Video Card selection is driving me nuts!

S

SportDerek

n00b
Joined
Mar 2, 2005
Messages
33
So I've been lurking here for a while and now I'm finally building a new machine, it's time....Here's what I'm leaving...

AMD 2100+
1 GB of Crucial PC-2100
Gigabyte board...already lost one IDE channel on it.
Plextor CD Burner which died on me.
Pioneer DVD which still runs well.
IBM Deskstar HD 40 GB
Geforce 4600ti
SB live

It gets the basics done but losing the IDE channel and my burner annoys me. Plus it's 3 years old so it's time to move on up. Here's what I'm going to:

AMD 3500+
1 GB Corsair XMS 3200-XLPT
ASUS or MSI nforce4 motherboard (haven't made up my mind)
Raptor 74GB
Pioneer DVR-109
PC Power and Cooling PS (probably)


It just comes down to should save some money and go with a 6600GT, or spend a little more and go with a 6800GT (then grab a 2nd one down the road for the performance bump of SLI). But I notice a lot of people here don't have much faith in SLI. Add in ATI's AMR solution in the near future.... I was considering an X800 XL as it's at the right price point...

Should I
A) get the non SLI MSI motherboard and an X800 XL.
B) Get the SLI mobo with a 6800GT and down the road pick up a 2nd 6800GT and hope that nvidia has things worked out so it works well
C) keep waiting before building a box then get ATI's chipset and AMR setup.
D) Just get a 6600GT to tide me over until the next big leap in video cards....

It's driving me nuts and I just want to have a new box so I can actually play games with lots of details and high resolution. (Dell 2005 in my future).


Any suggestions?



This is just driving me nuts...
 
I'm currently really really liking the x800xl. If you can get one for MSRP I'd go in that direction personally. Nice, well priced card that moves like a mother. Interested to see what people can do O/Cing it. My personal opinion is SLI is not worth the money. I think the introduction of new features (DirectX, Shaders, etc) every couple years defeats the upgradeability factor it is supposed to have. And so no one thinks I'm an ATI !!!!!, please glance at my signature.

Might also look at the Patriot RAM I've got in my signature. That or other TCCD RAM will perform as well as that Corsair you picked out, and should overclock better also. My Patriot stuff is cheaper too, though Newegg keeps raising the price.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-220-033&depa=0

-zac
 
id recomend anouther hard drive for storage..as you will find that 74GB is nothing... im in the runing for more storage too... :rolleyes:

but for the video card i would recomend a 6800GT cause it is a really great card and overclocks like a madman. You can get then for mid 350 and i guess XFX is a bad brand watch out for them...
if your really into Radeon get the X800XT and then OC to PE speeds... and youll be set for a while.... both great cards for the money.... all in all looks like a nice computrer you are building
 
I tend to agree with the price v performance idea of video cards and I was acutally in CompUsa Monday at lunch looking for the X800 XL behind their counter... Nearly bought one for $299 (or so their website alledges the price is)

A second hard drive.. hmmm might not be a bad idea, but that's easy to add down the road if I find I need it. Good suggestion.
 
so i guess i recomend your
B) Get the SLI mobo with a 6800GT and down the road pick up a 2nd 6800GT and hope that nvidia has things worked out so it works well

cause youll be getting the best for the best ( you)
 
Hadn't looked up that Patriot RAM..interesting.. I don't have any experience overclocking but it's tempting seeing all the headroom the 3500+ chip has...
 
i am in the exact same boat.

i gave up on sli as the price/performance isn't worth it at this point, especially with all of the problems surrounding it.
 
Go with an X800XL.

Bext Pirce vs Performance (yes better then the 6600GT IMO)
 
I have a 6800GT, my dad has the X800XL. I prefer ATIs image quality, especially at 4xAA. So all things being equal I would get an X800XL over a 6800GT.

I bought my 6800GT cause i got a crazy good deal, but I am quite content with it.
 
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