Sapphire PC-AM3RS790G

[$eamonk3y]

Evening all.

I have the Sapphire PC-AM3RS790G motherboard and need some techy help. It comes with integrated graphics but I guessed that it would be in no shape to handle gaming so I also have the ATI 4890 1GB.

Now my question is: Is there any way to turn off the ATI 4890 graphics card (ideally not by unplugging it or something equally time-consuming) and use the onboard graphics whilst not gaming (eg. just surfing the web, checking mail etc.)? And then boot it back up for when I start doing graphics-consuming stuff?

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Sapph...X-On-Board-VGA

Cheers,

$eamonk3y

[watercooled]

I think there is a way, as that board supports hybrid crossfire. Have a look in your motherboard manual for any mention of it. I have the 780V version of that board and the manual isn't very descriptive TBH but it's worth a look. Also, check for it in the BIOS. I'm not sure if it works with the 4890 though.

[Blaineoliver]

Only works with lower end 3xxx series i believe. 4890s have lower power consumption idle than a 4870, i wouldnt worry. Maybe use a laptop for surfing if you wanna save pennies on electricity.

[Cornholio]

This honestly seems like an overkill scenario....its like saying people with a dual/tri loop w/c setup unplugging it to save power when they just want to check emails.

[$eamonk3y]

Thanks.

My rear I/O shield hasn't had all the holes punches through. How do I know which bits to punch out? I would put in a picture to show you but don't know how to make my picture a web url...

Cheers,

$eamonk3y

[watercooled]

Put it next to the motherboard I/O sockets and see where it needs holes basically. To upload an image you can go to imagehost.org then it provides you with a forum link

[$eamonk3y]

[IMG]http://h.imagehost.org/view/0222/05012008037[IMG]

[$eamonk3y]

hmmmm...

http://h.imagehost.org/view/0222/05012008037

[watercooled]

It should end with [/IMG] - the forward slash is needed. And just pop out the flaps where there's a connector on the motherboard.

[$eamonk3y]

Ok - my motherboard has connectors in every hole so for example with the network hole where there's no crease in the I/O sheild, do I bend it in or out of snap it off completly?

Also, it's great that you have a similar motherboard! Can you tell me what the switch card does? The manual sucks!

Cheers,

$eamonk3y

[watercooled]

I bent it back and forth till it broke off. I'm not sure what you mean by the switch card sorry, if you mean an expansion card of some sort my motherboard didn't come with any. And I agree, the manual isn't much help - I wanted it for the BIOS configuration but there's pretty much nothing in there!

[$eamonk3y]

Oh - mine came with a switch card thing - I've looked around online and you insert it into the other PCI-Express slot when you are only using one graphics card...

$eamonk3y

[Jasp]

Believe the switch card has to be inserted to tell the first PCI-E slot to run in 16x otherwise it thinks their is a second card and runs at 8x 8x, could be wrong though....

[$eamonk3y]

When I've built it all and hooked everything up, do I put the motherboard cd in first or the os? which order does everything get installed?

Cheers,

$eamonk3y

[Jasp]

OS dude, as the HD has nothing installed on it so will throw up a no system disk error when you first run the PC. Make sure you load the optimised defaults first then change the boot order to CD first then HD second in the bios as most have it the other way round, also worth checking if you are using a USB keyboard is legacy USB support is turned on, while your at it also turn off the onboard GFX chip as this could cause problems later down the line as you are installing.

[watercooled]

If you need any help with BIOS options post here