Opinions on possible Crossfire setup

[Toss3]

Okey it's that time of year again and I know I'm going ATi this time around, but I would be seriously bottlenecked by my P35 mobo and q6600 running at 3.2Ghz(3.4Ghz isn't stable and requires A LOT of juice). So I would like to update my system a bit - I was going to wait for nahelem but as the mainstream parts won't be out 'til next year I thought "Why not just update now?" and I really want to reach 3.6Ghz + and have a modular Power Supply.

So here's my current setup:

Asus PK5-E Wifi-AP
Intel Q6600 @ 3.2Ghz
4GB Geil Exteme 800Mhz
EVGA 8800 GTS 512mb
Antec 650W True Power III
Club 3d Theatron Agrippa
Antec Titan Server Case


Here's the new setup I'm considering:

Gigabyte GA-X48-DS5
Intel Xeon X3350
2x2Gb OCZ 1066Mhz Reaper
HIS HD4870 512mb
OCZ ModXStream 780W

Keep sound+Case

Would sell my current system for ~600€(similar setups retail for ~900€ with worse parts)

So I wouldn't have to spend more than 300€ on the new setup which wouldn't be too hard to overcome, as I would have to shell out ~300€ for a new GPU anyways as I probably won't find a buyer for my old EVGA 8800Gts 512mb. I'd also add a second 4870 by the end of the year or after I get my new TV.

Thoughts?

[mullet]

Looks good, The asus Rampage really OC good with the 45nm quads.

[Toss3]

Originally Posted by mullet

Looks good, The asus Rampage really OC good with the 45nm quads.

That's the board I want to get, but it's just too darn expensive.

Is the 3350 a good overclocker btw? What's the idle temp and VID on your 3350?

[mullet]

well I am at 425x8 and that as far as I can get stable no matter what voltage I throw at it. The rampage really does good. Walterman has a rampage and a X3350 and got to 450x8 no problem at all @ 2.20 vcore I think. I hear ya on the expensive part they need to get a grip on pricing.

[Toss3]

Originally Posted by mullet

well I am at 425x8 and that as far as I can get stable no matter what voltage I throw at it. The rampage really does good. Walterman has a rampage and a X3350 and got to 450x8 no problem at all @ 2.20 vcore I think. I hear ya on the expensive part they need to get a grip on pricing.

Well the Gigabyte Mobo I posted also seem to overclock pretty well. Some sites even reached 500+fsb! Are you on air cooling? And I really hope that 2.2Vcore was a typo...

[LordJuanlo]

Originally Posted by Toss3

I'd also add a second 4870 by the end of the year or after I get my new TV.

My sincere opinion: don't change anything and buy just the 4870. Do you really think that going from 3.2 to 3.6 will make a difference in gaming?. Man, you already have a 3.2 Ghz quad and 4 Gb of RAM, I bet the 4870 won't give much more FPS in your "new" system, specially if you game at very high resolutions.

If I were you I would change just the graphics card, and by the end of the year, if you want to add a second 4870, you can buy a new Nehalem system with triple channel DDR3, and that could make a difference.

I have a p965 board and have been considering buying an X38 or X48 for Crossifre (mine supports it, but second slot at PCI Express 4x only), but I won't do it, I will buy the 4870 (maybe the 2x if I can wait until august) and this will be a great upgrade alone.

[Toss3]

Originally Posted by LordJuanlo

My sincere opinion: don't change anything and buy just the 4870. Do you really think that going from 3.2 to 3.6 will make a difference in gaming?. Man, you already have a 3.2 Ghz quad and 4 Gb of RAM, I bet the 4870 won't give much more FPS in your "new" system, specially if you game at very high resolutions.

If I were you I would change just the graphics card, and by the end of the year, if you want to add a second 4870, you can buy a new Nehalem system with triple channel DDR3, and that could make a difference.

I have a p965 board and have been considering buying an X38 or X48 for Crossifre (mine supports it, but second slot at PCI Express 4x only), but I won't do it, I will buy the 4870 (maybe the 2x if I can wait until august) and this will be a great upgrade alone.

I would if I could get my 8800GTS 512mb sold just on its own, but as it looks right now that seems to be an impossible feat. I have to sell the whole system in order to get anyone interested. Sucks that we don't have e-bay over here, but what can you do? A new 4870 would come out at 250€, and selling my old system in order to get the new system would come out at 300€, so I get a whole new setup that would use less W for only 50€ more. Seems like a pretty good deal to me.

This is if I can get my old setup sold that is.

[Toss3]

Originally Posted by slaWter

I agree with LordJuanlo. Just get the card and go Crossfire together with Nehalem and the new sockets. Don't invest in a P45 or X48 now.
Apparently there will be 3 Nehalem CPUs at launch, not just the XE.

Hmm I thought the non-XE nehalem cpus weren't coming until late 2009?

[walterman]

Originally Posted by slaWter

I agree with LordJuanlo. Just get the card and go Crossfire together with Nehalem and the new sockets. Don't invest in a P45 or X48 now.
Apparently there will be 3 Nehalem CPUs at launch, not just the XE.

I second that too.

You have a very good rig atm.

[Toss3]

Originally Posted by slaWter

This is from [H] earlier this week:



Plus:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/show...2&postcount=26

Well that changes things a bit then! Nehalem and crossfire it is at the end of the year!

[walterman]

Originally Posted by Toss3

... Nehalem and crossfire it is at the end of the year!

Yeah, cause i think that Intel won't grant the QPI license to nVidia.

There are a lot of users with Intel chipsets, and now ATi has something good to offer.

Maybe nVidia will regret about keeping SLI for their own chipsets only.