Possible new pc specs - comments?

[thisgeek]

Since I'll probably be getting this all from rectron, you'll probably notice the gigabyte trend here:

Gigabyte K8N-SLI nforce4 board
2x Gigabyte Nvidia 6800GT 256Mb (SLI)
4x 512Mb DDR400 DIMMS
Athlon64-X2 3800+ Dual core CPU

+ non important (gigabyte) 19" monitor & new (gigabyte) chassis.

I'm still in two minds about the CPU - not sure if I should fork out the extra dosh for the dual core right now, and rather settle for a Athlon64 3.2.

As it stands above, it's a cool 15k, whereas changing the cpu drops the price to about 13.5k.

But then again, this baby should last me a couple of years.

[rburley]

2x Gigabyte Nvidia 6800GT 256Mb (SLI)


this entirely necessary? but hey if you can afford it why not.
what type of ram?
Go for the dual core if you planning not to upgrade for a while, from next year there should be many dual core compatible programs

[rburley]

BTW you cant go wrong with gigabytle:D

[Scooby_Doo]

i would wait for the new ati cards...

[Chris]

Yes, I would stay with those specs although if you can fork out another 1K for the AMD 4400+ X2, it would be perfect

PS: Just look at benchies to see what I'm talking about + it has 2MB L2 Cache.

[killadoob]

maybe look at putting in 2 1 gig sticks they about the same price as 2 512 plus you can upgrade later

[RVFmal]

If you plan on buying all the above at Rectron you will in all probability be looking at a smidgen over 18K (incl monitor and chassis).

It would be R 1000 cheaper from other suppliers with Asus components.

(These are obviously dealer prices)

[P0tenc]

Forget the 6800GT go for the 7800GT only a few rands more and next gen. I agree with Killadoob 2x1gb is better than 4x512mb. Also if you're planning on the system lasting for a few years definatly go for the 3800+ duel core.

[martin]

maybe look at putting in 2 1 gig sticks they about the same price as 2 512 plus you can upgrade later

This does seem sensible.

[oober]

With such a setup why go for a crappy Gigabyte Screen?
The screen is almost the most important part for me.

I would hehe, get a bit lower specs and go for a 19" LCD screen thats about R3500 at Cyberdyne.

[thisgeek]

Gawdamnit. Stop twisting my arm! :eek:

[thisgeek]

With such a setup why go for a crappy Gigabyte Screen?
The screen is almost the most important part for me.

I would hehe, get a bit lower specs and go for a 19" LCD screen thats about R3500 at Cyberdyne.

Costs are a factor -- also CRT screens are better for gaming, IMHO. :p

[Toxin]

Not!! :p

Well, not necessarily. :) There are some awesome LCDs out there: Viewsonic VX924, Hyundai L90D+, the new Samsung 910TS
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/display/20050215/lcd-01.html
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/display/20050602/index.html

They've all been proven to be more than capable for gaming, unfortunately for viewing movies most of them fall short.

[rburley]

these new acers have a impressive 6ms response time, they also claim to be built for gaming. Look good to
click me (http://us.acer.com/acerpanam/page4.do?dau22.oid=10546&UserCtxParam=0&GroupCtxParam=0&dctx1=25&CountryISOCtxParam=US&LanguageISOCtxParam=en&crc=1105293665)

[Angellus]

Forget the 6800GT go for the 7800GT only a few rands more and next gen.

Well I see this all the time. The 6800GT can do everything the 7800 can do. I can even run the luna demo that was run on the PS3 as well. If you are going to get 2 6800GT's for less than what the 7800GT costs then it is a great buy. They will by far outperform the 7800GTX.

The whole NEXT GEN things is causing many people to buy the 7800GTX when it is pretty much a tweaked/upgraded 6800GT/Ultra. I say again there are no new features.

BTW If you can rather go for the ASUS Nforce 4 SLI. One of the best mobo's I have seen.

[thisgeek]

Ok, my revised specs are now:

1x Gigabyte K8N-SLI Mobo (Does what I need it to do, and it's not expensive)
2x Gigabyte 7800GT 256Mb
2x 1GB DIMM
1x Athlon64 3200 CPU

+ chassis & psu

All for around 13k. I can always upgrade the CPU at a later stage - at the moment I want to try keep the costs below 15k.

[bin3]

Decide your main role for your machine.

If there will be concurrent users using it, go for dual processors.

If you just want to fastest possible, best possible gaming experience, get the fastest SINGLE CPU you can afford.

ATI sucks. This is my personal, biased opinion, but until they sort their Linux stuff out, they suck.

Like another poster said: 2x 6800GT's would be my choice before a 7800. The bit of performance benefit you will only gain on very high resolutions, i.e. 1600x1280x32bitx4aa etc, etc. You don't play games at that resolution anyways, most of the time, so it is just not worth the money.

Memory: For this machine, get as big a memory stick as you can afford. If you can afford the 1GB sticks, much rather go for that - Your memory bandwidth will thank you.

Get yourself nice and fast disks, 10000RPM SATA or such; You don't want to wait for disk on this machine.

[rburley]

Try go for a 4000+

[Angellus]

Try go for a 4000+

It is a pretty big jump from a 3200+ but yes if you can, go for it. Another option would be a 3800+. My friend has one and I can tell you there is almost no difference between the 3800 and the 4000. Just make sure you get a Venice core 3800+.

[mikkelz_za]

VX924 (http://www.viewsonic.com/products/desktopdisplays/lcddisplays/xseries/vx924/)


ClearMotiv 3ms video response time
XTREME 3ms video response enables digital HD broadcast-quality full motion video.

:D

[Inertia]

The VX924 got bad write-ups...

Apparently the whole 3ms hoohaw doesn't perform much better than ur standard 16ms-ender. Just another marketing gimmick

If ur looking for an LCD, I would definetely try and get the Acer AL1951Bs, I orderd it last week, looks amazing :D

[killadoob]

martin it is right because do think games like bf 2 that already love 1.5 gigs or more are gonna stop

so when u want upgrade your ram how are you gonna do it with all your slots full? when you could just get 1 gig sticks

[Toxin]

The problem is that there isn't a universal standard for measuring the ms speed. Every manufacturer has it's own. Personally I don't look at the ms speed. If your thinking about going the LCD route, do some searching, read reviews and then decide what you want.

[h0ll0w]

I'm currently on a P4 3.0 Ghz, budget ASUS mobo and 4 X 256MB DDR400 sticks.

I'm pondering a upgrade to AMD64 4000+, 2 X 512MB Kingston HyperX and some ASUS NForce4 Ultra mobo. I will be keeping my GF 6600gt, cause I agree that the G70 is the same core as the GF6800GT, just sooped up with some MHz and pipelines, no real new features. I'll maybe invest in a 2nd hand 6800GT or Ultra somewhere at the end of this year.

What do u guys reckon? worthwhile ?

[Angellus]

I'm currently on a P4 3.0 Ghz, budget ASUS mobo and 4 X 256MB DDR400 sticks.

I'm pondering a upgrade to AMD64 4000+, 2 X 512MB Kingston HyperX and some ASUS NForce4 Ultra mobo. I will be keeping my GF 6600gt, cause I agree that the G70 is the same core as the GF6800GT, just sooped up with some MHz and pipelines, no real new features. I'll maybe invest in a 2nd hand 6800GT or Ultra somewhere at the end of this year.

What do u guys reckon? worthwhile ?

What do you plan on doing with it? I have almost the same system

[h0ll0w]

Games mainly.

[Angellus]

Yep for gaming there is not a lot that can beat that. The 4000+ is great but you can even get a venice core 3800+. It is pretty much the same speed. The ram is fine and the 6600GT will serve you well for some time. Save up some cash and when the 6600GT becomes a bit slow tehn upgrade to what is good at that stage.

[Silent_Bob]

i got a 6600GT PCI-E, this card rocks, it works so much better than i expected!

[P0tenc]

pffft You all that say a 6800 is better than a 7800 open your eyes plz, you might aswell say a 5900 is just as good as a 6800. 7800 is the newest best card from nVidia to buy a old 6800 to save mayb a few rand would be stupid. Stop being stupid and let the man get a cutting edge new next gen graphics card. Any idiot that believes a 6800GT/Ultra beats a 7800GT/GTX should rather keep quiet and save himself the imbarisment.

But hey....don't take my work for it-->
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1848536,00.asp
There are many other reviews aswell.....take your pic.

Glad to see your going with the 7800GT thisgeek :p
It's a pitty you had to downgrade the processor....the 3800+ duel core is much nicer, but money is always a problem :rolleyes:

[Angellus]

pffft You all that say a 6800 is better than a 7800 open your eyes plz, you might aswell say a 5900 is just as good as a 6800. 7800 is the newest best card from nVidia to buy a old 6800 to save mayb a few rand would be stupid. Stop being stupid and let the man get a cutting edge new next gen graphics card. Any idiot that believes a 6800GT/Ultra beats a 7800GT/GTX should rather keep quiet and save himself the imbarisment.

But hey....don't take my work for it-->
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1848536,00.asp
There are many other reviews aswell.....take your pic.

Glad to see your going with the 7800GT thisgeek :p
It's a pitty you had to downgrade the processor....the 3800+ duel core is much nicer, but money is always a problem :rolleyes:

Next time you think about making a silly post about something someone else posted please read their whole post and not the just the first sentence. Yes the 7800GTX is faster than the 6800GT by around 30-35% but if you read my whole post you would see that I said they have the same features and if you buy 2 6800GT's they would be faster than 1 7800GTX. I can get 2 6800GT's for around R5000. The 7800GTX is around R6000-R7000. I also said 2 GT's would be better IF THEY ARE CHEAPER THAN THE 7800GTX.

So before telling someone to keep quiet why don't you keep quiet and first read everything they wrote.

[thisgeek]

Geez guys, chill.

Anyway, I AM getting dual 7800GT's for a cool 7k (ex vat) for both.

I've ordered the stuff already. Just awaiting delivery. Could be awhile ;)

[thisgeek]

But hey....don't take my work for it-->
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1848536,00.asp
There are many other reviews aswell.....take your pic.



Hmm.. just took a look at that review. Considering that my 6800's best score on default settings (after enabling one of the pipelines) was around 3400-ish, the SLI certainly kicks ass!

Here's a review of the specific card:
http://www.ocworkbench.com/2005/gigabyte/gv-nx78T256v-b/g1.htm

[Angellus]

Geez guys, chill.

Anyway, I AM getting dual 7800GT's for a cool 7k (ex vat) for both.

I've ordered the stuff already. Just awaiting delivery. Could be awhile ;)

2x7800GT's :eek: that is pretty nice. What CPU are you getting with that? Even with a 4000+ the 7800GTX/GT SLI are cpu limited so getting 2 with a 3000+ or 3800+ X2 is kinda pointless. If you get those 2 cards seriously consider something like the 3800+ single core (venice core) or the 4000+. SLI 7800's are even CPU limited in a few games at 1600x1200.

[thisgeek]

CPU upgrade will have to come later. I'm going with a Athlon64 3200 right now. I'm not worried about 1600x1200 at this point, cuz my monitor can't do it. Another upgrade at a later stage.

[Angellus]

CPU upgrade will have to come later. I'm going with a Athlon64 3200 right now. I'm not worried about 1600x1200 at this point, cuz my monitor can't do it. Another upgrade at a later stage.

Why the 2 7800GT's ? Seems to me like you won't be using them fully? Why not rather go for 1 7800GTX and then later when you upgrade the rest maybe get another GTX. They will be cheaper by then. What monitor do you have and what res will you be using it at?

[gkm]

I agree. With that CPU, two 7800's will not break a sweat. Except maybe for some artificial benchmarks, the one GPU will probably just be gathering dust.

I always think it is important to try to keep a system balanced. There is no point in having one crazy component which is then kept back by the rest of the system.

[P0tenc]

Next time you think about making a silly post about something someone else posted please read their whole post and not the just the first sentence. Yes the 7800GTX is faster than the 6800GT by around 30-35% but if you read my whole post you would see that I said they have the same features and if you buy 2 6800GT's they would be faster than 1 7800GTX. I can get 2 6800GT's for around R5000. The 7800GTX is around R6000-R7000. I also said 2 GT's would be better IF THEY ARE CHEAPER THAN THE 7800GTX.

So before telling someone to keep quiet why don't you keep quiet and first read everything they wrote.

The 7800GT is only slightly more expensive than the 6800GT. And we've been talking bout SLI the whole time. I'm not quite sure why you would even compare 2x6800GT to 1x7800GT. Now if you read my first post you would have seen that I said the 7800GT is only slightly more expensive than the 6800GT. So maybe if you read my first post properly you wouldn't have posted your silly post. :cool:

[Angellus]

The 7800GT is only slightly more expensive than the 6800GT. And we've been talking bout SLI the whole time. I'm not quite sure why you would even compare 2x6800GT to 1x7800GT. Now if you read my first post you would have seen that I said the 7800GT is only slightly more expensive than the 6800GT. So maybe if you read my first post properly you wouldn't have posted your silly post. :cool:


So how much is the 7800GT and how much is the 6800GT? I got my 6800GT a while back for R2500. I wouldn't buy now, ATI is about to launch the R520 and Nvidia should respond so I would rather wait a while.

[P0tenc]

I agree. With that CPU, two 7800's will not break a sweat. Except maybe for some artificial benchmarks, the one GPU will probably just be gathering dust.

I always think it is important to try to keep a system balanced. There is no point in having one crazy component which is then kept back by the rest of the system.

Make no mistake it will not be gathering dust....and if you know how SLI works you wouuld'nt have said that. Fair enough the CPU is not ideal, but it will do it's job for now. 7800GTX is double what 7800GT costs. So if I could choose 2x7800GT or 1x7800GTX. Now that's a real no brainer 2x7800GT wins every time. Upgrading the processor will be much less of a hassle later on. I think thisgeek made an excellent choice. Later on he can pop in a duel core 4000+ or something like that for much cheaper while the 7800GTX will remain at a premium for several months.

Once fururemark05 returns that luvly score your gona know you made the right choice thisgeek :p
And 6 months from now when the 6800GT looks old and outdated, your going to be glad you chose the 7800GT :cool:

[thisgeek]

Once fururemark05 returns that luvly score your gona know you made the right choice thisgeek :p
And 6 months from now when the 6800GT looks old and outdated, your going to be glad you chose the 7800GT :cool:

That's my point really.
At least I'll be comfortable knowing that hopefully my graphics perfomance will be able to keep up with the latest and greatest games for the next year or so (pessimism?), and all I'll need to do really is to upgrade the CPU to something decent.

The rest of you are just jealous! :D

[Angellus]

Make no mistake it will not be gathering dust....and if you know how SLI works you wouuld'nt have said that. Fair enough the CPU is not ideal, but it will do it's job for now. 7800GTX is double what 7800GT costs. So if I could choose 2x7800GT or 1x7800GTX. Now that's a real no brainer 2x7800GT wins every time. Upgrading the processor will be much less of a hassle later on. I think thisgeek made an excellent choice. Later on he can pop in a duel core 4000+ or something like that for much cheaper while the 7800GTX will remain at a premium for several months.

Once fururemark05 returns that luvly score your gona know you made the right choice thisgeek :p
And 6 months from now when the 6800GT looks old and outdated, your going to be glad you chose the 7800GT :cool:

When the 6800GT is "outdated" the 7800GT will be as well, they have very similar performance. The 7800 series is not a huge jump over the 6800 series. The 6800 series was a massive jump over the 5900's. Well if you want to use Synthetic Benchmarks to measure performance then that is your choice I guess. I prefer to use real world apps/games. The Difference between the 6800Ultra and 7800GT is very small in Doom III, FEAR, Far Cry and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. My 6800GT runs higher than Ultra speeds. As I said before the 7800 is a tweaked 6800, no new features.

For the pricetehh 7800GT is a great card but I still think SLI is a bit of a waste. But hey if you can spend it then by all means enjoy.

[EDIT] Links to show the similar performance of the 6800Ultra and the 7800GT

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce7800-gt_16.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce7800-gt_10.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce7800-gt_9.html

Xbitlabs regarding performance in Far Cry


On the “Research” level the situation is more obvious for high-end graphics cards: the GeForce 7800 GT is faster than the RADEON X850 XT PE and the GeForce 6800 Ultra, but the difference in performance is not significant.

[P0tenc]

So how much is the 7800GT and how much is the 6800GT? I got my 6800GT a while back for R2500. I wouldn't buy now, ATI is about to launch the R520 and Nvidia should respond so I would rather wait a while.

Ok first off.....ATI had production problems with their next gen card so their late to the market with it(unavailable as of yet). While the 7800 has been available for a while already. Nvidia might respond with a faster 7800 but the core should be the same only with a minimal increase in clock and core mhz if the new ATI threatens the 7800....which I doubt it will.

R 2,891.00 6800GT PCI-E
R 2,065.00 6800Gt AGP
about R3000 last time I checked 7800GT PCI-E

The prices seem to be dropping as new stock comes in.
I must appologise the 7800GTX is not double the 7800GT's price. I was mistaking it with the 6800ULTRA 512mb (R 6,468.00) :o
But 2x 7800GT's is still better than 1x7800GTX :p

[Luke7777]

As long as you stick to a single monitor, SLI is fine. Not to be considered if you think about multi-monitor gaming

[Angellus]

Ok first off.....ATI had production problems with their next gen card so their late to the market with it(unavailable as of yet). While the 7800 has been available for a while already. Nvidia might respond with a faster 7800 but the core should be the same only with a minimal increase in clock and core mhz if the new ATI threatens the 7800....which I doubt it will.

R 2,891.00 6800GT PCI-E
R 2,065.00 6800Gt AGP
about R3000 last time I checked 7800GT PCI-E

The prices seem to be dropping as new stock comes in.
I must appologise the 7800GTX is not double the 7800GT's price. I was mistaking it with the 6800ULTRA 512mb (R 6,468.00) :o
But 2x 7800GT's is still better than 1x7800GTX :p

True, but have a look at the links above. I think it shows that there is not much of a difference between the 6800Ultra and the 7800GT.

[gkm]

Make no mistake it will not be gathering dust....and if you know how SLI works you wouuld'nt have said that.

Thanks, I know how SLI works. I was using it as figure of speech.

@thisgeek: Yes, we are jealous. :cool:

[Angellus]

Thanks, I know how SLI works. I was using it as figure of speech.

@thisgeek: Yes, we are jealous. :cool:

Speak for yourself :D My 6800GT@457Mhz core and 1300Mhz Mem is BETTER THAN ALL :D

[P0tenc]

-=7800GT=-
24 pixel pipelines (16 in 6800GT)
302 million transistors (36% more than the GeForce 6800 Ultra)
0.11 micron process runs cooler (0.13 micron process for 6800)
8 vertex shader pipelines(6 in 6800GT)
Increasing Vertex Efficiency
Enhanced MADD Instructions Efficiency

Is the G70 based on the NV40 architecture? yes. And NVIDIA has made definite improvements on top of it.

I won't argue that it's ground bracking like the 6800 was compared to the 5900 but you can't ignore the obviously better card here. thisgeek seems to want cutting edge here so....he chose the 7800GT it's obviously better than the 6800 series. The 7800 is basically a tweaked reworked souped up 6800. So why go for the 6800? I myself own a 6800 but if I was in the market now.....I would get a 7800GT.

[Angellus]

-=7800GT=-
24 pixel pipelines (16 in 6800GT)
302 million transistors (36% more than the GeForce 6800 Ultra)
0.11 micron process runs cooler (0.13 micron process for 6800)
8 vertex shader pipelines(6 in 6800GT)
Increasing Vertex Efficiency
Enhanced MADD Instructions Efficiency

Is the G70 based on the NV40 architecture? yes. And NVIDIA has made definite improvements on top of it.

I won't argue that it's ground bracking like the 6800 was compared to the 5900 but you can't ignore the obviously better card here. thisgeek seems to want cutting edge here so....he chose the 7800GT it's obviously better than the 6800 series. The 7800 is basically a tweaked reworked souped up 6800. So why go for the 6800? I myself own a 6800 but if I was in the market now.....I would get a 7800GT.

I am not saying the 6800 is better merely that the gap is very small. If I had to buy now I would also buy the 7800 but I have a 6800 so I am set for a while. IMO it is pointless to go from one generation to the next unless there is a huge jump.

BTW I had no idea the 7800GT was that cheap. Are those prices including vat?

[Angellus]

-=7800GT=-
24 pixel pipelines (16 in 6800GT)
302 million transistors (36% more than the GeForce 6800 Ultra)
0.11 micron process runs cooler (0.13 micron process for 6800)
8 vertex shader pipelines(6 in 6800GT)
Increasing Vertex Efficiency
Enhanced MADD Instructions Efficiency


Actually those are the 7800GTX specs.

20 pixel pipelines (16 in 6800GT)
302 million transistors (36% more than the GeForce 6800 Ultra)
0.11 micron process runs cooler (0.13 micron process for 6800)
7 vertex shader pipelines(6 in 6800GT)
Increasing Vertex Efficiency
Enhanced MADD Instructions Efficiency

Here is the link.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce7800-gt_2.html

[P0tenc]

Are those prices including vat?

nope

I also want SLI 7800GT's now :(

btw thisgeek.....you can always try o/cing your 3200+ they o/c good most of the time.my 3000+ running at +15% and my ram as well. :p

[Angellus]

OK what would you do if you had this option?
Nvidia Recommends 6800GT at $299(R1850) and the 7800GT at $449(R2780)

For those prices what would you choose? :D

[P0tenc]

Are those prices including vat?

nope.
Soz your right bout the 24/20 pipes and vertex shaders......I was woken up early this morning. I got no damn sleep :( But this brings up another question......will the 7800GT be able to unlock pipes. I'm thinking yes. There's prolly already a debate about this at www.guru3d.com in the forums. I'm just to damn lazzy to go read. I'm sooo tired. Need sleep, or I can go play wow, yes I think I will go play wow :p

I also want SLI 7800GT's now

btw thisgeek.....you can always try o/cing your 3200+ they o/c good most of the time.my 3000+ running at +15% and my ram as well. :p
My graphics card I had to mod the bios to pump some more volts into it since I got a vanilla 6800. original specs 325/700 oc to 375/820 I also managed to unlock one vertex shared. the pixel pipelines was a no go :( That's all I could get out of the old girl. She runs rock solid stable though.

[Angellus]

nope.
Soz your right bout the 24/20 pipes and vertex shaders......I was woken up early this morning. I got no damn sleep :( But this brings up another question......will the 7800GT be able to unlock pipes.

Hehe this is spooky, we have the same birthday and we both didn't get sleep last night. (I worked the whole night and still busy). We also like to argue our point :D

[P0tenc]

OK what would you do if you had this option?
Nvidia Recommends 6800GT at $299(R1850) and the 7800GT at $449(R2780)

For those prices what would you choose? :D

I always try go for the next gen. If money was an issue I can see ppl buying the 6800GT. But this is'nt the US :( or UK. Here they make us pay. Till we bleed....and then they make us pay some more. I need sustinance.

*Goes to see if there's something to eat*

[P0tenc]

Hehe this is spooky, we have the same birthday and we both didn't get sleep last night. (I worked the whole night and still busy). We also like to argue our point :D

LOL
Mayb your my evil twin stuck in my head......and I'm actually typing this to myself :eek:

[Angellus]

LOL
Mayb your my evil twin stuck in my head......and I'm actually typing this to myself :eek:

Evil yes :D Well I have to go finish my work because I have to present it at 17:00. Still have a mountain of work to do.

[EDIT] BTW I am your younger twin by about 4 years :D

[killadoob]

wow where you guys buying your cards for so cheap

[RVFmal]

wow where you guys buying your cards for so cheap

I would venture to say that most are dealers, or at least have friends who are.

[thisgeek]

nope

I also want SLI 7800GT's now :(

btw thisgeek.....you can always try o/cing your 3200+ they o/c good most of the time.my 3000+ running at +15% and my ram as well. :p

Well, I'm currently running a P4 2.6ghz with a vanilla 6800.

I'm not sure about the Athlon64's, but hopefully the 3200 should have better performance than what I have now -- which incidentally I'm quite happy with.

I'm not really into overclocking, I always feel dubious about my system's stability after mucking around with it, probably because I don't really know what I'm doing, and I couldn't be arsed to get extreme cooling.

[thisgeek]

wow where you guys buying your cards for so cheap

I know a few people who are dealers with various suppliers, and have no problem with supplying me with stuff at cost on the odd occasion.

I'm getting the Gigabyte 7800GT from rectron at a cost of R3500 ex vat each, so it means I'm paying R7980 for those 2 babies. The cost of these cards is 57% of the total cost of the equipment I'm getting, which includes mobo, ram & gaming chassis. :eek:

[BarFly]

As long as you stick to a single monitor, SLI is fine. Not to be considered if you think about multi-monitor gaming

Why is that?

[Perdition]

I know a few people who are dealers with various suppliers, and have no problem with supplying me with stuff at cost on the odd occasion.

I'm getting the Gigabyte 7800GT from rectron at a cost of R3500 ex vat each, so it means I'm paying R7980 for those 2 babies. The cost of these cards is 57% of the total cost of the equipment I'm getting, which includes mobo, ram & gaming chassis. :eek:

I would seriously recommend only getting one 7800GT for now if your monitor can't handle 1600x1200. You will be wasting your money on a second card as you will not see a performance increase (unless you really need your games running at 200+ FPS :p ). By the time you get a monitor that can handle 1600x1200 the price of the 7800GT's would have come down... your money though.

[Luke7777]

Originally Posted by Luke7777
As long as you stick to a single monitor, SLI is fine. Not to be considered if you think about multi-monitor gaming
Why is that?
SLI can't handle multi-monitor. From their faq (http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#s7) :

How many monitors are supported with SLI in Multi-GPU mode?
When in Multi-GPU mode, SLI currently supports one monitor. When in Single-GPU mode, users have the ability to use up to 4 monitors using nView Multi-Display Technology and Windows XP Dualview.
Pity it was never mentioned when I purchased in Feb. FAQ got amended afterwards

nVidia forum (http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=1285) and 1 more (http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=1675)

[rburley]

I would seriously recommend only getting one 7800GT for now if your monitor can't handle 1600x1200.

why not only get 1 7800gtx? then when they become cheap in a year or so get another

[Angellus]

why not only get 1 7800gtx? then when they become cheap in a year or so get another

I think we talked about this earlies in the thread. the difference in performance between the 7800GT and 7800GTX is not big but the price difference is HUGE.

[Chris]

Yip, never buy the top-of-the-range card because there is always a better value-for-money alternative.

[P0tenc]

thisgeek......are you gona give us some feedback on your new system...mayb sum simple futuremark05 numbers or some other game?

[thisgeek]

Yep. I think mebbe I'm gonna rub it in and take photos 'n' everything! :)

I should hopefully have the stuff sometime next week.

[arf9999]

why not only get 1 7800gtx? then when they become cheap in a year or so get another
but make sure that they have the same bios...

[rburley]

in a few months nvidia is bringin out a driver that will let u have different cards in SLi. eg a 6800&6600gt

[KickTheBucket]

I havent really been following this thread, but here are my recommendations:

1. Get one 7800GTX - it's cheaper than 2x6800GT's and you don't need 2x7800GTX's at the moment. Wait a few months/years and get another 7800GTX to SLI when you need an upgrade.

2. Get 2x1GB RAM. In my opinion it's better to have just the 2 sticks cos 1. you have room to add a few more later; and 2. dual channel works best with 2 sticks (correct me if i'm wrong).

3. Then, try get a better proc. than a 3200+. It defeats half the point of having such a good system if your processor is gonna slow it down. The processor needs to be powerful enough to support the rest of your machine, esp a 7800GTX.

4. I've been incredibly happy with my Seagate SATA drives, so maybe invest in one of those. Make sure it's one with an 8MB cache... the performance will be better.

5. I've got a Viewsonic VX924 19" LCD and it's by far the best money i've spent. Absolutely amazing... but quite pricey. Even a 17" LCD will be better than a CRT. Yes, it may ghost a little (mine does), but it doesnt affect your game at all. And it just looks muuuuuch better than a CRT. Try get one with DVI.

Hope this helps :)

[P0tenc]

thisgeek has already stated that he will upgrade the processor at a later stage. His main concern was graphics, hence the 2x 7800GT's. Many ppl don't need many things....it's just what we want. ;) Even with the 3200+ processor I believe the 2x 7800GT's will produce a much better score compared to a 3800+ and one 7800GTX.

With the Lcd's I tend to agree with you, their clear,crisp and very stylish. But at the same time you can't ignore that fact that the screen is not ideal for gaming....aspecially when running high resolutions and having to look far into the distance. A lcd screen can make this look blocky were as a crt at high res will display it in far much greater detail. Although I also believe lcd's will crush crt's soon enough with all the advances being made. The response times on some of the newest lcd's are already very impressive. :p

[Angellus]

I looked around a bit more and have found one game in particular that will love SLI. You get the biggest boost in games that are REALLY SHADER INTENSIVE. FEAR has shown a big boost in performance from SLI rigs. FEAR is a next gen game with a completely new 3D engine so if that gets a boost most newer games will too.

For now my 6800GT is more than enough but I am going to start having problems later on. My CRT can run at 1600x1200x75hz but it can also run at 2048x1536x60hz. I have never tried games at that res but 1600x1200 does look really nice.

[freeek]

fear.... the game I really want to play but really fear to start..... 1 month of campus left..... 2 weeks for exams and study break..... then the FEAR shall start!

[LoneGunman]

if hi-res is the thing needed, then maybe look at paying the import duty and getting something out of the US - its still probably going to work out cheaper than buying from local.. I see 19inch flatscreen monitors are already going for an average of around $300 (under R2000)

[killadoob]

how much in postage?

40$ for an extra 1000 rand you can buy the 19inch from somewhere other incredible rip off

and have the guarantee

imagine you spend 2300 on importing and a month later its broken? then what

better off paying extra for the guarantee me thinkg

[P0tenc]

I have seen 19" LCD's for under R3k local. There is always the warranty to think about as well when buying from another country, and of rough handling while shipping and stuff like that. Also your monitor could be stuck by customs a while if their backlogged. All these things need to be taken in to consideration when buying from the US or UK or where ever.