My Preliminary Build

[gamerman4]

By the time the power of a 6600GT or an X800 becomes crappy, a card much more powerful than the 7800GTX will have been made and at a cheaper price.

 

[Praetor]

I'm an avid multitasker. Not much of a gamer but I stress my system pretty hard. So the only change I'd consider making is perhaps downgrading the nvidia 7800 to the ATI x800. But when you're talking the difference between 2500 and 2200, doesn't seem to be that big of a deal to just go all out.

Why the X800 if you're not much of a gamer?

Motherboard: ASUS A8N-SLI Premium ATX AMD Motherboard $176.00

SLI for nongaming?

DVD-Burner: PLEXTOR Black IDE DVD Burner Model PX-716AL/SW $168.99

A kickass drive no doubt, but there is also the PX740

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM ECC Registered
DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory $331.00

No point in ECC

Gamerman, thanks for the well thought out reply. I really appreciate it. OK so if I don't go for the 7800, is the 6800 the next logical choice or should I go even cheaper with the ATI X800.

Absolutely. Id go down as far as 6600 class cards

or for rich people who want bragging rights.

Or for kids of rich parents....

The x800 is an excellent card with a good price but if you are looking at the X800 I would suggest getting the 6600gt. It is pretty much the same price but it performs better.

The X800 is a better card...

There's going to be a UT 2007? I thought they stopped after UT 2004...

Lets stay on topic

 

[gamerman4]

The X800 is a better card...

You could be right in some aspects but either card is a good choice. At the time, I was looking at PCI-E benchmarks and the 6600GT performs closer to the x800pro in PCI-E. I'm looking at AGP benches and the x800 is better than the 6600gt in AGP... go figure

 

[Praetor]

You could be right in some aspects but either card is a good choice. At the time, I was looking at PCI-E benchmarks and the 6600GT performs closer to the x800pro in PCI-E. I'm looking at AGP benches and the x800 is better than the 6600gt in AGP... go figure

1. Which benchmarks? (please dont say Doom3-only)
2. Purely looking at numbers

X800Pro
Clocks = 475/450
Pipes = 12/6
Memory Address Size = 256bit = 28.8GB/s bandwidth

6600GT
Clocks = 500/500
Pipes = 8/3
Memory Address Size = 128bit = 16GB/s

Throw in the X800 pipe mod to make it s 16/6 pipe card ...

 

[gamerman4]

Oh crap, I'm sorry, I re-looked at the benches and I misread them. it was the 6800gt sorry for the confusion. You are correct.

 

[aj327]

Preliminary Build Revisited

So I've had a change of heart since my last post. My financial situation has changed a bit so I'm not going to go hog wild anymore. Just going to go for the best bang for buck scenario, keeping in mind upgradability etc.

So here it is:

Case: Enermax CS-718B Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window
http://www.newegg.com/product/Produ...0.8+mm+Server+Computer+Case+460W+Power+Supply
$189.00

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor Socket 939
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80721-1&affiliate=pricegrabber
$359.90

Mobo: ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131540
$175.00

RAM: CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145486
$272.00

Video: XFX Geforce 6600GT PVT43GNDF3 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150098
$149.00

DVD: TOSHIBA Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SD-M1912
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827130038
$18.99

Floppy: SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Model MPF920 Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16821103116
$9.99

Total $$$ = 1173.88

If it looks like there's anything missing, that's because I already have it on my old computer. I know I went heavy on the mobo but I want upgradability just in case I want to get a 2nd 6600gt card down the road or whatever.

Question though: Is the PSU that the enermax case comes with good enough, or do I need to spring for another PSU as well. Trying to do this on the cheap but don't want to cut important corners.

Thanks...

 

[TheNomad]

well...2 6600GTs are kinda pointless, just get 1 6800GT or 7800GT or 7800GTX
and you really don't need 2 gigs, 1 gig of value ram will be enough
and you're going to need a psu

 

[Praetor]

Not much of a gamer but I stress my system pretty hard. So the only change I'd consider making is perhaps downgrading the nvidia 7800 to the ATI x800.

Not a gamer but you're buying a top-tier gaming card....

But when you're talking the difference between 2500 and 2200, doesn't seem to be that big of a deal to just go all out.

Heh well it's your money i guess

Finally, what do you all think? Pretty bad ass, no?

1. Ditch the ASUS board, you can do better both absolutely and for the money
2. Ditch the SLI (unless you enjoy spending unneccesary money) .. a MSI K8N Neo4 Plat or DFI Lanparty NF4Ultra-D will outpace that easilt
3. You said you wanted to do a lot of multitasking and not so much gaming but you got a top end videocard and the lowest-of-its-class CPU .... a bit inconsistent
4. FYI Plextor has a PX740 now
5. Dont get ECC memory
6. Whats wrong with the PSU that comes with the case?

and you really don't need 2 gigs, 1 gig of value ram will be enough

Depends on what he's doing (or not doing)

and you're going to need a psu

Got two in the list so far