SLi rig question

[godzi_85]

hi yall
hmm i`m inclined to buy an sli rig.... as i`m totally frustrated noiw with my geforce 4 mx.. and i want a rig that could last me a good 3 years with having to worry about upgrading my memory, mobo, card and monitor and most prolly hard disks..

so here`s the rig i got from a dealer in andheri west
asus a8n sli 13500
amd 64+ 3000+ - 7800, amd 64+ 3500+ 14800
geforce 6600gt 128 mb 12450(i think XFX)
1 gb dual channel memory hynix - 8400
philips 17" flat black 7050
LG dvd writer 4100

now there is a big difference between the price suggest by the dealers in andheri( i asked a couple of em) and the dealer in lamington road i had asked before is around 3000 rupeees(for the graphic card)!! how come?? i think the dealer at lamington road didn`t know what he was talking about? most prolly..
hmm i would also like to know from folks living here in mumbai who can give me dealer details who would have such a high end config with them..

hmm the case i was looking for a full tower case for enough space... as with my current setup ,the cpu temp reaches above 60 dgrees!!!
hmm please suggest me a good case and 400 watts power supply...
also what would be the cost of a 6800 gt ? any brand for now..
well thats all for now. any more question i`ll ask later
thanks in advance !!

[krishnathelord]

msi diamond sli with wifi card 12K
amd 64+ 3000+ - 7650,
geforce 6600gt 128 mb 12450(i think XFX)
512 x2 (400) Zion Ram 5900
Samsung 17" flat black 6750
Liteon dvd writer 4600

my recomendations with atleast 400W smps and a good cabinet

[drvarunmehta]

Just because you are frustrated with your GeForce4, you don't have to go all out and buy an SLI rig.
SLI is more hype than actual utility.

Here's why I think you should go for a single graphics card solution

2 6600GT's will cost 25 grand. You can easily get a much better card in this amount. Since most games don't support SLI, you can use only one of your 6600GT's and the other is effectively wasted. A single higher end card will work better in most games.
If you feel like your single card solution is slow at a later date, you can easily add one more of the same and effectively double your performance. By then the same card will cost much less also.
SLI cramps your cabinet space and frequent removal and insertion of the SLI bridge can damage your graphic cards.

[devilhead_satish]

drvarunmehta's right. And BTW who said this SLI thingy's gonna last for long. You'll want something else as soon as its out. Makes sense for you to buy a single GFX card and enjoy. And the 2 cards u add have to be absolutely same. Ditto.

[akshayt]

Dude msi k8n diamond must be abt 16-17k

asus a8n sli dlz for 10900
asus a8n-e diff to find in delhi
512mb ddr400 hynix abt 2400 say
corsair for abt 2800+4% tax
go for 6800gt for abt 25-26k
x800xl for abt 20k

128mb geforce 6600gt xfx i bought for 10.3k pcie

[godzi_85]

hmm actually i`m gonna get a couple of stuff from abroad that`s why going for an sli rig not that i`m frustrated or anything..
i was initially gonna get the whole rig from abroad but due to some probs i couldnt ... ( i had posted for a config at techenclave.com)
hmm for msi my friend`s review`s not good about that board... so i`m definately not buying it for sure as i trust his opinion on motherbaords a lot more than anyone else..
and i`m not gonna buy 2 cards now for sure.. but i definately want an sli not a single card solution...
and i dunno from where i can buy a 6800gt cause none of the dealers have it..
and akshayt..
where from did you get the price for the 6800 gt??
and the x800xl only cost 20k.. last i heard was 31k!! are you sure???
and if the prices are right then the 6800 gt seems so so good!!!
please pm me some dealer details if you guys can..
and is it ok if i do`nt buy dualchanel ram now and go for the normal ram... the ones specified by akshayt and kirshna the lord..
i did read somewhere the perfomance diff is quite a bit hmm.. please help me here.
and dr varunmehta.. why would i rmove and insert the sli bridge again and again once that i have bought a new card and inserted it in the pci-e slot???? it would stay like thatforever or until i sell my rig.

please also suggest me some good brands as far as smps and cabinet are concerned..
i was initially going for a antec gamerboy case but its too small... and too cramped up.
and a dealer at lamington road specified a 400 watts smps antec for 4850... is it a bit high.. and he also said that 500 watts would come for above 7000+!!

[rohanbee]

I have read some reviews which still put 2 sli 6600Gt beneath the preformance of a normal 6800. My suggestion go for a single card preferably an XFX or leadtek 6800, i saw some prices on www.techmirchi.com, but if you can get from the Us that will be the best. cheers!!

[godzi_85]

hmm i read at three sites that 2*6600 gt's together is almost equal to a 6800 gt.. and 2*6800 gt is i think better than an ultra...
also read that 2*6800 (normal) give problems in sli mode.. i have seen screenshots and stuff... so that scared me a bit... as the sites were pretty reputed... hmm
so i guess i`ll go for a 6600 gt makes sense... also would like to chk out the prices of the x800xl which is around 18k.. where can i find this card in mumbai??

[[flAsh]]

I think 2 6600Gt in SLI is soon going to beaten soon by 2 x800xl in the new chipset proposed by Intel & by ATi where there wud b 2 PCI-E x16 buses and thus two slots of PCI-E x16 thus making it no more Bandwidth hungry and thus supplying full bandwidth to the two GFX cards and increasing performance manifold times

[drvarunmehta]

No. 2 PCI-E x16 slots will not improve performance because current graphic cards can't even saturate bandwidth offered by PCI-E x1 slots. Infact there is no difference in the performance of the same chipset when AGP and PCI-E versions are compared.

[rohanbee]

Originally Posted by drvarunmehta

No. 2 PCI-E x16 slots will not improve performance because current graphic cards can't even saturate bandwidth offered by PCI-E x1 slots. Infact there is no difference in the performance of the same chipset when AGP and PCI-E versions are compared.

Yes i too agree with you but there is news that eventually we will see a huge preformance gap between the two as technology improves and the true capabilites of the pci-express slot are used.

[godzi_85]

hey guys suggest me some goof cabby people
hows the solution series from antec?? good enough..
also what`s the cost of the p160.. it wasnt in stock at prime today..
also the lanboy costs 5100+ 4% tax = 5304
and oh btw.. is the price of the 400 watt antec psu good enough..(got it from prime)
3250 + 4% tax = 3380
450 --- 3850 + 4% tax = 4004
480 true blue 5400+ 4% tax = 5616
is the 4% tax .on the cost of the smps or is the 4% some other tax??(VAT)

[mohit]

@godzi_85

for your cabby go for antec and i am a die hard fan of the super lanboy .. it is a fantastic case... jst wish it was within my budget

and which antec psu are you talking bout ? i mean smart power or true power ? i got a 400w smart power for around 3300/- 2 weeks back.

[godzi_85]

ya i think it was smart power.. hmm so the price good
lets see man if i can get hold of the p160 then i`ll decide..
i`m already decided on what to buy and stuff so no probs now...

[rohanbee]

I myself am planning to go in for a good power supply rather than the numerous chinese low quality ones available in the market. I think they do more damage than good!!!

[Ankit]

well my personal opinion for all you die hard gamers....don't spend..or infact waste such a huge amount on gfx card...nothing more than waste of money...the card costing 20000 today may be less than 12000...after a year ...and you may not be able to play the newer games....best is to go and buy a ps-2 or ps-3...ps2 you may get around 15k..ps around 25k....the ps3 computingpower is comparable to supercomps...disadvantages ...non availibilty of games for cheap...(pirated)......so that's for what u saved your money....

[magnet]

ankit..u r right....even i cant afford such high price on graphic cards.....but....for some ppl money is not a matter.................20k for them is lik 200bucks of ours..........also hardcore game fans never compromise on matters lik money even if does matter for them .........

its lik a debate...if u hav the money go 4 it........

btw ps2 cost ard 13k......last i heard in this forum....and also i guess ps3 is not out yet.....it will release after xbox 2 releases...

[rohanbee]

Originally Posted by Ankit

well my personal opinion for all you die hard gamers....don't spend..or infact waste such a huge amount on gfx card...nothing more than waste of money...the card costing 20000 today may be less than 12000...after a year ...and you may not be able to play the newer games....best is to go and buy a ps-2 or ps-3...ps2 you may get around 15k..ps around 25k....the ps3 computingpower is comparable to supercomps...disadvantages ...non availibilty of games for cheap...(pirated)......so that's for what u saved your money....

Ankit: what you dont understand is that this is a nature of business!!! Computers will anyday have more power to do a lot of multi-tasked stuff than the gaming consoles ever will. In the computer world everything will come down in price. In fact every day the prices fluctuate and mostly in the downward direction. But if that becomes a reason to never buy then nothing would ever sell. Yes, everyone has his or her budget and you should stick to that.

[akshayt]

dude even fx 5200 can ply games like ut2004,thoguh it doesn't have to be done at 1600*1200

[Ankit]

Originally Posted by rohanbee

Ankit: what you dont understand is that this is a nature of business!!! Computers will anyday have more power to do a lot of multi-tasked stuff than the gaming consoles ever will. In the computer world everything will come down in price. In fact every day the prices fluctuate and mostly in the downward direction. But if that becomes a reason to never buy then nothing would ever sell. Yes, everyone has his or her budget and you should stick to that.

yes my freind when it comes to multi tasking appliocation...gaming consoles are no where...but i am talking of gaming....u hust compare the gaming performance ...the gaming onsoles will win laurels...the new xbox is out and new ps3 has been launched internationaly...i'll give u the comuptational power data as well as gaming is concerned if i find it again...
the only thing i like to say is that very thing has got it's well definedpurpose...and a pc can do most of things...but it shuldn't be pushed to it's limit...e.g even with a 3000 rs sound card and 5000 rs speakers the music sounds better on my sony music system...but i still prefer to hear it on pc coz of ease with which i can make playlist..changesongs..and select a song from some 60 gb songs..
u see even a 3000 rs dvd player will play a video better than a pc coz of hardwrae decoding..but it will not support the future formats of video....
so i am not against buying new and costly stuff...i just want to say that one should check whether better options are available...

[Ankit]

have a look at this story....btw commercial launch of ps3 will bein 06....

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/1113931.cms

[rohanbee]

Ankit i agree you have a very valid point and so is mine. Dedicated machines are definately going to be much better at their job than a mult-tasking machine. But you have to understand that the computer actually gives you infinite opportunites. It might make it expensive to make it play songs better, games faster and so on so forth but then the options are limitless...

Now the original topic here is don't go for a graphic card which is high end but go in for a Ps2. Well you are both right and wrong !!

I say this is a catch 22 situation where no one is right or wrong........A guy hwo owns a computer spends on a graphics card and can use its capabilites for anything from gaming to applications to video editing to many other things all integrated in the same machine.

For ps 2 the options wil be limited to gaming, ok so now you can watch dvd's etc as well but at the end of the day it is still only best for gaming. Also eventually the PS2 will also be replaced by a better and brilliant PS3........so then you go over and buy new games since you will not be able to play the ps2 ones on that.

[akshayt]

can you compare todays games with those of ps2,

computers get faster , if you have the money computers win for overall gaming like fps, rts etc atleast

[Tech&ME]

Well I am sorry if i am going off track to this post, but resently i bought a ZABRONICS cabinet with AIR GUIDE with 400 watts SMPS, it costed me about Rs. 2000/-. The cabinet does not seem to be of a very good build quality. Anyways money matter and hence i had no other choice but to buy this.

Can anyone till me who is also using a ZABRONICS cabinet ? And what he feels about the cabinet. ? Should i change my cabinet to Antec ?

[Ankit]

agreed 100 percent rohanbee....
and akshyat...all the major games are available on ps2.....thing is u don't find them easily in india...as they are difficult to be copied...

[rohanbee]

Read a review on the "new" X-box 360 in the latest TIME magazine. Excellent reading!!

[icecoolz]

I simply dont see why people compare a gaming console to a PC. We dont use the PC only for gaming. I still cant surf the net on my XBOX. Forget framerates and all. Just look at the sheer types of games available for the console as compared to the PC. How many RTS games comes for the console ? Just to give an example. If you say your gonna buy a PC only for gaming purpose most dont just use it for gaming. I see most gamers use their PC for the following:

1) games
2) surfing
3) listening to music
4) watching/ripping movies

Now of all the four you can do only 1 on the console. Is that a fair comparison ? And compared to console titles PC titles are far cheaper too. Hence its an unfair comparison.