[marsay001]

im getting a new system now,. and decent one ( i think) im wanting to be able to play crysis cod4 etc on high settings, what are your opinions im just stuck on the GPU anyway here it is

Asus M2N-E SLI NF500
AMD athlon 64 x2 6000+
2GB DDR2 667
and i was thinking 2 8600 GT's just untill the nvidia 9 series comes out
and is the sapphire 3870 worth looking at?

also i wanted to ask will this motherboard only support SLi or will it support xfire to?
thanks

[alex]

Originally Posted by marsay001 im getting a new system now,. and decent one ( i think) im wanting to be able to play crysis cod4 etc on high settings, what are your opinions im just stuck on the GPU anyway here it is Asus M2N-E SLI NF500 AMD athlon 64 x2 6000+ 2GB DDR2 667 and i was thinking 2 8600 GT's just untill the nvidia 9 series comes out and is the sapphire 3870 worth looking at? also i wanted to ask will this motherboard only support SLi or will it support xfire to? thanks

Sorry to say this as I'm sure you've put time and effort into that spec but I think you need to start again.

SLI is only useful for SLI coded games, of which, comparititively speaking, there really aren't that many.

You've also chosen a lousy SLI chipset in the 650i. If you're sure you want SLI you really want to be looking at 680i (I'm not convinced with 780i as yet considering the prices of the motherboards currently available purchase/pre-order. Looking at the spec breakdowns of the chipset a tangible speed benefit over 680i just isn't forthcoming so far. Just my opinion of course).

Also, if you do go SLI you really need to be choosing better cards. The cards you've quoted can, singularly, only game (with eye-candy) at 1024x768. And dual cards in SLI will only offer around a 20% increase in performance in a SLI coded game. So two 8600GT's won't even allow you to (really) increase the resolution you're gaming at without compromising on details settings and as it's highly unlikely your screen displays a resolution of 1024x768 natively I really feel you need to be raising your sights if going SLI.

But further on that; for the price of two 8600GT's you could get a single 8800GT. Which would provide around 3-4 times the performance of a single 8600GT. And you'd still have the performance boost in games not coded for SLI.

In my opinion it's only worth going SLI if you're gaming at extreme resolutions or you just want to brag. There are single cards on the market today that can game upto and including 1920x1200 (24-27" screen) which is about the max for a gamer at the moment. So there really is no need for SLI.

Not enough people consider the resolution of the monitor they're going to be gaming on when spec'ing a pc, specifically the cpu and gpu in this type of build. The monitor resolution is of prime importance, and everything needs to be scaled around that and the type of gaming experience you want (AA/AF, details settings, frame rates).

Bin the cpu as well. In short: You can do much better for around the same money. If buying now, it has to be the Intel E6750. Slower mhz rating than the AMD but around 10% faster overall. Also cooler running. AMD specifically targeted the E6750 when pricing the 6000, what does that tell you? (It's priced, generally, around 10% lower than the E6750....)

If you can wait a few weeks (as I'm doing) have a look at Intel's new E8200 or E8400. Price lower and higher (see model) than the E6750. E8400 would be a gamers choice at the moment considering the spec and the price, basically, the bang-for-buck.

Bin the ram as well. DDR2 800mhz can be had for not much more than the 667mhz you quote and as it allows more bandwidth for the cpu it's definately worth having considering, again, this is a gaming build.

The 3870 is definately worth looking at but it's price takes it into the realms of the 512mb version of the 8800GT, which is the better card. Frankly the only AMD gpu worth looking at at the moment is the 3850, which offers superb performance for a mid-range card. Something Nvidia's current mid-range line-up is sadly lacking.

What budget do you have?

Also, have a look at this guide created by another member on the site. It's definately worth a nosey.

[marsay001]

i wasnt really bothered about SLi just as an easy future upgrade , pop another card in, as for the e6750 it does look good but i was going for the AMD as the package i got, it was the motherboard case psu and cpu for 160 quid, not bad i thought, i will consider the intel cpu, but just one more contendor from AMD the athlon 6400+ black edition whats your opinion on that?
Package Contains :
1 x Asus M2N-SLi Deluxe Socket AM2 DDR2 800 PCI-E(x16) NVIDIA nForce® 570 SLI Motherboard
1 x AMD AM2 Athlon 64 6400+ Black Edition
Dual Core 3.2GHz
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 CPU Cooler
1 x AT Black & Silver 400w PSU Front USB,s




Package Contains :
1 x Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Socket 775 2.66GHz 4MB Cache 1333MHz FSB
1 xAsus P5N32-E SLI PLUS 775, C55, DDRII, SATA(II) RAID, Gb LAN, Motherboard
1 x Intel Approved HeatSink & Fan
1 x OCZ 2048GB (2GIG) Value DDR2 PC5400 memory 667MHz OCZ26671024V



price difference is 70, and the ram is pretty shitty but how much do you think those CPU's will compare



as for graphics il get the 8800 gt 512 or the radeon 3870 as im not to fussed about really hi res gaming




thanks for advice :)

[alex]

For gaming the 6400 compares favourably with the E6850, but does slightly lose out in encoding work.

The hsf for the cpu is very good.

570 chipset is a solid performer, not brilliant but not weak either.

If going for either of the cards you quote I'd definately think about a higher wattage psu. 500w would be preferable, or 600w ideal. Especially if you combine the card with the 6400 as it does like it's electricity.

[marsay001]

ye i have 500 watt in my current system so thats ok but will get a better one just to make sure, after what you said about those 2 cpu's i think i will go for the athlon, (ive always bin a fan) and as for the cards reviewers says the 3870 is almost as good as the 8800 gt for up to 40 pound less, im only 16 so cant go to far with the money :(, buti appreciate your advice very much,
when i get the new system up and running ( about 2 weeks ) i will bench mark it and post the results here for you to see :)

[Carbon]

There is no reason to go with AMD at the moment as Intel is offering 45nm Wolfdale chips aimed at mid-range like the E8400. You shouldn't let being a fan of AMD dictate your purchasing decisions, especially not on such an important component.

[alex]

Originally Posted by marsay001 ye i have 500 watt in my current system so thats ok but will get a better one just to make sure, after what you said about those 2 cpu's i think i will go for the athlon, (ive always bin a fan) and as for the cards reviewers says the 3870 is almost as good as the 8800 gt for up to 40 pound less, im only 16 so cant go to far with the money :(, buti appreciate your advice very much, when i get the new system up and running ( about 2 weeks ) i will bench mark it and post the results here for you to see :)

No problem.

Yeah, keep us informed regarding the build and the benchmarks, post some pics as well if you want.

If you have any further questions you know where to come.

[marsay001]

ayup" guys just to let you know that im ordering parts tomorow night (6th feb) and i have changed my specs as i think this should be better, i read a couple of reviews and im going to go for Q6600 and get an performance cooler for O.C and the motherboard im going with is a XFX N680i SLI Socket 775, whici is aldo daid to be good for overclocking and looks pretty beast to :) as for GPU stil l deciding on those two in m previous post, whats your opinions on this one?

i will post some screens the benchmarks etc when its done to alex, many thanks peeps

[alex]

Originally Posted by marsay001 ayup" guys just to let you know that im ordering parts tomorow night (6th feb) and i have changed my specs as i think this should be better, i read a couple of reviews and im going to go for Q6600 and get an performance cooler for O.C and the motherboard im going with is a XFX N680i SLI Socket 775, whici is aldo daid to be good for overclocking and looks pretty beast to :) as for GPU stil l deciding on those two in m previous post, whats your opinions on this one? i will post some screens the benchmarks etc when its done to alex, many thanks peeps

If it's a gaming build you won't get use out of two of the four core's in your cpu. Mostly...

But as you're oc'ing, yeah, go for it. The Q6600, especially the G0 stepping (which you should get-check before ordering) is an awesome overclocker. The previous revision, B3, is still a good oc'ing chip but runs hotter which limits oc's on air. 3.6GHZ on air is a very frequently posted oc for G0. As it's toplocked you're forced to up your fsb speed to achieve an overclock (this is the most beneficial way anyway). So you'll be, hopefully, achieving Wolfdale-esque fsb speeds anyway. And any Conroe-based cpu at 3+ghz running with a fsb that fast is not to be sniffed at by anyone.

For that though only get one of two coolers: Arctic Cooling freezer 7 pro or the Tuniq Tower.

You could even go for (as I am) the Swiftech H2o 120. Single 120mm rad/pump/fan. very easy to install by all accounts.

The 3870 is in no way a bad gpu, it's just not as good as a typical 8800GT. I'd make your decision wisely. But you'll only see any difference (really) if gaming above 1680x1050. So take the resolution into account also.

You're more than correct about the mobo, superb oc'ing board and a very good choice.