16 replies to this topic

[EVIL Shenanigans]

About that time for me to do some more shopping. I bought Assassins Creed and quickly found out that my GeForce 8800 GTS will get me there but my single core AMD 2.4 Ghz processor wont. Since my Motherboard is a bit old, fairly cramped, and doesnt have SLI capability, i figure i should try to find a good bundle. Out of my fairly blind preference, i would like a EVGA mobo with SLI capability, with a dual/quad AMD processor...only two problems are that i dunno if those manufacturers are all that great and i cant even find any respective bundles. So, got a price range of about $450 ($600 if RAM's included) and would like some suggestions for purchases...maybe even all ala carte. At the very least, i would appreciate a vote for the polls...just to figure out what you-all like.

Edit: Went ahead and added the video card Q...even though the motherboard Q/A will most likely answer it...

Edited by EVIL Shenanigans, 02 May 2008 - 08:45 AM.

[thesob]

evga and asus make great mobos

[Knife Girl]

The Intel CPU and Geforce GPU are given winners, Mobo fight should be between xfx/evga/asus o_o
I know abit is an intel-type motherboard but..eh I dunno about an non-sli mobo ;{

[wondergod]

well if you want SLI you'll HAVE to get a nforce motherboard (unless you spend millions on a skulltrail)

right now the best are made by EVGA and ASUS, with my personal preference being an EVGA if you can spend more look into the EVGA 750i FTW

As for the processor E8400, E6750, and again if you can spend a lil more the Q6600 G0 Stepping, quad core on the cheap with lots of head room for overclocking.

Which 8800 gts do you have? 320, 640 or 512? If its a 640 or 512 you'll see a moderate improvement in SLI, if its a 320 I wouldn't even bother I'd look for another video card all together.

[Bumblebee]

There is a good side to haveing 320's in sli... less power consumption than two higher end cards. So people with 600 - 700 w psu's can run sli. I didnt really want a 1200 W psu runnin some GTX sli or ultra sli and watch my power bill go sky high for 50 more fps?? Hell humans cant notice anything past 50-60 fps so its pointless realy... Though parts of the game slow down so you want that highest avg fps possible. And I love EVGA, they have great tech support and warranty's. And I highly reccomend the 680's or 780 mobos. Awsome motherboards!

[Ezekiel]

I prefer the "most bang for my buck brand" personally.

[vet.mad hatter]

I prefer the "most bang for my buck brand" personally.

+1 Whoever offers me the most for my money.I overclock so i allways look for the mid range then top the big dogs.My system now is mid range but i beat people with better stuff so that makes me happy.I have no prefence of anything just who offers the most for the best price then overclock it!!There's a couple people here with sli and my one card beats them and it only cost 259.00.

overclocking ftw

[EVIL Shenanigans]

Which 8800 gts do you have? 320, 640 or 512? If its a 640 or 512 you'll see a moderate improvement in SLI, if its a 320 I wouldn't even bother I'd look for another video card all together.

640, but im honestly not thinkin about implementing the SLI capability all that soon anyways. Finding another $250 anytime soon for a second card will be interesting...

As for overclocking, havn't even looked much into it. My mindset on it has always been 'greater power for a shorter time', but 1) i still have my 6800 GT layin around without a purpose and 2) you all seem to be thinkin right now 'Why the hell arn't you overclocking?', so i guess I'll see what i can do. Thanks for all the info, though and if you havn't voted yet, please do so.

[vet.mad hatter]

There's nothing to vote. I do not have any favorite's if intel at the time is better then i buy that if amd it better i buy that.

[Ezekiel]

There's nothing to vote. I do not have any favorite's if intel at the time is better then i buy that if amd it better i buy that.

+1 No option for us people that look at practical things when buying computer parts over buying things based on a logo.

[wondergod]

There's nothing to vote. I do not have any favorite's if intel at the time is better then i buy that if amd it better i buy that.

This is the only time I will ever say, "Hatter you said something intelligent." ;)

That is the only mindset to have when looking at pc parts, its not necessarily the brand, its the product itself and how well it works, in addition compatibility with other parts plays a big factor. Also if your on a budget price for performance ratio is always big. Its about getting the most out of what you have to spend.

[-=Penguin=-]

i look at performance not name. My new setup is working pretty nicely for me for only $900 CDN.
Here it is:
CPU:Core 2 Duo 8400 3.0Ghz(Overclocked to 3.6Ghz easily)
Video Card:eVGA Nvidia 9600GT 512MBDDR3 Superclocked
Memory:OCZ 1033 Reaper 4GB
PS:OCZ 500-Watt Stealth X
Mobo:Asus P5K
Case:Cooler Master 590


I run crysis on all high 2xAA 2xAF 1024x1028 and get a solid 45-50FPS
CSS i run all high 1400x1000(monitor sucks) with all the AA and AF highest and get 100-250FPS depending on map
BF2 all high 1400x1000 all the AA crap up and get 90-120FPS


Runs at a cool 34C and im fairly happy. so my point is research every brand find out what is better and what works good with other parts. Im actually surprised the 500W PS is holding up really good even with the overclocking

[matthew0155]

i think that you cant go wrong with anything there, except abit...

[NuLL-ZeR0]

like most have already said, im all about price/performance... that being said, i am partial to the following brands:

asus, evga, thermalright, coolermaster, crucial

[J.Pizzack]

only reason i picked an ATI over a GeForce GPU is cuz ive went thru 1 ati, and 3 f*cking GeFroce cards all which had issues. not a hardware pro but it has pissed me the f*ck off.

[Chris82]

Usually it's for the money. Last year I bought an Asus mobo, this year I didn't because I got a better deal.

Same for the AMD processor, I don't have a preference on that, but since I had an ATi card already and all, and it was dirt cheap, I got that.

But as for graphics cards, I've had horrible experiences on the nVidia side, especially concerning overheating and driver problems...so I usually stick to ATi.

[poocrayon]

i find that inte/asus/evga are really reliable brands with great compatability. these usually have the cheapest prices on newegg. bang for the buck is fTW