old PC did without any problems. I know (that my pc crapped out at the wrong time) that Vista has been released and that DX10 is coming out but I won't be running Vista for awhile until they can get all their bugs fixed so I'll be running XP either 64bit or Professional.

Here's what I've got in the works for my current PC build.

ASUS: Striker Extreme Motherboard with nVidia 680i chipset

Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 "Conroe" (2.67GHz) processor

eVGA/BFG/ (which ever is currently cheaper) GeForce 8800GTS DX10

2GB (2x1024) 240pin DDR2 800mhz Corsair XMS2 RAM

Thermaltake 700W SLI certified

Now, I know alot of it is "Generation 1" DX10 stuff but will the GeForce 8800GTS be able to work under DX9 with XP? Any thoughts or comments or experiences with the suggested setup/parts? Thanks for your help/comments/suggestions/experiences

Well, just a couple of observations based on my experiences with the 680i SLI chipset.

(1) Motherboard. Striker Extreme seems nice. I never had one. I do have the Abit IN9 32X-Max, however. Same chipset. Expensive. Runs very very hot, NB in particular. Many issues with nVidia RAID controller.

(2) CPU. E6700 is fantastic. Multiplier is x10 as opposed to x9 for the E6600. Could make a difference depending on your overclocking scheme. I would go with the E6700 if cost doesn't matter, since Conroes are unlocked downward. You can always run your E6700 as a E6600 if you need to, but not vice-versa.

(3) PSU. I bought a Tt ToughPower 700W W0106RU power supply in November... price was right and Thermaltake offered a $25 rebate (which they actually are going to mail me

) Yeah, the rebate is for real - not fake like most Newegg rebates. Anyway, I never had a problem with it. It powered up my rig just fine in spite of all the carping about the weak v12 rails. I replaced it with a Seasonic M12 700w and the difference is night and day. The Seasonic is much cooler, i.e., ambient went down like 3-4 C just by replacing the PSU. Could be a lot of reasons for this, but the secondary fan on the M12 might be one of them.

(4) Video card. 8800GTS will run DX9 games just fine. When shopping for a card, go with the brand that offers the best customer support. That would be EVGA imho..... BFG also good. Stay away from MSI....

(5) RAM. Also take a look at Crucial Ballistix DDR2 6400. These modules overclock extremely well. I haven't had any trouble running mine at 1000MHz at 5-5-5-15 T1 @ 2.2v. And I know people who have them at much higher running stable and error free.

Anyways, good luck!

Astro Pubes · Feb 08, 2007, 07:50 PM // 19:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by easyg

Well, just a couple of observations based on my experiences with the 680i SLI chipset.

(1) Motherboard. Striker Extreme seems nice. I never had one. I do have the Abit IN9 32X-Max, however. Same chipset. Expensive. Runs very very hot, NB in particular. Many issues with nVidia RAID controller.

That's why i'm opting for the Striker Extreme as it comes with an optional fan for which you can install right on the board to help cool it.

Quote:

(2) CPU. E6700 is fantastic. Multiplier is x10 as opposed to x9 for the E6600. Could make a difference depending on your overclocking scheme. I would go with the E6700 if cost doesn't matter, since Conroes are unlocked downward. You can always run your E6700 as a E6600 if you need to, but not vice-versa.

Excellent Point!

Quote:

(3) PSU. I bought a Tt ToughPower 700W W0106RU power supply in November... price was right and Thermaltake offered a $25 rebate (which they actually are going to mail me

) Yeah, the rebate is for real - not fake like most Newegg rebates. Anyway, I never had a problem with it. It powered up my rig just fine in spite of all the carping about the weak v12 rails. I replaced it with a Seasonic M12 700w and the difference is night and day. The Seasonic is much cooler, i.e., ambient went down like 3-4 C just by replacing the PSU. Could be a lot of reasons for this, but the secondary fan on the M12 might be one of them.

That's the PSU i was looking at with Thermaltake, Thank you for suggesting the SeaSonic M12, i'll look into them, from what i can see it's only ~$20 more than the Thermaltake.

Quote:

(4) Video card. 8800GTS will run DX9 games just fine. When shopping for a card, go with the brand that offers the best customer support. That would be EVGA imho..... BFG also good. Stay away from MSI....

like i stated, either EVGA or BFG just which ever is cheaper at the time of purchase.

Quote:

(5) RAM. Also take a look at Crucial Ballistix DDR2 6400. These modules overclock extremely well. I haven't had any trouble running mine at 1000MHz at 5-5-5-15 T1 @ 2.2v. And I know people who have them at much higher running stable and error free.

NICE! a little pricey, but nice.

Quote:

Anyways, good luck!

nice PC btw, and thanks for your experiences/comments/suggestions!!
Please, keep them coming!