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I'm buying/building a new computer, and after reading many of these threads, I'm still a bit confused. If I run this motherboard: "Asus M2N SLI NVIDIA nForce 560 SLI MCP Chipset DDR2/800 SATA RAID PCI-Express MBoard" Would I be better off with an NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS 512MB, or two 8500's in SLI? The games that I would be playing are Conan and Warhammer online. I don't play too many FPS type games, and I do have a slightly tight budget. Also if I only run one video card, what would my motherboard options be. Thanks in advance.
1st of all, the 8500GT is a weak, low end card. A single 8600GTS is better than 2x 8500GT.
2nd, what components DO you have so far? Are you saying you don't have a board yet? What about a CPU, RAM, power supply?
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I have the Motherboard, (unopened), 2 gigs of Ram, 650w PSU, and will be using either the AMD Athlon™ X2 5400 Dual-Core CPU, or a AMD Athlon™ X2 6000+ Dual-Core CPU. The 8800 cards are a bit out of reach for me still, but Im using a nVidia 5400 Ultra from 4 years ago. If I only go with one vid card, should I still keep the SLI board?
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Personally, I'm not a fan of SLi or Crossfire. There's almost always a single card that will beat a pair, unless you're pairing up two high end cards. But if you do that, you're usually spending big bucks. Two cards use twice as much power so you need a really good PSU. Simply saying that it's 650W doesn't mean a hell of a lot...the amperage specs are what's important, plus it should be a reputable name brand unit, not a generic cheapo.
I wouldn't get either of those CPUs, especially not the X2 6000+. It's a 125W power hog. You'd be better off getting the X2 5000+ Black Edition (65W) for about $90 & overclocking the crap out of it.
There's nothing wrong with getting an SLi board. Nothing says you have to use two cards. You could even get a single ATI Radeon card if you wanted to. I would have suggested a board with the 570 SLi chipset though. Overall performance is similar, but the 570 has a few added features. Here's one possibility:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...
Here's a table of the 500 series chipsets:
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I have no idea how to overclock a CPU, and the power supply isn't handy and I don't have the specs, but its a CoolerMaster Unit 600 Watts eXtreme Power - SLI Supports.
If I use the MOBO above, and the GeForce 8600 GTS 512MB card...what CPU would you use w/o overclocking? Don't mean to be a pain here, just wanting to get this done. I was even looking at one on Cyberpower for around $800, which is about my limit with this thing.
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This is the one I built on Cyberpower earlier...it does have the 600w PSU listed above.
CASE: Hot !!! Apevia X-Telstar Junior 420W Case w/ Temp Display and Fan Control (G Type Blue Color with Side-Window)
CPU: AMD Athlon™ X2 5000+ Black Edition Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
MOTHERBOARD: Asus M2N SLI NVIDIA nForce 560 SLI MCP Chipset DDR2/800 SATA RAID PCI-Express MBoard w/GbLAN, IEEE1394, USB2.0, &7.1Audio
MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS 512MB 16X PCI Express (EVGA Powered by NVIDIA)
VIDEO CARD 2: NONE
LCD Monitor: NONE
HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
Data Hard Drive: NONE
Optical Drive: (Special Price) 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
Optical Drive 2: 16X DVD ROM (BLACK COLOR)
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
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The thing about the 5000+ Black Edition is that it's "unlocked", meaning that you can either lower or raise the multiplier. With a "normal" X2 CPU, the multi can only be lowered.
The 5000+ runs at 2.6GHz (13 x 200MHz) by default. If you were to simply raise the multiplier from 13x to 14x, you would essentially have created a 5400+...increase it to 15x & you'd have a 6000+. The only other thing that you *might* have to do is raise the CPU voltage a little bit.
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The CoolerMaster PSU is OK, but it's not great. You'd be better off getting a unit with a single +12v rail with high amperage rather than a unit with multiple +12v rails at 18A each. Like this 650W Corsair with 52A:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...
With the money you save by getting the cheaper 5000+ CPU, you could invest in a better video card. Possibly a 9600GT?
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Thanks for the CPU information, I'll use that for sure. The 8600GTS video card, and the 570SLi chipset board. Actually will save a couple dollars this way to boot. Any other suggestions before I close up for the night? I'm planning on going to Tigerdirect in the AM, so any last minute info will be appreciated.
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Actually I may be able to swing the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB, but thats gonna be pushing it around the house. So I guess the question two posts up....including this Vid card, is hows it looking?
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"there is a Tigerdirect near where I live"
Which means you'll have to pay tax if you shop there.
Here's a few memory deals from Fry's Outpost. Three choices for 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-800 for just $20 after rebate:
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/55...
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Finally placed my order, after looking online, and with the information I recieved here this is the setup I finally decided on.
ASUS EN9600GT silent/HTDI/512M GeForce 9600GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Black Edition Processor
GIGABYTE GA-M57SLI-S4 AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI
And 4 Gigs of Crucial 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Hope this all works out!!
Thanks for the info Jam
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Looks good. Post back & let us know how it goes....
"And that's the fishing line, because Sharkboy said so!"
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