Cross Fire Help

[veedubfreak]

Each 4870 has 2 6pin connections, so you might want to upgrade your power supply just so you dont have to use molex > 6pin adapters. As for the 500W, you will definately be pushing the limits of the poor power supply. As to running hot, its mostly because of the cooker cage they come with. Now that i have my 4870s on water, the backside of the card doesnt even get warm to the touch, whereas on the cooker cage the back of the card was very very very hot to the touch.

oh snap, my avatar is working.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I'd advise you to get a B3 stepping CPU (9x50 series), or perhaps wait for the Deneb (45nm) chips to come out - Deneb will be made for socket AM3 (which adds DDR3 support), but will actually work in socket AM2+ aswell

If he's willing to wait he should go for nehalem. It's expected to be 20-50% faster than penryn clock for clock.

Otherwise I would go with a q6600 and Xigmatek Rifle S1283 cpu cooler.

 

[maroon1]

I think the irony is, that a Phenom 9750/9850 at stock would suit maroon1's needs perfectly. He doesn't overclock his Q6600.

Q6600 at stock is better overall performer. When I say it is better performer I mean that is better on average. I'm not talking about games only

Moreover, Q6600 consume less power.

Q6600 will perfectly suit my need and it is less power-hungry. Why would I buy more power-hungry Phenom 9850 which doesn't have any real advantage over Q6600 ? Just to support AMD ?!?

And this thread is not talking about me. If I don't overclock doesn't mean that others don't overclock. Thats why I tell people that Q6600 overclocks very well.

Besides, the Phenom's are not made by Intel.

Thats subjective reason. The majority of consumers don't care about that. If you want to get phenom just because it is not made by Intel then do that by yourself, I really don't care.

Not by much really.

So, you are admitting that Phenom is slighty worse. But you are telling him to get Phenom just because you want him to support AMD ?

If he's willing to wait he should go for nehalem. It's expected to be 20-50% faster than penryn clock for clock.

I agree with you. If he is going to buy his computer after 3 months then he should think about Nehalem because it will be out at that time.

 

[veedubfreak]

This thread was asking a question, lets not turn it into yet another flame war for intel vs amd please.

 

[Harper]

Well, this morning was interesting. My sister is dropping them off at the airport. I was beginning to settle in at my parents place.
And then I get a phone call from my sister informing me that their tickets have been voided. I am hoping (for my parents and computer upgrade sake) that they can resolved this issue quickly as they have been working up for this trip for the last 2 years.

So are you set on AMD or can you use Intel?

I am rather open for opinions and suggestions. However my wallet does not open as wide.
I will confess that I am a little biased towards AMD as I have been using them for the last 15 years now. However with AMD changing there sockets in 4 times in as just about as many years, I can not say that I am 100% happy with them right now.

The only reason why I am still on AMD now is that I was subjected to a lot of hand-me-down computer parts last years.

Because you can't upgrade to Phenom on that board..

You need a socket AM2+ board to run a Phenom

Yeah. I am going to pick that up locally.

(which will also require DDR2 memory)

What will not be a problem for me.

I advise you to get Core 2 Quad Q6600 as it is better and consume less power. Also, it one of the best overclocking chip

I don't OC that much.

if your parents are going to be in the US for 3 months, harper, then why don't you get a 4870x2 when they come out

I will keep that in mind. I just hope they can still get on the plane.

Each 4870 has 2 6pin connections, so you might want to upgrade your power supply just so you dont have to use molex > 6pin adapters. As for the 500W, you will definately be pushing the limits of the poor power supply. As to running hot, its mostly because of the cooker cage they come with. Now that i have my 4870s on water, the backside of the card doesnt even get warm to the touch, whereas on the cooker cage the back of the card was very very very hot to the touch.

oh snap, my avatar is working.

Thank you for the advise. I will pick up the PSU locally then.

This thread was asking a question, lets not turn it into yet another flame war for intel vs amd please.

Yeah guys, go find a room or a boxing ring. This is my computer here.

 

[Apokalipse]

Q6600 at stock is better overall performer. When I say it is better performer I mean that is better on average. I'm not talking about games only

Neither am I. And again, it's debatable. Even at stock.

Q6600 will perfectly suit my need and it is less power-hungry. Why would I buy more power-hungry Phenom 9850 which doesn't have any real advantage over Q6600 ? Just to support AMD ?!?

Yup.
Or you could say: why would you get a Q6600 when it doesn't have any real advantage over the Phenom's, when buying the Phenom's supports the company that needs it, which in turn keeps competition going?

And this thread is not talking about me. If I don't overclock doesn't mean that others don't overclock. Thats why I tell people that Q6600 overclocks very well.

Keyboard Cowboy may not overclock.
And Phenom does overclock very well too if you know how.

Thats subjective reason.

Yeah, and?

The majority of consumers don't care about that.

The majority of customers wouldn't even know about AMD.

If you want to get phenom just because it is not made by Intel then do that by yourself, I really don't care.

I intend to.

So, you are admitting that Phenom is slighty worse.

Slightly, if at all.

But you are telling him to get Phenom just because you want him to support AMD ?

I already knew Harper/Keyboard Cowbod tended to buy AMD. I just gave him information about the newer AMD platforms, and after you came into the thread, the information that he wouldn't really benifit by switching to a Q6600. Which is true.

 

[veg1992]

Heres your Options:

Wait until the last minute for Nehalem Processors (they will be pricey though, the x58 chipset itself costs $70, so the board will be pricey..) but the cheapest Bloomfield is $285

Get a Phenom (a 9x50 series) with a good AM2 board, keep in mind that AM2/am2+/AM3 are backwards compatible, but if you put it in an older Socket one, you'll lose some features

Get a Q6600, with a good LGA 775 board, faster than Phenom, but you're AMD biased

EDIT: Apok, I can't run the 125TDP Phenoms here right? so is a Tri-Core a worthy upgrade?

 

[Apokalipse]

Wait until the last minute for Nehalem Processors (they will be pricey though, the x58 chipset itself costs $70, so the board will be pricey..) but the cheapest Bloomfield is $285

Not to mention, you'll have to use DDR3. DDR2 is much cheaper.

Get a Q6600, with a good LGA 775 board, faster than Phenom

EDIT: Apok, I can't run the 125TDP Phenoms here right? so is a Tri-Core a worthy upgrade?

the Deneb processors won't have a 125W TDP.
If you wanted to upgrade now, the tri-core chips would work well

 

[veg1992]

Just a tiny bit, but I'm relatively sure he'll take AMD

 

[Harper]

Turns out that either the travel agent or the air light messed up. The trip was suppose to be have an overnight stop in Korea. And either the air line or the travelagent messed up as some one forgot to book accommodation in Korea for my parents. And since my parents booked there air plane ticket via the Teacher's Credit Union, there is no one to talk too until monday.

Not to mention, you'll have to use DDR3. DDR2 is much cheaper.

Yeah. Considering that I will be upgrading from DDR to DDR2, and DDR2 is slighty cheaper that DDR1, this will mean that I can swap the ram modules around at work and continue chugging way. The advantages of living in a computer shop. So unless there is a massive price drop in DDR1 ram, I don't see that being a problem.

EDIT: Apok, I can't run the 125TDP Phenoms here right? so is a Tri-Core a worthy upgrade?

People might think that I am silly in the fact that I am stick sticking with AMD. However I am not silly enough to consider TriCore.

Get a Phenom (a 9x50 series) with a good AM2 board, keep in mind that AM2/am2+/AM3 are backwards compatible, but if you put it in an older Socket one, you'll lose some features

When the time comes, i will be picking up a good motherboard. Since motherboard changes all the time, i will consider it closer to purchase date. However in the mean time when I get my tax return, I will be upgrading both my 400Gb Hard Drives to 1Tb and set up a raid 1 with an Adaptec RAID controller card.