New Build Questions
#1
So I have this old motherboard and processor that has been sitting around for a bit and wanted to do something with it. The processor is a 1st gen i7 with 6gb of ram and GA-EX58-UD3R motherboard.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product...989&dl=#ov

What I was wanting to do is turn it back into a gamming pc which I originally used if for. Then I though, wouldnt it be nice to dual purpose it as a password recovery machine on its down time. Since it will be a gaming machine for the most part it would be win7 ultimate. But I could also dual boot to ubuntu 12.04 if that would be better. The two parts that I would still need to figure out is what graphics cards to get and how much power it will need. The pc will be connected to a TV so the max resolution needed to be played with High settings is only 1080p. What would you guys recommend for graphics cards in this case and how much power will I need? With the graphics cards chosen, should I use Crossfire or sli or would that not be needed? Budget I would say is not a big issue if I am getting good bang for buck.

Thanks for the help.
#2
Buy 7970s.

Buy lots of them. Smile Or, at least the two that board will fit.

Crossfire or not for gaming, doesn't matter. I'm not sure if it interferes with compute - SLI used to, but I don't know anything about Crossfire since I don't connect multiple cards together for gaming. And you'll want around 1000W to be comfortable. You could get away with less with two 7970s, but there's not a big cost savings, and efficiency often drops on power supplies as you get close to 100% load on them.
#3
(02-25-2013, 06:48 PM)Bitweasil Wrote: Buy 7970s.

Buy lots of them. Smile Or, at least the two that board will fit.

Crossfire or not for gaming, doesn't matter. I'm not sure if it interferes with compute - SLI used to, but I don't know anything about Crossfire since I don't connect multiple cards together for gaming. And you'll want around 1000W to be comfortable. You could get away with less with two 7970s, but there's not a big cost savings, and efficiency often drops on power supplies as you get close to 100% load on them.

7970s, thats what I was hoping to hear. It seems to be very popular.
Is the Ghz edition worth it? Today I see the XFX 7970 on sale for 359.99 after rebate of course. But I was looking at possibly picking up a pair of these with the new power supply and calling it complete. Some point in the future I want to replace the mb and proc for something newer and holds maybe 4 7970s.
#4
The Ghz edition is probably worth the money. They tend to be better binned chips.