System Specs Please comment and suggest!!

B

Hi guyz,

I have decided on the following proccy, motherboard and graphics card :

1. Proccy - Rite now I will use my old proccy. I will change it with 45nm
quadcore when it will be available.

2. Mobo - I am preferring Asus Maximus Formula that is not so costly as
Asus Striker II and also X38 chipset is gr8 for overclocking.The
board has also two true PCI-E X16 slots. It also comes with a
sound card.

3. VGA - HD3870X2. I may add another one after a couple of months when
price comes down.

Now as I hv also told previously, I dont wanna upgrade for at least 3 yrs.
Will this machine be future-proof for 3 yrs?

Any suggestions abt ny other options are most welcome.Thanx.

What is your current config?

B

C2D E6400
P5B Deluxe
7900 GT 256 MB
2 GB Ram

And what is your budget?
IMO Now is not the time to make any significant upgrades..
Almost every component is on the brink of being replaced by a newer technology.
You should wait for x48, g96/g100 proccys and 45nm quads availability..
And maybe DDR3.
Anyways your config isn't that bad. You should sail thru 2008 without major hiccups.

Dude 2GB Video RAM will be a kill for another 2 years. But technology changing every second....no one knows what future will bring!
But 2GB video RAM.....phew! Thats lot of horse power!!!!

B

I know my config is a good one. But i wanna make it better.
I cant play Crysis at full glory even at 1240 * 768.
I need at least the gfx card as soon as possible.
Budget abt 50-55K.

for a budget of 55k u can get an 8800GT or GTX and the maximus formula...or if u want sli go for the striker extreme and 2 8800GTs

B

Why to go for GTX with such high price and poor VFM??
Rather will get twoo 8800GTS 512 MB in sli than the GTX

.
I am waiting for the upcoming launch of NVIDIA 9800GT/GTX.
I am totally confused.
If NVIDIA cards dont perform well, HD3870X2 will do.

^^Dont get the 9800GX2. Its 8800GT in SLI with lower clock speeds. And its performance is lower than two 8800GT in SLI.

T

Wait till March end and check for new nvidia 9 Series for details. It will be better if You get a 9 series card for future proofing. If you are going to use the comp for High end gaming then rest assured it will be outdated in 1.5 year tops.

My PC is future proof for rest of my life as I only use it for Internet Browsring and chatting and oNly one game I play is AoC for which My Config is a way too overkill

B

nvidia said:
^^Dont get the 9800GX2. Its 8800GT in SLI with lower clock speeds. And its performance is lower than two 8800GT in SLI.

Thnx for the info, mate. I wont buy that if its really two 8800GTs.

@Techwiz

I will only get 9 series cards in SLI if they hv got DX10.1
Otherwise I am in real confusion.
I also hv in mind abt dual 8800GTS/HD3870x2.

I will get a mobo according to it.
Processor as told earlier, 45nm quad.

The 9 series cards wont support DX10.1. Im sure about that.

B

Then I just cant understand why NVIDIA is releasing 9 series cards

N

^ thats because ATI just launched new cards

there was no need of this crappy 9600GT
they could have done something to mobile graphics and some new motherboard chipset.
And coming to the topic-what makes u think Asus Maximus formula or Striker are future proof?all thats future proof in them is support for newer cpu.rest is future spoof.if u really want something good for that money,get a 8800GTX or a 8800GT + ddr3 motherboard - now thats futureproof.

B

What I meant by future proof is no upgrade for 3 yrs.
I dont need ddr3 ram as in games, 4gb ddr2 and 4 gb ddr3 wont make much of a difference.
Abt mobo, check my post previously, I didnt decide till now which one to go for.
By the way Maximus got 1600 FSB, support for Penryns, gr8 overclocker, three PCI-E slots ( two of them 2.0 with true 16X for crossfire).
Asus is also providing additional sound card.
Arent these enuff??
And also in gaming, more important is GPU. Why the hell are u suggesting GTX whereas one can get GTS 412 MB for half price and better performance??!!
By the way, where did I say anything about Striker??!!

N

1.my mistake abt striker
2.8800GT OC is comparable to 8800GTX stock,not OC and i didn't recommend it-what i want to recommend is 8800GT and DDR3
3.Asus Maximus is great board-for this year only-wait till november\december and watch it fade
4.ur current config needs only a gfx card and another 2 gb ram to run crysis at its best

B

Yes u r rite.
But I want quad core system.
As 45 nm quad out now, I want to have it. But my mobo dont supports it

.
Hence, wanna change the whole.
Anyway, next yr I can buy nothing and strictly for computer purpose. I hv to buy within April-May and for the next 3 yrs, my budget for upgrade is nil.
Thts why I need a decent upgrade that wont disappoint me for 3 yrs

.

N

the point is that in march 2009 (1yr from ur purchase),assuming current stats and almost near launch of Nehalems, DDR2 will start to be obsolete and in case u want to upgrade-u will have to change the board.DDR2 wil suffer the same consequences as the case with DDR1 now-its damn expensive
In my opinion a 3 year rig definitely has to be a latest one and DDR3 board is a must
it u want a 2yr rig-certainly go with it

Well u can rely on ASUS P5K-C
That motherboard support both DDR2 as well as DDR3 RAMs but it wont sport 1600 FSB which is required for giant quadcores!

By the way:*technewstime.com/hardware-news/intels-6-core-xeon-and-nehalem-cpu-info-leaked

And about graphics card: Get an MSI 8800GT OC edition - Performs better, Less expensive and great value!

B

Actually I need DX 10.1 support. I am going to need it in the next year I guess. Isnt HD3870x2 a good card? Plz post ur views abt it.
And one more thing. Suggest a mobo with DDR3 support, 1600 FSB. Is there any that will come in my budget?

H

^^^ get the MSI X48 Platinum.meets all ur requirements

B

X48 out already? Any reviews/link you can provide?
By the way, found a thread regarding HD3870x2 but the info there cant help me to take my decision. Plz help me out with it. Is it worth buying?

I cant find anywhere that X48 is out.
Provide some links plz that will prove that this mobo meets all my requirements.

M

X48 has only been paper launched. The availability is very scarce and would continue to be so for another month. BTW X48 provides nothing extra over X38 except for native 1600 FSB support. But people with X38 has been able to get the same FSB with X38 also. A good X48 chipset based mobo is still few months away. So I think it is safe to invest in X38 now. After all you will always have better product every few months down the lane!!

If I had to invest now then I would go X38 based Mobo and use two 3870X2 in crossfire. this would give me power of 4 GPUs (AMD has been able to use only 3 GPUs with current Catalyst driver but it is expected that Catalyst drivers to be launched in March will make full use of all 4 GPUs). That pretty would make my system future-proof for another 2-3 years.

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hellgate said:
^^^ get the MSI X48 Platinum.meets all ur requirements

MSI X48 has no DDR2 support, only DDR3. Not worth buying as DDR3 is way too costly now.
I may look for MSI X48C that has both DDR2/DDR3 support.
Two PCI-E slots are sufficient.

Read this :

*www.nordichardware.com/news,7213.html

It looks that all ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte ready to release X48 mobos but its only Intel delaying the official release.

Have a look at THIS

B

This means both of the boards have support for DDR2??

^^No i think it wont support DDR2...

B

Have u checked the link I provided. Its clearly written that X48C supports both DDR2 and DDR3.
By the way, what makes u think it wont support DDR3?

EDIT : Its clearly written that X48 supports dual channel DDR3.
May be 48C supports single channel DDR3.

@Bullzi: Sorry.. I meant to say DDR2 not DDR3

B

Its ok pal

. just a typo. Look I am not gonna buy nything before having read some reviews

.
And if X48 chipset mobos are out soon, I prefer ASUS to MSI.

Edit : I just did something wrong. Post edited. Please dont mind.

N

MSI's reviews on Overclockers club and hardware forum suggest that X48 is no big improvement over X38 but its a great buy considering board's performance

@ Bullzi,
Well let me clarify some things, which should make things easy for you

1] X48 is nothing but cherry picked X38, both of them have absolutely no difference.
2] Looks like future is all X48 BUT most of the X48 board will be on DDR3 platform so no problem going with X38 with DDR2 as of now.
3] You should look at Abit IX38 QUadGT, very nice board,superbly priced and clocks exceptionally well. 582 FSB anyone ?

4] Asus Maximus Formula is a good board but really targetted at extreme overclockers, are you going to do that ? If not then why waste money ?

5] 3870X2 is a very nice card, you can surely go ahead with it.It has good VFM. Keep in mind that you wont be able to overclock it much as it runs quite hot.

Btw, since you will be buying a new Mobo, you wont be needing your P5B Dlx right ?

Would you be interested in selling it

I would like to pick up one

I know i am shameless

B

darklord said:
@ Bullzi,
Well let me clarify some things, which should make things easy for you

1] X48 is nothing but cherry picked X38, both of them have absolutely no difference.
2] Looks like future is all X48 BUT most of the X48 board will be on DDR3 platform so no problem going with X38 with DDR2 as of now.
3] You should look at Abit IX38 QUadGT, very nice board,superbly priced and clocks exceptionally well. 582 FSB anyone ?
4] Asus Maximus Formula is a good board but really targetted at extreme overclockers, are you going to do that ? If not then why waste money ?
5] 3870X2 is a very nice card, you can surely go ahead with it.It has good VFM. Keep in mind that you wont be able to overclock it much as it runs quite hot.

Btw, since you will be buying a new Mobo, you wont be needing your P5B Dlx right ?
Would you be interested in selling it
I would like to pick up one

I know i am shameless

Lol, u are a gr8 overclocker Darky, everyone knows that. I will keep in mind ur precious advice.
Abt gfx card, I dont need to overclock my card as I will be setting up crossfire in near future.
I need a mobo with both DDR2 and DDR3 support. That will be more future proof.
About Asus Maximus, I will be getting it from abroad (taking risk

) so not too much costly. Same price range a as 780I Sli.
Abt P5B Deluxe, pm me abt it and send ur offering

.

DDR2 and DDR3 combo boards is really not a good idea

3870X2 in CrossfireX, wow !! Hope you have a powerful PSU to handle those 2 monsters

N

darklord said:
DDR2 and DDR3 combo boards is really not a good idea

+1

M

System 3870X2 in crossfire would require atleast 1100W PSU!! These two cards will themselves consume approx. 500W when under load!!

N

yea, so Tagan PSU would cost 16k i think

and almost the same will be the cost of Cooler master\Corsair

M

I would prefer Tagan over CoolerMaster (Corsair doesn't have such high power PSUs). Tagan has received very good reviews everywhere and with its unique modular design it looks cool too.

B

Cant I use two psus seperately?

N

and how much would that cost? the problem is turning on the other PSU manually

M

BULLZI said:
Cant I use two psus seperately?

You can use 2 PSUs but the cabinet has to accomodate them. Also I think buying 2 PSUs is recommended only when going for insane systems requiring upward of 1500 Watts (with 3 8800 Ultras in SLI..). 2 PSUs will always cost you more than single PSU when your required load can be handled by either of them. I my opinion Tagan 1100 for 16k is a good and future proof buy. If still not satisfied then you can go for Tagan 1300 W PSU for 18k. Thats ultimate single PSU.

I would pick Silverstone or Seventeam compared to Coolermaster, Tagan,Corsair.

Seventeam 600W i use is a monster so their 1KW will be equally good monster.

3870X2 wont need 1000W PSU at all.
A good 750-850W one from brands like Silverstone or Seventeam should do the job exceptionally well.

Using 2 PSUs is quite easy and simple BUT really not recommended to power any hardware devices.Use it for powering Fans, CCFLs, Watercooling loop etc...

M

I had asked for 1100W power supply based on the article by anadtech: *www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3232&p=4

Though they didn't feel need for higher PSU than 1KW but it is still better to have some extra margin.

Also Seventeam / Silverstone are good but i doubt if they have any official backup in India. If some thing goes wrong for such expensive PSU then whom should we go back too?

I also think that assuming that "if 600 W PSU by any particular company is good then its higher wattage PSU will also be equally good". If you look at reviews then you will find that each PSU has its strength and weakness under various power range. Digit has reveiwed Tagan and they found it to be excellent PSU for extreme users.

B

I have rite now Corsair 620 watt. This can handle two 8800GTXs with quite ease. I hope rite now my psu will handle the HD3870x2.
For crossfire, I will use anoyther 650 watts from Seventeam/Tagan.
This shud solve the problem, what do u think?

monkey said:
I had asked for 1100W power supply based on the article by anadtech: *www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3232&p=4

Though they didn't feel need for higher PSU than 1KW but it is still better to have some extra margin.

Also Seventeam / Silverstone are good but i doubt if they have any official backup in India. If some thing goes wrong for such expensive PSU then whom should we go back too?

I also think that assuming that "if 600 W PSU by any particular company is good then its higher wattage PSU will also be equally good". If you look at reviews then you will find that each PSU has its strength and weakness under various power range. Digit has reveiwed Tagan and they found it to be excellent PSU for extreme users.

Agreed but you wouldnt have made that comment if you knew what Seventeam is all about and where they stand

Tagan doesnt even come close to Seventeam or Silvy thats for sure.

M

BULLZI said:
I have rite now Corsair 620 watt. This can handle two 8800GTXs with quite ease. I hope rite now my psu will handle the HD3870x2.
For crossfire, I will use anoyther 650 watts from Seventeam/Tagan.
This shud solve the problem, what do u think?

Corsair 620 W shuld be enough to run single 3870X2 card. You will need to upgrade your PSU when you add second card. Your idea seems to be good (that is if your cabinet can accomodate 2 PSUs).

@ BULLZI: I also saw that you wanted to get X48 mobo. While these mobos are not yet available anywhere I got a hint of price when they will be launched - $400!! i got it from www.zipzoomfly.com. This is far higher than X38 based Asus Maximus Formula ($266) on the same site. This means X48 should be around 23k in India when launched!!!! Do you have such budget?

@darklord: I am not doubting the quality of Seventeam PSUs. I know they are great quality and performance PSUs. I only wanted to see some reviews (and comparison) of them - especialy of 1100W version. Also my concern was for After-sale-service. Does Seventeam has authorised dealer in india? Who will look after the warranty? These high rated PSUs are expensive and warranty/local support is something we should look for.

Peace.

B

Well if such high price then I will opt for X38 instead.
@darklord

Has the IX38 quad gt got two true PCI-E X16 slots?

B

@Darklord
u didnt reply me buddy.
I will reply to ur pm tomorrow.

I found out that IX38 Quad GT fulfills my requirement

.
Thanx for ur suggestion.

@monkey
Do u know how I can manually on the 2nd PSU?

BULLZI said:
@Darklord
u didnt reply me buddy.
I will reply to ur pm tomorrow.

I found out that IX38 Quad GT fulfills my requirement .
Thanx for ur suggestion.

@monkey
Do u know how I can manually on the 2nd PSU?

I made a long reply, donno where that went

Anyways, Good choice on Abit IX38 Quad GT

You wont regret it

monkey said:
2 PSUs will always cost you more than single PSU when your required load can be handled by either of them. I my opinion Tagan 1100 for 16k is a good and future proof buy. If still not satisfied then you can go for Tagan 1300 W PSU for 18k. Thats ultimate single PSU.

How?
- 1 TAGAN 1100W = 16000/-
- 2 Cooler Master 600W Extreme = 7200/-
Heck
- 2 Corsair HX620 = 13600/-

U still are saving 2400/- in case of Corsair!

Its not about price/performance. Its about space.
Man whats better than ur every single hardware getting a dedicated PSU!

keith_j_snyder2 said:
How?
- 1 TAGAN 1100W = 16000/-
- 2 Cooler Master 600W Extreme = 7200/-
Heck
- 2 Corsair HX620 = 13600/-

U still are saving 2400/- in case of Corsair!

Its not about price/performance. Its about space.
Man whats better than ur every single hardware getting a dedicated PSU!

Well 2 PSU setup isnt really recommended, even a single 850W or 900W would be more than sufficient. If you want, you can use the secondary PSU for Fans, CCFL, Water cooling loop etc. Never use it for main hardware components in a system.

M

keith_j_snyder2 said:
How?
- 1 TAGAN 1100W = 16000/-
- 2 Cooler Master 600W Extreme = 7200/-
Heck
- 2 Corsair HX620 = 13600/-

U still are saving 2400/- in case of Corsair!

Its not about price/performance. Its about space.
Man whats better than ur every single hardware getting a dedicated PSU!

My mistake. I should have realised that as the wattage increases so does the price/watt (same as in hard disk). Anyhow you shouldn't have compared Coolermaster 600W Extreme. It is a very basic PSU with average performance at the best.

@Darklord: I think you should power both the GFX cards with one PSU and rest of the whole system with another. This way both cards will receive balanced power (and since 3870X2 require separate power supply it shouldn't
be dependent on power from the motherboard). What i want to ask is "Will your cards get damaged if they get their demanded power while rest of the system is switched off?" (i.e. if PSU connected to the system gets damaged while the PSU attached to the GFX cards is working fine?). We know that if the GFX card does not get separate power (high performance GFX card) then the system becomes unstable at max and might restart automatically frequently. So should the reverse condition be that bad that your cards (or system) get damaged?

B

Well so guyz are insisting on taking a high end PSU of 850-100 watt. Well I will look for a decent one after 3-4 months when I set up crossfire. Rite now, let it go guyz

.
Just confirm will I be able to run my system with my current psu 620 watt Corsair?
Specs :
C2D E6400 on Zalman CNPS 9700 @ 3.2 GHZ (Will change with 45 nm Quad).
P5B Deluxe ( Changing it with Quad GT/Asus Maximus, both getting for abt same price)
HD 3870x2
2*1 GB Corsair Dominator PC 8500 ( Adding another 2 GB from OCZ/Crucial Ballistix)
160 GB HDD + 500 GB HDD
2 DVD writers

@Darklord
I am sorry man. Got back home from office abt midnite yesterday

.
Was so tired that even didnt turn on my comp. Will post u details tomorrow with price.
Dont mind plz

.

@Darklord: I think you should power both the GFX cards with one PSU and rest of the whole system with another. This way both cards will receive balanced power (and since 3870X2 require separate power supply it shouldn't
be dependent on power from the motherboard). What i want to ask is "Will your cards get damaged if they get their demanded power while rest of the system is switched off?" (i.e. if PSU connected to the system gets damaged while the PSU attached to the GFX cards is working fine?). We know that if the GFX card does not get separate power (high performance GFX card) then the system becomes unstable at max and might restart automatically frequently. So should the reverse condition be that bad that your cards (or system) get damaged?

Well the key is, both the PSUs should start and shutdown at exactly the same time.So you need to keep that in mind and basically make a switch or something so that both of them start together and shutdown together.
I have done all this when i had a SLI setup and good PSUs were hard to come by.
I am telling from my own experience, its not worth it.Not that i killed some hardware but still.
A single powerful 650W should handle a system with Quad and 3870X2 easily.

^Yeah he is right.
Days back i have read somewhere that a good 550W PSU is enough to run a X6800, 2X8800GTX SLI, 4HDD,4GB Dual Channel RAM, few fans and blah blah....

The main power is required in overclocking.

AS darklord said that both PSU should start simultaneously, in this case u can use a UPS to power then together.

@Bullzi
Man ur PSU is the best i believe!
Its has some horse power 12V Dual Rail and what else u need.
If u still want some more than i suggest ENERMAX 850W.

I have seen this PSU is several benchmarks and its really worthy.
Though there are many options now like COrsair TX850, OCZ game extreme 850W etc. so its all upto u.

keith_j_snyder2 said:
^Yeah he is right.
Days back i have read somewhere that a good 550W PSU is enough to run a X6800, 2X8800GTX SLI, 4HDD,4GB Dual Channel RAM, few fans and blah blah....

The main power is required in overclocking.

AS darklord said that both PSU should start simultaneously, in this case u can use a UPS to power then together.

@Bullzi
Man ur PSU is the best i believe!
Its has some horse power 12V Dual Rail and what else u need.
If u still want some more than i suggest ENERMAX 850W.

I have seen this PSU is several benchmarks and its really worthy.
Though there are many options now like COrsair TX850, OCZ game extreme 850W etc. so its all upto u.

Exactly, his HX620 will power that 3870X2 easily

I personally dont like the OCZ GX series, the 700 atleast had awkward ripple, i dont like it

Also please note this point about the Tagan 1100W, under load ( Series load is added gradually) it couldnt even survive at 850-900W load

It popped at around 860W of load or so

Compared to that Silverstone Zeus 850W pulled off 1000W load.
See what i was saying all this while

Tagan used to be a very reputed brand in PSUs few years back when THEY made their own PSUs.
Thats not the case anymore,IIRC Topwer is their OEM these days, they dont make a single PSU these days, just market it.

B

Well I am getting Asus Maximus for ~ 13K.
Hows the deal? Getting from abroad of course. Confirmed order today.

13k is a brilliant price.Congrats

Where are you getting it from ?
I am again itchy for a new mobo, i am bored with the Foxconn MARS

B

Actually getting from erodov.com. I can send u the guy's link if u want to have.

BULLZI said:
Actually getting from erodov.com. I can send u the guy's link if u want to have.

I know whom you are talking about, have purchased some stuff from him.Thanks anyways.

B

I think I will get my stuff well n good and very soon

.
Well checked my mobo. Its C2 revision on the chipset. Will it work for u?

N

post some benchmarks here after u get ur rig

B

I will surely do that. Actually if I wud hv got q9XXX rite now, it wud hv been better for me

.

M

Hey Bullzi, I always wanted to get some good stuff through erodov but thought it to be a bit risky. I do not know what support they provide. Do you think the risk is worth taking?

B

Well I talked with the guy who is providing me the stuff. He has demanded to provide the warranty for the valid time period. Now u hv to take a chance and see what happens. Lots of persons are buying from erodov so I dont think its really a risk. Lets see wht happens in case of my order. I will inform u as soon as I receive my stugg

.

N

^ KMD provides great warranty

btw please mention all things that you are getting and at what price

B

How did u know that I ordered KMD for my stuff??

N

who else on erodov would get stuff from abroad without a GO

post the config now

BULLZI said:
I think I will get my stuff well n good and very soon .
Well checked my mobo. Its C2 revision on the chipset. Will it work for u?

C2 is no issues

Let me know the price now

B

nish_higher said:
who else on erodov would get stuff from abroad without a GO
post the config now

Config of my pc??
I am getting only mobo and gfx card now, nothing else.

@Darklord

How much u wanna pay, pm me.

B

Ordered my 3870x2 along with COD4 and Gears Of War

.

@Darklord
Can u pay 500 bucks more?

N

hw much did u pay for 3870X2?

B

22.5 K why??

BULLZI said:
Ordered my 3870x2 along with COD4 and Gears Of War .

@Darklord
Can u pay 500 bucks more?

500 bucks more for the board ?
I surely can manage that much, let me know,i am interested