New PC

[AaronTBE]

i want a lot of power but quiet from a psu i was gunna go tagan 480uo1 but i have seen the enermax 660 and the enermax noisetaker 470 anyone know if there any gd? or should i just get the tagan

[StormPC]

I've seen tests that show one 6800GT outperforms two 6600GTs in some games and no major wins for the 6600s.

I've seen posts in forums that people have been able to to get two different 6800GTs to work together.

Maybe right now one 6800GT can get close to two 6600GTs on some things, but in my tests I have yet to see this. Even if it was true this will not be the case very shortly (as drivers mature, etc...).

Read all you want but I've been testing a lot and stability is not that great when rendering with dual GPUs under SLI even if the cards are identical. Sure the system will boot in most cases but stability in applications is what counts. Don't believe everything you read. There is a lot of misinformation out there.

[BlueMagician]

Read all you want but I've been testing a lot and stability is not that great when rendering with dual GPUs under SLI even if the cards are identical.

Really? To what do you attribute the instability - drivers? or hardware design of the SLI solution?

I'm not gonna drop £900+ on a CPU/Mobo/2x6800U solution, unless I know it's gonna do its job.. This is disconcerting.

S.

[Thorsson]

i dont find a big difference in my rig (see sig), only a matter of a couple of degrees so i use 7v antecs which are nice and quiet and keep the air flowing fine.....if it helps

It's certainly not as important as good airflow through the case, but it gets more important if you overclock (or have a P4).

BTW Aaron, there have been reliability problems with Tagan, a few people have noted them here and THG seems to have been very unlucky with theirs.

Note that last I looked only the 660 was a new version on sale here, the other Enermax's are pre PCI-E. Check if you want the 470.

[Thorsson]

Maybe right now one 6800GT can get close to two 6600GTs on some things, but in my tests I have yet to see this. Even if it was true this will not be the case very shortly (as drivers mature, etc...).

Read all you want but I've been testing a lot and stability is not that great when rendering with dual GPUs under SLI even if the cards are identical. Sure the system will boot in most cases but stability in applications is what counts. Don't believe everything you read. There is a lot of misinformation out there.

Well it doesn't even support that many apps (games!) as yet, which is the biggest issue I have with it. That's why I'm willing to wait and see. Meanwhile I'm very happy with my mobo even if I never use the SLI.

[RDL]

Ok, so I think I have the final setup. But where should I buy it from? I'm still waiting for the 3500 to get in stock.

[RDL]

This is the final specs:

Case:Akasa 62
PSU:Tagan 480W Whisper
Mobo:Asus A8N SLi Deluxe Edition
CPU:Socket 939 A64 3500
CPU CoolerXP-120
RAM:Corsair TWINX1024-3200XL DDR-DIMM 1024MB Kit w/two matched CMX512-3200XL DIMMs
HDD:200Gb Barracuda 7200.7 8MB Cache x2
GPU:XFX 6800gt (I'l prob buy a second at a later stage) OR 2 6600gts
DVD-ROM Drive:16x Sony
DVD-RWPlextor PX-712SA

[Thorsson]

TBH it will be hard to find all the things you want at one site. I ended up going to 3, although 1 was for the monitor.

[RDL]

Well, I reckon I could get all of it except the RAM from Scan, I haven't check Overclockers to see if I could get it all from there, but we'l see.

[Thorsson]

Do a search on Topower. These are the guys that make Tagans.

[StormPC]

Really? To what do you attribute the instability - drivers? or hardware design of the SLI solution?

I'm not gonna drop £900+ on a CPU/Mobo/2x6800U solution, unless I know it's gonna do its job.. This is disconcerting.

S.

Well it's a pretty new technology and there's a lot going on. Immature drivers could certainly be an issue, and not just video drivers. The chipset drivers and BIOS are all new as well. I suspect that the ability of the system to successfully balance loads between the two GPUs is critical. It's the reason the cards need to be as close to each other as possible. Funny things happen when the load is not balanced.

Also, it doesn't matter whether a game or application "supports" SLI. It's done in the hardware, driver and OS levels. It is possible to optimize a program for SLI but it's not necessary to realizing increased performance. If it's enabled on your system everywhere it needs to be than all OpenGL and DirectX applications run in SLI mode.

[RDL]

Ok, I think after some deliberation that I will upgrade the Plextor 712SA to a 716SA as then I will be able to burn up to 8.5gbs on a dual layer disc, which might be handy. For the extra £20 I think it is worth it.

[Marcos]

Yeah, just wish they would hurry up and drop prices on the dual layer media, its just not an option right now.

[nvening]

RAM:I need help with this one-something very low latency, great for overclocking and very fast. I am willing to spend up to about £200 on the RAM. Also something that goes well with A64.

The best ram for what you want is this: http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews...hpc3Rvcnk9LTI=
You can get it in bigger quantitys of course but that is £190.

[nvening]

Ok, I think after some deliberation that I will upgrade the Plextor 712SA to a 716SA as then I will be able to burn up to 8.5gbs on a dual layer disc, which might be handy. For the extra £20 I think it is worth it.

The nec 3500 is one of the fastest dl drive around and its just £35ish

[nvening]

CPU:Socket 939 A64 3000/3200/3500 (help me on this one, I have seen the 3500 at £145 (excl. VAT) and it is quite attractive, but how far will it OC? I will be using air cooling (XP-120 or Asus Star Ice) so I don't want to buy the 3500 if I can get the 3000/3200 at the same speed as it when overclocked)

Go for the 3500+ , apparentally it overclocks quite well but AMD trys to stop you doing it too much so people buy the fx ones.