g80 on the cheap

[utahraptor]

I was bored on tigerdirect and this is what I made in a hurry:

TC3J-4502 :: PowerUp Black AK-21 ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB and Audio Ports (15 lbs) $9.97

ULT31849 ON :: Ultra / X-Finity / 600-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm Fan / SATA-Ready / SLI Ready / Blue / Power Supply (Open Box) (2 lbs) $69.97

MBM-A8NSLI-3700 :: Asus A8N SLI Deluxe NVIDIA Socket 939 Motherboard and an AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 2.20GHz OEM Processor (3.7 lbs) $207.99

C13-2922 :: Corsair Value Select Dual Channel 2048MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) (0.5 lbs) $254.99

THD-250A2 :: Seagate / 250GB / 7200 / 8MB / ATA-100 / OEM / Hard Drive (1 lbs) $79.99

B52-8000 :: BFG GeForce 8800 GTS / 640MB GDDR3 / SLI / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / HDCP Enabled / Video Card (1 lbs) $499.99

Total price shiped (to my zip code) $1,162.52

This is what I would consider a high end budget gaming system. Any thoughts on how this would handle the world of DX 10 and Vista?

 

[mad-dog]

Don't get the A8N32 mobo, get the plain jane A8N version..
That PSU wont cut it, you better read the requirements for the 8800's,
I'll say it 1 last time.....480W minimum on the 12V rails @ 26amps for the
GTS.....30amps for the GTX.
That is just to power the card, nothing else....!

 

[Dilyias]

The 600watt PSU is just fine.

A single 8800 can consume 225 watts MAX (75W pci/ex + two 75W power inputs) .

225 is the barrier, but most the time the GTX peaks around 170W. Gotta have a safety buffer.

Given he has a single GTS, that leaves plenty for the rest of his system.

Unless I have something mistaken?

Eric

 

[Rashind]

I think that machine would do fine, for now. However, there's not a lot of upgradability in it... with the MB you're locked into DDR1 RAM and socket 939 processors, both of which are drying up fast. Although, for a person who's prone to build new systems at a price point like that, upgradability shouldn't be a big concern... just build a new one every two years or so.

One real concern is the lack of a soundcard, though. A lot of onboard sound has serious crackling issues... I'd comb over reviews looking for complaints about the onboard sound before pulling the trigger.

 

[Dade_0182]

Just like in the other thread you are getting the total power usage and the gpu's power usage mixed up. Please stop giving people this false information. If you still believe that you are right, give me a link.

 

[choirbass]

well... the watts may be more than sufficient, but even more important than that, is making sure the dual 12v rails can supply more than sufficient amperages for the intended use... otherwise, regardless of how many watts you have, without enough amps, you still wont have enough power, and will have a system that is simply unstable.

 

[3lfk1ng]

MBM-A8NSLI-3700 :: Asus A8N SLI Deluxe NVIDIA Socket 939 Motherboard and an AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 2.20GHz OEM Processor (3.7 lbs) $207.99

You will need to buy an aftermarket heatsink with that processor because it's an OEM....also I suggest you avoid tigerdirect at all costs. Tigerdirect is well known for repakaging used products and selling them for the original price like as if the product was brand new.

ResellerRatings.com shows that they scored a 4.58 out of 10......thats really really bad.

ResellerRatings.com gave newegg a 9.75/10

You'll see the scores are based on 6months....its done that way because companies change overtime and aren't always the same. Management changes, new suppliers...etc.etc.etc. (6months is better than company lifetime also because companies grow over time and need to still keep up with the customers)


Also, if you look at that case, you will notice that the graphics card will not fit into that case because of where the hard drive mounts are positioned. If you look carefully you will see the holes where you will place the motherboard...now imagine the graphics card going 1.5" past that screwhole....with a hard drive sticking out 2" towards the back of the case. (Thats about a 1" overlap **CONFLICT**)

You will need to find a better case where the hard drives are positioned perpindicular to the rest of the case up at the very front if you hope to use that 8800gts in a mid sized chassis.

Full towers are highly recommended in my book because I can almost guarentee that the 8800gts willl overheat and kill itself inside of that small cheap steel case.

Also aluminum is 100% better because of not only weight but heat dissapation properties (Thermodynamics).

Splurge a little bit of extra cash and don't skimp on the chassis you won't regret it.
This is a really great chassis for the price

Best of luck with your new build
~3lfk1ng

 

[Rashind]

3lfk1ng,

I am not sure the case is a problem. utahraptor seems to be planning on a single hard drive. If he keeps it in the top 3.5 bay (or, worst case scenario, has to move it up to one of the 5.25 bays w/ a bracket), it shouldn't be a big problem. Also, the GTS card is not as long as the GTX. The heat dissipation worry is valid, but the case will be pretty empty, so again I don't think it's going to be a huge issue.

Good catch on the heatsink, though.

And yeah, I hear bad things about tigerdirect constantly. Might want to try a different retailer.

 

[makrossv]

Yup, no one ever pays attention to the amps. That matters and even the different rails. 26 amps for GTS 30 for GTX confirmed on EVGA who are really good about letting you know the skinny.

I was going to buy a 630w Raidmax Volcano for 40$ AR but this thread opened up my eyes. Good topic =)

 

[rodney_ws]

well... the watts may be more than sufficient, but even more important than that, is making sure the dual 12v rails can supply more than sufficient amperages for the intended use... otherwise, regardless of how many watts you have, without enough amps, you still wont have enough power, and will have a system that is simply unstable.

I too read the 26/30 amp requirement for the GTS/GTX... and I know this will come across as a dumb question... since the PSU this guy picked has two 12 volt connections (one 20 amp, one 18 amp) is it safe to say these don't add up?

 

[mad-dog]

Yes, that will work.........as long as the the 12V rails are rated for 480W.
Lots of PSU's have big power numbers but what you have to look at in this case is the Wattage rating on the 12V rails.
Some PSU manufacturers don't list the Wattage on the 12v rails, only total unit wattage.......example, my Kingwin 600W PSU has 2x12V rails but the rails are only rated at 380W........it will not work with 8800 system so i have to upgrade my PSU.
Power=VoltagexCurrent

 

[bberson]

[...] is it safe to say these don't add up?

I think it's safe to say that a lot of stuff in this thread doesn't add up. Now obviously I'm not really yakking at you here Rodney...

First of all the OP spec'd out a GTS, not a GTX. Since it's the GTX that's 11" long and the shorter GTS would go into the first slot, I wouldn't be so worried about hard drive cage interference.

And just for giggles I loaded up a pic of that cheap case into Photoslop, overlaid an ATX -spec dimension layout on the tray, measured some pixels and made a calculation and found there's no interference with an 11" card. That is unless a floppy drive sticks out behind the cage. The OP didn't spec out a floppy - no prob!

Now, I'm trying not to pick on 3lfk1ng, really. I don't want to be a mean old man here but as long as the front fan is running on that case I would not worry about the GTS overheating, because of its huge radial exhaust fan. And the heat dissipation properties of an aluminum case are highly exaggerated and overrated. 100% better? C'mon. Sure, aluminum conducts heat better than steel. So what are you cooling? The thin layer of air swirling around haphazardly at relatively great distances from all the parts that need cool air the most, is what gets cooled. Plus, the case surface that will find the most heat is the top surface, which will have no benefit of convection at all. It just becomes a very inefficient radiator. The best cooling (ignoring water recirculation) comes from getting cool air in, moving it past the parts that need cooling, and getting it out as quickly as possible.

By the way, there are a few terrific articles on the web about fashioning ducts and simple panels in ordinary ATX cases to direct and manage airflow sensibly instead of just throwing a zillion fans at the problem. And anyone who thinks a cramped case can't keep stuff cool needs to look at the 1U and 2U rackmount servers, blade solutions, etc. coming from the likes of IBM, Dell, HP, etc. Think of the BTUs coming out of a single standard rack of blade servers that requires a 60A-80A 240V service.

OK, then we've got one guy here who says the GTX needs 30A and the GTS needs 26A on the 12V rails just for the card, and another one who reinforces this by saying it was "confirmed on EVGA who are really good about letting you know the skinny". Well let's see how that adds up... 26A @ 12V = 312 Watts, just on the 12V side alone. That number is simply absurd. And there's already more than one fairly legitimate looking review out there that shows power consumption at full tilt to be just a few percent more than a 1950 XTX. I expect that number to increase with Vista and DX10 because I'm thinking maybe some of the GPU is idle in DX9, but projections of over 300W is just absurd. Look at the reviews and do the math. There are already a dozen legit reviews of the released products - you don't have to rely on fourth-hand conjectures.

-Brad

 

[makrossv]

Taken straight from EVGA....if you want confirmation, just visit their site. This fourth hand conjecturer is researching and taking all necessary precautions before buying one. I think I'll take EVGA's advice on it since they made the product. This will keep my system stable and the video card happy.

Performance
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS
500 MHz GPU
96 Pixel Pipelines
400 MHz RAMDAC

Memory
640 MB, 320 bit DDR3
1600 MHz (effective)
64 GB/s Memory Bandwidth

Interface
PCI-E 16X
DVI-I, DVI-I, HDTV
SLI Capable

Resolution & Refresh
240 Hz Max Refresh Rate
2048 x 1536 x 32bit x85Hz Max Analog
2560 x 1600 Max Digital

Requirements
Minimum of a 400 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 26 Amp Amps.)

 

[Mondoman]

Taken straight from EVGA....if you want confirmation, just visit their site. ...
Requirements
Minimum of a 400 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 26 Amp Amps.)

Ummm, that just says the PS needs to supply at least 26A @+12V for the *whole system*, not just for the graphics card.