GFX choice.:/

[Vault5ChOnG]

Hello,

Firstly heres my system specs:

Abit AV8 3rD eYe Mobo
Leadtek Winfast A400(Geforce 6800Ultra AGP)
2GB Geil PC3200 Dual Channel Kit Ram
AMD64 4000+

Im going to upgrade to PCI-E and i am confused about a few things,Im going to get new mobo,gfxcard and psu. But im going to change over to ATI i think as there so much cheaper and seem to be ahead of nvidia these days.By that i mean ATI512MB cards and NVIDIA512MB cards with similar specs have so much of a price range difference because ATIs new cards coming out.

Now my question is.

If im going ATI do i need to get a mobo which is Crossfire ready? and if i do this does that mean if i wanted to change to NVIDIA gfx cards again i would need to get a new mobo which is SLI ready?And what about PSU's would i need to by a PSU which is Crossfire ready(if there are any) coz if seen SLi readu psu that i imagine you would need if you where going SLi.AND(sorry for so many questions lol) If my mobo is Crossfire ready does this mean i can only buy Cards which are Crossfire Edtition on them?

GFX card i will be buying:

PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC).

I have always used NVIDIA so would like to know if my choice of changing over to ATI is a good one. Are you just paying for the name of NVIDIA and do these ATI cards perfrom just as well at NVIDIA?.

Any suggestions for Motherboards and PSU's would be great.thanks in advance for any replys.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

You can't beat the X1800 XT 512MB for value......
The only slightly quicker NVIDIA card is the 7800 GTX 512MB which are nearly twice the money and if you consider one of those you might as well buy the X1900 XT or XT-X which both outperform the 7800 GTX 512MB and have better image quality plus cost less too.

For motherboards you only need a Crossfire board if you intend on running two X1800's. Again its the same for SLi if you want two 7800's then you need an SLi board. But if your intentions is just one card then it does not matter which motherboard you get as long as it is PCI-E.

 

[Vault5ChOnG]

Idd, i just dont understand these prices. ATI512MB 625Clockspeed £270,, and all NVIDIA 512mb cards have much less clockspeed but are likc double the price lol.

 

[Gibbo]

Idd, i just dont understand these prices. ATI512MB 625Clockspeed £270,, and all NVIDIA 512mb cards have much less clockspeed but are likc double the price lol.

ATI are just better buys, NVIDIA are charging more because there is so few available and the real NVIDIA fanboys will pay the prices no matter how high.....

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Only trouble is though if you want to go x1800 Crossfire, then your going to have to buy both cards now, master and slave, as the x1800's are not produced anymore, so you'll have to get them while you still can.

Welcome to the forums btw.

 

[Vault5ChOnG]

thanks .. Ahh,, so for duel cards you need the normal edition and the crossfire edition? you CANT just have 2 of the same cards? Does that go for SLi too? need one normal and 1 SLi?

 

[Vault5ChOnG]

Think im just gonna go with this.

Asus A8N32-SLi Deluxe nForce4 SLi X16 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-118-AS)

PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)

Hiper HPU-4B580 Type R 580W Modular ATX2.2 PSU - Blue (CA-006-HP)

Does this mean i would not be able to put 2 cards in this mobo as its not Crossfire Ready?

 

[Gibbo]

Think im just gonna go with this.

Asus A8N32-SLi Deluxe nForce4 SLi X16 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-118-AS)

PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)

Hiper HPU-4B580 Type R 580W Modular ATX2.2 PSU - Blue (CA-006-HP)

Does this mean i would not be able to put 2 cards in this mobo as its not Crossfire Ready?

Your wasting your money on the motherboard........

For the same money you could get an X1900 and Crossfire motherboard. The motherboards perform equally but the X1900 is a lot quicker.

 

[Vault5ChOnG]

Hmm which crossfire motherboard would you recommend?

 

[iamgud]

I assume you mean he gets the Asus Crossfire mobo. The Nforce 4 chipset is very popular and if you don't plan on getting 2 cards I would say get it. How good is ATIs chipset in comparison?

 

[Gibbo]

Hmm which crossfire motherboard would you recommend?

They are all good, though some people don't like the Asus but we built Crossfire systems with that and its rock stable. Though the Abit looks a nice board too.
If I was you and it was my money I would buy:-

Asus, MSI or Abit Crossfire board from OcUK - £60 - £70 +VAT
Connect3D X1900 XT-X from OcUK - £319.95 +VAT (If over your budget get an X1900 XT as those are £295 +VAT)
Hiper 580W PSU. - £55 +VAT
Shipping approx £8-£12 +VAT.

That will give you a state of the art system capable of playing any game at any resolution you throw it and plus your future proofed should you decide to buy an X1900 master card in the next couple of months.

P.S. nForce4 chipset maybe very popular but it performs no better than the RD480 boards, its just the feature set that maybe different.....

 

[Vault5ChOnG]

Yeh thanks for pointing that out to me.. think ill go for the X1900 XT, MSI Crossfire Mobo and Hiber PSU . costing me the same as my previous list but with better gfx card

Hmm,, can i still add 2 GFX cards onto this mobo:

MSI RD480 Neo2 Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-066-MS)

As it only says 1. 16x PCI slot

 

[Gibbo]

Yeh thanks for pointing that out to me.. think ill go for the X1900 XT, MSI Crossfire Mobo and Hiber PSU . costing me the same as my previous list but with better gfx card

Hmm,, can i still add 2 GFX cards onto this mobo:

MSI RD480 Neo2 Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-066-MS)

As it only says 1. 16x PCI slot

Yes it has two slots, it is a typo........

 

[Vault5ChOnG]

Oh ok, thanks for the suggestions. i shall purchase in about a month or so. HOPEFULLY the prices dont go up lol