Kitty's Build

[Kitty*{MEOW}*]

Well so far I am thinking same MB as smooths.

Case undecided,

Video card: Delima   

question Anyone tried ATI latly. I can get the 512mb for around 600 bucks and the 512 on nvidia is 800 bucks.

http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2768856

http://www.evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=512-P2-N545-AX


Now the ATI has twice as many Pixel pipelines as the Nvidia one. wondering how much of a difference that would make. Plus the cost is something i like as well.

Sound Card   Soundblaster X-Fi

[THEKATZ*{MEOW}*]

Kitty, as much as I would like to see some other graphics card makers out there, I really think the NVIDIA has the market hands down.  That is in no way a slam on ATI, they are actually great cards but the game manufactures are going with Nforce and NVIDIA.  I sould say NVIDIA has put up a lot of cash to get these manufactures to team up.  ATI makes some really nice cards, they just need to stay way ahead on drivers.  IMHO

[Felix*{MEOW}*]

ATI still stinks.. It's been known for quite some time now that they have had driver problems
and slow to get latest ones out. and there suport has been the worst.. thats enough right there for me.
And Kitty i still think your a nuttsy cuckoo.

[Smooth*{MEOW}*]

I've heard the drivers thing also.  I stick with nVidia for a few reasons.  I've used their products before and also I understand their terms and the layout of their controls.

That is a badass card Kitty.  Single card or SLI?  Remember, SLI is for nVidia cards only.  You could run a single ATI card in that board, but no way to run 2 in a "SLI" config.  Crossfire is the ATI version of nVidia's SLI, of which there are only a handful of boards out there now supporting.  One suggestion though, check the dimensions on it, particularly the depth to see if it will overhang it's slot.  I have the A8N32 board you're talking about right here and I'll measure it for you.  You could have an issue depending on how many PCI cards you want to use other than the X-Fi if that card overhangs.  The slot layout on the A8N32 is like this, from top to bottom:

PCI-E x4
PCI-E x16
PCI
PCI
PCI-E x16
PCI


What did everyone decide to do upgrades at the same time? 

[Kitty*{MEOW}*]

lol yea man tax time that the only time anyones got that much cash LOL

[FastKat*{MEOW}*]

ok how much for your old puter, my wife needs a new one, are you selling it?

[THE PEARL]

GET IN LINE FASTY. 3 PEOPLE THAT IM AWARE OF ARE ALREADY IN LINE.

  THE PEARL-MEOW-

[Kat*{MEOW}*]

I know people who run ATI cards and are very happy with them.  The driver situation is much better than it was in the past, but still not as good as nVidia.  I prefer to run the nVidia cards as it is a lot easier to change drivers with nVidea, than it is with ATI. 

By the way, if anyone is looking for a realatively cheap AGP card upgrade, this might be it.  Chiefvalue, a division of New Egg, has BFG 6800gs AGP cards for 197.99 with free shiping.  This card uses the same GPU and memory as a 6800GT.  Download Riva Tuner and unlock the pipes and you have a sub $200,  AGP 6800GT.  Pretty sweet, eh?

[Smooth*{MEOW}*]

I don't know Kat, I'd be hesitant to put 200 bucks into an AGP card upgrade.  IMO it'd be more beneficial to save for a PCI-E switch in the future.  I guess it would depend on what you're upgrading from.

Kitty, the ATI card on Newegg for around 50-80 bucks cheaper:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+70001546+70001590+70001580&Subcategory=48&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=&ATTR2=&ATTR3=2010380048+70001546&ATTR4=&ATTR5=2010380048+70001590&ATTR6=&ATTR8=&ATTR9=&ATTR10=2010380048+70001580&ATTR11=&ATTR12=&ATTR14=&ATTR15=&ATTR16=&ATTR17=&ATTR18=


The 512Mb 7800GTX from EVGA isn't listed on Newegg right now, but they do list a couple from other manufacturers:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+70001590+70001580+70001499&Subcategory=48&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=&ATTR2=&ATTR3=2010380048+70001590+70001580+70001499&ATTR4=&ATTR5=&ATTR7=&ATTR8=&ATTR9=&ATTR10=&ATTR12=&ATTR13=&ATTR14=

[Kat*{MEOW}*]

Smooth, if your sitten with a socket 939 AGP board and it's got a 5900fx graphics card in it, that $200 vid card is a deal.  Remember to go PCI-e you need to go for a graphics card and a MoBo.  Now suppose you have a socket 754 board with an AGP slot.  It's got that same 5900FX or older in it.  You got no more than $200-250 for an upgrade. 

Hhhhhmmmmm, For $200 bucks you can run the new stuff just fine.  Whats the price of a decent 939 mobo, CPU and 6800GT PCI-e card?  I'm bettting the card alone is around $250-300.

I'm not recommending this as a new build, I'm saying it's a viable upgrade path if you need another 6 months to a year before you can do a complete build.  I'll bet there are a few Meows out there who are looking at exactly this kind of problem.

[Kitty*{MEOW}*]

Hey Kat


     If i get the 7800GT which has 20 pipelines will I be able to get Rivatuner and Open the other 4. If so thats what I am gonna do.

[Kat*{MEOW}*]

A 7800GT doesn't have any pipes locked down, just like the PCI-e version of a 6800GS doesn't have any extra pipes to open.  Only the AGP versions of the 6800nu and the GS have the disabled pipelines.

[Kitty*{MEOW}*]

Brand    eVGA
Model    256-P2-N518
Chipset
GPU    Geforce 7800GT
Core clock    445MHz
PixelPipelines    20
Memory
Memory Clock    1070MHz
Memory Size    256MB
Memory Interface    256-bit
Memory Type    GDDR3
3D API
DirectX    DirectX 9
OpenGL    OpenGL 2.0
Interface
Interface    PCI Express x16
Ports
DVI    2
TV-Out    HDTV/S-Video Out
VIVO    Yes
General
Tuner    None
RAMDAC    400 MHz
Max Resolution    2048x1536@85Hz
SLI Supported    Yes
Cooler    Heatsink and Fan
Operating Systems Supported    Windows 2000/XP



This is the N527 



Brand    eVGA
Model    256-P2-N527-AX
Chipset
GPU    Geforce 7800GTX
Core clock    470MHz
PixelPipelines    24
Memory
Memory Clock    1200MHz
Memory Size    256MB
Memory Interface    256-bit
Memory Type    GDDR3
3D API
DirectX    DirectX 9
OpenGL    OpenGL 2.0
Interface
Interface    PCI Express x16
Ports
DVI    2
TV-Out    HDTV/S-Video/Composite Out
VIVO    Yes
General
Tuner    None
RAMDAC    400 MHz
Max Resolution    2048x1536@85Hz
SLI Supported    Yes
Cooler    Heatsink and Fan
Operating Systems Supported    Windows 2000/XP
System Requirements    Minimum of a 450 Watt power supply.
An available 6 pin PCI-E power connector (hard drive power dongle to PCI-E 6 pin adapter included with card)

[Kat*{MEOW}*]

Kitty, that's a good question.  I did some looking and can't find anything about it other than:  The only cards that have allowed this unlock are AGP cards.  None of the 7800 series are available in AGP, they are all PCI-e.

Nothing to stop you from searching the web to find out.   

[Kitty*{MEOW}*]

This is the PSU i am getting 22 amps per rail



http://www.enermax.com.tw/english/product_Display1.asp?PrID=4