What to go with BFG GeForce 7900 GTX ?

gtabomber · 10 Apr 2006 at 22:09

Thanks everyone for your input! £2000 has just gone from my bank account!

Goods Ordered (prices in GBP)
£369.95 x 2 - BFG GeForce 7900 GTX OC 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-017-BG)
£124.95 x 1 - DFI LanParty NF4 SLI-DR EXPERT (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-018-DF)
£93.50 x 4 - Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740GD 10,000RPM SATA 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-015-WD)
£389.95 x 1 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4800+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA4800CDBOX) (CP-129-AM)
£4.95 x 4 - Western Digital Secure Connect Serial ATA Cable (CB-000-WD)
£1.95 x 4 - Akasa 80mm UV Fan - DAYGLO Orange (FG-018-AK)
£22.95 x 1 - AcoustiPack Deluxe v2 Acoustic Material Kit (CM-001-AF)

Sub-Total: 1679.35
Shipping: 9.95
VAT: 295.63
Total: 1984.93

Lets see how this performs!

Explicit · 10 Apr 2006 at 22:16

Very nice spec! Good luck with the build

Gashman · 10 Apr 2006 at 23:24

only one query, what size monitor you running, cause SLI isn't much use without a big monitor with high resolutions

Explicit · 10 Apr 2006 at 23:25

Gashman said:
only one query, what size monitor you running, cause SLI isn't much use without a big monitor with high resolutions

gtabomber said:
The reason im going for SLi is i run everything at 1680 x 1050 with my Dell 20.1" monitor. (If anyone is looking to buy a new monitor, i very highly reccomend these!)

BigDom · 11 Apr 2006 at 00:03

Whilst you've said your set on SLI I would like to pointout that performance wise Crossfire is the more consistant system. I'm sure SLI is getting better but some games, at least a month or two back ( not seen any reviews recently to show any thng is different), just plain don't work with SLI whereas Crossfire works with everything.

GAMEfreak · 11 Apr 2006 at 09:45

whereas Crossfire works with everything

,

somehow i doubt that slightly

Noni · 11 Apr 2006 at 10:20

gtabomber said:
Thanks everyone for your input! £2000 has just gone from my bank account!

Goods Ordered (prices in GBP)
£369.95 x 2 - BFG GeForce 7900 GTX OC 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-017-BG)
£124.95 x 1 - DFI LanParty NF4 SLI-DR EXPERT (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-018-DF)
£93.50 x 4 - Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740GD 10,000RPM SATA 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-015-WD)
£389.95 x 1 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4800+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA4800CDBOX) (CP-129-AM)
£4.95 x 4 - Western Digital Secure Connect Serial ATA Cable (CB-000-WD)
£1.95 x 4 - Akasa 80mm UV Fan - DAYGLO Orange (FG-018-AK)
£22.95 x 1 - AcoustiPack Deluxe v2 Acoustic Material Kit (CM-001-AF)

Sub-Total: 1679.35
Shipping: 9.95
VAT: 295.63
Total: 1984.93

Lets see how this performs!

Woo!

I still would have got 2x 150gb raptors, as theres less to go wrong.

Also, why the 80mm fans?

If you have a ATC 201 DO NOT put dampening material on it, it reduces the value. Give it to me instead

gtabomber · 11 Apr 2006 at 10:31

Noni said:
Woo!
Also, why the 80mm fans? If you have a ATC 201 DO NOT put dampening material on it, it reduces the value. Give it to me instead

The stock fans that come with the LianLi PC-61 are crap and the temps inside my case are going to rise a tad more with 4 raptors and 2 GFX cards!

The AcoustiPack Deluxe v2 Acoustic Material Kit is mine, all mine!!

I'm sure SLI is getting better but some games, at least a month or two back ( not seen any reviews recently to show any thng is different), just plain don't work with SLI

One of my main games is Call of Duty 2. I get pretty naff framerates (to my standards anyways) in 1680 x 1050 and I know it works well with SLi

. Check this out. Ive just noticed that guys sig has a very similar system to what i (will) have!

Cheers guys.

BigDom · 11 Apr 2006 at 12:03

GAMEfreak said:
,

somehow i doubt that slightly

Everything that uses 3D acceleration

...

Not sure of the technicalities of the SLI implementation but Crossfire, doing it in hardware on the Master/Slave system of the X8xx, X18xx and X19xx, means it's done purely in hardware. Thus the 3D application just see's a normal card. I believe the technicalities of SLI are rather different and in some applications for some reason they just don't work and you get no benefit from SLI.

Kamakazie! · 11 Apr 2006 at 15:50

yeah i seriously would not have gone for 4x74gig raptors but the choice is obviously yours. just remember to buy some ear plugs

BigDom · 11 Apr 2006 at 17:03

Kamakazie! said:
yeah i seriously would not have gone for 4x74gig raptors but the choice is obviously yours. just remember to buy some ear plugs

lol yeah - pair of RAID 1'd 250gig Samsun Spinpoints would have similar (read) performance and be a hell of a lot cheaper and quieter.

gtabomber · 13 Apr 2006 at 16:16

Well if i get sick of the RAID 0+1 ill just change it

The noise aint too much of a problem. The computer gets used for loud games and thats about it. If i have to leave a PC on over night ive got either my IBM eServer or a couple of cardboard box PC's that do the job

Your order has been sent to our warehouse but not yet printed.

Taking too long! I want my beast!

Nikolic · 13 Apr 2006 at 16:45

gtabomber said:
Well if i get sick of the RAID 0+1 ill just change it

The noise aint too much of a problem. The computer gets used for loud games and thats about it. If i have to leave a PC on over night ive got either my IBM eServer or a couple of cardboard box PC's that do the job

Your order has been sent to our warehouse but not yet printed.

Taking too long! I want my beast!

The BFG 7900GTX OC's arn't in stock at the moment - so I'm guessing that's why your order is delayed

.

Other than that - your system is going to flyyyy.

Monstermunch · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:21

gtabomber said:
£109.86 - Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740GD 10,000RPM SATA 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-015-WD)
£109.86 - Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740GD 10,000RPM SATA 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-015-WD)
£109.86 - Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740GD 10,000RPM SATA 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-015-WD)
£109.86 - Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740GD 10,000RPM SATA 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-015-WD)

Raptors are a total waste of money IMO.

I presume you've got 4 down there for running in raid0+1 for speed and reliability.

Why not go for 4 x Western Digital 250gb with the 16mb cache. Should be nearly as quick, give you 4 x the amount of storage and save you a hell of a lot of cash!

gtabomber · 17 Apr 2006 at 17:18

As i said before, i dont need storage space. That all goes on a server.

Yea, the GFX is still out of stock. Everything has been shipped apart from the GFX cards. They havent arrived yet because of easter and everything.

So... ive got a nackerd machine still sitting here waiting for its beasty upgrades. The waiting is killing me!

I may as well show you were its all going. Take a look.

Cheers guys.

gtabomber · 2 May 2006 at 20:00

Got it all set up and it definately does fly!

Need to get the memory settings input properly though. Thats a task and a half. This mobo goes waaaay in depth with the settings.

One problem with the pooter though, see here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=6964506#post6964506

Thanks everyone for the help so far!