GTR, get a PC P&C PSU. either that, or try and import a HX520/620 from abroad. id say get the 3870x2, and get the P5E x38 board. BTW you cant trisli GTs/GT, onyl GTX and Ultra. also Tagan PSUs are superb aswell. dont forget enermax. as for case, you might want to wait for the antec twelve hundred. and the x48 chipset is here soon, but itll cost quite a bit. also the newer wolfdales are coming out, and a Q9450 will be the best for the price. id deffo wait for them, instead of an extreme CPU.
Can't get PC Power & Cooling or Corsair or Tagan PSU Yeah I want to get HD3870 X2, but it's very expensive R5500 = $723, I'm planning on getting ASUS Maximus Formula yeah i've found out that GT/GTS cannot 3-Way Sli Antec Twelve Case is really great, but it's gonna take forever to arrive in SA. Plus i'm not in a hurry getting a case X48 chipset mobo will cost WAY to much, about R4500 = $592. X38 is good enough Q9450 is about R4500 = $592. believe it or not! South Africa is ridiculous.
I've no idea what the gigabyte units are like. Given the fact that your PC will ue less than 300W, I see no point in going with an 800W unit for no particular reason. I've first hand experience that the Toughpower units are good. Given the fact that components are so much more expensive in South Africa, it surprises me that you're willing to take on things you don't think you'll need.
At first i have CF HD3870 or having one HD3870 X2 and a OCed Quad core, BUT after seeing the prices, i don't even need that much now, I'm thinking ahead but i'm thinking too far ahead. So i thinking i'll get -Thermaltake ToughPower 700w -ASUS Maximus Formula these are the two components that i'll get for now.
Given the prices in your area, you can't afford to spend money on something you're not going to use yet. Unless you have a large widescreen monitor, a single 8800GT or HD3870 can handle anything out at the moment. By the time you get around to buying a second card, you probably won't even be able to buy a similar one any more because something else will have taken its place, something which will also probably handle anything out there at 1280x1024.
I found a Online shop that sells component extremely cheap, well if you compare to other online stores. I'll be getting a 24" or even a 26" monitor, 1920x1200 resolution. so would 8800GT or HD3870 good enough? which RAM should i get(^^ they are so so cheap!) G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR800 http://www.landmarkpc.co.za/store/gskill-4gb2-240pin-ddr2-sdram-ddr800-p-363.html or Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX - XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR800 http://www.landmarkpc.co.za/store/c...4dhx-xms2-240pin-ddr2-sdram-ddr800-p-371.html or Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR800 http://www.landmarkpc.co.za/store/corsair-twin2x20486400c4-240pin-ddr2-sdram-ddr800-p-1318.html or Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR800 http://www.landmarkpc.co.za/store/crucial-ballistix-240pin-ddr2-sdram-ddr800-p-344.html I really like the G.Skill 4Gb kit, if i get one know and another one later i would have 8GB of RAM, but would Windows support it?
Nope, 32-bit windows will only read up to 3.5GB. So far, the only game I can't max at 1920x1200 on my HD3870 is Crysis, and if I set shadows and shaders to low, I can max the rest of the settings. You won't be able to use AA at that resolution for Crysis (but you will for everything else) as the game uses lots of texture memory. As for the RAM, go with http://www.landmarkpc.co.za/store/corsair-twin2x20486400c4-240pin-ddr2-sdram-ddr800-p-1318.html?
Corsair XMS is better than XMS2 with heatsinks? The one that you reccommend is cheap, so i should be able to buy another 2Gb which makes it 4GB. can you please tell me how many GB of ram does -Windows 32-bits and 64-bits support? -Windows Vista 32-bits and 64-bits support? and which Vista is best for gaming?
The XMS2 does actually come with a heatsink, the whole bit that you see with the XMS logo on it is a heatspreader, the Dominator style heatsink is just a bit more obvious! Windows 32 bit will support 3.5GB max. Windows 64-bit can theoretically support as much RAM as you like, but performance gains drop off after 4GB, and realistically you shouldn't use more than 8GB. It's worth bearing in mind that even while running COD4 and Crysis at the same time, I can't fill 4GB of memory usage. Always go with a 32-bit OS for playing games, there are big driver issues with 64-bit versions. Windows XP is generally a better OS for games, you don't get DX10, but that's not enough of a disadvantage to counteract how much better it runs, plus DX10 can't render anti-aliasing.
yes i know XP 32-bit is better for gaming but, what if i have 4GB of ram? It doesn't support it. I do photoshop, and you know that PS use a lot of ram, and i need it, or should i stay with 2GB for now, and wait for improvement on Vista.
It supports nearly 4GB of RAM.. I've had no issues related to the amount of memory in my system, not with proper graphics drivers anyway. If I were you, stick with XP Pro and use 4GBs.
but it won't use all 4GB, but hell, rather have more than enough, than have less and need it...so you use 4GB of ram? and you say that you can max out all games with HD3870 on 1920x1200 resolution except crysis, won't the fps be low?
I do indeed use 4GB. I run Call of Duty 4 at 2560x1600 and the game pretty much never drops below 30fps. Given that 1920x1200 is barely more than half the pixels - you're looking at at least 50fps with an HD3870.
so this is what my rig will hopefully look like next week. Next Week: -ASUS Maximus Formula or ASUS Blitz Formula (WHICH ONE!) -MSI 8600GTS 256MB -Intel Pentium Dual Core E2160 -2GB DDR2 800 A-DATA value ram -Thermaltake ToughPower 700w -Thermalright Ultra 120 heatsink -Zalmen ZM-F3 120mm fan Maybe next week: -Acer 24"/26" monitor -Razor Lachesis 3G mouse 4000dpi -Razor Tarantula/Lycosa gaming keyboard Later this year: -Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 -Sapphire HD3870 512MB OR HD3870X2 -Antec Nine Hundred gaming case unless Twelve hundred is out! -2x 500GB harddrive which hdd company is better?
get a cheaper x38 and better GPU oh and id opt for the blitz. it give extra lanes to the second PCie16x to make it an 8x and 16x when xfireing
the blitz formula is p35 chipset. and it is the TOPest p35 mobo you can find. normally p35 runs xfire in 16 and 4 pcie lanes but this board runs themin 16 and 8 pcie lanes
When I said don'g to nuts on the graphics card, I didn't mean it that badly. Get a proper GPU to start with and save by getting a cheaper motherboard.
I thought Blitz Formula has 2x PCI-E 2.0 X16? @sam Lol, yeah i know that, which chipset should i get then? X38 supports 2x PCI-E 2.0 x16, and bit faster. P35 only supports 1x PCI-E 2.0 x16 and 1x PCI-E 2.0 x4/x8? Should i go for the latest chipset and the cheapest X38 chipset, that support 2x PCI-E 2.0 x16(ASUS P5E) OR kinda old P35 chipset that supports PCI-E 1.0 x16(P35-DS3R) Gigabyte will save me quite a lot of cash but old tech, ASUS will save a little cash but better and faster?
