About to buy a new PC... amd or intel ?

[Pj94z]

I currently have a e-machine PC with AMD ATHLON 64 X2 DUAL CORE 2.2 ghz, with 4 gb ram. It is about 3 years old.

I'm finding it a little slow when I push it to the extreme...like when I have 30 online games open...the video tends to get mixed up and sometimes it locks up for 30 seconds at a time...then resumes.

Last year, I added an ATI HD 5670 PCIE Video card.

I am currently running 3 LCD monitors on my current PC.

I want to run 3 LCD monitors on the new pc... which will require 2 video cards .


I will be moving this ATI video card to the new pc that I buy.... so, with that in mind, should I stick to buying a new PC that has
an ATI video chip on the motherboard ? Or is it OK to buy intel cpu with nvidia chip?

does it matter ?

 

[Wamphryi]

If you have a dedicated GPU then the question of whether the proposed motherboard has onboard video chips is not relevant. I believe the actual answer to your question is, yes your ATI card will run on a motherboard with an Intel, AMD, or NVIDIA chipset if you are using a single card. If you want to add in a second ATI card in Crossfire then aim for a Intel or AMD board that supports the function. If you want to run two NVIDIA cards in SLI you will need a NVIDIA chipset motherboard. I would buy the Intel CPU and an Intel chipset motherboard. Your ATI card will run fine.

 

[moody89]

+1 to what wamphryi said. If you have a discrete graphics card you needn't worry about whether onboard video is included or not. One thing I will mention though is that Intel are in the process of releasing new CPUs on a new socket. Even if you didn't opt for one of these new CPUs their release may effect the prices on current CPUs so it may well be worth hanging on and seeing what happens with the prices before purchasing.

You may also find the following article useful, Tom's Best Gaming CPU's for the Money. This is updated every month.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/best-cpu-overclocking-phenom-ii-x4,review-32087.html

 

[Pj94z]

Thanks guys... My plan is to run 3 monitors on the NEW pc...so I will have to have 2 video cards:
1 onboard + my ati 5670 pcie

I want to buy a PC that is near the high end of the line...since I do play online multiplayer video games like call of duty + do a lot of graphics related stuff.

I will be moving my current ATI 6750 card and moving that to the new PC.

I just heard that you should stick to one manufacturer when adding a 2nd video card..ie. if you have on-board nvidia...buy a PCIE card that is also nvidia.

I heard there maybe problems with 2 different video card drivers installed on the same system.

 

[Wamphryi]

Im not sure I have ever seen a motherboard with onboard ATI or NVIDIA chips in the desktop market. The ones I have seen that have onboard graphics are normally Intel. If you can find such a board then you would want with onboard ATI if you want to use that discrete card. Otherwise buy an Intel board with 2 PCI E slots and add in another discrete card not in crossfire. Alternatively by a discrete ATI card that supports three monitors. You might also get away with an onboard Intel Video Chip. NVIDIA and ATI dont play well together as neither of them want to assist the competition in selling their product.

 

[Pj94z]

why you need 2 gpus. your card supports eyefinity

I'm not sure what eyefinity is... but right now, the PC I have has an onboard nvidia geoforce 6100... so, with the ati 5670 installed in PCIE slot... I cannot use the on board nvidia card.

So, what I did is... installed a 2nd video card in the PCI slot ...since I had no more PCIE available.

My current setup is:


AMD with onboard nvidia geoforce 6100 (not in use ..but recognized under device mgr)

asus ati hd 5670 - PCIE slot - driving 2 LCD monitors

PNY geoforce 8400 gs - PCI slot - driving 1 LCD monitor


So, when I buy the new PC... I will move the 5670 over to the new PC in order to be able to hook up 3 monitors.



I'm leaning towards the i7 processor so far.... but I am not in a hurry...so I will wait until I can find a really good deal.

 

[arkadi]

- Eyefinity is ATI feature for supporting multiple monitors on a single gpu, on your card up to 3 on others up to 6, and ATI planing on even more. To benefit form eyefinity you will need few adapters. Can you tell us what monitors you have?

Any way as far as computers go. It is the worst time you could think of for new pc.
I strongly recommend to wait few month.

Ideal for you in a future to get new Intel CPU (sandy bridge) and use the eyefinity option of your ATI card with no integrated BS.

 

[Wisecracker]

Now's a great time to buy:

Biostar A880G mobo / AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana: $125

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1333: $90

If you have all those tabs open running multiple online games 8GB of 1333MHz RAMs should help yah a bunch.

If you were so inclined you could run 2 monitors off the HD 4250 IGP --- and as noted up to three additional monitors in 'Eyefinity' with the HD 5670 ('only' 2 additional monitors without a DisplayPort connect). You can't run both the integrated and discreet graphics on your current MCP61 chipset - not an issue with the 880G chipset and HD4250 IGP.

 

[Pj94z]

I will NOT be building the PC myself.... going to buy it either online or local bestbuy etc.

I must be able to use 3 monitors - extended desktop mode.

ALL monitors are VGA / DVI -- No DVI or HDMI monitors..... so, my only option is to use 1 monitor on motherboard video card + 2 on my PCIE HD 5670

So, should I wait to buy a PC until the new ones come out?