Need help, ordering new graphics by Friday

CrapolaJola · Sep 7, 2004, 03:53 AM

Well guys I'm gonna return the 6800OC tomorrow as it won't mod and draws too much power and won't OC well at all unless I unplug other stuff. Originally I was gonna buy a 6800GT or x800 Pro VIVO, but I figured if I had to rearrange crap in my comp and get the 6800OC on its own line to make it work right with everything else running then the other cards, mainly the 6800GT, would just be too much for my TT 420w. So now I've decided I'll buy new PSU/GFX card @ Christmas as the graphics card will go down in price by more than the cpu, mobo, and ram well. I was considering going S939, but I've decided the extra money isn't worth it to just get thigns like dual channel, that and I don't wanna blow some huge sum of money on these upgrades. So hopefully today I'm gonna order a A64 3000+ (maybe a 3200+ since they're so cheap after the recent price drop), Epox EP-8KDA3J (same OC goodness as the 3+ just a few less SATA ports, but who cares), and a 512mb stick of Corsair XMS. I'm buyign the cheaper OEM XMS stuff, it onlydoes 2-3-3-6 but the 512 sticks that do 2-3-2-6 are a fair bit more. Not worth it in my opinion to may a bunch extra to go from 2-3-3-6 to 2-3-2-6. I'm gonna be ordering from NewEgg as of now, but I'll earch for lower prices. If you guys of any really nice deals on any of those parts please tell! Hopefully later this week I can report back in with OC results on the 64

. One last thing SLK948U or XP-120, XP-120 is gigantic, but its aluminum (copper base I belive), might cause clearance issues. I heard comapred to the SP-94s its a bit worse overall from not being all copper that and the fact that 120mm fans have a HUGE dead spot. SLK948U is also a fair bit cheaper now, but if you have some good info/success stories with the XP-120 please tell me.

WisMerHill · Sep 7, 2004, 03:34 PM

I wouldn't go for Sapphire if you don't have the chance to view it prior to buying.

Why? here's why:

Sapphire discovered people were modding at a high rate of succes so they did two things to counter it:

1st) they aren't offering any warranties anymore when they suspect a modattempt

2nd) to really counter the modding the started to replace the 1.6ns RAM with slower 2.0 RAM which doens't have that headroom. Other brands are doing this as well so stay away from them, included are MSI, Sapphire and Powercolor (these are the ones we know who do it)

If you want a card with the chance to mod look at the Club3D X800Pro Vivo, i got it last week and tho i haven't had time to reflash it has all the good signs (right core and 1.6ns RAM) and a very high succesrate according to many hardware forums.

CrapolaJola · Sep 7, 2004, 09:56 PM

I haven't been keeping up on my news so I didn't know Sapphire or MSI was doing that (I heard most PowerColors came with 2ns even before people realized the high mod succes rate). Thanks for the info. I guess I'll try and find some goood prices i nthe US on the Club3D x800s.

CrapolaJola · Sep 7, 2004, 10:30 PM

Guys I've changed the title/my 1st post, please re-read the 1st post again and post some replies.

WisMerHill · Sep 8, 2004, 09:47 AM

soz m8, i really have little experience with aircooling anymore. I've only been running with h2o setups the last couple of years..
one thing tho, i do like 120mm fans

the lower RPM with better CFM is the way to go imo, the deadspot is easily removed by putting some distance between the fan and the coolinblock, some form of duct would do the trick nicely.

CDsDontBurn · Sep 8, 2004, 10:11 AM

I say get the sp-94 instead of the xp-120 simply because the sp-94 is all copper. Get a fan controller cuz you'll need it for that Vantec Tornado (92mm preferably, 80mm works fine) you'll be putting on that sp-94. Being so much bigger, and performing less than the sp-94 isn't worth the extra 5 bux in an aluminum set up.

As far as nVidia cards go, i hear that nVidia is going to start making an nv41 core. this new core will be coming out on their 6800GTs which will have 12 pipelines instead of the 16 it has right now. Now i haven't read too much about this, and haven't had the time to do more research on the matter, but as far as i know, it is true.

Now as far as upgrading a whole set up right now, i say do it. It shoule be the last time you upgrade until BTX, PCI-E, DDR2, SATA h-drives, SATA optical drives are all mainstream. My next upgrade won't be until the AMD 64s have gone BTX, PCI-E, DDR2, and use SLI mode; so i still have a while to go before that's all done.

Sep 7, 2004, 03:53 AM	#1
CrapolaJola The Great DaK Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 317 Rep Power: 0	New CPU/MOBO/RAM coming soon Well guys I'm gonna return the 6800OC tomorrow as it won't mod and draws too much power and won't OC well at all unless I unplug other stuff. Originally I was gonna buy a 6800GT or x800 Pro VIVO, but I figured if I had to rearrange crap in my comp and get the 6800OC on its own line to make it work right with everything else running then the other cards, mainly the 6800GT, would just be too much for my TT 420w. So now I've decided I'll buy new PSU/GFX card @ Christmas as the graphics card will go down in price by more than the cpu, mobo, and ram well. I was considering going S939, but I've decided the extra money isn't worth it to just get thigns like dual channel, that and I don't wanna blow some huge sum of money on these upgrades. So hopefully today I'm gonna order a A64 3000+ (maybe a 3200+ since they're so cheap after the recent price drop), Epox EP-8KDA3J (same OC goodness as the 3+ just a few less SATA ports, but who cares), and a 512mb stick of Corsair XMS. I'm buyign the cheaper OEM XMS stuff, it onlydoes 2-3-3-6 but the 512 sticks that do 2-3-2-6 are a fair bit more. Not worth it in my opinion to may a bunch extra to go from 2-3-3-6 to 2-3-2-6. I'm gonna be ordering from NewEgg as of now, but I'll earch for lower prices. If you guys of any really nice deals on any of those parts please tell! Hopefully later this week I can report back in with OC results on the 64 . One last thing SLK948U or XP-120, XP-120 is gigantic, but its aluminum (copper base I belive), might cause clearance issues. I heard comapred to the SP-94s its a bit worse overall from not being all copper that and the fact that 120mm fans have a HUGE dead spot. SLK948U is also a fair bit cheaper now, but if you have some good info/success stories with the XP-120 please tell me. __________________ P2 X4 @ 3.6ghz, 4gb ddr3, SSD, 5870 @ 950/1250 + a 3ghz i5 lappy Last edited by CrapolaJola; Sep 7, 2004 at 10:29 PM.

Sep 7, 2004, 03:34 PM	#2
WisMerHill DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Netherlands Posts: 468 Rep Power: 0	I wouldn't go for Sapphire if you don't have the chance to view it prior to buying. Why? here's why: Sapphire discovered people were modding at a high rate of succes so they did two things to counter it: 1st) they aren't offering any warranties anymore when they suspect a modattempt 2nd) to really counter the modding the started to replace the 1.6ns RAM with slower 2.0 RAM which doens't have that headroom. Other brands are doing this as well so stay away from them, included are MSI, Sapphire and Powercolor (these are the ones we know who do it) If you want a card with the chance to mod look at the Club3D X800Pro Vivo, i got it last week and tho i haven't had time to reflash it has all the good signs (right core and 1.6ns RAM) and a very high succesrate according to many hardware forums. __________________ [color=sandybrown][color=white] [/color] [color=white][color=white]M[/color][color=white]y Computer[/color]: [/color][color=white]3DMark2001[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]3Dmark2003[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]3DMark200[/color][color=white]5[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]PCMark2004[/color][/color]

Sep 7, 2004, 09:56 PM	Thread Starter #3
CrapolaJola The Great DaK Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 317 Rep Power: 0	I haven't been keeping up on my news so I didn't know Sapphire or MSI was doing that (I heard most PowerColors came with 2ns even before people realized the high mod succes rate). Thanks for the info. I guess I'll try and find some goood prices i nthe US on the Club3D x800s. __________________ P2 X4 @ 3.6ghz, 4gb ddr3, SSD, 5870 @ 950/1250 + a 3ghz i5 lappy

Sep 7, 2004, 10:30 PM	Thread Starter #4
CrapolaJola The Great DaK Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 317 Rep Power: 0	Guys I've changed the title/my 1st post, please re-read the 1st post again and post some replies. __________________ P2 X4 @ 3.6ghz, 4gb ddr3, SSD, 5870 @ 950/1250 + a 3ghz i5 lappy

Sep 8, 2004, 09:47 AM	#5
WisMerHill DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Netherlands Posts: 468 Rep Power: 0	soz m8, i really have little experience with aircooling anymore. I've only been running with h2o setups the last couple of years.. one thing tho, i do like 120mm fans the lower RPM with better CFM is the way to go imo, the deadspot is easily removed by putting some distance between the fan and the coolinblock, some form of duct would do the trick nicely. __________________ [color=sandybrown][color=white] [/color] [color=white][color=white]M[/color][color=white]y Computer[/color]: [/color][color=white]3DMark2001[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]3Dmark2003[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]3DMark200[/color][color=white]5[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]PCMark2004[/color][/color]

Sep 8, 2004, 10:11 AM	#6
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,805 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	I say get the sp-94 instead of the xp-120 simply because the sp-94 is all copper. Get a fan controller cuz you'll need it for that Vantec Tornado (92mm preferably, 80mm works fine) you'll be putting on that sp-94. Being so much bigger, and performing less than the sp-94 isn't worth the extra 5 bux in an aluminum set up. As far as nVidia cards go, i hear that nVidia is going to start making an nv41 core. this new core will be coming out on their 6800GTs which will have 12 pipelines instead of the 16 it has right now. Now i haven't read too much about this, and haven't had the time to do more research on the matter, but as far as i know, it is true. Now as far as upgrading a whole set up right now, i say do it. It shoule be the last time you upgrade until BTX, PCI-E, DDR2, SATA h-drives, SATA optical drives are all mainstream. My next upgrade won't be until the AMD 64s have gone BTX, PCI-E, DDR2, and use SLI mode; so i still have a while to go before that's all done. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later