This is my first build and I want to buy a Asus M3A mobo so I can take advantage of the pcie 2.0 slot along with a Geforce 9600 video card. What I'm confused about though is do I need some sort of special power supply with a 8 pin connector to use the pcie 2.0 slot, or would a pcie connector with 6 pins+2 work just as well?
I actually have a HD2900XT in my computer and it (being the powerhungry thing that it is) requires a 6 AND 8 pin connection to have all functions working. If I remember correctly the video card came with a 6->8 adapter.
That would make perfect sense; however, I think where I am getting stuck at is the 8-pin connector. To rephrase my question, my mobo says it needs a pcie 8 pin connector for the 2.0. What I'm trying to figure out is do I need to get a psu that has a 8 pin pcie connector which from what I've seen happens to be very expensive. My video card only requires 1 6 pin pcie or 2 4 pin molex r connectors, and after doing some research I have yet to find out if it comes with any adapters packaged in. Now I could easily use another standard pcie slot that isnt 2.0, but to take advantage of it I obviously need help lol. I've been trying to comb through info about this subject and have come up with nada except that 2.0 can take full advantage of your video cards potential. This is my first build ever and if someone could explain this to me I would be very grateful, thanks for the help.
Ok, that actually confused me a little bit but I'll respond with what I think might answer the question (maybe? lol). If you had a psu with 2 4 pin connectors, they should power it just fine (wouldn't have to be 1 8). However, ones with 8 pin connectors shouldn't be that expensive now-a-days. Also I'm POSITIVE my video card came with the adapter...I would hope nvidia wouldn't leave people out in the cold like that.
Cool you actually answered my question perfectly even though it was confusing. I actually just want to play "farcrysis" on high settings with no AA on. Any other good mobo suggestions that aren't sli, and video cards that I don't have to sell a kidney on the black market for *cough* 8800
Also Ive been reading that most people like intel cpus opposed to amd and how much amd's suck. I find it hard to believe that a 2.6 intel can compete with a 3.2 amd both dual core not quad. If there is something that I am missing please let me know.
intel core 2 duo is better then AMDs x2 6400+ cuz for 1 thing the intels got the 4-6mb L2 cache while AMDs L2 cache is 2mb. i dont know how much of a difference that makes though. it could also be the way it is with Intels P4 and Celeron, a 2ghz p4 would work better then a 2.4 maybe 2.6 celeron. i personally chose the AMD Athlon x2 +6400 Black Edition 3.2GHz and i dont regret it at all. its works great and MUCH cheaper then the Intel Core 2 Duo.
It all has to do with the architecture. I remember just a few years ago things like an AMD XP 3000+ which run at like 2.1ghz(actually my old computer which I'm typing this from right now) were comparable with P4's that run at 3ghz. Both the AMD and Intel CPU's are good, and you can usually find one of each in the same price bracket with similar performance. I know I didn't answer the question very well...I'll just reiterate that it's all in the architecture...an architecture which I can't fully understand or explain
A 1.8Ghz Core 2 Duo is about as fast as a 2.2Ghz AMD in the lower forms (E2160, E4300). In the higher forms, a 2.66Ghz Core 2 Duo (E6700, E6750) is as fast as a 3.2Ghz AMD, and the E8400 is faster than you could ever get an AMD, but it's quite rare. As for PCIe 2.0, it doesn't seem much to worry about really, I wouldn't buy a board just for that reason because by the time you need a card that actually requires it, you'll probably need a new board for a CPU that can keep up with it. If you do really want to make use of PCIe 2.0 though, you would be advised to get a decent PSU that comes with an 8-pin, more for stability reasons than anything else.
