New crysis sff build, need opinions

[wrxdrunkie]

First off I just have to say how much I love this forum, man I have spent so much time just reading about peoples builds, and learning! but I realise I still have much more to learn. now lets get down to business.

So I have officially decided to build myself a new desktop, I want to be able to max out crysis at very high settings on my 1280x768 lcd tv with as much AA as possible. My budget is right around 1,700 and I had my heart set on a thermaltech lanbox with 2x8800gt's.

The case is advertised to support sli and I figured this would be sufficient, then I started looking for a mb. Now we have a whole new ball problem, I just can not find one to use with the q6600 ( I am hoping to overclock ) and that supports sli. So I build one sff pc and one desktop, my ideal setup is the lanbox, with 2x8800gt, and a q6600 OCed.

If that is possible someone please tell me but at this point I have not seen it done, so my builds are on the safe side. As of now I am just looking for opinions on the 2 builds, and any advice on how to make them better for the money. Or if anyone thinks I can pull off the 8800gt in sli on the lanbox let me know! Or if I could go with a different setup in the lanbox to meet my goals for crysis.

p.s. I dont know if the resolution I wish to play at is stupid, I mostly console game, I am always satisfied with my games being in 720p on my tv. hopefully this lower than normal resolution will assist me in maxing everything out with AA

also how hard is it to oc the gt?
Here are links to my wish list on newegg

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio...p?WishListNumber=9728707&WishListTitle=SLI+pc

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio....asp?WishListNumber=5240465&WishListTitle=sff


Thanks for the help guys!

 

[sleepeeg3]

http://www.hardforum.com/search.php?searchid=8234579

Basically, wait another month or two for the ATi R680 and nVidia D8E/D9E cards. 1024*768 should allow some 2xAA on a GT.

 

[Leman]

WD5000AAKS: $105 last time I checked.

SLI PC:
-If you're going to SLI, wouldn't two 8800GTs be more cost effective? 1.5GB of RAM vs. 1GB of RAM won't make a difference at 720p anyways.
-You could pick out a nice case with the money saved...
-Save some more money; don't get a 1kW PSU. If triple SLI with Ultras takes roughly 700W, then SLI with GTX's won't even break 500W (or thereabouts). Pick out a Silverstone ST60F or 75ZF (on rebate, for some reason). Or if you want to spend money, a 620HX.
-You forgot fans. Enjoy your passive Q6600.


SFF:
-Why the 60mm fan? for the place above the PCI slots? Nearly makes no difference, since the cover restricts most of the air flow (reducing airflow from 3CFM to -29CFM). I can't feel airflow with mine.
-That's not exactly the beefiest of coolers.
-Since you're not going to be able to do two video cards of any kind in a SFF, wouldn't 700W be overkill? Again, ST60F, or ST50EF/Blue Storm II/HP-550/520HX.
-You'll probably consider the PSU cage fan mod.

Crysis:
-720p? Probably do-able.
-Anything higher? Most likely not, unless the next series of cards beats this generation's by a bit.

 

[Skott]

There are no SLI SFF mobos. There is one but its an older NF4 mobo. Not even sure if its still being made. Best bet is to go ATX for SLI. Even at 1280x768 and a single 8800 Ultra wont let you max out Crysis at full everything from what I have been hearing. Its that demanding of a game. When nVidia releases its new high end cards Q1 2008 then it'll probably be possible at 1280x768 resolution. You'll pay through the nose for one of those cards though probably since they'll be high end and have nVidia's infamous $600 price tag. Anyway for dual card setups ATX is where its at for today's gamers.

 

[Klinky]

http://www.hardforum.com/search.php?searchid=8234579

Basically, wait another month or two for the ATi R680 and nVidia D8E/D9E cards. 1024*768 should allow some 2xAA on a GT.

Well your non-existent search link is not 'o much use. I also wouldn't subscribe to the "wait until next month..." type of thinking as there is truly always something coming out "next month".

I like what you've got for the lanbox. I would subscribe to a 1 card solutions. So maybe get a GT now and overclock it then wait for the newer nVidia/ ATI cards to come out and then you'll have money to spend on them instead of blowing your money on an SLI solution that is honestly based on tech that's over a year old now and is indeed ripe for a replacement.

 

[soulfoot]

if you can wait till after christmas i'm putting my pc together on the 24th, with full intention of seeing how far crysis will go on it.

wish list here
http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=5465891

I also purchased an xp-120 as an aftermarket cooler

hard thread here
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1248422

I could have done better with the ram, reccomend a smaller powersupply (it fits but gets crowded, however you deff want a modular one), i'm not buying the monitor - yet, you can save a bunch of cash by getting a non raptor x hard drive, and best buy had/has the bfg cards at like 20 percent off

but, keep in mind i dont plan on overclocking till its necessary so i dont expect top of the line performance.

also i know my fans will be extremely loud but hopefully i wont ever have to worry about heat.

anyways i will post thoughts and pics and some hillbilly version of a crysis benchmark and if you have a particular crysis setting you would like for me to try i will be happy to get back to you on how bad/good the framerate works at

one final note, i think its silverstone that has a case similar to the lanbox but the insides are stock black, i almost wish i bought that one instead

 

[wrxdrunkie]

Well your non-existent search link is not 'o much use. I also wouldn't subscribe to the "wait until next month..." type of thinking as there is truly always something coming out "next month".

I like what you've got for the lanbox. I would subscribe to a 1 card solutions. So maybe get a GT now and overclock it then wait for the newer nVidia/ ATI cards to come out and then you'll have money to spend on them instead of blowing your money on an SLI solution that is honestly based on tech that's over a year old now and is indeed ripe for a replacement.

I do understand what you are saying, does sound like a better idea, basically don't waste my money on an sli setup at this point because the cards are so old? Instead stick with one, cost effective solution, and possibly replace that with a newer card, I was thinking that after the 2008 crysis update, the support for sli would be better, increasing the likelyhood of me being able to completly max out everything at 720p.

WD5000AAKS: $105 last time I checked.

SLI PC:
-If you're going to SLI, wouldn't two 8800GTs be more cost effective? 1.5GB of RAM vs. 1GB of RAM won't make a difference at 720p anyways.
-You could pick out a nice case with the money saved...
-Save some more money; don't get a 1kW PSU. If triple SLI with Ultras takes roughly 700W, then SLI with GTX's won't even break 500W (or thereabouts). Pick out a Silverstone ST60F or 75ZF (on rebate, for some reason). Or if you want to spend money, a 620HX.
-You forgot fans. Enjoy your passive Q6600.


SFF:
-Why the 60mm fan? for the place above the PCI slots? Nearly makes no difference, since the cover restricts most of the air flow (reducing airflow from 3CFM to -29CFM). I can't feel airflow with mine.
-That's not exactly the beefiest of coolers.
-Since you're not going to be able to do two video cards of any kind in a SFF, wouldn't 700W be overkill? Again, ST60F, or ST50EF/Blue Storm II/HP-550/520HX.
-You'll probably consider the PSU cage fan mod.

Crysis:
-720p? Probably do-able.
-Anything higher? Most likely not, unless the next series of cards beats this generation's by a bit.

ya I agree about the gtxs, that was just something I was messing around with, 8800gt setup sli is what I was looking at. I also thought the cpu cooler I picked out was pretty good for OC.

 

[Farva]

F
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio....asp?WishListNumber=5240465&WishListTitle=sff

The only good Thermaltake PSU is the Topower line.

 

[sleepeeg3]

Well your non-existent search link is not 'o much use. I also wouldn't subscribe to the "wait until next month..." type of thinking as there is truly always something coming out "next month".

I like what you've got for the lanbox. I would subscribe to a 1 card solutions. So maybe get a GT now and overclock it then wait for the newer nVidia/ ATI cards to come out and then you'll have money to spend on them instead of blowing your money on an SLI solution that is honestly based on tech that's over a year old now and is indeed ripe for a replacement.

As Skott said, there are no SLI mATX mobos for C2D. That's what my link was showing.

It doesn't matter whether you subscribe or not - if you want Crysis with all the trimmings in mATX form, next month you will have to wait! Since SLI isn't even supported in Crysis right now, ATX isn't going to help either.

I went with an eVGA 8800 GTS 512MB, to at least try to eek 2x AA @ 1680 x1050 in Crysis and am hoping to put the money toward the step-up program when the new cards are released. I would get a GT for now or wait.

 

[Klinky]

As Skott said, there are no SLI mATX mobos for C2D. That's what my link was showing.

It doesn't matter whether you subscribe or not - if you want Crysis with all the trimmings in mATX form, next month you will have to wait! Since SLI isn't even supported in Crysis right now, ATX isn't going to help either.

I went with an eVGA 8800 GTS 512MB, to at least try to eek 2x AA @ 1680 x1050 in Crysis and am hoping to put the money toward the step-up program when the new cards are released. I would get a GT for now or wait.

See it's not so hard to flesh out what you really mean instead of linking to a search link that doesn't work.

 

[soulfoot]

fyi the build i have defaulted crysis at all settings high and my display is 1280 by 1040

 

[alz0rz]

My philosophy is.. why spend money on two video cards to run in SLI/Crossfire when you can wait just a bit longer and pay the same amount for a card that may run at the same performance level or even better.

I guess I just don't believe in 2 card solutions for the marginal gain.

al

 

[Farva]

My philosophy is.. why spend money on two video cards to run in SLI/Crossfire when you can wait just a bit longer and pay the same amount for a card that may run at the same performance level or even better.

I guess I just don't believe in 2 card solutions for the marginal gain.

al

That's the thing, you don't know if future will run faster or not. And if you keep waiting to upgrade to the next thing, then you'll never upgrade until you absolutely have to. What is this, oftOcp?