video card choices your advice please?

so i've been deal hunting i have a fairly large mid tower case a 550 watt psu aod790gx asrock board and a phenom II 710 i've found some deals on ebay it looks like i can get a pair of 8800gts 320's for about 160 new...made by palit.i understand they actually are a name brand just not here in the u.s i also saw some insanely cheap pny 8800gt's for 90 a piece including shipping...i wondered if it would just be better to invest in a nivida gtx265 to sort of step into the future..but wouldn't 2 cards be better than one faster card? anyways thought i would just toss that out there.this will be mainly for games so lets have some opinions and as always thanks. please noone bring up 600 dallor cards...we don't all drive F40's and live in a 12,000 sq ft manner ha ha

 

come on guys lets have some input seems it is better to two 8800gt's than one gts265 right

 

So you have money to burn?

You have an all AMD mobo there, if you put an Nvidia card in it will perform even worse than usual :-D

The chipset of the mobo defines the GPU you should use, you have an AMD 790GX chipset designed specifically to work with ATI cards, since AMD & ATI are now working together their CPU's & GPU's work together brilliantly too.


Also ATI make cheaper tech, take a look:

GTX 260: http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_260_us.html

4870 1GB:http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?psn=000101&pid=179

FYI I ran that Futuremark 3D Mark scan which will tell you how much better my PC would perform with a GTX 260 in it & I got these results:

"Your current PC's 3DMark score: 11,700
Your PC's 3DMark score with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260: 11,600
What do these 3DMark scores mean?"

Proof: http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_260_us.html?startgom=1

And I actually own a Sapphire 4870 1GB :-D, I love it when Nvidia mess up like that.

The choice is yours though, I am simply making you aware that AMD & ATI play better together, you're mobo will work better with an ATI card & ATI cards are cheaper win, win, win right? Either that or change you're mobo.

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

i have a gigabyte 790 chipset board, paired with phenom II 940, diamond 4870 , and it runs great....cannot be happier...:-D

 

If using two graphics cards, I would want an extra 100 watts or so. With that PSU, I would stick with one nice card.

 

that is why i allways buy high powered psu,s...the hx620 corsair i have actually puts out over 700 watts, and i have a pc power and cooling 750...never know when you need the extra juice.:-D

 

Exactly I have a crappy mobo (ASUS M3A) with an AMD 770 chipset & SB600, I also have a similar card, mine is the Sapphire Toxic 4870 1GB

I warn thee who wanders into the ATI 4800 series (excluding the new 4890) they are power hungry, you need a good power supply for them. I have a CoolerMaster Extreme Power Duo 650W with 2 12V rails that is what makes a good PSU Ronss. Or you could go for a nice expensive one made by either Antec, CoolerMaster or Thermaltake, it must be heavy also that is a brilliant way to test the quality of a PSU LOL

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

Well, there's no need to buy high powered if you don't need it - that's just wasting money. But two power hungry cards would put pcrampages's 550W running near capacity full time. A quality PSU would not be bothered by that, but will run hotter, forcing fans to run faster (and louder). A PSU with a little extra head room would be not stressed, and would have room for an extra drive, or another RAM stick or two. The 620W Corsair would be a good choice - unless planning to upgrade to a more serious card in the future.

If using a $20 off-brand generic PSU made with shoddy parts in a remote Chinese child slave-labor factory under the supervision of corrupt government officials, then you take your chances it does not fry your motherboard, and you too.

 

Yes cheap PSU's are a hazard, my old colorsIT Winpower 600W gold was cheap & nasty but it was one of the good... nasty ones LOL

It lasted me 2 yrs before it just wans't powerful enough & blew after I put my 4870 in :-D, luckily I only had only one fatality a Samsung DVD-ROM that I didn't use anymore was plugged into the first molex coming from the PSU :-D That trusty DVD-ROM sacrificed itself for the good of my whole pc LOL

On the other hand cheap PSU's can just blow as soon as you plug them in, I have heard some horror stories about such instances.

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

the psu i had problem with was 3 yrs ago,,an antec 350...it shorted on the motherboard power connector,,,the 20 pin connector...gigabyte did replace the board under warranty,,,and i got rid of the antec psu.it actually melted pin one on power connector and motherboard connector...i sort of stay away from antec after that..and i thought they made great psu,s before that incident.

 

i don't have a cheap psu its a cooler master power extreme i think.the box looked cool to thats how you tell if its going to be cheap and generic. or not ..i might consider ati cards but i don't know anything about them...other than they have way more stream processors than nivdia cards...and i don't think my psu is that underpowered i read an article that says most everyone overpowers their pc's and that a dual core system with a 8800gts only pulls around 270 watts..mmm anyways i would really like to do sli/crossfire as i have never tried it before and nobody actually answered by question..2 8800gts or one gts265? i know the 8800gt's run hot and i could probably just heat my house with it ..I'll look into the ati cards and does anyone know what ill effects using a 4 pin atx connector on a board that requires an 8 pin atx connector would have? my manual says its alright but i suspect this is a give and take relationship..

 

One incident is hardly cause to condemn the whole lot.

Now for that to happen, a wire from the main connector would have to come loose and then somehow come into contact with another. Something you could clearly see so I doubt that is what happened. That leaves the problem to the board shorting out the power supply, and not the power supply taking out the board. It is hard to blame a product for failing if it is abused.

I happen like and use Gigabyte boards in almost all my builds - I have had to return more than one and while they are good at no-hassle returns, I don't believe they would replace the board if it was apparent the PSU destroyed it. I think you are holding a grudge and it is against the wrong company - not that Gigabyte deserves it either.

roflmao If that is why you bought it, then do I have a deal on some prime bottom land in Florida for you!

Fortunately, CoolerMaster is a good brand. Like Antecs, that does not mean one never has a failure. But it does mean they will likely use better assembly techniques and have a quality control program resulting in the PSUs performing to specs, providing clean, stable power - and fewer failed samples.

You give a couple bucks and take a 4 to 8 pin power adapter. No problem - as long as the PSU has enough horsepower on that rail.

Overpowers is not the right word. The computer draws what it needs, not what the PSU is capable of providing. So if the PC needs 400 watts, that is what it will draw, regardless if the PSU is a 500 watt, or a 750 watt. You should always have some wiggle room so the PSU is not running maxed out full time, producing lots of heat and fan noise, but you don't need a monster PSU when less is plenty.

 

here's a nice chart that shows you how the cards all stack up against each other http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/best-graphics-card,review-31414-7.html scroll down

 

thank you gimpster thats ideally the information i had hoped to find somewhere..

 

Tom's article is updated monthly. It is currently Best Graphics Cards for the Money: April 09.

 

i decided on a pair of 8800gt's i know they run hot so i guess its case mod time as well http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119077 i think may beable to squeeze 2 120mm fans in the front

 

If you don't mind the noise extra cooling is the way but remember you need power to run that format.
I have 2 rigs that run 24/7 so noise is something i do not want.
In the first rig i have a Nvida GTX265 with an Intel Q6600 CPU and that is fast and quiet.
In the second rig i am running a Nvida GTX295 with a Q6700 and that is faster an still quiet, the only regret i have is that i ever bought the 295 as Bang for Buck it is vastly overrated, I would have been better with another 265 or maybe a 280 but then we learn from our mistakes.

 

i thought of that to especially with those fans being 3 feet from my head...there are some high cfm slow rpm units i found ..expensive but i'll only need to buy them once...i hope ..i wouldn't want to rip out those drive cages everyday thats for sure.

 

I doubt it - not when it currently now only supports 1 x 80mm front fan. I think you should buy a proper case for the job instead of trying to Mickey Mouse one to make it work. And I note that case does not have an air filter - so that means you would have to open the case more often to inspect, and you will have to clean it out more often too.

Check out the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119129

 

no there is room for the fans i looked. it will require chopping off an inch of the bottom 3.5 drive bay..and the case does have a filter actually. all across the front. cleans very well to with a shop vac without removing anything...the filter is the entire front pannel top to bottom save for my dvd burner and fan controller ..besides i want to rip it apart and paint the case rally pearl blue and the drive cages silver metallic anyways..also subaru lagacy international has SLI club stickers themed in the sti logo ..thought it would be neat

 

Well, that's your choice. Personally, I don't think a pearl blue case will improve performance, or make the display on the monitor look better. I prefer my cases to sit discreetly and quietly out of the way so I can pay attention to what's on my monitors.

 

I think a pearl blue case will make it much faster, just like the go faster stripes on autos.
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2982/aeropearlblue0976066.jpg

 

And chrome muffler bearings and tuck and roll wrist pins too!

 

yes and i could just wear a white jumpsuit everyday to but i like human expression. plus my fun box happens to sit on my desk.easier to clean and get to...i like to go through it with a duster can every few weeks, or if i'm feeling lazy once a month.i might polish the aluminum strips to. it'll give me something to make an annoying youtube video about

 

i know i am not the only person on earth who thinks of custom pc cases your all mean..i was thinking of putting some racing strips on it to actually..lol

 

I know. Just picking on you for fun. And I admit, I've done my share of case modding - installing "blow holes", side windows (before they were common), and even lightbars and LED fans. But after a day or so, the flashiness wore off and I actually began to find the lights distracting. But more importantly, I realized the lights did nothing for performance, added demands on case cooling, consumed power, and did nothing for performance - worth repeating.

I think everyone can appreciate a beautifully restored and customized classic car - because they can imagine themselves behind the wheel. Customized PC cases don't conjure up that euphoric imagery for many.

On the other hand, I could stare at these all day long,

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z181/Digerati_Bill/Tri-Monitors.jpg

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z181/Digerati_Bill/One-Time%20Upload/6-monitorsetup.jpg

And I confess, I would probably look at my case more often if I built my computer in one of these:

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z181/Digerati_Bill/Skeleton_front_400.jpg

Now that's smart. I wish everyone did the same. I recommend popping the side and inspect once a month. If there is a layer of heat trapping dust on heatsinks, fans, vents or the motherboard, power down, unplug, hang on to bare metal and clean as necessary.

I dislike notebooks in general simply because notebook makers refuse to settle on an ATX-like form factor standard that would allow easy internal access for NECESSARY cleaning by the user. Instead, they use [expensive] proprietary parts and design - but that's for a different discussion.

 

We are only having fun with you.
I have just ordered a new desk for my PCs and am seriously thinking of removing everything from the cases and making the installation inside the desk to enable me to get better cooling (can't have too many fans running as they are in the lounge and run 24/7)
So i am thinking build the PCs inside the desk with their own fans and putting an extractor fan in to draw off all the heat.

 

mostly i am really annoyed with the cheap buttery soft paint on my case any finger prints just stay there..and plus last Motherboard swap i laid it down on some screws and scratched the case..2 nasty inch long scrapes at the buttom rear.... i am a big subaru wrx fan..plus as it sits right by me it might as well be as nice to look at as possible.will it make it faster?...yes but only if i add a wing for downforce no plans for putting in led lights as the window on my case faces a wall at the corner of my den. so why bother ha ha

 

I considered doing that, and in fact, had something similar with my computer "farm" of SETI crunchers a few years back. Then thought of having a false wall creating a computer closet with its own filtered air conditioning, wireless mouse and keyboards, and monitors mounted on the wall. Maybe one day.

For now, I have an air compressor setup for electronics, and I lug the PCs outside when they need blasting out. With the parts mounted in a desk, you would still have the problem of removing dust and dirt, without throwing it up into the room.

 

if ya got a good PSU that puts out a SOLID 550W with all the necessary rails and a 16PCIE 2.0 Mother Board you could try the SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4850 X2 1GB its $260.00 USD from new egg or for another $20 get the 2Gb ver
It benches nice and you get 2GPU'S in one slot