Upgrading from AGP board to SLi

[superq]

I have a decent computer I gutted out of an HP and put into a coolmaster case and added a BFG 650 watt power supply to. Have 2g of ram, but I am not sure what kind it is. I am currently running a BFG 7800 OC card. The problem is that I need to upgrade to PCi express (thought I might as well go SLi) and to upgrade my CPU.

I have heard good things about the E8400 chips, so I think I will go with that. My question to the experts here is what board should I go with? I am thinking I want to go with a SLi board but I also want it to be pci express 2.0. I have a budget of around $600.00 for everything, so what is my best bet? I am going to go with an 8800 gts card for around $200.00 which leaves me with $400 for the cpu, board and memory. Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

was thinking of this board, but is it pci express 2.0? I can't tell. Also what is more important SLi or pci express 2.0?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI...ergy+Saver+Ultra+Durable+II+Intel+Motherboard

p.s. If i go with SLi I will get another card next month. I am upgrading because with my current settup I am getting max 10fps in Age of Conan and that just won't do!

 

[roadrunner197069]

Your better off not going sli in your budget. A good SLI 2.0 will cost $200 more or so then a nice P35 board. P35 Oc better and you can spend the saved money on a beter graphic card.

If you dont sli when you but the board, odds are you wont ever do it. There will always be a better card out that you will want instead, so you will keep buying 1 card every refresh.

A single good card is smatter then SLI imo.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I have a decent computer I gutted out of an HP and put into a coolmaster case and added a BFG 650 watt power supply to. Have 2g of ram, but I am not sure what kind it is. I am currently running a BFG 7800 OC card. The problem is that I need to upgrade to PCi express (thought I might as well go SLi) and to upgrade my CPU.

I have heard good things about the E8400 chips, so I think I will go with that. My question to the experts here is what board should I go with? I am thinking I want to go with a SLi board but I also want it to be pci express 2.0. I have a budget of around $600.00 for everything, so what is my best bet? I am going to go with an 8800 gts card for around $200.00 which leaves me with $400 for the cpu, board and memory. Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

was thinking of this board, but is it pci express 2.0? I can't tell. Also what is more important SLi or pci express 2.0?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI...ergy+Saver+Ultra+Durable+II+Intel+Motherboard

p.s. If i go with SLi I will get another card next month. I am upgrading because with my current settup I am getting max 10fps in Age of Conan and that just won't do!

SLI will give a greater performance boost over PCI-e 1.0/2.0. Take no notice of the naysayers.

 

[B-Unit]

Whats your monitors resolution? If your not at least at 1680x1050 SLi will be a waste for you. Also be aware that the nVidia chipsets wont OC as nice as Intel ones do.

As to PCI-E 1.1 vs 2.0, its really dependant upon how long you want this system to run. If your looking for 2+ years of upgrades, getting a 2.0 board could be worth the extra investment. However, if you think you will be rebuilding in 1-2 years, than go for a 1.1 board now as no video card can yet use all the power of 1.1

 

[bobbknight]

It's not PCIe 2.0's time yet, I won't say don't buy a board with it, but I would not make it the foundation.
SLI is at best one and a half video cards for the price of two. better to buy a good video card and be done with it.
Especially with your stated budget.

 

[superq]

wanted something today, so I was limited in my choices. I went with a gigabyte x48-DQ6 board, 2 sticks of patriot ddr2 1066 memory, e8400 cpu, and a visiontek radeon HD 3870

 

[superq]

My monitor is at least 1920x1200.

 

[superq]

Need HElp!!! I have the gigabyte x48-DQ6 board, 2 sticks of patriot ddr2 1066 memory, e8400 cpu, and a visiontek radeon HD 3870. Problem is I can't get it to come on exactly. Here is what I mean. I am running a BFG 650w power supply, which has 2 light blue 12w connectors. On my old board there was only room for 1. on this new board there is room for 2, but when I connect them the board lights flash and that's all. If I don't connect them at all and just connect the ATX power to the board and fans will come on, and I can hear the hard drive start to spin, but not my video card or keyboard (usb) the power supply has two setting on the rear 115 and 230. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong so I can get this thing up and running. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!!!