SLI or 9800GX2

[Victor Mizer]

Basicly I am doing a full upgrade on everything except my monitor witch is 24" LG LCD. I was going to buy just 1 9800GX2 with Intel mobo,ddr2,etc.etc. But I'm not sure if SLI may be a better choice with my budget being 3000$. Could you guys give me some advice cause I feel pretty lost here, or maybe I am just overanalyzing everything.

The first build I was thinking of would be like.
Rampage Formula
4gb ddr2 8000
QX9650
9800GX2

If I went sli, I think id do something like this.
790i
4gb ddr3 1600
Q9450
x2 9800GTX maybe?

Yes I know the extreme chip is alot and probably not worth it but its in stock and easy to find. And ddr3 prices are pretty stupid also, and I dont want to use the subpar 780 nv mobos. I'd like to game on 1920x1200 res.in games like cod4, tf2 and other new games coming out. On a side note I have been waiting to upgrade since like decemeber but I keep waiting for the new stuff

 

[Dan_D]

Basicly I am doing a full upgrade on everything except my monitor witch is 24" LG LCD. I was going to buy just 1 9800GX2 with Intel mobo,ddr2,etc.etc. But I'm not sure if SLI may be a better choice with my budget being 3000$. Could you guys give me some advice cause I feel pretty lost here, or maybe I am just overanalyzing everything.

The first build I was thinking of would be like.
Rampage Formula
4gb ddr2 8000
QX9650
9800GX2

If I went sli, I think id do something like this.
790i
4gb ddr3 1600
Q9450
x2 9800GTX maybe?

Yes I know the extreme chip is alot and probably not worth it but its in stock and easy to find. And ddr3 prices are pretty stupid also, and I dont want to use the subpar 780 nv mobos. I'd like to game on 1920x1200 res.in games like cod4, tf2 and other new games coming out. On a side note I have been waiting to upgrade since like decemeber but I keep waiting for the new stuff

The Rampage Formula and a 9800GX2 is a better option. You could also go with a Rampage Extreme if you want to go the DDR3 route.

Intel Chipset > Anything else

 

[Vegasr]

You could also go with a Rampage Extreme if you want to go the DDR3 route.

Intel Chipset > Anything else

Whoa Dan, is the Rampage Extreme going to happen? Even Asus' Support site doesn't show anything to do with it yet, only the Formula. Usually a new mobo will show up their a couple months before its released.

If a Rampage Extreme does comes out, that would be the way to go along with a GX2.

 

[McCartney]

Well I kind of agree with Dan... Kind of
No offense dan but my experiences running the 790i thus far have been great. There are some bugs with overclocking and memory timings that need to get sorted but I'm really happy with it so far man. How is your thorough review going?

personally OP:
A 790i and 4gb DDR2 1600 is going to cost you about 800
The videocards at msrp would be 700
q9450 would be about 350


You'd have plenty left if you wanted 2 GX2s, personally I think if you felt you needed 2 video cards which you might on 1920x1200 (I mean 2 seperate video cards, a la SLI) then nVidia is the better option for that.

I love my 790i. I haven't been able to actually make it wheeze... yet. What about you dan?

 

[Dan_D]

Whoa Dan, is the Rampage Extreme going to happen? Even Asus' Support site doesn't show anything to do with it yet, only the Formula. Usually a new mobo will show up their a couple months before its released.

If a Rampage Extreme does comes out, that would be the way to go along with a GX2.

I meant Maximus Extreme. As for what's available now it would either be that or the P5E3 Premium that I'd choose.

 

[Dan_D]

Well I kind of agree with Dan... Kind of
No offense dan but my experiences running the 790i thus far have been great. There are some bugs with overclocking and memory timings that need to get sorted but I'm really happy with it so far man. How is your thorough review going?

personally OP:
A 790i and 4gb DDR2 1600 is going to cost you about 800
The videocards at msrp would be 700
q9450 would be about 350


You'd have plenty left if you wanted 2 GX2s, personally I think if you felt you needed 2 video cards which you might on 1920x1200 (I mean 2 seperate video cards, a la SLI) then nVidia is the better option for that.

I love my 790i. I haven't been able to actually make it wheeze... yet. What about you dan?

I'm still working with the 790i Ultra SLI. So far I like it. I'm still concerned about the reference designs lack of solid capacitors and the power design overall, but so far the board is more stable and a whole lot less picky about everything than the 780i SLI/680i SLI boards were.

You guys will know when I finish the review. I will say that at first glance the 790i Ultra SLI looks good as Kyle said in his 790i Ultra SLI preview. I want to be damn sure of my facts though before I start recommending them.

 

[McCartney]

Hahahaha so true man! It feels great to be off ignore
I love mine too, but I'm experiencing Multiplier OC'ing issues as well as manual voltage on my QX. If I even have stock settings with a manually set voltage I get BSODs. Is this an eVGA bios issue only?

 

[Dan_D]

Hahahaha so true man! It feels great to be off ignore
I love mine too, but I'm experiencing Multiplier OC'ing issues as well as manual voltage on my QX. If I even have stock settings with a manually set voltage I get BSODs. Is this an eVGA bios issue only?

I can't say. The BIOS should be the same on all the reference boards though. I'm using the XFX version here.

 

[McCartney]

I know, thats why I asked. XFX bios is much better than eVGAs because I remember on my 780i it would set automatic voltages according to the OC unlike my eVGA. It would also clock down voltage from my manually set one if the proc didn't need it. I remember setting 1.45v and it reported 1.40 and green which I really liked.. Maybe eVGa added this feature.

 

[McCartney]

Dan did the 9770 officially release today?

 

[Victor Mizer]

The Rampage Formula and a 9800GX2 is a better option. You could also go with a Rampage Extreme if you want to go the DDR3 route.

Intel Chipset > Anything else

While you are around Dan I was wondering what memory you think I should use with Rampage+QX9650

OCZ ReaperX HPC 4GB PC2 8000
or
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB PC2 8500

I use OCZ in current system I'd like to stick with it, unless you think another brand would be better.

 

[Serpico]

If I was building today I would probably get a 9800GX2 with an Intel board. I currently have an nVidia board with two 8800GT cards in SLI. I am happy with it but given the fewer complaints I see regarding Intel boards (and the day or two it took to get my rig to stop BSODing, for now), I would probably go with the uber-single card with an Intel.

The only downside to the 980GX2+Intel, aside from obviously not being able to run in SLI, is the higher price tag compared to the SLI 8800GT configuration.

 

[Dan_D]

Dan did the 9770 officially release today?

Not as far as I know.

While you are around Dan I was wondering what memory you think I should use with Rampage+QX9650

OCZ ReaperX HPC 4GB PC2 8000
or
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB PC2 8500

I use OCZ in current system I'd like to stick with it, unless you think another brand would be better.

I'd go with the PC2 8500 OCZ Reaper kit.