Help the newbie with his build!!

[zlojack]

Yeah... I understand where you're coming from dude. It's a tough decision, for sure.

[Talonman]

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquir...v-release-woes

"Oh yes, we probably should mention that the 9800X2, or whatever they call it, has also moved from CeBIT to the end of March, for now. Before you get all hot and bothered, this is basically a couple of downclocked G92s on 2 PCBs".

Looks like the end of March for now, insted of March 18th?

And "basically a couple of downclocked G92s on 2 PCBs" dosen't sound good as the intro for the new King's arrivial...

I don't think this is what any of us was expecting when the new GTX and GX2 arrived....

[Buckeye]

Yup it's looking like 8800 Ultras or the new ATI cards are the way to go.

There are a few new products that I am waiting for, 790i mobo for SLI or TRI SLI and if Nvidia drops the ball with garbage releases then I am taking a hard look at ATI on a Intel board.

I have not had a ATI card before so that alone is a major step for me.


http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080222/20080222005768.html?.v=1

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AMD (NYSE:AMD - News) today announced that systems utilizing ATI Radeon™ HD graphics cards established new records in Futuremark 3DMark05 and 3DMark06 benchmarking standards, demonstrating once again that ATI Radeon™ HD graphics cards are preferred by overclockers around the globe.

On Feb. 16, MemoryExtreme Team Italy, a group renowned for record-breaking overclocking achievements and better known online as giampa, Leghorn and giorgioprimo, set a new world record 3DMark05 score of 39,133, surpassing the previous record also set using ATI Radeon™ HD graphics cards. The same day, the team captured the 3DMark06 record by posting a score of 30,662, edging the previous world record by 56 points.

The benchmark scores may be accessed at http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=177374.

“The scalability, speed and stability of dual-card ATI Radeon™ HD configurations are critical to the success of our record-setting attempts,” said Gian Paolo Collalto, (known as giampa), a MemoryExtreme Team Italy founder. “The continued improvements in Crossfire™ multi-GPU performance backed by industry-leading stability make ATI Radeon™ HD the best choice for overclocking.”

The ATI Radeon™ HD graphics line, is a clear favorite of the overclocker community. As of Feb. 20, 2008, ATI Radeon™ graphics cards take a clean sweep of the current top 20 records in 3DMark05 and 16 of the top 20 3DMark06 scores, for an aggregate 36 of the 40 best 3DMark05 and 3DMark06 scores posted on the Futuremark website.

“The enthusiast community continues to be an incredibly important audience for AMD,” said Matt Skynner, vice president, Marketing, AMD Graphics Products Group. “Our unmatched results in industry benchmarks demonstrate that we listen and deliver when enthusiasts ask for improved multi-GPU scaling, greater overclockability and industry-leading stability.”

Note: AMD is not liable for damages caused by overclocking (even when overclocking is enabled with AMD Overdrive™ software).

About AMD

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD - News) is a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open innovation, choice and industry growth by delivering superior customer-centric solutions that empower consumers and businesses worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, ATI, the ATI logo, Radeon, CrossFire, ATI CrossFireX and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Contact:

AMD Public Relations
Dave Erskine, 905-882-2600, ext. 8477
dave.erskine@amd.com

[Talonman]

Impressive....

The order of cards in the nVidia side of the fence is supossed to look like this, fastest to slowest:

9800 GX2
9800 GTX
8800 Ultra
9800 GT >= 8800 GTX
8800 GTS 512
8800 GT

I need to see where the ATI cards fall in there, and if the GTX and GX2 can actually beat an Ultra...

I have never owned an ATI card myself...

We both could be changing camps soon....

So ATI takes the new record speeds, and nVidia is trouble getting more than 14K out of their new GPU's....

Man how things change...

[Talonman]

http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/GeFo...ared/5614.html


VR-Zone has gotten some preliminary 3DMark06 scores on the upcoming GeForce 9800 GX2 and 9800 GTX cards. The setup : Core 2 Quad Q6700 2.66GHz processor on a P965 board with Forceware 173.67 drivers and Catalyst driver version 8.451. GeForce 9800 GX2 scored 14225, 9800 GTX scored 13167 while Radeon HD 3870 X2 scored 14301. Nvidia is still tuning up the drivers and the clock speeds aren't finalized yet so we should be seeing some improvements when launched. Currently, 9800 GX2 is slated for March 18th launch while 9800 GTX is slated for end March.

[Buckeye]

Not looking good

I wish they would throw a 8800 GTX on that so we can see how it stands up to those 3.

[Talonman]

Yepp...

Unless we see some miracle Drivers released, the 8800 Ultra will still be king (As the fastest single GPU), until the true new tech (Non G92) GPU's get released.

I am amaised.

Could be the end of the year....

It could very well rule for an unmatched 2 year reign.

[Buckeye]

Well for now I can just throw my 2 8800GTX's in SLI and wait this thing out...

[Talonman]

That is exactly what I would do if I were in your situaction...

[zlojack]

I finally ordered my waterblocks for my 3870 X2's last night!

The build is coming together.

I should post up a log. (I've got a couple of logs going in a couple of forums)

I'll definitely post up pics of my loop in your other thread Talonman.

[Buckeye]

Yeah I would like to see that also

and how those 3870 X2's perform !

[Talonman]

I finally ordered my waterblocks for my 3870 X2's last night!

The build is coming together.

I should post up a log. (I've got a couple of logs going in a couple of forums)

I'll definitely post up pics of my loop in your other thread Talonman.

I look foward to your picts...

FYI - He is talking about this one.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=162085

[Talonman]

I guess they played a few tricks with the 9600 GT's clocks to boost performance...

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/N...Shady_9600_GT/

This is probably part of the reason the 9600 GT (G94) looks so close to the new 8800 GT 512MB (G92) GPU's level of performance...

[Talonman]

ATI's 3870 X2 card is A11 silicon based
Whilst the above image will be A12 silicon based & would be higher operating frequency & greater overclocking, enhance power consumption & improve temperature control. Obviously, the new revised version of 3870 X2 can compete with Nvidia G92 or even better with GDDR4.

The new version RV670 A12 silicon based will be using PLX or rather PEX 86XX series PCIe 2.0, the core & clock memory will be increased. Will not be surprised ATI could even upgrade the memory capacity to 2GB.

RV670 core A12 version is expected to be completed in the second quarter.

http://phyxion.net/hardware/news/ati...ision-a12.html

The price will be higher than current HD3870 X2

[Talonman]

http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=6572

"It seems that MSI has been goofing up (well they have the reputation for it) by releasing photo's and details on NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce 9800 GX2, this is NVIDIA's top-of-the-line to-be, so it's never too early to start nerding out. The best way to think of the GeForce 9800 GX2 is a 8800 that's been shrunk down to 65nm and SLI'd onto a "single" card. The card is supposed to be at least 30% faster than a 8800 Ultra, and will apparently support Quad SLI. The details over at MSI show the product with 1GB of GDDR3 memory, MSI's GeForce 9800 GX2 should get a GPU core clock of 660 MHz, the Shaders domain at 1650 MHz and memory at a beefy 2400 MHz".

So now our best guess is:

Hypothetical 9800 GTX --------------------------- Hypothetical 9800 GX2
Stream Processors= 128 ---------------------------- A full 128 stream processor on each card, 256 Total.
Core= 675MHz ------------------------------------- Core= 600MHz
Shaders= 1683MHz --------------------------------- Shaders= 1500MHz
Memory= 2200MHz 512MB GDDR3 (136-pin BGA) ------ Memory= 2000MHz 512MB x 2 (1000MHz GDDR3)
256-BIT BUS --------------------------------------- 256-BIT BUS
Two DVI-I and one DHTV-out ----------------------- Two DVI Out
Two SLI Connectors -------------------------------- Supports Quad SLI Configs.
Two 6-Pin PCIe Power Connectors ------------------- Not sure.
Total Board Power= 168W.
CoolerMaster TM67 Cooler (I believe it's this one: http://en.expreview.com/?p=276)

[zlojack]

Man...those new ATI chips are interesting.

I don't know if I'll go for the revision or not, because I'm very close to getting my second card already, and if they're more expensive they'll probably exceed my budget...

[Snatch]

Excellent job man. Love the Silverstone case.

[Talonman]

Thanks Snatch...

zlojack, That new ATI Chip is making think allot more about the new revised version of 3870 X2...

I wonder how much more performance that revision would offer?

[Talonman]

I can't help it... I keep going back to the GX2 as my favorite choice...
My god.. I think I am a nVidia fan boy and didn't know it...

I think I have GX2 feaver or somthing??

I can't get passed that the 9600GT was faster at 1920 x 1200 than the HD3870 in Call of Duty4. It makes me think nVidia is still actually ahead in the speed game no matter what 3DMark06 says...

Look at the size of this Monster, and tell me it should play a mean Crysis...
It's just gotta...
New pictures: http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=243866

It looks like the Hummer of Video Cards?

I also believe in the thinking that OC video cards are actually tested to insure that the chips on that GPU can take the OC. I further think that a certain % of cards don't accept the OC and get sold as stock speed cards. That is why I think buying an OC'ed card is not a waste of money, and considered then to be 'cherry picked' cards, or at least garenteed to take the factory OC, and mabey more...

My ideal GX2 would be factory OC'ed, and with a high end waterblock pre-installed with 1/2" fittings!
Let's hope somebody's working on that already.. lol

Realistically, unless this thing needs it, I am starting to accept that my Flame thrower of a NB, and OC'ed Q6600 will probably end up being all the blocks in my loop.
At least I know I didn't overload the Keg?

[Buckeye]

Yup it's huge

I just want to be able to run 3 of those cards hehehe

Will need a big case to run those puppies that's for sure !

[Talonman]

My God ... 3! You would have to keep a bucket of water near, just to keep the smoke down...

Do you think I should get a decent amount of techno shock stepping into that from my 8600GT?

I wonder if I could keep my SB fan, and the GX2 both, if I install it on the top blue slot?
Do you think a GX2 will fit in my rig?

[zlojack]

Man...something about that card just screams "oven" to me.

I hope it turns out to be a beast...

[Talonman]

Oven!!! hehehe I hear you....

Mabey I can put 1 super hot air thing in my TJ09 withought taking too much of a performance hit?

[Buckeye]

Yes Talon I believe that our cases will handle these with NP, they should because I don't think there are many cases that are bigger

Mine will be going in a different case, a TJ07 for my new build. Once I get that one up and running I will work on this one. I have to keep this machine running for work until I can get things all sorted out with the new build.

I hope some WC setup can be worked out with these GX2's because they do sound like they will get warm.

[Talonman]

I installed a digital thermometer in my case. It reads 3 or 4 degrees F, above my room at all times wilst system is running...
In my cool room I should be golden with 1 hot card?
I will easily be able to tell how much the 'Oven Card' moves my case temp...
Here is the unit: http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/9124/
The remote sensor is the one in my case, and the base unit is what has been giving me my ambient temps, on my OC'ing reports.


I just hope the distance between my Ram and SB fan dosen't bite me in the butt with the GX2!!
I have grown attached to the fan, and would like to keep it.
I pritty much think we are going to have some GX2 numbers from this member...
I still see some sites holding to the 18th. I don't know if the release is the end of the month, or the 18th now...