spltting up computer / upgrading

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Valset

Supreme [H]ardness
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thinking about upgrading my system, or rather splitting it into two computers. So I am looking for feed back. Here is what I keeping and can use

9600 Phenom Black Edition
BFG GTX 280 OC
May still have a 8800GTX
DFI Lanparty 790FX-M2RS motherboard
Two Gigabytes of DDR2 800 crucial memory
Four gigabytes of OZC reapers DDR2 800
WD 640 with vista 64.
Old 250gb maxtor with XP media center on it.
Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W PSU
430 earth watts PSU
Creative Labs Audigy 2 sound card
Sapphire theatrix 550 TV turner.
Antec P182SE case
two rocket fish cases.

I am dumping the rest of my inventory.

Here is what I am thinking of getting.
Q9550 for 330.
EVGA 750i SLI FTW for 180
maybe another WD 640.
maybe a blue ray player.

Here is what I think I am going to do.
In the Antex P182SE
Q9550
EVGA 750i
BFG GTX280
4gb of the OCZ ram
WD 640 GB
the 750XT PSU
Vista 64bit.

In computer two with the rocket fish case
9600 Phenom Black Edition
8800GTX
DFI Lanparty 790FX-M2RS
430 earth watts PSU
Two Gigabytes of DDR2 800 crucial memory
XP media center
Sapphire theatrix 550 TV turner.
Creative Labs Audigy 2 sound card
250gb maxtor
maybe a blue ray player.
Dual boot linux
 
What do you want to use each computer for?

How much do you have to spend on BOTH computers?

Do you plan on overclocking either computer?
 
the one in my specs.
28" hannspree 1920 by 1200. I am an eye candy whore. (max AA and all that)
I plan to overclock the intel, the amd I am not going to bother with. I am going to game on the intel computer and probably do everything else on the Linux AMD machine.
How much I spend is largely on what I get from them.
 
Your budget largely affects people's recommendations on parts.
 
Ditch the 750i board for a P45 based board since you won't be building an SLI setup. Intel based boards are far more reliable than nForce boards, particularly when overclocking. If OCing your Intel rig is top priority, take a look at the Biostar IP45 or the Asus P5Q-Pro. If you need more features than the Biostar or the P5Q-Pro offer, look at the P5Q-E or Deluxe or one of the Gigabyte offerings. Many people on this board don't necessarily recommend the P5Q Deluxe as it's not as good of a value proposition as the lower end models (a valid criticism,) but it's still a very popular board with an excellent OC community.

Still to offer the best advice, we need to know more about your budget. How much can you spend maximum on the two rigs.
 
Markyip1 said:
Ditch the 750i board for a P45 based board since you won't be building an SLI setup. Intel based boards are far more reliable than nForce boards, particularly when overclocking. If OCing your Intel rig is top priority, take a look at the Biostar IP45 or the Asus P5Q-Pro. If you need more features than the Biostar or the P5Q-Pro offer, look at the P5Q-E or Deluxe or one of the Gigabyte offerings. Many people on this board don't necessarily recommend the P5Q Deluxe as it's not as good of a value proposition as the lower end models, but it's still a very popular board with an excellent OC community.

Still to offer the best advice, we need to know more about your budget. How much can you spend maximum on the two rigs.
Click to expand...

actually I was looking at doing so, getting another GTX280 at some point. So total budget for this upgrade~ 900 dollars or so. I tend to do my upgrades in increments. For instance a faster CPU would do more for me right now then the seconded card. I would probably add a seconded card latter when the price drops (the die shrink comes out) what I posted above is for the time being. Right now I was looking more at upgrading my CPU from AMD (sorry this fanboy has had it) and to make use of my existing inventory. I already own everything but the Intel cpu and Nvidia motherboard. I am waiting to look at the EVGA 780i review as well.
 
You should carefully weigh your desire to OC over the performance potential gained from getting a second GTX 280, as I can almost guarantee you a better experience tweaking a P45 board. I did SLI for two years, and while I my experience was better than many, going to a P45 based P5Q-Deluxe was probably one of the best upgrades I have made in recent years. nForce boards are like Jaguar cars (in the classic sense.) They're fancy and stylish, but having it operate correctly such that you can safely and easily drive it off your driveway is a gamble. A comparable P45 board would be your Lexus. Maybe not as sexy to the enthusiast, but you know it's going to hold up no matter what.

Also note the following when considering SLI with a high end card:

-- You will only realize a performance gain if pairing with a very high resolution monitor. In the case of two GTX's 280, you'll need a 30 inch monitor to see any benefit gained from the second card with all games today (and with most games coming down the pipeline over the next six months.) Most monitors below 30inch are 1920x1200, and for just about every game in existance with the possible exception of Crysis at very high settings, a singe GTX 280 is more then enough for 1920x1200 gaming at max settings.

-- SLI as an upgrade path is usually a bad idea, as by the time you are ready to get that second card, a newer faster single card solution can will usually outperform two of your older cards in an SLI setup. As an added benefit, you'll have a cooler running, easier to maintain system by sticking with a single card, and lastly, the cost of upgrading to a whole new card is often mitigated by selling your old one. It may even be cheaper to just upgrade in the end.

Of course there are exceptions to the above advice -- but they are rare. The big exception these days would be for those who own a single 8800 GTX card and an nForce mobo. While a 4870 X2 or GTX 280 will be slightly faster than two 8800 GTXes in SLI, a second 8800 for $150 will net you 75-80% of the performance of the newer cards for $440-$550. That's a very decent value proposition. Of course, situations like this are as rare as an 8800 GTX release... When was the last time a card like that held its own two years after its release?
 
The OC on the 750i FTW was pretty good. Dan likes it so that is good enough for me.

but this is exactly what I was after, other vantage points.

As for the seconded card I have a hannspreee 28" 1920 by 1200. I love eyecandy and am willing to spend to get it. I may need to think about going the P45 route and crossfire. I got the GTX280 because it was the best card at the time for my computer (not so CPU dependent as the 4870X2) dual GTX280 would max out just about everything on my monitor. So would a 4870X2 if I go with intel. I only wished they scaled better in quad fire
 
You should ask Dan himself what he thinks about nForce boards in general. There was a time when SLI was absolutely worth considering for gamers in the 1920x1200 crowd -- but that time has more or less passed. If you do decide to go with nForce, I'll have two 780i boards up for sale in the ForSale forum soon (an unused NIB eVGA 780i and a MSI P7N Diamond.)
 
I know what he thinks of them. that is why I was looking at the 750i, about the only one he said he would recommend. but I am seriously looking at the P45 option as well. And BTW you didn't use the 780i? and how much?
 
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