New computer time

[SUBMAN1]

My Radeon 9800 AIW finally gave up the ghost on me. I've been stretching the mileage on that card (I know), but I did spend $450 on it when it first came out and that is a fair chunk of change for a vid card. Lame part is, I had plans to keep that board around for one of my other desktops (which needs a new vid card) when I was done with it, so I am not too happy it died on me - screen just went black right in the middle of working on a Word Doc! I'll screw around with it and make sure all the solder connects are still tight, but I am not holding out hope that it is going to survive.

Anyway, since I refuse to stay with AGP and now is as good a time as any to jump ship to PCI-E, I'm thinking that I'll plan for a Crossfire setup since I have never actually seen one (I like to experiment you might say).

My big question is, has anyone read anything negative about this board??? It is an ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe



http://www.asus.com.tw/products4.asp...3&l2=15&l3=268

I have read that it gets hot, which is not too intriging. Part of designing a silent system means hot components are not really desirable. I might be able to fix that passively however. The only other option would be a DFI that uses this same chipset (R580 Crossfire CFX3200). This is the only ATI chipset that does full x16 PCI-E when dual cards are installed. The R480 drops to x8 when 2 cards are installed.

The CPU I'll use for that thing is an x2 4400+ (I want the 1 MB cache per core since I will be dealing with file sizes that will use it). The x2 4800+ is way too overpriced, so I am shying away from that. I'll pop another 2 GB of Muskin mem in there as well which should do fine for a little while. Some games are starting to want a couple GB these days it seems and my 1 GB I have now is starting not to cut it. Oblivion comes to mind (hence why I haven't been around for a bit!).

Next on the list is that ATI doesn't make a crossfire ready version of their X1900 XTX. They only make an XT. However, I did find that Visiontek does. http://www.visiontek.com/X1900XTX.html Has anyone read anything negative about this board? I can't find anything yet. What I worry about is some board manufacturers use cheap RAMDAC's on the board and it results in a blurry picture to the screen. Visiontek has been around a while though and I hope that they don't do that.

The plan here is to pop one in right now, and then wait a few months for the price to come down and then plop another one in afterwards. This should last me another 2 years of simming I hope.

I hate having to do this because my board blew up. My machine still works however since I found some old GeForces in my box of tricks. I have a G3 on the desk right now, but if I remember correctly, it has a noisey fan on it. So I popped a GeForce 2 MX (Yeah I know it sucks) and pulled the fan off it so that I don't have to hear it. If it burns itself up, oh well, but at least I won't have to listen to it. Not like I'm going to heat it up anyway since 3D is not even an option anymore for that thing!

-S

PS. Yes, I did try and steal my wifes 9600 XT, but she almost shot me in the process, so I figure it is just safer not to have a 3D card for a while!

PPS. If anyone has read anything negative on the above stuff, please post (Except comments about my G2!!! I know it sucks thank you very much!). I plan to purchase this week. Thanks!

PPPS. This post is almost as long as one of Skybirds! Wow! :P

[JSLTIGER]

All the components that you've picked out look good to me...the ASUS board got some excellent reviews. You think you've been stretching your card? I'm still using a 9700 Pro. I'm probably going to upgrade this summer to 939 PCI-e. I'd recommend the X1900 series over the 7900s at the moment, unless you're willing to sacrifice some performance for silence, as the X1900 series is loud...

[Konovalov]

Originally Posted by JSLTIGER

as the X1900 series is loud...

It also consumes more power and generates more heat if memory serves me correct. The 7900GT is a good bang for buck card.

[JSLTIGER]

Originally Posted by Konovalov

It also consumes more power and generates more heat if memory serves me correct. The 7900GT is a good bang for buck card.

Yes, however, as I also mentioned, it outperforms the 7900 series by a good margin in most situations.

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by JSLTIGER

Yes, however, as I also mentioned, it outperforms the 7900 series by a good margin in most situations.

I wonder if I can fix that noise problem? I did on my 9800 to the point where I couldn't hear it anymore. Went with an Artic cooling solution that cools better than the stock fan without noise. Of course, it also probably voids your warranty, but thats just a minor hiccup! My current system you can't hear when its on if there is any other noise in the room. When its completely silent, you can catch some of my Panaflo fans turning, but just barely. I have them knocked down to 7 volts using +5V and the +12V coupled together in a custom made connector. This is OK to do as long as you have another load on the line to absorb it - in my case, I have the hard drives on the same line to take the load off the power supply. WIthout it, you would feed -7 volts directly into the +5 volt line all the way back to the PSU which is very bad for it. I estimate that this brings my fan RPM's to about 1000 RPM and a Panaflo (I have the Japan versions - CHina versions suck) runing at 1000 RPM is basically silent while still moving a significant amount of air.

Now I'm getting off on a tangent.

-S

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga1.php

[SUBMAN1]

They do make one for the X1900 - http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=90

And - it looks like it cuts the noise way down.

-S

PS. Anyone not happy with their noise level on their vid card should look at these guys. You can't really hear the one they made for my 9800 so I highly recommend it.

[JSLTIGER]

I have the stock cooler on my 9700 Pro and it does just fine for me...I suppose I just don't really consider the noise an issue when I've got a 70-watt speaker system to drown it out...

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by JSLTIGER

I have the stock cooler on my 9700 Pro and it does just fine for me...I suppose I just don't really consider the noise an issue when I've got a 70-watt speaker system to drown it out...

Yeah - I got 160 Watts, but I still like to hear the details! Instead of whir whir whir! That might just be me though. I spend more time quieting things down than I do anything else.

I bought a couple ALtec AC48's a while back so I have dual subs, etc.

-S

[Excalibur Bane]

Trust me, you didn't pay much for your video card. My XFX Geforce 6800 GT cost me about $850 and change when I bought it two years ago. It's quickly reaching the end of it's lifespan. She's getting real hot when I'm doing heavy gaming. It's gone over a 100 degrees a few times.

Sad thing is, the card hasn't gone down that much since I bought it. It's almost as pricey. Ah, well. Such is the price of PC gaming. Neverending upgrades.

[JSLTIGER]

Originally Posted by Excalibur Bane

Trust me, you didn't pay much for your video card. My XFX Geforce 6800 GT cost me about $850 and change when I bought it two years ago. It's quickly reaching the end of it's lifespan. She's getting real hot when I'm doing heavy gaming. It's gone over a 100 degrees a few times.

Sad thing is, the card hasn't gone down that much since I bought it. It's almost as pricey. Ah, well. Such is the price of PC gaming. Neverending upgrades.

Don't forget that you're buying your components in Canadian dollars...our prices are US $, so numerically, they're going to be lower.

[Excalibur Bane]

Originally Posted by JSLTIGER

Don't forget that you're buying your components in Canadian dollars...our prices are US $, so numerically, they're going to be lower.

Nevertheless, even in CAD that is some expensive hardware

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by Excalibur Bane

Nevertheless, even in CAD that is some expensive hardware

Canadian = C, so you are saying your board hit 212 F? Ouch!! ANd it still works? I heard the 6800's were like a vacuum cleaner noise wise, and now I understand why!

AMD CPU's start to fail at around 90C, so I can only imagine what your vid card is doing!

-S

[JSLTIGER]

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

Canadian = C, so you are saying your board hit 212 F? Ouch!! ANd it still works? I heard the 6800's were like a vacuum cleaner noise wise, and now I understand why!

AMD CPU's start to fail at around 90C, so I can only imagine what your vid card is doing!

-S

It;s my understanding that modern vid cards get EXTREMELY hot. Even hotter than CPUs...kind of shocking, but I've been told to expect 100C on a regular basis from newer cards.

[scandium]

The modern video card is dual purpose, as it can now boil water while still rendering stunning 3D graphics. :|\

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by scandium

The modern video card is dual purpose, as it can now boil water while still rendering stunning 3D graphics. :|\

Is that why they make water coolers? AH ha! That is so you can get your boiling water over to your eggs! I completely understand now!