post-holiday PC upgrade question

[ElementalDragon]

lol. well..... yeah.... why did you get a board with both AGP and PCI-express? yeah, it would prevent you from needing a NEW video card..... but if you'd read up on it more, think just about everybody who talks about those boards say the AGP slot on them is for temporary use, and is not meant to be used for extended periods of time due to the fact that it COULD damage the video card that's in it. or somethin like that anyway.

and yeah... i wasn't planning on getting a SLi setup right away. shoulda been able to figure that much out when i said i had a $500-550 budget. that wouldn't be enough to buy the 2 7800GT's. in the future i plan to have SLi.... maybe with the next-gen cards if possible (hopefully i won't need ANOTHER new motherboard then...... stupid AMD and it's new socket just about every other month or 2), but for now i'm just looking at the A64, motherboard, and a single 7800GT.

edit: oh, and Lee.... if you know of/can find me a good mobo, cpu and 7800GT for around $500-550, by all means post links to the hardware. preferrably from the same website though.....

 

[LeeJend]

First Cut, top end brands is $638 up front ($604 after rebates). This pricing is time sensitive (weekend sales) and does not include ~$20 for shipping.

You said you liked gigabyte right? Or am I mixing up threads?
$99 Gigabyte 939 W/SLI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128301
$201 XP3500 Venice w/HSF (should OC to 3800, mine does.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103603
$339 ($304 after rebate) gigabyte 7800GT SLI ready
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125214

With some work $550 may be possible. I'll keep my eyes open. BTW the SLI ready on MB and Video is costing you about $70 premium. So be sure you want SLI.


From the Bargain Basement:
$79 biostart 939 sli ready
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138253
$169 XP3200 Venice w/HSF (should OC to XP3500)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103602
$299 ($279 w/reabte) weekend special only. Friend has a xfx and loves it. Well made
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150124#DetailSpecs

$547 up front ($527 after rebates) Be very cautious with mail order and rebates I just got screwed and that takes a lot. Beating suppliers into submittion is my lifes work. Shipping should be under $20. Newegg is good about that.

That is the best I can do all form one site. The really good deals are drying up with xmas coming.

 

[ElementalDragon]

yeah.... was kinda thinkin bout waiting till after christmas. think they usually have some really sweet deals then.

as for the motherboard..... yeah, i do want SLi. then i'm semi-future-proofed..... unless a new socket type comes out in a month or two...... then i'm screwed once again! that's the only thing i hate about AMD. as for video and stuff.... don't necessarily need Gigabyte stuff all around. like i said, i also liked my Albatron FX5700..... and i like my current Leadtek 6800GT..... so as long as it's a good card from a good name company, it's fine by me. also might not necessarily NEED the A64 3500+. the 3200+ would probably be fine too. and my friend told me that the 3000+ isn't really worth it. XFX and eVGA would probably be good for the video card also.... since they seem to get pretty good reviews. Quite fond of GigaByte's use of the Zalman-esque heatsink fan for the 7800GT though....... cept for the fact that it could probably REALLY use some ramsinks too...

 

[LeeJend]

I would not worry about new AMD socket thats due in the spring.

The 939 is a pretty solid player. It supports X2 chips up to 2.4 gig, maybe higher, so should have a life cycle of another 2 years and XP ratings up to 6000. I would not touch a 754 or socket A at this point.

SLI is a nice CYA plan but I'm betting dual slot solutions die out in favor of a new technology or dual GPU on one board. Except for things like dual 6600GT's where there is an acceptabel speed/heat/cost trade off.

On the other hand since I bought a new ATI card I can always dump my cheapo MB and get a crossfire MB and Master vid card if I have to. Nvidia is not that forgiving.

BTW Going ATI was a mistake. I should have opted for a new PSU and 7800GT. Oh well. Never try and upgrade on the cheap when technology is changing this fast.

 

[ElementalDragon]

so.... u think the power my system has shouldn't be a problem if i'm just changing the CPU, changing the mobo, and switching to a 7800gt? other than that.... it'd be running 1 hard drive and 2 optical drives........ and 5 fans

 

[LeeJend]

ED

Yes, that power supply is plenty good for your planned upgrade post xmas.

Also, I did some more research. Even though your power supply has a single 12V rail and has not been SLI certified that hefty 12V@34A may be enough to support 2 7800 GTs. Nvidia recommends 12V @ 30A for single core CPU and 2 video cards. They mention dual 12V rails but did not explicitly require it. Worth trying it to see if it works when you make the final upgrade.

One of the reasons for splitting the 12V rails was to isolate uglies like mod lights, liquid cooling, optical and HD's from the CPU and GPUs. If your system does not have any (or too many) of these ugly loads then that PSU might even work with 2 SLI cards. It probably won't cut it with a dual core CPU and 2 SLI cards.

 

[ElementalDragon]

ok..... here's what i just ordered like..... little more than 2 hours ago....
CPU: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80719-5
Mobo: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=247010
Video: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322741

Now.... i'm praying that my DDR400 will work with the mobo, since some of the reviews of it i saw on newegg said they had problems with the mobo and their RAM..... so i hope i don't have to spend like... another $100 on new memory. and my power supply SHOULD be able to handle the stuff pretty easily...... (video card, CPU, mobo, 1 hard drive, 2 DVD+/-RW's, 5 case fans) so all i should really REALLY be worried about is something winding up being DoA..... which'd suck badly....

Anyone know if the SATA cables the mobo comes bundled with support SATAII's 3Gb/s speed? was thinkin about buying a SATAII hard drive too.... until i noticed how much i was already up to...... but just curious if they do.

 

[Steevo]

With some RAM capabilitys and a voltage increase I see that CPU running at 2.8 or so Ghz.......


Nice.

 

[Mainframeguy]

from your IRC channel rants - why not keep us posted on when that order gets filled?! :smoker:

 

[ElementalDragon]

lol. yeah...... effing ZipZoomFly. don't think i'ma order from THEM ever again. been processing ever since 11:45AM on TUESDAY! if i remember correctly... i've already had orders from like.. Newegg.... finished processing and packed, waiting to ship, HOURS after i ordered. not DAYS! even sent them a complaint saying so, which i'll probably have to wait till Tuesday to hear back from...... since WHATTAYA KNOW..... the offices of ZipZoomFly will be closed on monday for the New Years holiday! i swear to god they're just like a freakin bank.

Steevo: i don't plan on OC'ing the processor for quite a while, unlike my P4.... which i think i OC'd a few weeks after i got the thing.... maybe a bit longer.... don't remember. that was like 2 years ago. though i will say that i'm getting a new CPU fan for it..... possibly the new Zalman one wit the heatpipes and everythin.

 

[ElementalDragon]

well........ everyone cross your fingers in hopes that my order finishes processing by around noon-ish on the 3rd. if not i'm freakin calling them.

 

[Mainframeguy]

soooo... Here we are and it is noon on the 3rd!

/me runs....

 

[Shamus MacNoob]

I think he means noon USA time ....... lol

 

[seperatist]

i should've warned you about zipzoomfly. they were awful to me. very slow and when i had a problem with my products getting an RMA was harder than it needed to be. also, they have no 800# and take about 4 days to respond to emails. one more thing, when you call they phone is always busy and it is very hard to talk to an actual person.

 

[ElementalDragon]

only reason i ordered from ZZF was due to the free 2nd day shipping, where as if i ordered it from Newegg, i would have had to pay like... $10-15 for 3rd day. plus i ordered like... 2 other things from them, and it didn't seem like they took as long to process and ship.

 

[ElementalDragon]

NEWS FLASH!!!!: Turns out my order was on HOLD for a week..... awaiting MY verification of the shipping address. WHY the HELL didn't i get an e-mail from them saying this?

on a side note: i SOOOOOOOOOOO want this!

 

[LeeJend]

Now.... i'm praying that my DDR400 will work with the mobo, since some of the reviews of it i saw on newegg said they had problems with the mobo and their RAM.....

Don't sweat the RAM. ASUS had an issue with some RAM types (top quality brands actually). ASUS tech support recommended increasing the RAM voltage by 0.05-0.1 and it usually fixed the problem. It happened to a gaming buddy of mine.

PS zipzoomfly... snicker.

only reason i ordered from ZZF was due to the free 2nd day shipping, where as if i ordered it from Newegg, i would have had to pay like... $10-15 for 3rd day. plus i ordered like... 2 other things from them, and it didn't seem like they took as long to process and ship.

ROFLMAO!

BTW Newegg "3rd day" is really 5 day ground most of the time. Newegg gets it packed and ready really fast but then UPS sits on it. "Out for delivery" means sitting on the dock in UPS speak. I had several long heated discussions with UPS through Thanksgiving and Christmas.

 

[ElementalDragon]

yeah..... but at least Newegg would contact you SOMEHOW in order to confirm the order and shipping address. Called ZZF earlier, and asked them why i never got an e-mail saying i had to confirm the shipping address, and the lady on the phone was all like "well, it was sent to your e-mail address, sir.". i told her that if they DID send it, then it never came near my e-mail account, and she was all like "oh, i'm terribly sorry about that, sir". She then told me that it finished processing today.... has NOT been packed yet, but will be packed and shipped tomorrow. so....... yeah, probably gonna wind up getting it on Friday.

seperatist: i know what you mean with calling them. wouldn't be so bad if it only let you sit on hold for like a minute and a half if that.

 

[LeeJend]

They never arrive on Friday. There is always a delay so you won't have it for the weekend to play with. It will come Monday.


PS What is the difference between an optimist and a pessimist?
Experience...

 

[ElementalDragon]

eeh... i think i've gotten stuff on friday from 'em before.................. (ur supposed to be on MY side damnit)