Building a Gaming Machine ...

[go0ty]

Okay So I'm looking at parts for a gaming machine now that I hope to purcahse within the next month. This is my first time building my own computer and there's alot of uncertainties but I think I have a handle on it for the most part.

This is what I'm looking at so far:

Processor:
AMD Athlon 3700+ - $222
http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16819103539

Video Card:
ATI Radeon X1800XT 512mb - ~509$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102643

Memory:
2x 1GB Corsair - 172$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145579

I chose the X1800XT video card because the best, the 7800GTX, is definately out of my price range ($800 is a tad much), and the 512MB X1800XT seems to outperform the 256mb version of the 7800.

I chose that memory because it seems pretty inexpensive and it's gotten alot of good reviews so I'd feel confident enough purchasing it.


ANYWAYS, My main question here is what motherboard I should choose? With my graphics card in mind, I plan to someday in the future make use of ATI's crossfire technology. Does this mean that I can only buy motherboards that include crossfire? I could only find one ASUS mobo that specifically mentions crossfire and it seems to be out of stock ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustRatingReview.asp?Item=N82E16813131584 ) at the moment, so who knows when that may be available.

Any suggestions on a motherboard will be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[go0ty]

Another thing I was just thinking about ...

I could either get a X1800XT as I initially planned (be around $500) or I could get two 7800's with 256mb for only about $100 more and possibly get much better performance?
Something like:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130256

What do you guys think?

 

[AntiHax0r]

I believe ATI crossfire tech.. is only limited specifically by card.. because you would need another card that is crossfire compatible.. where ATI has more flexible platform for dual/multi graphics than nvidia.. but still not quite mature nor available compared to SLI nvidia... and of course you would need a dual graphics ready mobo i.e 2xpcie 16x

 

[godlyatheist]

the 3700+ can be had for a few bucks less if you pricegrabber.com search it.

get the sapphire X1800Xt for less and better performance

yes if you go Xfire then you need the xpress 200 chip, but that mobo is VERY good. however, i would wait on Xfire as the technology is not mature(meaning the xpress 200 is the first chip and new chipset with way better support are coming....), and the most important reason is by the time you grab the 2nd card a newer, cheaper, and better single card will be out to beat the xfire setup. Ati is having a 48 piper well underway already...

the i what im saying is no xfire for right now and no two gtx either, cuz it will do worse than the x1800xt

value ram is fine for you

 

[go0ty]

Well, If I get the Xpress 200 mobo with crossfire, I would assume that ATI's new 48 pipeline graphics card would have some crossfire support, I could use that along with the X1800XT if I were to purchase it now.

If I were to get the A8R-MVP crossfire mobo now, I would only use the single X1800XT for the moment, but the main reason for buying it would be to leave myself options open in the future for using my current x1800xt with a better,newer graphics card. Does that make sense or should I really just forget about it for now?

I plan on getting this altogether soon, and I don't know when ati's new card will be out, though when it does i'm sure the cost will be right up there with the 7800GTX 512mb version ..

 

[godlyatheist]

the new ati card won't do Xfire with the X1800XT, only cards in the same family work together, ie X1800 w/ X1800, X800 w/ X800, that's the way right now anyway.

I would buy a non dual card mobo right now and wait for both mobo support for xfire and game support for xfire to mature. you can see how bad the sli do in some game with the amount $$$ put in.

the asus a8n-e(or an8-e, i keep confusing it with abit's number system) is a good mobo if you wanna stay with same brand

 

[opzero]

Actually your wrong the Radeon X1800 Series needs a Radeon X1800 CrossFire Edition card to work in xfire mode not anouther x1800 seriesHow it works click here and as far as sli 6800 go Toms writeup . If your still interested in 6800GT and im assuming youll need a new psu too click here.

 

[godlyatheist]

Thanks for the correction, but did you mention the 6800GT(or should it be the 7800GT?)

That combo from tiger is fine but the Ultra PSU is not as reliable as other brand name PSu for the same price...

Also, if you don live in CA or GA, then newegg and monarchcomputer can deliver two evga GT's(higher factory OC and cheaper price) and a brand name PSU for less.......I don't know how it is now, but tiger do charge a hefty amount for lousy UPS ground (15 for a GPU compared to 5 at newegg, for example)