[vanalex]

Hi,

I'm building a new SLI System, and I'm definitly going AMD Dual Core. What MOBO and CPU would you recommend?

Recommendations of graphics cards are welcomed also. I prefer to spend a bit more and have my system last longer, than saving a few bucks that in 1 year would have made a bigger difference on performance, so I'm not a "value" buyer from that perspective

[Ferret_Style]

for the cost and power i would go 7900 gt's for the video cards. On the way of mother boards and CPU... i am not sure

[vanalex]

yep, I'm definitly going for two 7900's, that is not included in the 800 Budget, that is for mobo and CPU alone.

I'll probably get two XFX 7900GTX 512MB DDR3 PCIe.

Fot the mobo I was thinking of a ASUS A8N32-SLI DELUXE SOCKET 939, and for the CPU a AMD ATHLON 64 X2 SOCKET 939 4400+ .

[Alien1]

Yep

AMD64 X2 4400+ and the ASUS A8N32 Deluxe are some of the best performance\price sollutions that you can buy right now

the ASUS Nforce 4 SLI sollutions are very Stable, fast and worth their money
and the X2 4400+ is a very nice future proof processor (even when AM2 similar sollutions arrives)


If you are for ATI... the X1900XT sollutions are very good cards also but i would avoid Crossfire mobo sollutions if i were you right now


NOTE
I would not recommend XFX 7900 sollutions though
i am hearing problems with them because of their Default OC clocks (or faulty memory or something like that)

here
XFX 7900 problems
XFX 7900 problems 2
7900 series Lockup issues and how to resolve

[Judas]

if you can manage getting your hands on any dual core opterons.. do it!

the Asus board is excellent.

combined with say a opteron 175.. would be steller... should be close to around 800bucks..

[Ferret_Style]

I have the xfx 7900 with no problems at ALL

[Alien1]

Originally Posted by Ferret_Style

I have the xfx 7900 with no problems at ALL

what can i say?
You are lucky

but not anyone as i see in the forums with these sollution is as lucky as you

NOTE
The problems that i posted above are about the XFX 7900 GTX not the GT

[vanalex]

I thought opterons were more indicated for server work....

which one is fastest now? 7900 GTX or X1900XTX?

[Alien1]

Yes Opterons are optimised for "server work" than anything else
as
about graphic cards...it depends from the game and drivers

The X1900XTX is a little better with AA\AF and has a little sharper image quality
but with louder fan and runs way hot as well

The 7900 GTX is a better Overclocker, is silent and way cooler

The difference between the two in performance is really small

[vanalex]

Going for the SLi 7900GTX after reading a few reviews ... I guess that makes my choice towards the Asus A8N32 SLi Deluxe also.

I'll probably keep my first choice of CPU, but I'll still read a few reviews of the opteron to see if it worth the change.

[Judas]

The opterons are nearly identical.. the only beneifit is that they are of higher quality silicon and overall preformance...

every review will say that they are steller for stability and overclockability

[vanalex]

And are they compatible with the ASUS A8N32-SLI DELUXE SOCKET 939? If so, I'll take a look an opteron priced at the same range as the 4400+.

[vanalex]

I'm getting more and more interested in the Opteron 175 ... Apparently it is a basically better quality 4400+, so I imagine it should be compatible with the Asus Board.

Now just two last questions please What memory would you recommend? I want 2x1024... And my PSU of 500w will be able to feed the CPU; 7900GTX SLi and 3 hard drives?

And thanks for all your help, you've been really helpfull

[Judas]

500 watt PSU might be a little to low..

your probably going to want one of the beefiest PSU just to make sure your covered

Cosair and OCZ seem to make the best 2Gb Kits....

OCZ make a 600watt SLI600ADJ SLI dual PCI-Ex PSU (don't get that mixed up with the 600 watt 600ADJ) But i'm even running into problem with something that is nearly identical. (running out of psu power). If you don't plan on loading up the machine with a bunch of hardrives and fans and Disc Drives and the lot.... a 600 watter should do it i beleive.


The operton 939's are all capabale in nearly all boards... anything a year old or newer should support dual cores.

[vanalex]

Thanks a lot, now I have all the info I need.

[Ferret_Style]

I can attest to the OCZ memory being really good. I have 2 gigs of the ddr2 667 memory and it is great. As for Power supplies i have a Antec Neo HE 550 and it supplies really stable voltages, has duel PCIe power and all. It also runs pretty cool under load and is quiet.