Building a new system (SLI)

[GarethG]

Right well i was told to post this in the hardware section instead of the .systems forum so here we are =]

Also ill have to look in to that card, its the only one i found going around the net due the to complete lack of the 6800GTs' :/ But what im after is the SLI on the 6800GTs' 256MB prefably.

Right well i have currently been building a new system for myself mainly for gaming, i have been racking my brains with a big help from Kez to come up with this mahine. Thanks Kez

Here is the pc i hame come up with so far. I have included the items name and a link to where im currently going to purchase it from, inluding a price at the end.

Although it might not be the "Best" gaming machine out there i think it will do me good, and i must also mention i dont want to be going in debt with this thing.

I would very much appreciate it if you could post your views on this machine.

[blockers]

Looks like a nice machine. Just a couple of things
1) The PSU - that needs to be changed, dont run your system on a PSU that comes with a case. Unless it is a good quality brand (unlikely) Antec and OCZ are the daddies. You really want as close to 500watt as you can afford.
2) The CPU - have you looked at a getting an xp3000/3200 to save some money, as the majority of xp3000/3200 with overclock easily past xp3500speeds.
3) The hard drive - i dont know much about hitachi, but samsung are meant to have awesome hard drives.

Finally - you do realise that your computer will still be severly CPU limited much of the graphics power you spent about £600 on will be redundent. Why dont you get just 1 6800GT (as it will handle everything easily) and then get another at a later date....? Just a thought.

Hope that helps.
Will.

[Lee H]

Just a note to say that the 256Mb MSI PCI-E GF6800GTO DDR3 Dual DVI (OEM) - *SCAN Exclusive*are not SLi compliant and as such I suggest you find an alternative card such as the XFX 6800GT as this is 100% compliant and working within the guidelines provided by Nvidia.

Also - double check that the PSU is a 24 pin ATX with enough molexs as the akasa conenctions require 2 molex connections to connect to one card.

Hope this info helps - If you need any more info gimme a holler as I've got my SLi up and running and can advise on any pitfalls

[BlueMagician]

...an alternative card such as the XFX 6800GT...

$64,000 question - Might I ask when you're expecting these in stock?

Many thanks,
S.

[Thorsson]

The Akasa connectors are generally wired incorrectly. Have Scan fixed this?

Best to be safe and get a PSU with two PCI-E connectors.

[Lu-tze]

firstly, would you want to overclock? watercool?

i would ditch the case/psu and get something like the akasa c62. couple this with a psu that has dual pci-e like the tagan 480.

if you want to overclock, then the 3500 will be ok, but you'll probably need a better cooler. either way, i would upgrade the cooler to something more efficient and quieter like the xp90/xp120 and spec a decent fan like the luxotop which is speed adjustable and quiet and can be found at www.whispertec.com for about £13. but this can be done later.

i would go for the 200gb seagate baracuda 7200.7 as this seems to be getting a lot of good reviews lately and is also very quiet. it can be had for around £80.

i would also suggest buying only one card for the time being and spending the money saved on the better case/psu. it depends what type of games you play, but i would imagine that you will be cpu-limited with 2 6800gts, and a amd 3000 in some cases.

[Lee H]

The Akasa connectors are generally wired incorrectly. Have Scan fixed this?

Yeap they are fine - It seems that A lot of manufacturers are getting confused by the PCI-E power connection layout and some had a square peg in the middle of the top row instead of a rounded one.

As for the PCI-E based XFX 6800GT cards - I'll do some investigating and as soon as I have any info for you lot I'll let you know

[Spunkey]

*edit*
ignore me

[Destroyer^]

just a question but does the 480w antec trueblue have a connector for a pci-e card ?

[Butcher]

The XFX 6800GTs are retail boxed and come with molex->pcie power connectors BTW, so you don't need to buy them separately if you're buying the XFX cards.
I now have 2 spares because I didn't realise they came with the cards.