First post, same question you must get all the time.. thanks

[Kosko]

So I’m building a new system. Here are my goals: a quite, powerhouse of a system, used for gaming and editing and multimedia. I’d like to use two monitors, which may interrupt with SLi. One during gaming is fine. Oh, and the second monitor is a 32” LCD TV. I’d like to do this for less than 1k.

I’ve already picked out some parts for this kind of system. I was hoping you guys could review this and let me know pitfalls of my design. Unnecessary parts, or better things I should consider. Pretty much I’m looking for your expertise. Thanks guys, you must get a lot of these. Know that we appreciate it.

I’ll first show you what I have then we go into the new parts I’m considering.

Existing Hardware

Hyundai 32” LCD TV
• Aspect Ratio 16:9
• Contrast Ratio 1000:1
• Resolution 1366x768
• Inputs
• Component
• DVI-HDCP
• Composite Video In
• S-Video
• PC
(you can read more specs here)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1597385&Sku=H54-3206

19” LCD Monitor

Roughly 4 year old ATI graphics card (not bad, not excellent, but there if necessary)

A hard drive that makes a grinding noise, and the rest of parts necessary to complete a computer


Ok, now onto the fun new stuff

A8N32-SLi Deluxe or Premium ~$150
AMD 939 Processor ~$300
Video card ~$200

Here’s a point of contention. Should I get two and run them in SLi, how is this new technology, how about crossfire?

2 Gigs Ram ~$200
Power supply ~$100
Sata Hard drive ~$100
Quiet Fan for processor ~$50
=================================
~$1100

So that’s my thoughts so far. What do you think? What do you suggest? How good with this actually be? Is it worth it?

Thanks guys. Once again, I definitely appreciate it.

 

[Kosko]

aw, no replies...

well maybe if i summarize:

i want a new pc

i want to use my 32" LCD as a second monitor

should i buy with the existing techs out there, if so, which stuff

if not, what should I wait for
==================

i <3 those who reply

thank you

 

[elpresidente2075]

SLI is fine for your system needs, but you must remember that it will be expensive. If that makes no difference to you, go for it. Get whatever you can for it, but I will warn you, it'll be difficult to keep it under/around $1000. The SLI configuration will have no effect on the dual monitor setup, with the exception of making it run faster, of course. Same thing goes for crossfire.

The equation is simple at this point in time:

For the main purpose of the computer, if it is

Gaming + Video Editing/other render-intensive activities = SLI/Crossfire

Anything else = Not SLI/Crossfire

On another note, the Motherboard that you want, if it supports SLI, and you don't want SLI you can choose to not do SLI and run in single card mode. Again, same thing goes for Crossfire

 

[waylander]

I can't say that you're going to get a "powerhouse" on $1000, you probably need to double that in order to get the best performance. But what you have listed can probably get you a decent system.

I'd go with an Opteron 165 and OC it with a DFI mb. Corsair, mushkin or ocz ram 2 x 1gb. For the amount that you have listed for your video card the best you can afford is the 7600GT, I'd push that up to $300 if you can and get the 7900GT.

I'd personally wait for conroe, vista, 65nm am2 cpus and dx10 but that depends on how long you can wait.

 

[Kosko]

I suppose "powerhouse" is the wrong word, I mean "powerhouse" compared to my current system. I mean I currently run the Adobe suite, 3D progs, and World of Warcraft on my system (not at the same time), its just slow and not at the best resolution.

I've heard you can't use two monitors in SLi mode. This would suck. Anybody have experience with this?