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Which motherboard?

Discussion in 'Building a new PC' started by Cobe, Jul 27, 2009.

  1. Cobe

    Cobe Member

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    Hi guys.. I'm building a new super computer and need to decide on a motherboard. The one thing I found on my old computer was I never had enough PCI and PCIe slots I had two of each and would require a lot more for various cards going in. Also I want as high end as I can get preferably on an nvidia chipset as I have more knoledge with nvidia more than I do ati so what monos would you guys suggest please include ati boards if u prefere this board
     
  2. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    You presumably mean an nvidia graphics card, not chipset. The chipset manufacturers around these days are Intel, AMD and nvidia. nvidia chipsets, regardless of whatever you may say about their graphics cards, are generally regarded as absolutely diabolical. They routinely fail, are unstable, use more power than the main CPU, and are just generally unpleasant to work with.

    The first thing I will have to ask is what's your budget, and what's your intended use? No use building a gaming PC if you don't play games.
     
  3. Cobe

    Cobe Member

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    Ok well without sounding like a big head.. Budgets not an option.. I've been looking at a graphics card that I've seen for £1025 I'll be using it for gaming mainly
     
  4. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    A MARS295? You do realise it's not even 50% faster than a graphics card that only costs £240 right?
     
  5. Cobe

    Cobe Member

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    lol Your bang on on the Mars295 dont have a clue how fast it is but it sounds and looks a nifty little thing..just a shame it doesnt support SLI :D so why would they make a card that costs 5 times the amount of another card that is the equivalent in performance??? I dont get that 1
     
  6. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    The MARS295 does support SLI actually.
    The reason it's so expensive is not because it's amazing, it's because it's a limited edition 'proof of concept' prototype. It is two GTX285s with double the usual amount of memory, on the same PCB. GTX295 cards are usually two separate PCBs - though the single PCB ones are now starting to come into retail.
    The £240 card I speak of is the Radeon HD4870X2 and is usually what I recommend - it supports crossfire, you can use two of them at once - I do it.
    Two of these at £480 is still less than half the price of a MARS295 and in almost every game that matters will work out faster. It is worth mentioning that cards of this scale are only worth having for 30" monitors, as only that size supports the high resolution of 2560x1600.
     
  7. Cobe

    Cobe Member

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    right...I didnt think it did support SLI just cos when I read the specs it didnt say anything about SLI where as the others did..I figured you was a radeon man lol.

    so what would you suggest?? to give you an idea I play a lot of Americas Army which is one of the most demanding games ive played when it comes to computer speed and graphics.. I like to play on max settings with off the scale fps...

    Also what manufacture of that radeon card would you suggest? theres a lot of different companies out there..does it even matter?
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2009
  8. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Americas Army, or Arma 2? I never recall the original Americas Army games being that demanding but Arma 2 is absolutely ridiculous. I would still say go with the HD4870X2, it's much better value overall, and performs the best at highest resolutions. Two of them would be advisable if you do intend to use a 30" monitor (if you considered the MARS, money must be no object - so I'd certainly recommend one, they're awesome). My preferred manufacturer is XFX - they offer the cheapest radeons, but they're also one of the highest quality partners. I'd still suggest them even if they were the most expensive.
     
  9. Cobe

    Cobe Member

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    I'm refering to Americas army 3 it's all changed a lot.. Long story.. Money really isn't an option but seems pointless getting the mars if it isn't going to improve performance over the radeon.. So which mother board would u consider? Baring in mind I need a lot of expansion slots
     
  10. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    There is a fixed number of expansion slots for all motherboards these days - if you're going for two 4870X2s, something like the Biostar TPower X58 would be a good choice.
     
  11. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    The NZXT lexa Blackline will support the TPower as it is a standard ATX board.
     

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