Compatibility issues? Techie seeking advice! Suggestions?

I like the setup! Keep the PSU, you'll be thankful when you buy the second video card for SLI. I noticed you stated that you didn't need the SLI in the wishlist. If you are a gamer, keep the option open. Its better to spend $150 next year for your "older" video card and gain a better performance increase over any other upgrade. As far as my experience goes w/ SATA, as long as the drive is SATA150 and the MB has sata support (minimum sata150 obviously) I don't see any red flags for compatibility. If you read the reviews of those who bought the Raptor, you'll probably see some may have similar setups as you. I wasn't aware of the raptors being sata though...ha ha...thought the were SCSI only...now i think i'll update my wishlist too!! :twisted:

If you do not plan on getting a second video card in 2 or 3 months SLI is a waste of your money. Getting a second video card later will not double your performance. I would spend the money and get one 7800GT now, then one 7600 and another one later.

SATA is no problem other than installing Windows if your install is pre-SP2 and your drive is connected to the SATA RAID controller. You will need to give XP drivers via floppy for the install to work (Otherwise XP won't find a hard drive). Otherwise, there are no problems.

So, unless you need on-board firewire change the motherboard to the A8N-E. Also save $20 and get the Opteron 165 and overclock it to the level of 4200+. In the process you will gain double the L2 cache.

Get a better video card.

/signed

Can I SLI a 7600 with a 7800? Thanks for the advice.

no

I agree with the others better to find that little extra for a 7900 than waste money sli ing two 7600.

Whats a 7900gt about $115 more than the 7600

I would lose the zalman cooler and arctic sliver and use the stock cooler untill you have more money to buy a new heatsink. The stock cooler is easily good enough to use.

Thats $45 less you have to find

"I would spend the money and get one 7800GT now, "

Make that 1 ea 7900GT, and I'd agree! :-)

"SLI is totally pointless, not worth the money. "

Only if 'pointless' means going from 63 fps to 109 fps in FEAR (1024x768max/4xAA/16xAF), or from 38 to 62 fps at 1280x960, is a rather useless jump in performance....

SLI is not pointless, indeed most can jump two steps in res with the same or higher framerates.....; it's just...expensive....

Raptors pwn! That is simple. Loading times are nice and quick and it is a very reliable hard disk. I have a raptor with a zalman heatpipe cooler around it mounted near the front intake fan so that it blows across the heatpipes. It is quiet and cold   I love it! I agree with others that that you would be much better served with a higher end single card. I don't agree that SLI is a good solution right now. The problem with it is that most games and software applications haven't utilized it yet. It seems more and more however that software producers are recognizing the industry path. You would be much better served with a high end card. Otherwise the setup looks great. Also opteron rather than x2. Other dude was right about the L2 cache! Other than that everything looks l33t.

Fear is an exception to the general trend right now. Most games don't have the drastic jump in performance that fear does. SLI seems to work great with fear.

Dang.

Before buying my computer I knew everyone recommended operton to OC. However, I didnt want to go through the trouble/voiding warrenty of over clocking initially. Basically I had an alienware before. I am graduating from college and starting fulltime work. sadly, I have already purchased the 7600 GT but will be calling on monday to return it and try to buy a 7800 GTX or 7900 instead. any brand suggestions? those are MUCH pricier.........

thanks again guys.

on the issue of saving money using a stock cooler initially.....that just seems like a hassle. using stock first, then ripping it off, reapplying the stuff and new cooler....


one more issue, do you guys think i need more case fans, or a harddrive cooler? thanks.

Well if you get an opteron or x2 the coolers are quite nice. They have heatpipes an all. Most OEM coolers suck but these are actually nice! I personally like the 1900xt. If you have the money it is one hell of a card.

I don't know...to me SLI is in the same category as a dual core chip. A lot of these threads say "SLI is still not being used by games..." well, dual core is the same way; only a few support it. If you are going for a gaming system now, then go single core, like a 3800 for less than the opty 165. I only say go SLI and dual core for future gaming use. I still don't feel that sli is pointless, just as i don't feel that dual core is pointless for gaming also. Next year, you will wish you had SLI IMO.

yeah. i know price/performance wise for gaming, dual core is NOT the way to go. paying 355 bucks for dual core 4200+ would buy me something much better for a single core system. However, after reading several reviewings, I think a dual core system will change our general usage of our computer. multitasking will become a real option.

As for now, I am going to stay with my 7600, and SLI it in 3 months (when I make more money). Yes, I should probably save some money on the heatsink etc, but I think in the longrun I can just get a 7900.

There was one misconception I had though. I thought if I SLI'd two 7600, the performance would be close to being doubled for most games. However, I assume if a game does not support SLI, it will not benifit from SLI at all? Is that correct?

Well if all you do on a computer is game then you are right the dual core processor is a waste, however, if you multitask even a little then you are foolish not to go with it!   It pwns