Best Latest and Greatest Graphics card?

[termin8or123]

OK, I'm building a new computer and I'm planning on getting vista/h2vista for it. Anyways I was wondering what is the best (latest and greatest) ATI Graphics card out? Or any ATI card that is coming out soon. I want to run H2Vista at top performance and was just wondering what the best graphics card there was. I am also looking at nvidia, but I hear ATI>Nvidia. Anyways just reply back with any info I can use. I would really appreciate it.

[Abdurahman]

HD2900 ftw

[termin8or123]

HD2900 ftw

+rep, any other good graphics card that people have their mind on?

[Hotrod]

All the new HD2000 series ATI cards are good. I you want something that's still quite good, but a bit less expensive, go for the X1900 or the X1950.

[Snowy]

The HD2900XT isn't that good. It eats up a lot of power, runs hot, and is loud. Not to mention it still gets beat by a 6 month old card is some cases. I'd only consider getting a 2900XT if you have a nice power supply, and don't mind loud noises.

I honestly think the 8800GTS is a better buy at the moment - It's cheaper, uses less power, runs cooler, quieter, and performs just as well as the 2900XT.

[termin8or123]

Thanks for all replies +rep for all.

[flibitijibibo]

If you want the absolute 1337est, go for GeForce 8800 Ultra. Some guys did benchmark tests with this and the HD2900 and the GeForce tore it apart.

[termin8or123]

If you want the absolute 1337est, go for GeForce 8800 Ultra. Some guys did benchmark tests with this and the HD2900 and the GeForce tore it apart.

Thanks for the info, but I really don't think I want to spend 800 bucks on a graphics card. But I never indicated that I didn't want to. So thanks.

[bleach]

the best PCI card can't even match the Geforce 8800 Ultra, ATI HD2000, ATI X1900s series cards...PCI sucks, but thats the port i have. I'd say Geforce 8800s and ATI X1900s. There aren't really xpensive. Plus, i think at sysrequirements lab site, the recommended is ATI X1900 series.

[Teroh]

Go for an 8800 GTS, I have one and I can't wait to get it running,

[Cortexian]

You hear wrong Nvidia>ATI atm, BFG 8800 Ultra ftw.

[termin8or123]

Ok, I'm looking at ATI tho right now. +Rep for all!! Keep replying.

EDIT: Freelancer I would get Ultra it looks very awesome, but 800 bucks is a little crazy IMO.

DOUBLE EDIT: Crap I can't give out any more rep. Tomorrow I rep all the people I left out.

[Teroh]

Ok, I'm looking at ATI tho right now. +Rep for all!! Keep replying.

EDIT: Freelancer I would get Ultra it looks very awesome, but 800 bucks is a little crazy IMO.

DOUBLE EDIT: Crap I can't give out any more rep. Tomorrow I rep all the people I left out.
I'll say it one more time. Get an nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS. Its only $350

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130071

[InnerGoat]

Don't waste your money on the 2900. Check the benchmarks for yourself; its not even considered competition to the 8800GTX.

example

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/3259/hdrmts1600gp2.gif

[blank98]

No way, Nvidia>ATI for the past 5 years. Right now the best card you can get is an 8800 ULTRA, but I think it's like $800. Heres proof that Nvidia is Better then ATI. One 8800 ULTRA will get more FPS then two 2900 XT in crossfire mode in most games.
http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2988&p=19

Also here it is at Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143107

EDIT guy above me just posted the same thing as me.

[Shmee]

i would recomend waiting for something with Gddr4 memory, something along the lines of an 8900gtx, or whatever ati will bring out for it.

If you cant wait, I recommend a GTX.

and btw, nvidia>ATI

[Xetsuei]

I'm running two 8800GTX's and it runs at a very high fps, in fact so high that the animations speed up. :|

[Snowy]

i would recomend waiting for something with Gddr4 memory, something along the lines of an 8900gtx, or whatever ati will bring out for it.

If you cant wait, I recommend a GTX.

and btw, nvidia>ATI

GDDR4 memory makes pretty much no difference. ~5% performance.

[SMASH]

I'm running an ATI X1900 GT and it runs great on H2V on all highest settings. It was on sale at best buy too when I got it. You should be fine with something like that but it you feel like you need more, it's crossfired enabled, so you could get another and being doing great.

[Shmee]

yeah, since halo 2 isnt DX10, you dont NEED a DX10 card..

[MrUncool]

Yes, but it's good to plan ahead...8800GTS 320 has the best bang for the buck right now, go for it.

[Lightning]

Orrr

If you're running cheap, get an x1600xt (256) PCI-e for about $80, and be quite satisfied.

[Btd69]

Antec 900
Silverstone 1kw PSU
Intel Quadcore QX6700 - Oc'ed 3.3
2x 8800GTX Gfx Cards
Asus P5n32-E sli plus
2x Corsair Twin2x2048 6400C4
4x Samsung 250gb Sata2 hdd's in 2x 500gb raid 0 arrays
Thermalright SI-128 Heatsink

:) Decent setup from what i've seen :o

[termin8or123]

I'll say it one more time. Get an nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS. Its only $350

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130071

Ok, well I was wanting the ATI HD2900, but now I've seen this. My mind has changed. This has a little lower specs (Very little) in 2 areas. But the price, you can get a very little higher in the ATI HD2900 for 80 bucks more. I think that isn't worth it. Plus this has more MB. So my likely one to buy is the nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS. Unless someone thus changes my mind once again. (not likely)

[Faux_x]

Xetsuei™;72684']I'm running two 8800GTX's and it runs at a very high fps, in fact so high that the animations speed up. :|

That happened to me in Halo PC with my dual-core, just open task manager, right click the process, set affinity, and disable one of the processors.

[delraco]

Ok, well I was wanting the ATI HD2900, but now I've seen this. My mind has changed. This has a little lower specs (Very little) in 2 areas. But the price, you can get a very little higher in the ATI HD2900 for 80 bucks more. I think that isn't worth it. Plus this has more MB. So my likely one to buy is the nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS. Unless someone thus changes my mind once again. (not likely)

Fortunately for you, the 8800GTS 640mb out performs the HD 2900xt.
Poot ATI...in DX9, they owned. In DX10, they're 8 months behind nvidia...

[p0lar_bear]

The only thing that worries me is the problems I have heard regarding nvidia's Vista drivers. Is this onld news that has ben rectified, or are there still hiccups here and there?

[TheGhost]

The only thing that worries me is the problems I have heard regarding nvidia's Vista drivers. Is this onld news that has ben rectified, or are there still hiccups here and there?

They're good now.

[Ki11a_FTW]

a Radion X1950 if you dont want your machine to be aten by the HD

[Scrixx]

The x1950PRO is brilliant. Go for that. And yea ATi > Nvidea. Also Vista drivers for ATi are better than Nvidea's.

[blank98]

The x1950PRO is brilliant. Go for that. And yea ATi > Nvidea. Also Vista drivers for ATi are better than Nvidea's.

LOL just because you have an ATI means it's better right..

[termin8or123]

Ok guys help me out. Before I go buy it, I should go with the nVidia Geforce 8800 GTS? Its pretty cheap and good. So should I go with it?

[blank98]

Ok guys help me out. Before I go buy it, I should go with the nVidia Geforce 8800 GTS? Its pretty cheap and good. So should I go with it?

Yes, do it now. btw what are the rest of your specs?

[Scrixx]

LOL just because you have an ATI means it's better right..



Wow you assume I even have an ATi Card because I call it better. I have a Wii and say the 360 and ps3 pwn it, so stfu ok?

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/05/01/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money/

[termin8or123]

Yes, do it now. btw what are the rest of your specs?

Ok well like I said I'm building a new computer, but anyways here is what I'm planning on getting. Intel Core Duo Processor 2.66 ghz. 320 gb hard drive. 2 gigs of ram. nVidia Geforce 8800 GTS. A new nice motherboard. A new cooling fan for the pc. DvD Burner. And yea those are going to be the specs, when I buy all the new crap.

[Flyboy]

If you have a cheaper idea in mind, I recommended the 7600gt or 7800gt.

[MrUncool]

If you're buildling a new system with Vista, and have a smaller budget go 8600..future-proofing is good.

[Xetsuei]

The x1950PRO is brilliant. Go for that. And yea ATi > nVidia. Also Vista drivers for ATi are better than nVidia's.

I'm sorry but you sir, are wrong.

[Faux_x]

Xetsuei™;73110']I'm sorry but you sir, are wrong.

I have an x1900xtx and can safely say that I wish I had an 8800 because they rape the shit out of anything ATI has right now. You can't argue with benchmarks.

[Xetsuei]

I have an x1900xtx and can safely say that I wish I had an 8800 because they rape the shit out of anything ATI has right now. You can't argue with benchmarks.

I have two 8800GTX's, and I'm loving every second of it.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

i dont have an ati card but i got an nvidia geforce 6000 (i think)

and it works real well, supports hd dual monitor tv output etc, its really nice, i got it for 40$

[Mr Buckshot]

If all you want to play is H2V on high, you don't need a crazy DX10 card. If you want DX10, go for a Geforce 8600 GT, but high-end DX9 cards like the Geforce 7900 and even midrange cards like the 7600 will run H2V quite well.

If you go for, say, an 8800, H2V does nothing to show what such a card is capable of. Something like FEAR or Oblivion is a better way to test the higher end cards.

Besides, the best of the best video cards (8800 GTX, HD 2900) need beefy power supplies and may not even fit inside your computer case (physically).

edit: The best game to test the best video cards is the upcoming Crysis.

[Amit]

If all you want to play is H2V on high, you don't need a crazy DX10 card. If you want DX10, go for a Geforce 8600 GT, but high-end DX9 cards like the Geforce 7900 and even midrange cards like the 7600 will run H2V quite well.

If you go for, say, an 8800, H2V does nothing to show what such a card is capable of. Something like FEAR or Oblivion is a better way to test the higher end cards.

Besides, the best of the best video cards (8800 GTX, HD 2900) need beefy power supplies and may not even fit inside your computer case (physically).

edit: The best game to test the best video cards is the upcoming Crysis.

This is the most intelligible post I have seen throughout the entire thread. You people seem to forget that the 8800GTX is actually 2 cards in one, like the 7950GX2. That is the reason it seems to rape the shit out of everything else.

Here are the real facts: ATi's Catalyst drivers for Windows Vista actually do work better than nVidia's ForceWare drivers. At the current moment, nVidia does beat ATi down with the benchmarks but most of us don't exactly have $400 US($500 CAD) to buy the best video card currently out. Well with ATi, the prices are fairly low, quite lower than nVidia's. Most of the time it comes down to the mid-range cards to be in the real battle. The GeForce 7600 GS went against the Radeon X1600 PRO, the 7600GT went against the X1600 XT and X1650 PRO. They all performed similarly in most games to the other card that they were matched against and they had a real nice price to performance ratio. That is just happening again but nVidia has the unfair advantage of adding a second card to boost performance way above where CrossFire becomes a joke.

For some practical info, buy the GeForce 8800GTS since it is currently the best card with price:performance out there. Soon that will change when the HD 2600 series is released. The HD 2600XT will PWN all mid-range cards in it's class with high clock speeds, extremely low power consumption(no extra freakin power cord needed!) , and relatively low price. In september or around that time, ATi might announce a new card like they did with the X1950 PRO last year. Just maybe this one will be called the HD 2900PRO and will have the same reputation as the Radeon X1950PRO.

[legionaire45]

You people seem to forget that the 8800GTX is actually 2 cards in one, like the 7950GX2. That is the reason it seems to rape the shit out of everything else.

....your kidding me, right?


Here are the real facts: ATi's Catalyst drivers for Windows Vista actually do work better than nVidia's ForceWare drivers. At the current moment, nVidia does beat ATi down with the benchmarks but most of us don't exactly have $400 US($500 CAD) to buy the best video card currently out. Well with ATi, the prices are fairly low, quite lower than nVidia's. Most of the time it comes down to the mid-range cards to be in the real battle. The GeForce 7600 GS went against the Radeon X1600 PRO, the 7600GT went against the X1600 XT and X1650 PRO. They all performed similarly in most games to the other card that they were matched against and they had a real nice price to performance ratio. That is just happening again but nVidia has the unfair advantage of adding a second card to boost performance way above where CrossFire becomes a joke....The 8800 GTS 320 mb costs $299 (seen it for as low as $250) and the 640 costs $400, but I have seen it for as low as $320. The HD2900XT costs $400-$430. The HD2900XT trades spots with the 8800 GTS 640 mb and currently has awful drivers. This is ATI's low-high end product, not their highest end -- save that for the HD2900XTX or HD2900XTX2 (dual cards in a single slot, either like the Sapphire dual X1950 card or the 7950 GX2, not yet known) if it isn't simply a rumor.

And as for the X1650 vs the 7600GT....
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/15/0,1425,i=153244,00.jpg
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/15/0,1425,i=153245,00.jpg
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/15/0,1425,i=153247,00.jpg
(remember that ATI cards usually run Source based games better)
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/15/0,1425,i=153249,00.jpg
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/15/0,1425,i=153251,00.jpg

And in the video card industry, there is no such thing as an unfair advantage -- there is no cheating in this industry.

[Mr Buckshot]

I don't like my video cards to cost more than $200. For $300 and more, I might as well buy a fully-featured console and not one computer part, which is why I avoid the top-of-the-line video cards. Sure, I won't be running at 1920x1200 on max with 100+fps but 1024x768 or 1280x800 on high with 60 fps isn't bad either.

Top-of-the-line cards like the 8800 GTX will get you good framerates in this generation, but when, say, DX11 is out, the 8800 will lose out and that's a lot of money spent. Think about it - if you bought a Radeon 9600 back in early 2002 (before the 9700 came out), it would've cost several hundred too. And today, the 9600 is considered low-end and struggles with newer stuff.

[Amit]

....your kidding me, right?

...The 8800 GTS 320 mb costs $299 (seen it for as low as $250) and the 640 costs $400, but I have seen it for as low as $320. The HD2900XT costs $400-$430. The HD2900XT trades spots with the 8800 GTS 640 mb and currently has awful drivers. This is ATI's low-high end product, not their highest end -- save that for the HD2900XTX or HD2900XTX2 (dual cards in a single slot, either like the Sapphire dual X1950 card or the 7950 GX2, not yet known) if it isn't simply a rumor.

And as for the X1650 vs the 7600GT....
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/15/0,1425,i=153244,00.jpg
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/15/0,1425,i=153245,00.jpg
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/15/0,1425,i=153247,00.jpg
(remember that ATI cards usually run Source based games better)
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/15/0,1425,i=153249,00.jpg
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/15/0,1425,i=153251,00.jpg

And in the video card industry, there is no such thing as an unfair advantage -- there is no cheating in this industry.


When you quoted my post of the 8800GTX being a 2-in-1 card, I wasn't joking. Check it out at the nVidia forums, it actually is. The HD 2900XT is very new so of course the drivers are gonna be Fubar. They may need to create new ones altogether. What's your point when you put those benchmarks up of the X1650XT and the GeForce 7600GT? It just restates what said in my previous post. Those two cards are set against each other and perform relatively the same. I actually expected the 7600GT to come out as the best since it really is the best I have seen for only $189 Canadian.

There is such thing as an unfair advantage when it comes to benchmarks and overall performance seeing as two cards clocked at, let's say 1.3Ghz will be 2.6ghz overall. That card is then sent against a card clocked at maybe 1.4Ghz. The card with the higher overall clock speed will obviously have better performance than the lower clocked one, otherwise there is something seriously wrong.

[Xetsuei]

When you quoted my post of the 8800GTX being a 2-in-1 card, I wasn't joking. Check it out at the nVidia forums, it actually is. The HD 2900XT is very new so of course the drivers are gonna be Fubar. They may need to create new ones altogether. What's your point when you put those benchmarks up of the X1650XT and the GeForce 7600GT? It just restates what said in my previous post. Those two cards are set against each other and perform relatively the same. I actually expected the 7600GT to come out as the best since it really is the best I have seen for only $189 Canadian.

There is such thing as an unfair advantage when it comes to benchmarks and overall performance seeing as two cards clocked at, let's say 1.3Ghz will be 2.6ghz overall. That card is then sent against a card clocked at maybe 1.4Ghz. The card with the higher overall clock speed will obviously have better performance than the lower clocked one, otherwise there is something seriously wrong.

What? Hell no. The whole top part of the 8800GTX is just a fan and heat sink. It does not have two GPUs. And having two cards that are both clocked at 1.3Ghz does not add up to 2.6Ghz. Lol, you can't add the speeds of the GPUs up.

[InnerGoat]

When you quoted my post of the 8800GTX being a 2-in-1 card, I wasn't joking. :words: :words:So, prove it then.

[Xetsuei]

You people seem to forget that the 8800GTX is actually 2 cards in one, like the 7950GX2.

:picsorstfu:

[InnerGoat]

Here I has a pic

http://www.h2vista.net/innergoat/stuff/dr/no%20u/dsc02115largefk9.jpg

Now where is the second card.

[ImSpartacus]

yeah, that big box in the middle of the green thing on the top is the gpu. i only see one...

sry amit, but the 8800gtx is only a single gpu card, and if u have a platter card that has two (example) 500 MHz core clocks, the overall card is not a 1000 MHz card, it is two 500 MHz cores.

MHz is a measurement of speed, if u have two cars hooked together running at 65 mph they are not going at 130 mph.

EDIT- sry man, but that quote is getting sigged, ill also give u some rep to counter the flood of -rep u are prolly getting, lol.

[Xetsuei]

MHz is a measurement of speed

Uhh...No. Megahertz is a measurement of frequency.

[Amit]

I should have the thread soon, it's from nVidia forums, I'm starting to believe I was fed wrong information. I mean seriously, if this is as fucked up as you guys say it is, why would i say it at all and make myself look like a fool?

Edit: Damn, google moves so quickly when trying to find the link but i know it was on the nVidia forums. I remember search some close to geforce 8800gtx 2 cards in google.

Since I can't really find anything else on the 2-in-1 info, I declare myself wrong. Happy now Goat? Also 1.3 x 2 = 2.6

[ImSpartacus]

Xetsuei™;76379']Uhh...No. Megahertz is a measurement of frequency.

lol, frequency is speed. in waves its how FREQUENT a wave hits its crest (or trough).

so effectively, frequency is speed.


I should have the thread soon, it's from nVidia forums, I'm starting to believe I was fed wrong information. I mean seriously, if this is as fucked up as you guys say it is, why would i say it at all and make myself look like a fool?

Edit: Damn, google moves so quickly when trying to find the link but i know it was on the nVidia forums. I remember search some close to geforce 8800gtx 2 cards in google.

Since I can't really find anything else on the 2-in-1 info, I declare myself wrong. Happy now Goat? Also 1.3 x 2 = 2.6

lol, dude, dont bother making excuses, its only the internet ffs.

[Patrickssj6]

lol, frequency is speed. in waves its how FREQUENT a wave hits its crest (or trough).

so effectively, frequency is speed.


Speed is the rate of motion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_%28physics%29), or equivalently the rate of change in position, many times expressed as distance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distance) d traveled per unit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Units_of_measurement) of time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time) t.

My CPU never got far tbh

[Amit]

lol, dude, dont bother making excuses, its only the internet ffs.

WTF are you talking about, I'm telling the truth!

[Xetsuei]

Also 1.3 x 2 = 2.6

If you are using two cores you can not add the frequency of them. Just like ImSpartacus said, two cars next to each other going 65mph is not 130mph.

[ImSpartacus]

My CPU never got far tbh

well im confident that there are little electrons that speed through all those tubes in your motherboard and make the whoel thing work. they move, they have motion, but thier motion is measured in frequency.

dont fuck w/ me on this stuff, i kno my science


WTF are you talking about, I'm telling the truth!

nvm, i was just saying u dont have to talk about a google journey where u got dooped w/ false stuff. its no big deal.

[InnerGoat]

Since I can't really find anything else on the 2-in-1 info, I declare myself wrong. Happy now Goat? Also 1.3 x 2 = 2.6lol.:D

I'm pretty sure you may have read about a possible 8800GX2 coming out, since that would be two cards screwed together.

[Patrickssj6]

well im confident that there are little electrons that speed through all those tubes in your botherboard and make the whoel thing work. they move, they have motion, but thier motion is measured in frequency.

dont fuck w/ me on this stuff, i know my science
My science teacher would slap you for that.

[Xetsuei]

tbh, I don't see any tubes on my mobo. :-3

[ImSpartacus]

Xetsuei™;77181']tbh, I don't see any tubes on my mobo. :-3

look harder ;)


My science teacher would slap you for that.

i think u got the point, lol

but i see no one has denied that there are electrons moving through the motherboard (and most of the rest of the pc inerds)...

[mech]

Gfmx4 hands :downs:

[ImSpartacus]

Gfmx4 hands :downs:

not following u

[mech]

Geforce mx 440... shit ass cock gfx card hands down aka :downs:


HURF dilf

[ImSpartacus]

Geforce mx 440... shit ass cock gfx card hands down aka :downs:


HURF dilf

ahhh, got ye, the gf part i nthe front screwed me up.

[soccerbummer1104]

remember though, a good motherboard can increase your performance in games by a large margin. I suggest a 680i series mobo. i currently own a striker extreme, and it blows everything away.
and it looks kewl.
it can light up (turn on in bios) or when its turned off u can press the button in the back and the mobo lights up with blue led's so you can see what your doing in the case. Ir also has a clear cmos switch on the mobo so you don't have to move jumpers. It has a debug LCD on the back that allows u to read whats wrong with the computer instead of listening to a case speaker. you can also set it to say whatever you want when everything is working ok. You can also turn power on to the system without hard drives, ram, processor or anything hooked up. allows for easier testing and debugging in some cases. Oh and did i mention it like boosted my fps by like 25 fps?
oh, and did i mention it has 3 pci-e slots? sli memory support, and 1 kick ass bios :) loads of features.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/12/21/680i-motherboard-comparison/page4.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/22/680i_motherboard_comparison_part_2/page11.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/22/680i_motherboard_comparison_part_2/page12.html
i like the asus, 1 because asus rocks, and 2 because of all of its features. the msi is also good for performance as well though, so id go with 1 of the 2.


"" from toms hardware
http://images.tomshardware.com/2006/12/21/680i-motherboard-comparison/image015.gif
An easy reference chart graphically illustrates the total number of winning benchmark scores for each motherboard. "Totals wins" includes applications games, and synthetics.
The Asus Striker Extreme demolishes the competition, but this race is far from over.

here is a few pics
http://siteua.org/d-lit/uploads/posts/1164022109_32325.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v289/bbfbadbrad/000_009511.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v289/bbfbadbrad/comp.jpg


onboard power, reset, and clear cmos switches (power switch bypasses processor, turns on all fans, but nothing shows up on monitor. used for debugging)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v289/bbfbadbrad/000_0109.jpg

but yea, i suggest a 8800 series card. the 320 mb card is good, btu for a lil more id go with the 640 mb version and overclock it a lil.

[InnerGoat]

:fail:

[ImSpartacus]

but how much did that beast cost?

most people could get by without SLI, so i would suggest a p5k, theyre $150 and r pretty flippin sweet

and an 8800gts 320 mb will work fine as long as u dont have a huge moniter, dont bother w/ the extra memory if u dont polay with a high enough res to use it.

BTW- is that a zalman 9500 heatsink on your cpu? how is that working for u, i was thinking of getting one to cool a modestly oc'ed q6600 when they go down to $266

[soccerbummer1104]

yea it is. works wonders, btu it is huge. when the guys at geekquad say it therir eyes went 0_0 and then i asked how much cleaning was later
and they said $15
and then i pointed to that heatsink and they went O_O
and said they might skip it lol. btu it works well.
the board is $340 i think at newegg.com thats USD, but i bought it when it was brand new and $420 and dont regret it. the hd sound card that comes with it is also wonderful. it had some bugs in the beginning, but the new drivers have fixed those issues. pluss its 7.1 :), and it comes with graw, and 3dmark 06 avanced edition.

[ImSpartacus]

yeah, those strikers come loaded. i have heard excelent things about them, its just the price that kills the deal, and the fact that a lot of the things in the i680 chipset arent reallyl necassary, lik ethe full16x sli is a waste, u can run a stock 8800gtx on a 4x pci e slot, it wont run well, but it will run.

and the epp memory thing is just automatic overclocking on your memory, no big deal. the p5n32-e plus is prolly the best motherboard out there that doesnt have a lot of fluff on it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131153

check it out, its certainly not a stricker, but its a beast for sub $200. a precursor to the i680 lt, before nvidia limited what could be put into the i650 and still be called i650 .)

BTW- do u think i could run a Q6600 overclocked to 3.0 GHz (333x9) with one of those zalman 9500's? i really like how it is designed, but i hear that it isnt quite big enough to do the job for a quad core. it looks big enough though, lol

[soccerbummer1104]

lol
its big enough.. btu i dont know about overclocking. it does well, btu doesnt ever get downto room temp.. so if you live somewhere where its cool, or you have ac blasting (my mom doesnt believe in doing that...) it will work wonders, if not, i suggest liquid cooling for overclocking. i have an e6600 overclocked to 2.66 ghz, and it runs at about 44C's atm but its about 85F in my house (~30C), but i need to clean out the copper fins in it. there super dusty atm. (no filters on case)
but supposidly this 1, even though pricy, actually outperforms some water coolign systems
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835702005
review
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/15/vigors_monsoon_ii_tec_cpu_cooler/

[ImSpartacus]

oh, thats hte monsoon, yeah its great, but the ultra 120 extreme is just as good. not sure about pricing. i think ill just grab a zalman 9700, it seems quiet enough and big enough for what i need.

[InnerGoat]

oh, thats hte monsoon, yeah its great, but the ultra 120 extreme is just as good. not sure about pricing. i think ill just grab a zalman 9700, it seems quiet enough and big enough for what i need.
U120 extreme is better. :)

Also, the air cooled TECs will do some pretty terrible things if you get out of its thermal range. Very terrible. :(

[ImSpartacus]

whats a tec? and yeah, i was looking at some benches, and the extreme is pretty much tops.

[Amit]

Xetsuei™;76967']If you are using two cores you can not add the frequency of them. Just like ImSpartacus said, two cars next to each other going 65mph is not 130mph.

I didn't know that before hand, sorry for the mistake.



nvm, i was just saying u dont have to talk about a google journey where u got dooped w/ false stuff. its no big deal.

Oh, thanks for clearing that up.


lol.:D I'm pretty sure you may have read about a possible 8800GX2 coming out, since that would be two cards screwed together.

I dunno, probably, if it was, somebody in the thread worded it wrong.

[InnerGoat]

whats a tec? and yeah, i was looking at some benches, and the extreme is pretty much tops.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/15/vigors_monsoon_ii_tec_cpu_cooler/

The monsoon uses one. Its pretty decent until you up the voltage. Then its more like die in a fire.:p

[Xetsuei]

Imo I like the evga 680i more than the striker extreme. Mainly because you don't have to rip off shitty heat pipes to water cool it, and you can use up to DDR2 1200 ram with it.

[legionaire45]

I wish that a company made PWM blocks for the 680i. I'll just have to wait for the EVGA 680i Black Pearl edition to come out, which seems to be taking forever =(.

EDIT: On second thought....
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/tradeshows/2007/computex-preview/asusblitxextreme.jpg
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/tradeshows/2007/computex-preview/asusblitxextreme.jpg
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/tradeshows/2007/computex-preview/asusblitxextreme.jpg
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/tradeshows/2007/computex-preview/asusblitxextreme.jpg
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/tradeshows/2007/computex-preview/asusblitxextreme.jpg

[ImSpartacus]

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/15/vigors_monsoon_ii_tec_cpu_cooler/

The monsoon uses one. Its pretty decent until you up the voltage. Then its more like die in a fire.:p

ohh, u just had to say thermal electric cooling and i wouldve known, i read about the monsoon, but didnt think tec was an official category.

[Zeph]

You guys do understand that a 2900 XT is on par with the 8800 GTS with its first driver release, right? Of course not, because you're comparing a 2900 XT with an OVERCLOCKED 8800 GTX! Jeez...

[InnerGoat]

:rolleyes:

[ImSpartacus]

You guys do understand that a 2900 XT is on par with the 8800 GTS with its first driver release, right? Of course not, because you're comparing a 2900 XT with an OVERCLOCKED 8800 GTX! Jeez...

well the last 2 pages havent been discussing that, but ok.

i dont see how the 2900xt can be compared to an 8800gtx. its just not there. the 2900xt tends to kick ass on very high resolutions anyway, more so than the 8800gt 640mb or even the 8800gtx in some cases.

but at lower resolutions, the 8800gts 640mb pretty much beats it. but then again, at lower resolutions u dont need a 640mb version, u can get the 320mb version and be on par w/ the xt for a hundred dollars less.

its all resolution in this case. i assume the 2900xtx (almost positive it will exist) will rape the fuck out of the 8800gtx (by that time the 9800's or 8900's will be out... depending on if NV skips the 89's).

i would suggest the 8800gts 320 mb version for most cases.

[Xetsuei]

well the last 2 pages havent been discussing that, but ok.

i dont see how the 2900xt can be compared to an 8800gtx. its just not there. the 2900xt tends to kick ass on very high resolutions anyway, more so than the 8800gt 640mb or even the 8800gtx in some cases.

but at lower resolutions, the 8800gts 640mb pretty much beats it. but then again, at lower resolutions u dont need a 640mb version, u can get the 320mb version and be on par w/ the xt for a hundred dollars less.

its all resolution in this case. i assume the 2900xtx (almost positive it will exist) will rape the fuck out of the 8800gtx (by that time the 9800's or 8900's will be out... depending on if NV skips the 89's).

i would suggest the 8800gts 320 mb version for most cases.

You're an idiot.