Graphics card choice

[Sixpence]

First let em start by saying Hi, Have been reading this forum for a few months now and have tried 2 boxing a bit and I really enjoy it.

I am in the process of getting a new system built so i can move up to 5 boxing as my current set up is a little old and cant cope with more than 2 at a time very well.

I know a lot of people recomend the 8800 GT graphics card but i was wondering if any of you know how well the ATi Radeon HD 3870 x 2 performs.

The system will be

Intel Quadcore 6600 series
Most likely 8 gb Ram, if not then certainly 4 gb
Vista OS
Water cooling system

Im a bit crap at computer stuff but have learnt a lot regarding what i need form these forums.

Thanks in advance for any advice

[The_Whack]

I'm sure 2 3870's would be more than enough, just one compares close enough to the 8800gt.

I have an 8800 GTS 512 (had an ATI 3850 but shelved it due to poor game/driver/vista support) and use a program called Keyclone to control the frame rates of each WoW instance along with being able to assign each instance to one of the 4 processors in the Q6600 (this really helps when multi-boxing on one comp). The only issues I have 5 boxing is when I enter Stormwind, I have to give it a few seconds to load on all 5. Other than that it runs great.

Keep in mind, Windows Vista 32 only supports 3 gigs (actually 4 gigs but that also includes any memory your graphics card comes with, so you will only ever see/use 3.? gigs) of Ram and Vista 64 bit supports up to 8gigs. 3 gigs should be more than enough even on a 64 bit system unless your into huge video edititing or graphics design/rendering.

If your buying a new computer, I recommend doing research on a complete clone of your hard drive while it's still fresh. That way you will be able to "ReDo" your computer when things start to slow down, you know, when you start filling your computer with useless crap. This will affect multi boxing on one comp.

Also, if your building a new comp try and get a SATA II hard drive, they are super cheap, and the difference is huge.

Hope that helps.

EDIT: Almost forgot..... Welcome to the forums!!!

[Bollwerk]

Both Nvidia and ADM/ATI are releasing new generational cards in a week or 2, so you may want to wait.

[Sixpence]

Thanks for the info.

I have managed to get what the guy recomends for my full system now so i would love it if some of you more experienced people can take a look and let me know what you think and if some parts could be replaced with others.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450
Asus 776 / P5 N-E SLi
Seagate 1024 GB SATA
CPU Water Cooling Serenity Ext (This is an external water cooling system that sits in its own box)
TG700-U25 TAGAN AC SLi ( power suply i believe)
nVidea FX PCI-E 9800 GX2 1024 MB
DDR 800 2 GB KIngston x 4 ( 8 GB in total)
Vista Ultimate

Thanks again and i hope to be running around with my 5 chars soon

[ThatIrishGuy]

i heard that the 9800 is like the 8800, but a hole lot more expensive, i have a Q9300, its amazing, and i have 8gb of ram(4x 2gb 1066), i have a 8800gts 512mb OC, vista ultimate 64, and i can run 5 (at 45, 15, 15, 15, 15 fps), with almost every thing maxed.

[Jafula]

If you are on a budget; you could replace the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 with a Q6600 and still run 5 wows.

Also the nVidea FX PCI-E 9800 GX2 is essentially 2 cards in 1 - so quite expensive ('http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/11/9800gx2-woefully-expensive') as well; I run 2 x 8800GTs myself and I don't know if you can run 5 wows on 1 gfx card like that (I think you can as the poster above states).

You are getting an Nvidia SLI board ('http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1474&l1=3&l2=11&l3=473'). This is the support forum thread ('http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5N-E+SLI&board_id=1') for this mobo. With your 9800GX2 are you planning to run another GFX card as well? Quad GFX cards? Otherwise, I suggest perhaps an Intel chipset, like an X38 or X48. I have had issues with Nvidia chipsets locking up. Up to you ...

Otherwise, money no problem, you have a very nice machine. Make sure you get Vista Ultimate 64bit to utilise all your 8GB of ram. EDIT: Wow will only use 4GB I'm told.

Jafula.