Do you really need Directx 10? Because if you dont, both of those cards are POS. Something like this would be way better for the money. Its ~130 with mail in rebate.
As he said, get a good power supply. I have had power supplies go out on me and fry my system. I have not made that mistake again in my latest system which has a 650 w power supply. No problems!
Keep in mind that today's top-end power supplies are as expensive as the top-end video cards (bloody thieves) - you can do what I have done for my new system: Put 2 600w power supplies inside the casing - instead of one 1000w one! Specially if you are considering heavy gfx cards like Nvidia 8800GTX or ATI R600/2900 - these babies eat 250w+ alone. Also my current casing has 13 fans running to keep things cool - so I need the power! :P (More power! Arrr.. Arrr..!)
I hook one power supply to the motherboard and cards - and the other one just for drives and fans.
Also I dont recommend Vista - stick with XP which is stable and compatible - Vista is full of kinks - wait a year for things to stabalize before making the jump. Also, there is no NEED nor REQUIREMENT for you to move to Vista - nothing revolutionary is taking place there (except a clone of MacOS) and its more resource/memory/HD hungry - and for what? A few animated icons and menus? Useless thrills to impress nintendo kiddies.
At the moment I do not need dx10. Probably next year, yes. However, I get a nice income tax return every spring, so I could probably afford a more expensive card by then.
Yeah, I'd do Betty.... But I'd be thinking about Wilma.
That Thermaltake 500w that was suggested earlier... Yeah, good company if you want cases, case fans, heatsink and fans, or office computers that aren't made for gaming.
See, doing any sort of research on power supplies for gaming will show you that the only thing that really matters is the 12v ratings and how many there are. The more 12v rails there are, the lower the output of each rail. That 500w TT PSU has I think 15a and 14a on its rails, which realistically means it will be putting out around 24-25a at most. Some video cards such as the 8800 series or 2900 won't even be able to run on these kind of specs.
To learn about computer components and what to purchase, the best thing to look at is an enthusiast website.
Those are good for starters. Check the forums of anandtech as well as tomshardware for a lot of discussion about building computers both stock and overclocked. Any information you are seeking can be found there.
When deciding on a graphics card take into consideration driver stability. For example u have an 8800GTX a really powerfull card i know but every set of derivers Nvidia have brought out are so bad i would call them mallware. The ATI cards like the HD2900XT are not meant to be as good as the Nvidia ones but i bet with the solid drivers ATI brings out it will be above the 8800 in benchmarks soon.
I read an article in this months Game for Windows magazine that tested the ATI 2900 (It's in the car or I'd go look at the exact modle) and put it side by side with an 8800 nVidia and the ATI card scored about 30% better.
I think they said they were usding beta drivers on the ATI also.
I've used both brands over the years and I generally prefur to have an ATI. I just like the pictures they make better I guess.
Well PCGAMER reviewed the HD2900XT and pretty much said it was outclassed by the 8800GTX. For example the HD2900XT has something like 320 stream processors on it and the 8800GTX has 128, ATi's card sounds better but infact the processors on the 8800 run at twice the speed of those on the ATi card. The HD2900XT doesn't even use alot of the R600 tech, i reckon they will wait for the launch of the Barcalona CPU's and then come out with a real card. They also said that the HD2900XT scored comparable results in benchmarks to the 800GTS cards, can't have a 30% gain on an 8800GTX if it's only slightly ahead of the 8 series budget card.
Anyway in the past Nvidia have had cards that were beasts but were let down by the drivers, whereas ATi could take a slower card and get better in game performance from having good solid drivers.
Then HD2900XT wasn't meant to compete with the 8800GTX, so it should be a no brainer why the GTX performs better. It was meant to compete with the 8800GTS which it actually does. The GTX almost costs twice as much as the HD2900XT
Then HD2900XT wasn't meant to compete with the 8800GTX, so it should be a no brainer why the GTX performs better. It was meant to compete with the 8800GTS which it actually does. The GTX almost costs twice as much as the HD2900XT
Why do people keep saying this misinformation?
Yes the 2900 was supposed to be better than the 8800s. There were multiple problems with the 2900 that caused it to be 6 months late. Instead of pushing the 2900 back further and making it 8months or a year late, ATI ended up cutting out 3 or 4 sections of buggy circuitry in the chip and releasing it at a lower price.
I can understand liking one brand over another. Everyone has some sort of brand loyalty. But do not try to justify the 2900 by saying it wasn't meant to be as good. It was and it failed.
With that said, just wait till the next generation of gpus. ATI will be back with something good. They better, the nvidia G92 coming out this fall looks like a beast.
I just ordered a single evga 8800gtx card myself, which according to the requirements needs 30 amps on the +12 volts rail.. My PSU is a NZXT 650W Precise with dual 12v rails (combined wattage 528). I'm not sure how dual 12v rails operate (and I know dual rails are not the ideal solution but its what Im stuck with atm) but is the PSU going to be enough for the 8800gtx video card?
Only other card I have plugged into the MB is an audio card and I dont have boat loads of fans. CPU is dual core. So I dont know how much of a drain those components have on the power, if there is enough left over for the card to function properly.
If any technophiles have an idea about this stuff, it would really help me out
Any reason I should not? I will only be using a single optical drive, HD, and graphics card. Probably 3 or 4 fans.
GOD no. that is a horrible PSU. Absolutely crap quality.
Here is a respected website that reviews, tests, dismantles, and rebuilds power supplies: jonnyguru.com. This place should be your bible for power supplies. On the forums there are some good stickied posts. One of them is a list of 80%+ efficiency reccomended gaming power supplies for under $150. There are some other good hidden gems buried at this site: a list of UL numbers and what manufacturers make wich powersupplies (you would be suprised to know that most companies do not make thier own powersupplies) Because most companies do not make their own powersupplies, a lot of people think they are buying a quality name brand when they are getting a crap PSU. For example, toppower makes some OZC powersupplies, and toppower is know to be a sketchy manufacturer.
OK, after all of that rambling: here are some suggestions for powersupplies instead of that rosewill:
Want to see something cool? Compare the specifications of the Enhance, Xclio, and Silverstone PSUs. They are identical. That is because they are all made by Enhance!
NZXT are usually good PSU's. If it says 500+w combined on the 12v's, you should be set I'm guessing that your rails are probably 20a each or so, possibly higher, which would mean that you will hit that 30a mark easily.
Not meaning to hijack this thread but... I just ordered a single evga 8800gtx card myself, which according to the requirements needs 30 amps on the +12 volts rail.. My PSU is a NZXT 650W Precise with dual 12v rails (combined wattage 528). I'm not sure how dual 12v rails operate (and I know dual rails are not the ideal solution but its what Im stuck with atm) but is the PSU going to be enough for the 8800gtx video card? Only other card I have plugged into the MB is an audio card and I dont have boat loads of fans. CPU is dual core. So I dont know how much of a drain those components have on the power, if there is enough left over for the card to function properly. If any technophiles have an idea about this stuff, it would really help me out
Your power supply has 2 12volt rails of 20amps each. 20+20=40 so you are ok.
Not meaning to hijack this thread but... I just ordered a single evga 8800gtx card myself, which according to the requirements needs 30 amps on the +12 volts rail.. My PSU is a NZXT 650W Precise with dual 12v rails (combined wattage 528). I'm not sure how dual 12v rails operate (and I know dual rails are not the ideal solution but its what Im stuck with atm) but is the PSU going to be enough for the 8800gtx video card? Only other card I have plugged into the MB is an audio card and I dont have boat loads of fans. CPU is dual core. So I dont know how much of a drain those components have on the power, if there is enough left over for the card to function properly. If any technophiles have an idea about this stuff, it would really help me out
I have a Corsair H620W PSU and it works fine with my Intel Q6600 and Asus 8800GTX, get a case with good ventilation though. I had to change my Thermaltake Xaser because of the constant crashing from overheating. Got the Antec gamer 900 and it's sweet now.
Thanks a lot for your post mcharj. I've been using pcs since the 086 days and always bought mid range pcs, never high performance. This is the first time I've ever even had to THINK about the power source to get a working pc, or even heating for that matter, used to be as long as I had the right dimm and component slots and enough plugins for the harddrives, nothing else mattered.
Yes, each rail is 20 amps. I had read online that the total ampage across multi-12v rails is NOT the sum of the 2 (20+20) and could not just find a straight forward answer as to what my psu was actually capable of. And thus the post.
Thank you everyone for your input. You've saved me a great deal of pain and suffering.
Any reason I should not? I will only be using a single optical drive, HD, and graphics card. Probably 3 or 4 fans.
GOD no. that is a horrible PSU. Absolutely crap quality.
Here is a respected website that reviews, tests, dismantles, and rebuilds power supplies: jonnyguru.com. This place should be your bible for power supplies. On the forums there are some good stickied posts. One of them is a list of 80%+ efficiency reccomended gaming power supplies for under $150. There are some other good hidden gems buried at this site: a list of UL numbers and what manufacturers make wich powersupplies (you would be suprised to know that most companies do not make thier own powersupplies) Because most companies do not make their own powersupplies, a lot of people think they are buying a quality name brand when they are getting a crap PSU. For example, toppower makes some OZC powersupplies, and toppower is know to be a sketchy manufacturer.
OK, after all of that rambling: here are some suggestions for powersupplies instead of that rosewill:
Want to see something cool? Compare the specifications of the Enhance, Xclio, and Silverstone PSUs. They are identical. That is because they are all made by Enhance!
Hope that helped.
Thanks for that. I think I'll pick up the Enhance 500w.
Yeah, I'd do Betty.... But I'd be thinking about Wilma.
Comments
I'm on a tight budget.
Yeah, I'd do Betty....
But I'd be thinking about Wilma.
I'm on a tight budget.
Do you really need Directx 10? Because if you dont, both of those cards are POS. Something like this would be way better for the money. Its ~130 with mail in rebate.
Yup. For a budget system (something on a mid range card) a good 500w supply is well enough. Its in one of the links I posted, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817153028 there actually. Very recomended brand.
Keep in mind that today's top-end power supplies are as expensive as the top-end video cards (bloody thieves) - you can do what I have done for my new system: Put 2 600w power supplies inside the casing - instead of one 1000w one! Specially if you are considering heavy gfx cards like Nvidia 8800GTX or ATI R600/2900 - these babies eat 250w+ alone. Also my current casing has 13 fans running to keep things cool - so I need the power! :P (More power! Arrr.. Arrr..!)
I hook one power supply to the motherboard and cards - and the other one just for drives and fans.
Also I dont recommend Vista - stick with XP which is stable and compatible - Vista is full of kinks - wait a year for things to stabalize before making the jump. Also, there is no NEED nor REQUIREMENT for you to move to Vista - nothing revolutionary is taking place there (except a clone of MacOS) and its more resource/memory/HD hungry - and for what? A few animated icons and menus? Useless thrills to impress nintendo kiddies.
At the moment I do not need dx10. Probably next year, yes. However, I get a nice income tax return every spring, so I could probably afford a more expensive card by then.
Yeah, I'd do Betty....
But I'd be thinking about Wilma.
All I can say is check out my post here:
http://mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/137497/page/2
That Thermaltake 500w that was suggested earlier... Yeah, good company if you want cases, case fans, heatsink and fans, or office computers that aren't made for gaming.
See, doing any sort of research on power supplies for gaming will show you that the only thing that really matters is the 12v ratings and how many there are. The more 12v rails there are, the lower the output of each rail. That 500w TT PSU has I think 15a and 14a on its rails, which realistically means it will be putting out around 24-25a at most. Some video cards such as the 8800 series or 2900 won't even be able to run on these kind of specs.
To learn about computer components and what to purchase, the best thing to look at is an enthusiast website.
http://anandtech.com
http://tomshardware.com
http://xbitlabs.com
http://pcstats.com
Those are good for starters. Check the forums of anandtech as well as tomshardware for a lot of discussion about building computers both stock and overclocked. Any information you are seeking can be found there.
I read an article in this months Game for Windows magazine that tested the ATI 2900 (It's in the car or I'd go look at the exact modle) and put it side by side with an 8800 nVidia and the ATI card scored about 30% better.
I think they said they were usding beta drivers on the ATI also.
I've used both brands over the years and I generally prefur to have an ATI. I just like the pictures they make better I guess.
Well PCGAMER reviewed the HD2900XT and pretty much said it was outclassed by the 8800GTX. For example the HD2900XT has something like 320 stream processors on it and the 8800GTX has 128, ATi's card sounds better but infact the processors on the 8800 run at twice the speed of those on the ATi card. The HD2900XT doesn't even use alot of the R600 tech, i reckon they will wait for the launch of the Barcalona CPU's and then come out with a real card. They also said that the HD2900XT scored comparable results in benchmarks to the 800GTS cards, can't have a 30% gain on an 8800GTX if it's only slightly ahead of the 8 series budget card.
Anyway in the past Nvidia have had cards that were beasts but were let down by the drivers, whereas ATi could take a slower card and get better in game performance from having good solid drivers.
Then HD2900XT wasn't meant to compete with the 8800GTX, so it should be a no brainer why the GTX performs better. It was meant to compete with the 8800GTS which it actually does. The GTX almost costs twice as much as the HD2900XT
The PSU I am considering.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817182044
Any reason I should not?
I will only be using a single optical drive, HD, and graphics card. Probably 3 or 4 fans.
Yeah, I'd do Betty....
But I'd be thinking about Wilma.
Yes the 2900 was supposed to be better than the 8800s. There were multiple problems with the 2900 that caused it to be 6 months late. Instead of pushing the 2900 back further and making it 8months or a year late, ATI ended up cutting out 3 or 4 sections of buggy circuitry in the chip and releasing it at a lower price.
I can understand liking one brand over another. Everyone has some sort of brand loyalty. But do not try to justify the 2900 by saying it wasn't meant to be as good. It was and it failed.
With that said, just wait till the next generation of gpus. ATI will be back with something good. They better, the nvidia G92 coming out this fall looks like a beast.
remember to fully utilize 64 bit processing your going to need ATLEAST 4GB of ram.
oh and wait till july 22nd all intel quad cores are getting a price cut (something like 60%) soo...wait for it..
Not meaning to hijack this thread but...
I just ordered a single evga 8800gtx card myself, which according to the requirements needs 30 amps on the +12 volts rail.. My PSU is a NZXT 650W Precise with dual 12v rails (combined wattage 528). I'm not sure how dual 12v rails operate (and I know dual rails are not the ideal solution but its what Im stuck with atm) but is the PSU going to be enough for the 8800gtx video card?
Only other card I have plugged into the MB is an audio card and I dont have boat loads of fans. CPU is dual core. So I dont know how much of a drain those components have on the power, if there is enough left over for the card to function properly.
If any technophiles have an idea about this stuff, it would really help me out
GOD no. that is a horrible PSU. Absolutely crap quality.
Here is a respected website that reviews, tests, dismantles, and rebuilds power supplies: jonnyguru.com. This place should be your bible for power supplies. On the forums there are some good stickied posts. One of them is a list of 80%+ efficiency reccomended gaming power supplies for under $150. There are some other good hidden gems buried at this site: a list of UL numbers and what manufacturers make wich powersupplies (you would be suprised to know that most companies do not make thier own powersupplies) Because most companies do not make their own powersupplies, a lot of people think they are buying a quality name brand when they are getting a crap PSU. For example, toppower makes some OZC powersupplies, and toppower is know to be a sketchy manufacturer.
OK, after all of that rambling: here are some suggestions for powersupplies instead of that rosewill:
Enhance 500W 80%+ efficiency active PFC for $68.60
Xclio 500W 80%+ efficiency active PFC for $69.99
Ultra 600W 80%+ efficiency active PFC for $79.99
Antec 500W 80%+ efficiency active PFC for $73.77
Antec 550W 80%+ efficiency active PFC for $84.23
Silverstone 500W 80%+ efficiency active PFC for $84.99
Want to see something cool? Compare the specifications of the Enhance, Xclio, and Silverstone PSUs. They are identical. That is because they are all made by Enhance!
Hope that helped.
NZXT are usually good PSU's. If it says 500+w combined on the 12v's, you should be set
I'm guessing that your rails are probably 20a each or so, possibly higher, which would mean that you will hit that 30a mark easily.
I have a Corsair H620W PSU and it works fine with my Intel Q6600 and Asus 8800GTX, get a case with good ventilation though. I had to change my Thermaltake Xaser because of the constant crashing from overheating. Got the Antec gamer 900 and it's sweet now.
Thanks a lot for your post mcharj. I've been using pcs since the 086 days and always bought mid range pcs, never high performance. This is the first time I've ever even had to THINK about the power source to get a working pc, or even heating for that matter, used to be as long as I had the right dimm and component slots and enough plugins for the harddrives, nothing else mattered.
I guess thats the price of power, eh?
Yes, each rail is 20 amps. I had read online that the total ampage across multi-12v rails is NOT the sum of the 2 (20+20) and could not just find a straight forward answer as to what my psu was actually capable of. And thus the post.
Thank you everyone for your input. You've saved me a great deal of pain and suffering.
Agreed, those corsairs are good PSUs, but since they have become the trendy PSU to get, their prices remain pretty high.
GOD no. that is a horrible PSU. Absolutely crap quality.
Here is a respected website that reviews, tests, dismantles, and rebuilds power supplies: jonnyguru.com. This place should be your bible for power supplies. On the forums there are some good stickied posts. One of them is a list of 80%+ efficiency reccomended gaming power supplies for under $150. There are some other good hidden gems buried at this site: a list of UL numbers and what manufacturers make wich powersupplies (you would be suprised to know that most companies do not make thier own powersupplies) Because most companies do not make their own powersupplies, a lot of people think they are buying a quality name brand when they are getting a crap PSU. For example, toppower makes some OZC powersupplies, and toppower is know to be a sketchy manufacturer.
OK, after all of that rambling: here are some suggestions for powersupplies instead of that rosewill:
Enhance 500W 80%+ efficiency active PFC for $68.60
Xclio 500W 80%+ efficiency active PFC for $69.99
Ultra 600W 80%+ efficiency active PFC for $79.99
Antec 500W 80%+ efficiency active PFC for $73.77
Antec 550W 80%+ efficiency active PFC for $84.23
Silverstone 500W 80%+ efficiency active PFC for $84.99
Want to see something cool? Compare the specifications of the Enhance, Xclio, and Silverstone PSUs. They are identical. That is because they are all made by Enhance!
Hope that helped.
Thanks for that. I think I'll pick up the Enhance 500w.
Yeah, I'd do Betty....
But I'd be thinking about Wilma.