I see a pc upgrade in the future.

I see a pc upgrade in the future and I am going SLI.


so what all do I need?

1.video cards x2
2.mobo for sli.
3.new cpu
4.2gig ram.
4.shim for the cpu and more thermal paste.

That's all I need.... right? I have the rest of it.

Well, if you already have the rest of it, then what are you asking from us?

But seriously, do you have an OS that you can use for that build?

Malpine Walis said:

Well, if you already have the rest of it, then what are you asking from us?

But seriously, do you have an OS that you can use for that build?

Click to expand...

Windows Xp home.


and I've havn't upgraded my pc in 2 years that's why I was asking you guys...................................

I don't want to get the wrong gear and finding out it's going to be $1,500 build +...

It depends what gear you already have. We can't answer the question without knowing what other components you plan to use from your previous build.

Well, SLI by itself can steer your build into more expensive territory. You limit your choices of motherboards (if you want the dual 16x, you have to get one with the NF590 chipset). Then you are potentially looking at more money dropped on your graphics cards. All for rather little extra performance.

Honestly, I am working on a new build myself and I am probably about a month ahead of you on my research. Now that does not mean that you have to make the same choices as I do. However, if you are looking to keep your costs down, then you are better off looking for a single graphics card that can run PCI 16x and spend a fair bit of money on it. Then you have more choices for your motherboard for even more savings.

Are you looking at Intel or AMD?

Are you going to overclock this set up?

What kind of money were you hoping to spend?

Do you want a RAID array?

These are some of the questions that you have to ask yourself just to fix some goals in mind.

It would also help if you listed the parts which you have, because otherwise we can't check to make sure you've covered everything. And I think this should be moved to General Hardware.

I have a full running computer but you guys probably knew that.

but here are the parts I have and I do want a full duel video card computer. but I would like it where I can add the second card later?


1.DVD rom drive ( plain )
2.corhair value pack ddr ram 512 megs.
3.Amd nfs S series mobo
3.2000 cpu it didn't need a shim. and I've thermal paste on it like before.
4.Sound blaster live with external panel 5.1 ss system
5.8 fans on board and 2 big ones for the case fans.

You might want a hard drive.

Most new CPUs don't need a shim (They come with IHS')

Well you're not being very helpful though.... What Budget? No Need For SLi Isn't worth it unless you bench.

JamesXP said:

Most new CPUs don't need a shim (They come with IHS')

Well you're not being very helpful though.... What Budget? No Need For SLi Isn't worth it unless you bench.

Click to expand...

I could go $800 after I have paid on my car. not the red one the gold one I've desided I have a good car and why would I want another one?


So I have an idea of what I want and I used newegg.com for a price guide, and it came to $877 with 2x video cards mobo and memory sticks the ocz kind. NOT CORSHAIR.

Derek, did you save your choices on newegg to a public wishlist? Or at least to a wishlist (that you can then declare public later on)? If you did that, we can look over your shopping list and see what you are really looking at.

Malpine Walis said:

Derek, did you save your choices on newegg to a public wishlist? Or at least to a wishlist (that you can then declare public later on)? If you did that, we can look over your shopping list and see what you are really looking at.

Click to expand...

I did. and let me fetch the pricelist, wishlist. Ok I added the second video card tot he lista nd here it is $1,173





X2 XFX PVT80GGHE4 GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16HDCP Ready SLI Supported HDCP Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814150172
Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $39.99 1 Year Service Net 1 Peripheral Extended Plan -- $39.99 2 Year Service Net 1 Peripheral Extended Plan -- $49.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $59.99 3 Year Service Net 1 Peripheral Extended Plan -- $59.99
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate
$579.98
($289.99 each)


OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Micron D7 Chip Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2N10662GK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820227178
Return Policy: Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy

Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $29.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $39.99
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate
$153.99


ABIT IN9 32X-MAX LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813127020
Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $39.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $59.99
-$80.00 Instant
$40.00 Mail-in Rebate
$299.99
$219.99


AMD Dual-Core Opteron 275 Italy 2.2GHz Socket 940 Dual Core Processor Model OSA275CBBOX - Retail
Item #: N82E16819103551
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy

Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $39.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $59.99
$219.99
Subtotal: $1,173.95

:s


Okay, You've bought a Socket 940 Server CPU and a Socket 775 Desktop board.


Explain?

Yea that is a intel Mb with a amd CPU =)
maybe get a e6750 =)

Can't you make a public wishlist?


That list is pretty hard to follow.

Yah, that is pretty hard to follow. on your wishlist page, there is an option to check a box and make it a public list that you can then link us to.

However, if I am reading that right, I see $220 of extra warranties and $160 worth of rebates and discounts.

First off, if you overclock, you have just thrown out any warranties (never mind if they are included or extra money).

Second, rebates are not money in your pocket but a potential check that the companies might send you one day, assuming that you jump through every hoop so that they cannot claim that you broke some stupid rule that lets them keep the money.

Discounts are fine if they really are money in your pocket but you really need to read the fine print on them as well to make sure that they are really instant savings and not some other stupid game.

Personally, I find it simpler to more or less ignore all rebates and warranties and just go with what I want. At least right up to the point where I am about to get out my charge card. Then, knowing full well what system specs I am going for, I will do a quick check to see if newegg has any package/combo deals that really are free money.

OK, now apart from that, let me reread this whole thread and see what I can help you with:

First off, you do not need a shim. That was old tech from about six or so years ago when we were looking and what was then a new socket and the HS mounts had not yet been fully worked out. What you can buy today all has what is known as an IHS on the proc, which is basically a piece of sheet metal that does the same thing.

Second, SLI is not some type of new technology that let's you do stuff that you cannot in any other way. In fact, if you implement it poorly, you could end up with worse performance that a single card solution. Let me take this one step at a time.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Obviously, SLI requires two cards and a mobo that supports it. That is the first thing that you may run into. Your mobo should have the two PCI 16x slots if you are going to do this. BUT, most mobos today will implement that by having a single internal 16x pathway that is then split into two 8x paths that the two cards share.

Right there, you may have just set yourself up for a bad deal. A single card can run at the full 16x but two cards will share the single bus at half the speed for each of them. There are some mobos out there that have the full implementation of two 16x buses but they are fairly new stuff and still pretty expensive.

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Another thing is that SLI requires some amount of system resources to implement. The two cards basically have to talk to each other constantly to keep working on the right bits of information. If they don't do this well, they will end up falling out of sync with each other and then they will end up both doing the same things, half of which will be thrown out as it really never was needed in the first place.

In any case, even with the two cards perfectly in sync, the time that they spend talking to each other is time that a single card would have spent on real work.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Now, take the two parts above and put them together. A single card does not have to communicate with its twin brother and it can run at the full speed that your mobo is capable of throwing at it. Or conversely, two cards are getting information out of the rest of your computer at half the speed of a single card and they have to use system resources to make sure that they are marching together like good little soldiers.

Can you see how a single card could outperform two cards in some games? And we are still not up to looking at how a specific card will perform in a specific situation.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Of course you know that SLI only works if you have two identical (or at least really closely matched) cards? The literature that I have seen on the matter does not absolutely rule out two different card as long as they have the same GPU on them. However, if there is any difference at all between them, you introduce another source of errors. So if you went with one card now and planned on buying a second card later as an upgrade, you would almost certainly be looking at buying two cards for your upgrade just to make sure that they really are the same.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Speaking of identical cards, you also know that while ATI and Nvidia cards both go into the same 16x slots on your mobo, the two companies do not feel that they should work together to implement a compatible two card system?

Nvidia calls theirs SLI and ATI calls theirs Crossfire. Once you have picked one of them, you are welded to only doing that for a two card solution as long as you run that particular mobo.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

So let's say that you decide to get an SLI mobo today and a single SLI card. Now a year goes by and you decide to upgrade. You now have 3 options open to you.


[*]A single ATI card, which is probably better than your original single Nvidia card.


[*]A single Nvidia card which probably has the same advantage as the single ATI card.

Yes, there are differences between ATI and Nvidia but we certainly have no crystal ball that will tell us who has the great card a year from now.


[*]Two new Nvidia cards. Because your choice of mobo means that two ATI cards are off the table for you.

It will be generally true at that point that two new cards will be the most expensive upgrade. However, a single card from either company should be a nice upgrade from what you bought initially.

OK what do you guys suggest?

I want to keep the duel video card options ( that way when I start stacking images and what not ) I will be able to have the power. and plus I want duel video cards.

and to everyone else oh crap thank's for letting me know that the board is a 775.

I want duel core, and duel video cards.

I'm no imagery expert, but doesn't photo work imply 2D graphics - thus negating the 'power' provided by two 3D cards?

Nevermind.

/pulls out 10 foot pole.

Aside from everything listed above, i still don't see which Power Supply you have. If you want dual Video cards then your going to want a good PSU. Also, if your going to be doing imagery work then a big HD is in order. Also, what kind of graphics work are you doing?