wow there, Nvidia are still using GDDR3 not GDDR5 like ATI.. And there isn't anything wrong with Hiper power supplies, if anything corsair has now got a fan boy image when it comes to power supplies, yes there quality products but there are other brands just as good. +1 for Hiper, they aswell served me well and many others.
the only reason i recommend Corsair supply over others is because it get mentioned whenever "quality power supply" is said. so that got to mean something.
The 260 there is a 55nm Core 216 card... More than likely right now you'll get better performance out of the 260.
that's no aftermarket, that's the reference design. and that's 55nm version of gtx260, should give you more overclocking headroom.
the ATi cards are 55nm too, is their a reason why ATis cant overclock as much? and i have read the anandtech piece about ati's avivio it sucks. if i said the 260 can OC more than the 4870 would that be true?
Yep, the 260 can overclock higher than the 4870 because the 260 runs cooler than the 4870 by default... Cooler the card runs, the higher the overhead for overclocking.
Thanks you've helped a lot but now I'm waiting for more CPU fans to come i want a blue aurora skt1366 equivalent £40-50 is too much for a CPU fan, and will the 1600mhz ram allow me to overclock my cou better than 1333mhz ram?
You're welcome! Higher clocked RAM can potentially give you a better overclock, but that's not always the case. Generally the multiplier on a CPU is locked upwards (side a few chips), so in order to increase the speed on the CPU, you have to increase the FSB of the motherboard... Along with the CPU, the FSB also affects the RAM speed. This is where RAM multipliers come in... There isn't an option for running that RAM at 1:1 anymore it would seem, so whatever your FSB speed is, your ram speed will be higher than it. You can drop the multiplier down on the RAM to a certain point to keep the RAM at it's default speed, though after you get past a certain FSB speed, it will be overclocked, even at the lowest multiplier. The i7 chips are a tad bit different in the way they work, but the general principle is the same... The FSB on the i7 boards is considerably lower than the socket 775 boards... The multipliers are a lot higher on the i7 chips than the 775 chips as well. You can read an overclocking guide by Gigabyte here, it should clear a few things up... http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/Core i7 920 oc 4G 2008.12.12_(ENG).pdf
I have read some posts about Hiper PSU failures. From what I can gather they used some cheap capacitors in some of their PSUs and ended up with a batch of RMAs. I have not been able pin down which models it affected not made any easier as Hiper appear to use different manufacturers for different PSU models.
hiper make some low end/budget PSU's which is an OEM with there name slapped on them, however the higher end type-R series is pretty decent. Corsair are just the same when it comes to other companies making there PSU's.
Corsair is not the only choice... it was just a suggestions... I just found shameful to get a high-end system, and decide to get a low end PSU.
I agree with the overall consensus, the GTX260 is the way to go, and I'll add CUDA and PhysX, and the ability yo use an older 8 series and up for a dedicated PhysX card. However, with that kind of money, if you hold off till the 8th and go for a GTX295, I wouldn't blame you except for the issues mentioned with 2 gpu scaling and the possible hassles - but since you're hoping to go sli or tri sli - you must be okay with all that. Too bad the single core pumped up GTX285 (10% faster than GTX280) isn't going to hit on the 8th as well. I suppose waiting for a few dollars possible price drop is not a reason, you can manage more on smart purchasing of the other high end components. Both companies already cranked all the useful fps plusses their drivers are going to give IMO. (save some crossfire and sli scaling in some games). CUDA and PhysX makes the deal for me. PhysX is actually pretty cool.
