Pre-Purchase Advice required

[Andrew Bailey]

Hi (and thanks for reading),

Before I commit to a rather expensive gaming rig I wondered if you guys
could check the specs/components to make sure I haven't made a mistake or to
possibly suggest alternatives...

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX62 AM2
CPU COOLING: Zalman CNPS9700-LED (Is this necessary?)
GPU: 2×Asus Extreme 8800GTX 768MB PCI-E
HDD: 2×WD 150Gb Raptor SATA 10k/150/16Mb (RAID stripe)
MEM: 2×Corsair 1GB XMS2-5400 DDR2 SDRAM (4×512MB) (Does the Crosshair accept
240 pin?)
MOBO: ASUS CROSSHAIR nF590 Socket AM2
PSU: OCZ 700W SLI Ready GameXStream PSU (Is 700W enough?)
SFX: Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Music


Thanks, appreciate it.

Andy

 

[DaveW]

I believe I have read on a reputable Internet hardware site that using the
two video cards you are planning on requires a MINIMUM of an 800 Watt PSU,
assuming equivalent other components in the system.

 

[jaster]

Hi (and thanks for reading),

Before I commit to a rather expensive gaming rig I wondered if you guys
could check the specs/components to make sure I haven't made a mistake or
to possibly suggest alternatives...

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX62 AM2
CPU COOLING: Zalman CNPS9700-LED (Is this necessary?) GPU: 2×Asus Extreme
8800GTX 768MB PCI-E HDD: 2×WD 150Gb Raptor SATA 10k/150/16Mb (RAID
stripe) MEM: 2×Corsair 1GB XMS2-5400 DDR2 SDRAM (4×512MB) (Does the
Crosshair accept 240 pin?)
MOBO: ASUS CROSSHAIR nF590 Socket AM2 PSU: OCZ 700W SLI Ready GameXStream
PSU (Is 700W enough?) SFX: Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Music


Thanks, appreciate it.

Andy

Hmmm, you're putting together a gaming machine to play what types of
games? Seems over kill for Chessmaster 10 or even Warhammer Chaos.

I think the FX62 alone costs more than a XBOX 360.
Lost World isn't available for the PC yet, Crysis and Halo 3 may run on
Vista after the XBOX 360 release. I don't see any HD-DVD roms above
or HD monitor.

 

[Paul]

Hi (and thanks for reading),

Before I commit to a rather expensive gaming rig I wondered if you guys
could check the specs/components to make sure I haven't made a mistake or to
possibly suggest alternatives...

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX62 AM2
CPU COOLING: Zalman CNPS9700-LED (Is this necessary?)
GPU: 2×Asus Extreme 8800GTX 768MB PCI-E
HDD: 2×WD 150Gb Raptor SATA 10k/150/16Mb (RAID stripe)
MEM: 2×Corsair 1GB XMS2-5400 DDR2 SDRAM (4×512MB) (Does the Crosshair accept
240 pin?)
MOBO: ASUS CROSSHAIR nF590 Socket AM2
PSU: OCZ 700W SLI Ready GameXStream PSU (Is 700W enough?)
SFX: Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Music


Thanks, appreciate it.

Andy

This article quotes Nvidia as saying their video card uses 145W.
You have two of them. They would be drawing from +12V. Most of the
power comes through the Aux connectors. Total 290W/12V = 24.2 amps.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gf8800_11.html

FX62 AM2 - 125 watts. With 90% efficient Vcore conversion, this
is (125W/12V) * (1/0.90) = 11.57A.

http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/details.aspx?opn=ADAFX62IAA6CS

Two disk drives are maybe 12V @ 0.6A each. (There is also 5V
consumption, but at this point, I don't bother counting the
"small change".)

CDROMs have 12V @ 1.5A printed on the label. I've measured mine
at 12V at exactly 1.0A when spinning at max speed. But I still
use 1.5A in calculations.

Allocate 0.5A for cooling fans, and since the rating is printed
on the label, you can total those up for yourself.

Total 24.2 + 11.57 + (2 * 0.6) + 1.5 + 0.5 = 38.97A
Total 12V rail power: 12V * 38.97A = 468Watts

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply
+3.3@36A,+5V@30A,+12V1@18A,+12V2@18A,+12V3@18A,+12V4@18A,[email protected],[email protected]

there is a picture of the label here:
http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/17-341-002-04.JPG

and a clearer picture here:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/PSU/GameXStream700/IMG_0600.jpg

12V1 CPU1
12V2 CPU2 and PCI Express #2
12V3 Motherboard/accessory
12V4 PCI Express #1

The only problem I see, is each 8800GTX has two PCI
Express connectors on it. You can see the two 2x3
connectors pointing upwards here. Which means you need
a total of four connectors.

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-121-033-03.JPG

This power supply is $199, and has four PCI Express power
connectors. Two for each 8800GTX. And the 60A output
should be enough to drive the ~40A load.

http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=S75Q&view=techspecs
http://www.pcpower.com/products/assets/S75Q/S75E-QD2.jpg

From a total power perspective, I calculated 468Watts for
the 12V loads. I would allocate another 50W or so, for the
3.3V and 5V usage. The total power at the output of whatever
power supply you use, will max at 518W. It is possible
that the processor won't be able to run the two 8800GTX
cards flat out, so maybe they won't be drawing the 145W
they are rated for.

If the 8800GTX could be trusted to run off just one
connected PCI Express connector, you could use the
GameXStream. But I don't know if it'll work that way or
not. And I cannot find any pictures of the 8800GTX
disassembled, to see the detail around the connectors.

Nvidia has a list of certifed power supplies. This chunk
of text, is the supplies certified to drive two 8800GTX.
The Silencer 750 Quad is listed here.

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html#certified_powersupplies

"For Dual GeForce 8800 GTX

CoolerMaster Real Power Pro 850W (RS-850-EMBA)
ETASIS ET-850 850W
ETASIS ET-750 750W
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad
PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 1KW-SR 1000W
PC Power & Cooling 1KW-Quad SLI (TC1KW4E) 1000W
Silverstone Zeus ST85ZF 850W
Silverstone Zeus ST75ZF 750W
Tagan TG900-U96 900W
Tagan TG1100-U96 1100W
Thermaltake Toughpower W0131RU 850W
Topower/ePower TOP-1000W
Zippy Gaming PSL-6850P(G1)-PCIE4"

HTH,
Paul

 

[Jeff]

Hi (and thanks for reading),

Before I commit to a rather expensive gaming rig I wondered if you guys
could check the specs/components to make sure I haven't made a mistake or
to possibly suggest alternatives...

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX62 AM2
CPU COOLING: Zalman CNPS9700-LED (Is this necessary?)
GPU: 2×Asus Extreme 8800GTX 768MB PCI-E
HDD: 2×WD 150Gb Raptor SATA 10k/150/16Mb (RAID stripe)
MEM: 2×Corsair 1GB XMS2-5400 DDR2 SDRAM (4×512MB) (Does the Crosshair
accept 240 pin?)
MOBO: ASUS CROSSHAIR nF590 Socket AM2
PSU: OCZ 700W SLI Ready GameXStream PSU (Is 700W enough?)
SFX: Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Music

I have a somewhat similar setup without the dual video cards. It runs
solitare just fine, but I haven't tested it with any other game.

So perhaps this is a question from someone who knows nothing about games and
doesn't really care to learn, but why 4x512 for the ram instead of 2 x1024
and if you are already spending what you are, why not go for the 6400 DDR2
ram? I have the corsair XMS2-6400 CAS4 and it seems to work well with my
gigabyte board and fx62. I assume that 4x512 is slightly less expensive, but
isn't it possible that you might want more ram in the future and with the 4
sticks your slots will already be filled?

My stock fan seems to work well, but I haven't really tested the
temperatures all that much, and I can't really hear the fan above the raptor
10k in the case (I currently only have 1 raptor, and while not as loud as
some might have you believe, it isn't silent either).

Jeff

 

[Andrew Bailey]

This article quotes Nvidia as saying their video card uses 145W.
You have two of them. They would be drawing from +12V. Most of the
power comes through the Aux connectors. Total 290W/12V = 24.2 amps.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gf8800_11.html

FX62 AM2 - 125 watts. With 90% efficient Vcore conversion, this
is (125W/12V) * (1/0.90) = 11.57A.

http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/details.aspx?opn=ADAFX62IAA6CS

Two disk drives are maybe 12V @ 0.6A each. (There is also 5V
consumption, but at this point, I don't bother counting the
"small change".)

CDROMs have 12V @ 1.5A printed on the label. I've measured mine
at 12V at exactly 1.0A when spinning at max speed. But I still
use 1.5A in calculations.

Allocate 0.5A for cooling fans, and since the rating is printed
on the label, you can total those up for yourself.

Total 24.2 + 11.57 + (2 * 0.6) + 1.5 + 0.5 = 38.97A
Total 12V rail power: 12V * 38.97A = 468Watts

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply
+3.3@36A,+5V@30A,+12V1@18A,+12V2@18A,+12V3@18A,+12V4@18A,[email protected],[email protected]

there is a picture of the label here:
http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/17-341-002-04.JPG

and a clearer picture here:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/PSU/GameXStream700/IMG_0600.jpg

12V1 CPU1
12V2 CPU2 and PCI Express #2
12V3 Motherboard/accessory
12V4 PCI Express #1

The only problem I see, is each 8800GTX has two PCI
Express connectors on it. You can see the two 2x3
connectors pointing upwards here. Which means you need
a total of four connectors.

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-121-033-03.JPG

This power supply is $199, and has four PCI Express power
connectors. Two for each 8800GTX. And the 60A output
should be enough to drive the ~40A load.

http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=S75Q&view=techspecs
http://www.pcpower.com/products/assets/S75Q/S75E-QD2.jpg

From a total power perspective, I calculated 468Watts for
the 12V loads. I would allocate another 50W or so, for the
3.3V and 5V usage. The total power at the output of whatever
power supply you use, will max at 518W. It is possible
that the processor won't be able to run the two 8800GTX
cards flat out, so maybe they won't be drawing the 145W
they are rated for.

If the 8800GTX could be trusted to run off just one
connected PCI Express connector, you could use the
GameXStream. But I don't know if it'll work that way or
not. And I cannot find any pictures of the 8800GTX
disassembled, to see the detail around the connectors.

Nvidia has a list of certifed power supplies. This chunk
of text, is the supplies certified to drive two 8800GTX.
The Silencer 750 Quad is listed here.

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html#certified_powersupplies

"For Dual GeForce 8800 GTX

CoolerMaster Real Power Pro 850W (RS-850-EMBA)
ETASIS ET-850 850W
ETASIS ET-750 750W
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad
PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 1KW-SR 1000W
PC Power & Cooling 1KW-Quad SLI (TC1KW4E) 1000W
Silverstone Zeus ST85ZF 850W
Silverstone Zeus ST75ZF 750W
Tagan TG900-U96 900W
Tagan TG1100-U96 1100W
Thermaltake Toughpower W0131RU 850W
Topower/ePower TOP-1000W
Zippy Gaming PSL-6850P(G1)-PCIE4"

HTH,
Paul

Hi Paul (and everyone else),

Thanks for responding, to give you some further information this rig should
be future proof hence the DX10 graphics cards. I'm going to run it on
Windows XP Home first just to make sure all the hardware works and then
install Vista Home Premium OEM 32bit (any quick tips on why I should choose
32 or 64 bit?).

Probably the most demanding software I'll be running is Microsoft Flight Sim
10. This game will bring most systems to their knees as it needs top flight
gfx to process the miles of scenery, other aircraft and airports etc, it
needs a kick-ass cpu to run the physics (thrust, drag, lift, gravity,
pressure, angle of attack, wind etc etc) (also the CPU needs to be matched
with the overall spec) and finally it needs a decent hard drive solution to
keep up with the landscape engine which streams data based on the players
position and viewing direction.

Most people will be lucky to see 10 frames per second on their AMD Athlon64
5400 type rigs with game detail set to average. I want to run this puppy at
full detail, max speed and (get this) across THREE monitors... yeah baby!!!


I'm not sure about the whole HD thang yet as obviously it pushes the cost of
the monitors up, an HD or BlueRay player is required, some HD content
(films? coz games already exceed 1080p res?) and to be honest if I was that
into HD movies I wouldn't watch them on a PC I would have a home theatre
system.

Also note, I'll be adding a Hauppauge PVR1300 TV card so that will up the
power requirement a bit.

I was aware of the two power leads per card thing but will re-check to make
sure.

Cheers

Andy