Alright, well for christmas I got an E6400 (which I hadn't even asked for, but I'm not complaining). Now I've been using an amd 3200+ (32 bit) chip for the past 3 or 4 years, so I have not been paying that much attention to anything new, because I jsut didn't have the funds to get PCI-express or any new video cards. Well that has now changed. After reading a lot of reviews (here, anandtech, etc) I think I've pretty much found what I want as far as building a mid to high level gaming system, however I am still in need of a power supply and any opinions on what I've already choosen would be appreciated. Motherboard: ASUS P5N-E SLI Nvidia nForce 650i SLI ATX ($129.99, USD) Memory: OCZ Platinum Rev 2 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800 ($245.99 before rebate, USD) Video card: XFX PVT71GUQL3 GeForce 7900GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 ($229.99 before rebate, USD) Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s ($79.99, USD) Total price (before rebates): $685.96 The main reason I choose the Asus P5N-E SLI was because I plan on upgrading my computer with another 7900GT and running them in SLI. i do realize that there have been some issues in the past with the nvidia 600i chipset series with sata raid and memory timings, but I believe both issues were solved (correct me if I'm wrong). Along with all this, I still need a powersupply which I have no idea on what to get. I don't exactly have a capped budget, so any recommendations would be accepted, but I'd prefer to keep everything as low priced as possible.
I'd personally suggest you consider something from the X1950 Pro range like this Asus card The image quality is going to be way higher at the same price point. I'd then also suggest you look at an intel chipset board, the memory controller on the 600 series boards has been getting a bit of a bad rap from the tech media as of late, as you mentioned.
Alright, well if I were to go with an ATI video card, are there any specific boards/chipsets anyone would suggest for crossfire? Edit: Looking around a bit more, I see that the RD600 chipset should be released in january and it looks like it would be worth the wait, still undecided however.
There in lies the problem. This has been looked over in a different thread. There are little to no crossfire boards for C2D readily available! I would suggest sticking with nVidia chipsets. You can still have an ATi card to hold you through till you get a DX10 card! Therein lies the next problem. The 600i rev's are in a muddle. SATA drives are being corrupted left right and centre with these things, and as of yet there is no real solution as it is suspected to be hardware at fault and not software. Although you could get lucky like a few people around.. Here is what i suggest for now. Any ASUS P5B board (570, or 590) for C2D, i recommend an SLi ready one. If you go down the ATi route (better picture/lower performance) then an X1950XT will do very nicely. Remember you can sell this and get a DX10 card at a later date (which is why i recommend staying with an nForce chipset) But to be completely honest, you aint gonna notice much difference in most games between ATi and nVidia with a similar spec card.
Alright, so possibly a P5B or P5b Deluxe with an x1950 Pro, but what would I be looking at as far as power? A 500 watt?
Yea, I know.. So here are the changes: Motherboard: Asus P5B ($126.99) Video Card: Asus Radeon X1950 PRO 256MB ($219.99) PSU: Seasonic M12 SS-600HM 600 watt ($159.99)
Whats the difference between the S12-550 EP and the M12 600? All I can see is that the s12 has a 3% increased efficiency.
The M12 is modular, and has an extra 60mm fan - which from what ive read is a noisy little thing, then again arnt all 60mm fans?
