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My upgrade path.
Doing some heavy upgrading. Critic if you see a fatal flaw. The current cpu/mobo/ram will be replaced with nehalem next year. This is mostly centered around the psu and gpu setup along with a WC once the next socket is out and it is known if older waterblocks will fit the new cpu.
Corsair HX-1000 PSU
4870x2 2gb
1x additional set of XMS2 DDR2-800 to make 4gb total
Vista Home Premium 64-bit OEM
As i posted above I am going nehalem next year, and aside from the DDR2 as nehalem is DDR3 only all are being transported to the the new system with the old retiring to my wife.
However after done and until nehalem:
e8400 3.825ghz
Gigabyte x38-DS4 Motherboard
4x1gb XMS2 DDR2-800 1:1 425mhz effective
VisonTek 4870x2 2gb GPU
Corsair HX-1000 PSU
RC690 w/ 8x120mm fan setup on Sunbeam Fan Controller
1x DVD/CD burner combo
1xVelociRaptor 300gb HDD OS/Games, 1xWD SE16 500gb for storage
Comments
I don't recommend a 4870x2. Its an underclocked 4870 with twice the usable ram (2x1GB in Crossfire more so only 1GB). Its been shown that the clock matters more then the ram at the 512+ range.
They are coming out with the 4870 extreme edition with its own watercooler. It will come factory overclocked. Also I recommend getting Ram in 2 GB sticks instead of 1 GB sticks. It will set you up better for the future.
Well the normal 4870's 512's do fine on ocing. Better with 3rd party cooling. The Super RV770's are nice, but all they do is come with a unlocked bios, which can be done with flashing the bios ourselves, but they DO have higher bins.
The 4870x2 is not underclocked. However the issue comes from not being able to oc it as much due to not being able to put on a 3rd party cooler.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3135424&postcount=529
That guy has a R700. Been doing some microstuttering tests and it looks darn good. NDA is supposed to be up on the 14 or 15th of july, so a few days, we can see the performance. I am not buying until i see the charts from several sites to compare since no site benches perfectly.
Its tenative. The r700 is actually somewhat cheaper. However in cases such as oblivion, which i still play, textures can costs you over 800mb of your vram. i will see.
I play at 1920x1200 and 2304x1440. I would have preferred a 4870x2 with 768 dedicated to each gpu on the x2, and been happier. But that just aint gonna happen.
Also the DDR2 is a waste either way. nehalem only uses DDR3 so i cant take any of it with me. Otherwise i would have went 2x2gb and made it 6gb total system ram for photoshop and the like to boot.
There is always a solution for underclocked cards as long as they have a good fan: Powerstrip and clock it up like the original card. But keep an eye on the temperature then, can never be to careful. Running my 8800 GTS like an 8800 Ultra, works perfect.
I rather get a A-BIT (Not the shitty chinese Fatality card but the real japanese A-BIT cards) or MSI for motherboard, don't like gigabyte, have a bit of bad experiences with them. The other 2 are better for clocking too.