Help on some Comp Knowledge

M

MrWhite

New Member
Hello all, i got a few questions that maybe someone can help me out. First, listed below are specs to a computer i was thinking about getting, id like to know if its a decent setup, or if any incompatibilites are easily noticable. Second, what exaclly is Dual Video cards? I hear you can hook 2 monitors up to your desktop, is that the only advantage? Would 2 512 cards equal 1 gig? Anyway ill list the basics of the comp setup:

Mobo: (Socket AM2)MSI K9N4 SLI-F nForce 500 SLI Chipset DDR2/800 SATA-II RAID MBoard w/ Dual 16x PCI-Express

Processor: (Socket AM2) AMD Athlon™64 X2 6000+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology

Ram: 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory

Video: Dual NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express


Thanks for your time!

P.S - Would a 700Watt Power supply cut it?
 
Two video cards are used together to improve performance. You do not need two video cards to use two monitors - a single 8500 will include two ports. It will not double the available video memory (the same information needs to be stored in both cards to work). Even 512MB in budget cards isn't worth the extra cost - the card isn't powerful enough to take advantage of all that memory.

Using two budget video cards together is generally a bad idea - there just isn't the performance benefits to be worth the extra cost. You're better off with a single, better video card. With a system like that, a decent 500W PSU would be more than sufficient.

Your system should have no compatibility issues.
 
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I appricate the info buddy. Well i dont need dual video cards for dual monitor hook up, by that i mean dual monitors wasnt what i was going for in a dual card. Im customizing this PC on a website, and with all the upgrades, these dual 8500 512 cards is equalling a total of $180, and out of all the other cards, seemed to be a good buy, other quality cards, 8800 and so were about $400, so when i saw two 512's for $185, figured even if im not getting double the power, i at least have a backup card. But what do u think? Is one geforce 8500 512 sufficent for this system, or looking at the system specs, would you think that card probably isnt to good for that system? Knockin this 2nd card off only saves $80, so knowing that, does that change your opinion sir? Thanks again!
 
Also why is it certain geforce cards (ill throw an example out, not sure if this is a real card) a GeForce 8200 256mb card is more costly then the GeForce 8500 512mb card. Shouldnt the 512 be more costly? Basicly the 8500 512 card is the cheapest 512 Nvidia card i could find on this customizing site, does that make it a bad card?
 
I would possibly consider a different motherboard, do you have plans for hard drive, OS, power supply?

If you do plan on going SLI, you would want the nForce 590sli...otherwise the nForce 570sli is good
 
MrWhite said:
What's wrong with this Mobo? (definetly not arguing, simply asking sir ;)
Click to expand...

I would go with brands like Asus, Gigabyte, Evga,..ect and try and go no lower than a nForce 570 chipset. IMO :)

Msi i dont think is bad i just have heard of some bad reviews
 
So does every Nvidia/ATI card offer SLI/Crossfire? As long as each card is identical? because basicly, for my budget, i can go 2 GeForce 8500 512's, or 2 ATI RADEON HD 2600 PRO 512's for $6 more a peice. What do u think?
 
Between those two cards im not sure what would be better, maybe some one else would know. But most cards support crossfire/sli it should say under specs. But yeah they must be identical.
 
So switching to the: (Socket AM2)GigaByte GA-M57SLI-S4 nForce 570-SLI Chipset DDR2/800 SATA RAID PCI-Express MBoard w/GbLAN,IEEE1394
would be a better buy? Thats a 570SLi chipset


Thanks
 
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