Question about SLI and SATA II

[Leaderz0rz]

Some of you probably seen my system post that i'm building if not here it is for review

motherboard: ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe

proccessor:AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor

memory:CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel

video card: eVGA 7800gt x2

sound card:Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card

case: coolermaster stacker full tower


anyways my questions

1.Does my power supply have to have SLI support? what exactly does that mean? and what powersupply would you suggest for my system.
2.I'm new to SATA becuase when I built my current machine SATA was brand new anyways my mobo says SATA II and i notice some drives say sata 3.0g/bs is that sata II?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer my questions. You guys rock

 

[mlakrid]

Re: Two questions

Some of you probably seen my system post that i'm building if not here it is for review

motherboard: ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe

proccessor:AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor

memory:CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel

video card: eVGA 7800gt x2

sound card:Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card

case: coolermaster stacker full tower


anyways my questions

1.Does my power supply have to have SLI support? what exactly does that mean? and what powersupply would you suggest for my system.
2.I'm new to SATA becuase when I built my current machine SATA was brand new anyways my mobo says SATA II and i notice some drives say sata 3.0g/bs is that sata II?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer my questions. You guys rock

Im going to answer your questions in reverse order.....

First SATA II is the next progression in SATA drives, and is pushing the SCSI drives out of the market, the SATA II drives can peak at 300Mb/s, while the SATA drives peak at around 150Mb/s for doubling the peformance, but this is only in THEORY... so far most SATA II drives have only been able to slightly outperform SATA drives by small percentages... The Western Digital (74GB) Raptor is still the best performing SATA drive on the market...

Second, it is best to spec out a power supply that is SLI CERTIFIED. If you intend on running SLI, and you noted 2x 7800 GTS then get an SLI certified power supply, and dont skimp on your power supply it is the heartbeat of your system, although many will argue the mother board is, but without a power supply, a coamputer is nothing but a nice paper weight... I would go no less than 500W for your system the 7800s are power hungry beasts.

Lastly, if you plan to overclock, think of getting a water-cooled setup, the system specs you have noted, will heat up very quicly...

and Good luck... post back with anymore questions....

*NOTE: for future reference, simply post back to your original thread, you really shouldnt create new ones for the same subject....

 

[ming]

Re: Two questions

DDR2 coming out soon? Maybe you want to wait for that to be released first?

 

[madmatt]

Edited thread title to be more specific.

 

[Leaderz0rz]

sorry for the vague topic and the new post.

You mention water cooling..I have always heard of the risks of leaks and things. I really don't know anything about water cooling. Is it difficult to setup? I know my setup will produce alot of heat but I was hoping i wouldn't run into a overheating problem. In your opinion would it be better to try for water cooling setup?

 

[LeeJend]

How hot will the room the computer is in get at it's hottest? 75F, 80F, 85F?
How much noise can you live with from case fans?

Answer those questions and you know whether you really want to mess with water cooling. I don't think you can get a water cooler on more than one card in an SLI setup and the 7800's are going to be your single biggest heat source.

On the power supply make sure it says SLI Certified, not just SLI compatible. Compatible just emans it has the special power connectors. Certified means it has been tested to Nvidia's standards.

 

[Leaderz0rz]

my room is always cool i have a personal air conditioner in my room so its always in the 60s..and noise wise i don't really care..i auctally can't sleep without the noise of my computer lol

 

[mlakrid]

sorry for the vague topic and the new post.

You mention water cooling..I have always heard of the risks of leaks and things. I really don't know anything about water cooling. Is it difficult to setup? I know my setup will produce alot of heat but I was hoping i wouldn't run into a overheating problem. In your opinion would it be better to try for water cooling setup?

Water-cooling is very easy to setup and there are many kits available on-line now... once you pressure test and bleed a water system of air there is almost NO chance of a leak happening, in the future.

Lastly, if your room is already cold, and you dont care how noisy the computer is, then maybe sticking with air-cooled is better for you.

 

[Leaderz0rz]

Thanks for the replies I think i will stick with air cooled for now.

 

[ElementalDragon]

mlakrid: i think you mean SATA has a peak transfer speed of 150MB/s, and SATAII has a peak transfer speed of 300MB/s. i don't think i'd EVER want a hard drive that had a transfer speed in the Mb/s range..... since for SATA that'd be what..... 15MB/s?