is it worth the 3k online??

dark_prince2023

dark_prince2023

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2007

W/Mo

• CAS: ThermalTake ThermalRock Series Circle Case
• CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX6850 @ 3.00GHz 1333FSB 8MB L2 Cache 64-bit [+800]
• FAN: CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling System (Superior Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)
• KEYBOARD: Wolfking Timber Wolf Gaming Keyboard with Ultimate FPS Gaming Pad [+47]
• MOUSE: Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse [+36]
• MOTHERBOARD: (3-Way SLI & QX9650/9770 Support) Asus Striker II Formula nForce 780i SLI Mainboard FSB1333 DDR2 3 x PCIe X16 SATA RAID w/ USB2.0,IEEE1394,&7.1Audio [+195]
• MEMORY: Geil 2048MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Dual Channel (4 x 1GB)
• NETWORK: Killer M1 10/100/1000 Gigabit High Speed Online Gaming PCI Network Interface Card [+249]
• OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate w/ Service Pack 1 [+105] (64-bit Edition [+19])
• POWERSUPPLY: 1,300 Watts Power Supplies [+269] (($35 off Mail-in Rebate) Tagan BZ 1,300 Watts Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready)
• SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
• VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
• VIDEO2: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB 16X PCI Express [+279] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
• VIDEO3: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB 16X PCI Express [+279] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)


I need a new build my comps about 5 years old and my vid card is pretty much fried. Just wondering if this is worth the 3k it says on cyberpowerpc.com?? Memory and case are from my current rig so don't be too hard on me. Also have 20.1" lcd: (Display Colors:16.7 million, Vertical Refresh Rate:50 ~ 75Hz, Horizontal Frequency:30 ~ 80kHz, Contrast Ratio:600:1, Brightness:250 cd/m², Response Time:16 ms, Maximum Resolution:1600 x 1200 @ 75 Hz, Unit Dimensions (WxHxD):17.5" x 14.75" x 9")
Thanks lol yes I know 3 Vid cards over kill.

Yogismith

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Sep 2007

Defenders of Draconis

W/Mo

Is this building it yourself? And is that 3 vid cards? If yes, why? If it is 3 vid cards drop two of them and get a sound x-fi sound card. With Vista you might want 4 gigs of ram.

Brianna

Brianna

Insane & Inhumane

Join Date: Feb 2006

it may all add up to 3k, but I don't think it is worth it.

Should probably wait a while till the newer stuff comes out at the end of the year, then buy up - GTX 280's and the other likes should drop by then too.

Lycan Nibbler

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2006

AZ

No.................

FlareStorm

FlareStorm

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2008

R/

Yeah thats a rip off. I dont think anything would actually use 3 video cards. And $3k for a computer?....no. No monitor in there either, thats a big money sink.

Take out two video cards, increase the RAM to 4 gb, and shave 1.5k off the price.

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

No way...

And on a side note, if you were going to spend 3k on a computer, why would you stick with old RAM?

FlareStorm

FlareStorm

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2008

R/

lol good point

dread pirate fargus

dread pirate fargus

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jun 2006

in bed

X Peace And Love X [PaL]

W/

get rid of vista to start with.

hooded player

hooded player

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Feb 2007

in the land of butt ass freezing weather

Mo/E

Get rid of 2 video cards incress RAM to 4gb and get your self a nice moniter

Raiin Maker

Raiin Maker

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2005

England

Blood On The Worlds Hands

W/

You want your RAM speed to be at least 800Mhz, if your making a gaming PC I'd personally go for 1000Mhz+.

Get rid of two of those graphics cards and get the 1GB 9800, lower the PSU wattage now your not having 3 cards, 500-750W more than enough.

After that I'd get a 2 PCI-E SLI motherboard, as 3 must be amazingly expensive.

3 Cards is totally pointless, as i believe the 9800 barely gains any performance SLI'd, I'd be better to SLI some 8800's then 9800's.

Snograt

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

If you really want to spend that sort of dough, get yourself a pair of GTX 280s and build a system around them

Lord Sojar

Lord Sojar

The Fallen One

Join Date: Dec 2005

Oblivion

Irrelevant

Mo/Me

Quit hating on Tri-SLi folks. It scales better than quad SLi and quad crossfire.... *cough*

Get the eVGA 790i SLi board. Better chipset, better BIOS, better quality. I loathe ASUS boards now...

You don't need the network card... our nVidia network controllers are primo anyways.

Get the Microsoft Sidewinder Gaming mouse... trust me, you will adore it.

I would go with high end air cooling, as coolermaster's (except for 1 kit, the ESA one) suck... Get a Zalman, Scythe, Thermaltake, or ZeroTherm cooler, PERIOD.

Keyboard? Get the Logitech G15 or Saitek Cyborg. Worth the extra money.

Keep Vista Ultimate 64bit, or you will be wasting money on tri-SLi.

Upgrade to 4GB RAM, and that is the wrong type of RAM for that board. Buy two kits of this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820609237

Saves you money, and is higher performance with good latency ratings. Fast as well, still exceeding the FSB of the motherboard.

Don't get that CPU, get this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115042

You can overclock it just fine and easily, and it is on 45nm technology, which is infinitely better than 65nm.


However, you might put in 3x GTX 260's instead of 9800GTXs. Either that, or just do 2x 9800GX2s for quad SLi and be done with it. See below for link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130355

Cyb3r

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Feb 2008

AFO

E/

rahja one thing i disagree a bit about is the nvidia network controllers can't state about the newer ones but the ones that shipped with the A8N series wheren't super and no comment on that firewall of you guys unless that's finally fixed (i know it isn't in the latest driver for the A8N board) but i agree on all other stuff you say tho

Lord Sojar

Lord Sojar

The Fallen One

Join Date: Dec 2005

Oblivion

Irrelevant

Mo/Me

Our firewall is software related, which automatically makes it rubbish in my opinion.. lol.

The new nvidia network controllers (700 series boards) are amazing. They use a pipelined system that runs through the south bridge coprocessor rather then filtering through the northbridge. That takes load off the northbridge, and makes it take a LOT less CPU, while managing traffic better. These things handle packets like champs.

Cyb3r

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Feb 2008

AFO

E/

neat thnx for the info rahja oh and people pls never ever install the Nvidia software firewall it's the biggest piece of junk i ever had once installed on my system and frigging hard to remove too -_- (buddy had even worse problems than mine with it and i remember an old thread on one of the other forums where i'm either admin or mod that there where loads of problems with that thing)
and should check the clubsli forums again =(

would love to try the network controller of the 700 series but kinda lack the money atm since i'm without a job =( so i'll have to stick to the Gigabit lan pci card of belkin which does the job better than the one on the A8N series

dark_prince2023

dark_prince2023

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2007

W/Mo

lol wow so many heated responses lol oh it is 4 GB of ram already but the ram is kind of old some people can't read if they thought it was less. Yes the 3 cards were just thrown in there I'm just wanting 2 9800gx2 cards as obviously stated by rahja wish I had the money for the 3 X 280's. The board is a 780i. And this is not a self build as stated it came from cyberpowerpc.com. thanks for all the comments. I was using you to update my outdated knowledge.

Oniralas

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jun 2008

What do you want to do with the box?

I've got a grand total of 800$ into my rig, which includes a 28" LCD monitor (hansg). It will play anything I care about -- AoC is about the only thing that will tax it hard.

Forget all the SLI/Crossfire tech, keep it simple & clean. Spec the parts you want, realize that 80% of the stuff out there is simply "resume" build crap (who cares) and put it together.

Tamuril elansar

Tamuril elansar

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2007

N/

get a intel chipset with 2 HD4870's, their awesome.

Etta

Etta

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2006

Mancland, British Empire

Is this just for gaming or other things like, 3d rendering, decoding, photo, video & graphic editing as well? Not worth 3k just for the former, worth it if you're going to do the later as well as the former. But whatever it's your money.

You seem like a rich guy, get this as well.

Serafita Kayin

Serafita Kayin

Exclusive Reclusive

Join Date: May 2005

Tuscaloosa, AL

Seraph's Pinion (wing)

R/Me

Quad cards scale perfectly well in some games. If it just so happens to not be the TWIMTBP games, well, those were really meant for AMD too. Somebody just paid off a developer. I can speak from experience, I have quad cards.


I think for general gaming an AMD Spider platform setup would be a lot cheaper, provide the same experience, and leave you with more for storage/backup options or more to put into a display. And if you're not crazy about working on your PC, as Rahja said, then stick with air. Water is a whole nother beast.

Lord Sojar

Lord Sojar

The Fallen One

Join Date: Dec 2005

Oblivion

Irrelevant

Mo/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serafita Kayin
Quad cards scale perfectly well in some games. If it just so happens to not be the TWIMTBP games, well, those were really meant for AMD too. Somebody just paid off a developer. I can speak from experience, I have quad cards.


I think for general gaming an AMD Spider platform setup would be a lot cheaper, provide the same experience, and leave you with more for storage/backup options or more to put into a display. And if you're not crazy about working on your PC, as Rahja said, then stick with air. Water is a whole nother beast.
Spider is a gorgeous platform. The 3W TDP is amazing. Personally, I think AMD is the leader in chipsets for the time being. You save a ton of money, and while the Phenom processors may not be performance king, they certainly don't lack in it either. This constant hit on AMD is rather unamusing, as their processors are still quite viable. Most end users won't notice the difference, and with the new AMD GPUs, the difference is being sealed up from CPU to GPU dependence.

Custom water cooling takes experience, time, and managment. You have to know exactly what you are doing and understand how water flow and heat retention function to get a high performance LC system to be 100% effective. Air cooling is quite advanced these days. I typically don't bother with liquid anymore because I am lazy. lol... But maybe my next build will feature a custom LC system.

Snograt

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

Wonder what happened to that Alienware monstrosity - was due out second half of this year. Seems to have dropped off the radar. Hmm, maybe they're playing the old "fiscal year" trick, giving them until March to actually come up with a merchantable product...

Lord Sojar

Lord Sojar

The Fallen One

Join Date: Dec 2005

Oblivion

Irrelevant

Mo/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Snograt
Wonder what happened to that Alienware monstrosity - was due out second half of this year. Seems to have dropped off the radar. Hmm, maybe they're playing the old "fiscal year" trick, giving them until March to actually come up with a merchantable product...
It probably exploded in Area 51 and we don't know about it. I always knew Chenney was an alien....

Serafita Kayin

Serafita Kayin

Exclusive Reclusive

Join Date: May 2005

Tuscaloosa, AL

Seraph's Pinion (wing)

R/Me

I hate prebuilt. I just say build your own. Save money, have fun, learn how it works.

Lord Sojar

Lord Sojar

The Fallen One

Join Date: Dec 2005

Oblivion

Irrelevant

Mo/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serafita Kayin
I hate prebuilt. I just say build your own. Save money, have fun, learn how it works.
Most users would either:

A) Kill themselves
B) Burn their house down.
C) Fry the components
D) Buy the wrong components
E) All of the above
F) Rage quit
G) All of the above + curse you for suggesting it.

Remember, most users know how to turn on a PC and double click stuff. Installers baffle them, muchless PC construction. While I agree to some degree, only users fairly comfortable doing so should attempt a self build. Otherwise, they will waste money on incompatible parts and probably fry the parts they do put in via static discharge or improper installation/cooling.

Tamuril elansar

Tamuril elansar

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2007

N/

building a computer ain't hard, just need to have patience, read some guides about it, have more patience, learn about components and buy them at a good store.

frying your components is cool btw, i blew up my PSU ones on accident

Dark Kal

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rahja the Thief
G) All of the above + curse you for suggesting it.
They can't, see point A). Either way problem solved, GJ Serafita Kayin.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tamuril elansar
i blew up my PSU ones on accident
How do you blow up a PSU by accident?

Lord Sojar

Lord Sojar

The Fallen One

Join Date: Dec 2005

Oblivion

Irrelevant

Mo/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Kal
How do you blow up a PSU by accident?
OVerload a rail enough. Watch it go boom. Trust me.

Dark Kal

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2006

By accident?

Tamuril elansar

Tamuril elansar

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2007

N/

my old PSU had a red voltage regulater on the back, i accidently switched it with my screwdriver from 330 to 75 volt. watch it go boom next to my face ><

Serafita Kayin

Serafita Kayin

Exclusive Reclusive

Join Date: May 2005

Tuscaloosa, AL

Seraph's Pinion (wing)

R/Me

I understand, but at the same time you win some over. Fostering a bit of pride in your own work tends to make you want to be able to maintain it yourself as well.

Flipped the red switch? Awesome.

Snograt

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tamuril elansar
my old PSU had a red voltage regulater on the back, i accidently switched it with my screwdriver from 330 to 75 volt. watch it go boom next to my face ><
Hehe - when I was around 5 years old, I did that to my dad's shaver. Switched it from 240V to 110. Next time dad had a shave, kablooie! Who'd have known it would be my ass that got injured?

On the subject of self builds, my current pre-build is the first one I've owned, and you all know the grief I've had with that. My new 780i arrived today so, with the recent acquisitions of a Thermaltake Armor+, Tuniq Tower, SATA DVD drive, the 8 gigs of Ballistix Tracer and what have you, I can now say I'm back to self building with a vengeance. For starters, it's one HELL of a lot easier without half a dozen PATA ribbon cables blocking everything. Man, I hated those things. The only thing I possibly need to change in my setup is the PSU. My rig came with this - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171017 - which has very mixed reviews. I fancy one of those big, modular, megawatty Tagan jobs, but I'm not going to get one unless I have to. Them's spensive.

Er, have I hijacked a thread again?

dark_prince2023

dark_prince2023

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2007

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serafita Kayin
I hate prebuilt. I just say build your own. Save money, have fun, learn how it works.
Anyone can build a computer but will it work effeciantly after the build is the key issue. Another issue is programming I hate it most don't understand it.

deluxe

deluxe

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Feb 2006

Monkeyball Z

S.K.A.T. [Ban]

Mo/

• NETWORK: Killer M1 10/100/1000 Gigabit High Speed Online Gaming PCI Network Interface Card [+249]

LOL, talking about wasting 250 bucks on nothing!
Oh, and you want 4 gb of ram in a gaming system these days.