I have been out of the building market for a while, and I am really confused with all the new products out there. I am trying to set up a mid-range gaming rig.
So far this is what I know I want...
I want a mobo that is am2 and am2+ compatible. I will buy a AMD X2 cpu then later when the phenoems are more avaible I will upgrade to those.
Heres what I am thinking:
I think that nvidia is more price effective for midrange.
When you bump the X2 5400+ to 3.1-3.2GHz (with stock cooling and maybe a slight bump in voltage) you will be quite 'snappy' with a video card that's smokin' (and a CrossFire upgrade path)
No there are no charts but a review in the AMD/ATI section (access it from the main page on Toms) but the 4850 easily keeps up with a GTX280 and also beats the 9800GTX/GTX+ in most cases.
oh yeah, im also not interested in dual sli (seems pointless unless im spending big bucks)
While single cards are preferable limiting future upgrade options (in this case) is unwise - especially if gaming at 16x10 and up is on your road map. $160 for a HD4850 can't be beat for price/performance and it's safe to say that that price will be much cheaper down the road.
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Also why Ati? Does the chipset on the mobo help?
AMD chipsets in many areas are quickly moving to the top of the food chain. In the next few weeks we will find out just how high with the release of the south bridge 750 (790gx and 790fx refresh).
The sb750 should improve system timing and performance, and raise OC headroom for the Phenom quads (that's the rumahs, anyway )
but does these sb's such as the 790 cater more towards ati or nvidia? i found that when i first did my build Athlon XP 2000+ I bought a budge ati card... it had problems bottom line, so i then switched to a similarly priced nvidia, and it worked until halo just fine... where as the ati couldn't handle some of the games i used before halo came out...
Message edited by cshorte on 07-16-2008 at 06:44:06 PM
Nvidia and ATI have both had their ups and downs. Nvidia has the highest performing cards right now, if you want to pay a lot. ATI's 4850 is the best bang for the buck right now according to an overwhelming number of reviews. The Nvidia 8800 GT that you mentioned is probably not a bad deal either if that is the max of your price range. I read an article lately (I think on Toms) about the best video cards in each pricing category, and that 8800 GT OC was at the top of its category.
450 Watt or greater power supply with 75 Watt 6-pin PCI Express® power connector recommended (550 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode) Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSU for a list of Certified products.
The AMD Chipset is made for the ATI cards. AMD owns ATI. The AMD GAME platform is the Phenom/ 770/790 chipset / ATI HD3XXX/4XXX series cards.
If you want the best AM2+ Board get the AMD Chipset. If you want the best card for that setup get the HD4850 GPU.
The HD4850 is in the same range as the 9800GTX. The 8800GT is a good card for the price.
If you get either brand GPUs in the same price range they will be in the same performance area. ATI will win in some games, Nvidia in others. Look at the games you play and the reviews for the cards you want.
cool thanks you guys, do you know when the next batch of ati cards will be released? that way i can just nab an 48xx when the price drops again?
it looks like i am def going for amd brand chipsets & ati then!
what is the difference between the 750, 780, 790 's can someone link me to an article? what do these numbers mean, and how can i tell which is better? thanks
also when should we expect to see 140w mobo's out in the wild?
cool thanks you guys, do you know when the next batch of ati cards will be released? that way i can just nab an 48xx when the price drops again?
it looks like i am def going for amd brand chipsets & ati then!
what is the difference between the 750, 780, 790 's can someone link me to an article? what do these numbers mean, and how can i tell which is better? thanks
also when should we expect to see 140w mobo's out in the wild?
For the next generation of ATI cards you're probably looking at around 6 months at least since the 4800's were just released last month. You may see a price drop next month when the 4870X2 is released however as it will likely force Nvidia to slash prices again and AMD/ATI will be forced to respond.
As far as the chipsets are concerned, the 770 is more of a budget chipset, the 780 is an integrated graphics chipset, and the 790 is AMD's performance chipset.
The 140W motherboards that can support the 9950 are already on the market. If you want one that comes with the SB750 southbridge you will have to wait another month or so.
thanks everyone for your help, most of my questions have been answered
I'll wait for the 140w with sb750 to come out and then play it by ear.
I am def going am2/am2+ and ati!
between the 790 i noticed there variations with fx, v and stuff like that, whats the deal with that? Which is better for cross fire?
Also can I get some feedback/reccomendations/pro-cons/brand comments on these power supplies... two scenerios: i do the hd4950 as a single card... or later down the line i upgrade to crossfire
As far as the power supplies efficiency > 80% and for Crossfire you need to verify that the unit has 2 PCIe connectors designated either "" 2 x 6 pin "" or "" 2 x 6+2Pin ""
I'm not sure how many pins the power connectors on the HD4850 require
between the 790 i noticed there variations with fx, v and stuff like that, whats the deal with that? Which is better for cross fire?
The 790FX has 4 pci express slots and supports quad crossfire. In my opinion this is not desirable as it is highly unlikely anyone will ever use 4 graphics cards on one computer and having the extra x16 slots generally means that there are no x1 slots that could otherwise be used for something like a nice soundcard or a TV capture card. The 790X is basically the same chipset with only two x16 slots. In my opinion the 790X is the better board as it gives you a couple of x1 slots in locations where you might actually be able to use them. This chipset will still crossfire two cards just fine.
wait if the 790x is the same but with 2x pci express, what makes it different from the 780g?
The 780G has integrated graphics and the SB700 southbridge. It also has only a single pci express x16 slot so you cannot crossfire with it. The 790X has two pci express x16 slots and cand crossfire but only has the SB600 southbridge. The new 790GX will have integrated graphics but will also have two pci express x16 slots for crossfire capability and will have the SB750 southbridge which is supposed to improve stability and overclocking potential.
My suggestion would be to get the 790X if you want to buy right now, and buy the 790GX if you are willing to wait a little bit longer. Word is that the boards with SB750 will be released in the next 2-3 weeks if that helps.
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