general question on SLIPost Date: 2007-08-26 |
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nomec
Senior Member Joined: 26 Aug 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 530 |
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Topic: general question on SLI Posted: 26 Aug 2007 at 5:22pm |
I plan on spending around $5,000 on my new rig. I will be purchasing a 24" widescreen as well.
I had a simple question regarding SLI. Is it going to be worth it with a 24" setup? It would probably see greater benefits if I used a 30" LCD but I don't have the room and don't want to spend double the money on it as opposed to a 24" widescreen. I am pretty sure a single 8800 Ultra could handle the 1920x1200 but I want to be able to play games in 1920x1200 in a year or more from now.
Would going SLI be smart if I am thinking to the future?
Also, in terms of the cases Digital Storm offers, which ones will support SLI if I choose to go that route?
Thanks
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skyR
Newbie Digital Storm Apprentice Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2220 |
Quote Reply Posted: 26 Aug 2007 at 6:06pm |
A Digital Storm Pro, Ultra, or Extreme case are all big enough for SLI.
Yes SLI is a good investment if you plan on playing that high of a resolution. GeForce 8 series will be good for another ~5 years. I do suggest getting a single GeForce 8 card to begin with and get another one for SLI when prices drop in November/December. |
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GruntMaster
Groupie Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 52 |
Quote Reply Posted: 26 Aug 2007 at 7:54pm |
Sykr, are prices expected to drop in that time frame due to a release of new NVidia models?
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E6850 [email protected]
nVidia 680i LT 750W Thermaltake 250GB HD 2GB DDR2 Corsair 800Mhz XMS2 GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB |
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nomec
Senior Member Joined: 26 Aug 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 530 |
Quote Reply Posted: 26 Aug 2007 at 9:10pm |
Is it hard to set up SLI?? Also, is the new GeForce going to just blow the 8800s out of the water? I dont wanna buy the 8800 series only to have something 3x better come out when I could just wait.
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skyR
Newbie Digital Storm Apprentice Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2220 |
Quote Reply Posted: 26 Aug 2007 at 9:56pm |
Well every generation of cards are always better then the last. You're never going to keep up in hardware unless you are rich =)
The GeForce 8 is 1.5x faster then the GeForce 7. The GeForce 7 is 2x faster then the GeForce 6. The GeForce 9 is rumored to be more then 2x faster then the GeForce 8. Only time will tell. To set up SLI, you need 2 graphic cards that are IDENTICAL to each other or else it will not work. You simply plug the 2 graphic cards in the PCI E slots and then put the bridge (comes with your motherboard) on top of the two cards. There's no software required for SLI. |
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Motherboard
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Quote Reply Posted: 27 Aug 2007 at 1:06am |
What motherboard would you recommend for other than SLI. I plan on playing around 1280 or so resolution and I will most likely stick with one video card for now.
I did check your configuraion for one system..and I see only the SLI motherboard as an option.
thx,
Gary
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Alex
Admin Group Digital Storm Supervisor Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 16312 |
Quote Reply Posted: 27 Aug 2007 at 3:04am |
Going with SLI is definitely something you need for a 24" monitor. When you run that monitor at it's native resolution, max all of your graphic settings, it's going to ask for that horsepower.
With a budget of about $5,000 --- your looking to get a high end "Kick-Ass" machine. Get a QX6850, 8800ULTRA's in SLI, etc.
Sometimes, waiting to jump the gun can be a killer, I can tell you right now that a setup worth $5,000 is going to rip through any game you throw at it for a while.
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nomec
Senior Member Joined: 26 Aug 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 530 |
Quote Reply Posted: 27 Aug 2007 at 11:40am |
Here is what I am looking at as of right now....
Case: Digital Storm Twister PRO (Black Anodized Aluminum Finish)
Power Supply: 1000W Thermaltake (8800 GTX SLI Compatible) (Silent Toughpower Edition) Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad QX6850 Extreme 3.00GHz (1333MHz FSB) Motherboard: nVidia 680i Core 2 Quad (By: eVGA) (nForce 680i SLI) (A1 Revision) Memory: 2GB DDR2 Corsair at 1066MHz Dominator (Dual Channel) (Extreme-Performance) Floppy / Media: Sony 1.44MB Floppy (Black Edition) Hard Drive 1: 150GB Western Digital Raptor (10K RPM) (16MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed) Hard Drive 2: 250GB (Western Digital / Seagate) (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) Raid Option: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Network Card: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Modem: - No Thanks Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (nVidia GeForce 8800GTX 768MB (By: eVGA / Asus) (PCI-Express) TV Tuner: - No Thanks Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer (Up to 7.1 Channel) (Recommended) Physics Card: - No Thanks Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 3 (Silent Artic Cooling (TwisterBoost Overclocked) Case Lighting: - No Thanks Round Cables: - No Thanks User Manual: Personalized Platinum Digital Storm Binder (Includes Paperwork/Benchmarks/CDs/Manuals) Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based) Protection: - No Thanks Office: - No Thanks LCD Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty Support: Lifetime Toll-Free Platinum Care Technical Support Is there anywhere that I can save money and boost my performance? Like would putting two Raptors in RAID 0 make much of a difference or increasing/decreasing the clock speed on my memory do anything?
Is watercooling necessary?
Sorry for all of the questions but this is a big purchase and I am not too well-versed on a lot of this stuff.
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skyR
Newbie Digital Storm Apprentice Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2220 |
Quote Reply Posted: 27 Aug 2007 at 11:54am |
things do tend to get quite hot but liquid cooling isn't necessary.
you can downgrade to a qx6800 or a qx6700 overclocked. There's no difference between a qx6700 and a qx6850 besides the speed and name. ram speed only matters if you are overclocking. 800MHz if you aren't overclocking. 1066MHz+ for overclockers and rich people. |
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nomec
Guest |
Quote Reply Posted: 27 Aug 2007 at 12:32pm |
Also, what about OS? I assume 64-bit Vista isn't a good idea because this comp is strictly for gaming.
What are the differences between vista home premium and ultimate... would I be missing out on anything if I just went with home premium?
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skyR
Newbie Digital Storm Apprentice Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2220 |
Quote Reply Posted: 27 Aug 2007 at 12:55pm |
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx
If all your drivers are 64-bit compatible then there wouldn't be a reason not to go 64. If you choose 32-bit and decide to upgrade to 64-bit sometime down the road. Just contact Microsoft. |
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