5punk

So i just built an average system with one of my frinds, just for general use and the odd bit of gaming... anyway, gaming has caught on again because my 360 ROD'd and now i'm after a nice gaming system, with only a budget of a maximum £600. need help with a GPU and PSU really, I know what 'faaabulous' lights i want already and i've got my board and CPU

I've bought an ASUS P5N32-e board http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?mode ... =11&l3=397 Which i think is good enough for me and my budget.

I've bought an E6600 core 2 DUO 2.4ghz and probably gonna look into some 2x1GB crucial RAM.

I really wouldn't mind some help on a GPU though, something that isn't major pricey and something that will be readily available in 6-8 months time so i can buy again and SLI. I was thinking an 8 series GTS of some sort, to be honest though... not sure!

A good PSU would be le helpful too.

Thanks in advance and any help appreciated and rewarded with a and feast at my house!

I suspect SLi will give you a minimal performance boost compared to replacing with a same-cost card 8 months down the line, but most 8x00 cards should be sufficient for a lot longer than that timeframe in any case.

79x0 cards are availble for 1/4 to 1/2 the price if cost is an issue, but don't offer DirectX10 capability.

A nice modular Enermax PSU will be good for this and at least your next PC.

I wouldn't suggest doing SLI, it's pretty much a waste of money.

Graphics cards, I'd suggest an 8800GTS 640, or an 8800 GTX. (however, they're 1st generation DX10 cards, so could suck at dx10)

PSU, I'd go for something decent, probably 6-700W enermax (will save you upgrading again if you do decide to SLI or upgrade graphics)

Thanks fella's, Enermax sounds good, considering you both recommend i'll have a look into them.

As for the 8800 GTX i've looked at them and narf thats what i was considering because of the DX10 factor and that i'm runnign a 7600GT 512 at the moment and i'm not too impressed with it (this is me assuming that the 8800 is going to be a LOT better).

Mine, the same rig (effectively, with it's current conservative settings) plays anything I throw at it at 1680x1050 at max with no slowdown. You should notice a difference from a 7600.

Bear in mind the 8800 cards are utterly huge, so check they'll fit in your case. The power should be okay with the special sockets on the modular PSUs, I can only recommend Enermax because that what I use, I've used Hyper before, and they were reliable, but became rather noisy quite quickly.

Any 8800 will be considerably better than a 7600.

What I'd suggest is:

8800GTS 320 - If you're not fussed about DX10/Fista. (they will do dx10, just the memory is limiting for some games)

8800GTS 640 - If you're looking at moving to Fista, but don't want to spend masses of money on a 1st generation DX10 card.

8800GTX - Money to burn, want a huge upgrade now, don't care that the new cards will probably appear by christmas.

Obviously, the pre-overclocked versions of all the cards will be a little faster.


FJ is correct on the size of these things, they're fucking immense, I think you need just shy of 13" from pci-slot-backplate-thing.

i think narf with my budget i'll have to go with the 320, which in a sense is a shame BUT if i end up keep upping my budget i'm going to cry, i earn not enough monies for my bank account!

i've looked at this one a few times, it likes me and i like it (and it's price) http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/127284 BUT it's not even a 320 so the next one up is this one http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125130 which is £180... not too bad really it's only another 2 £20 notes. I mean i sort of assume that to buy a 256 would be a COMPLETE waste of numerous 1 pence pieces?

After saying all that and giving regards to the size of these things, i agree, they're HEUGEE! 20.9cm i think i've seen somewhere, i have about 30cm from the very back of my case to the bays so, i should be ok, i think. If not then i'll be wasting money on a case with having to cut things

EDIT: Dimensions (WxDxH) 22.9 cm x 11.1 cm x 3.8 cm but they are of a XFX GeForce 8800GTS 640MB. can't be too far wrong?

DO NOT BUY THE 256MB ONE.

It's an 8600, It's shit.

£180 VAT inc is an excellent price for the 8800 considering what most of us 8800 cnuts paid for our GTXs only six months ago, merely to be swiftly trumped by the Ultra's release.

Buying proper next-gen without breaking the bank is a solid strategy for I'd estimate 18 months of gaming. The 8600 just wouldn't last that long.

FatherJack wrote:£180 VAT inc is an excellent price for the 8800 considering what most of us 8800 cnuts paid for our GTXs only six months ago, merely to be swiftly trumped by the Ultra's release.

Buying proper next-gen without breaking the bank is a solid strategy for I'd estimate 18 months of gaming. The 8600 just wouldn't last that long.

all of that

QFT. 8600 is fail. for very little more wallet stretching your into 8800, and thats more pipelines and faster clocks, always good. Another thing that is good, your ignoring ATi, they suck big donkey dicks, they run hot and run slow. Just ask KV If you want a good synthetic benchmark score then they're good, but not in real life gaming terms. Mind you, if you want loads of valve games free, they're giving them away with the 2000 series, trying to sell a few.

My screen, rather unfortunately, has a permanent mark on it where I accidentally punched it after a pronouncement that the game I was starting up "ran best under ATi".

lulz It is a bit fucking cheeky for either side to call a game best with them. Both types of card are more than capable of shitting themself and breaking a rig.

FatherJack wrote:My screen, rather unfortunately, has a permanent mark on it where I accidentally punched it after a pronouncement that the game I was starting up "ran best under ATi".

Also, I pointed and laughed at TF2 telling me it works best on ATI.