Preparing for the ATI 4870x2

[rossiski]

First-time poster, long-time lurker. I greatly respect this board's opinion and would appreciate some thoughts about my new gaming rig I'm building. I'm fixing to pick up an ATI 4870x2 with the potential for a Crossfire upgrade next year.

C2D E8500 Wolfdale (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036)
ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131284)
Thermaltake Armor VA8000BWS - already bought (http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1277&ID=1405)
ATI 4870x2 2GB GDDR5
OCZ EliteXStream 1000w (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341014)
mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) - 8GB total (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146785)
Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136260)
Vista Ultimate 64bit

Much obliged.

[mrw1986]

I'd grab the Corsair 1000HX instead of that PSU. I would also get the Maximus Formula and flash it to a Rampage Formula. Its not worth spending the extra money for the Rampage.

[DanishDevil]

No reason for Ultimate over Home Premium because they stopped the Ultimate Extras.

Go with a different PSU. The Silverstone Decathlons have a single +12V rail. OCZ's PSU's are good, but not the best, and I'm not sure I'd run dual 4870x2's off of them. Tagan and PC Power & Cooling also make very good PSU's. Go for higher amperage rails rather than multiple low amp rails for high-powered video cards.

Sounds like a hell of a gaming rig! GL! And welcome as a member :toast:

Edit: The Corsair as Matt suggested would also be a great choice.

[mrw1986]

Edit: The Corsair as Matt suggested would also be a great choice.

Damn straight :toast:

You can get the Corsair for $227 shipped to your door brand new from Advanced PC (http://www.apc-usa.net/ssproduct.asp?pf_id=1011426098).

[Urbklr]

Are you going to be overclocking?....What about an aftermarket cooler?

[rossiski]

Damn straight :toast:

You can get the Corsair for $227 shipped to your door brand new from Advanced PC (http://www.apc-usa.net/ssproduct.asp?pf_id=1011426098).

The link is appreciated.

Are you going to be overclocking?....What about an aftermarket cooler?

I'm not a hardcore benchmark guy, but may work on the FSB a bit. Those E8500s go pretty far on air.

I would also get the Maximus Formula and flash it to a Rampage Formula. Its not worth spending the extra money for the Rampage.

I know many try that. I'm not so sure I want to. The higher bin of the x48 is a positive, the cost a negative. I'm nervous about a bios flash and the peace of mind isn't that much more ($40+?)

[mrw1986]

Nope you can still find it. My Maximus (Flashed with Rampage) clocks better than most Rampage's do.

[Urbklr]

I'm not a hardcore benchmark guy, but may work on the FSB a bit. Those E8500s go pretty far on air.

I wouldn't stick with the stock heatsink, pick up one of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003) if you can. That will give you much better temps then the tiny stock heatsink.

[AsRock]

About time you registered here lol.

Corsair 1000HX once again ross ;). Think Vista is a bad move though.


I wouldn't stick with the stock heatsink, pick up one of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003) if you can. That will give you much better temps then the tiny stock heatsink.

for sure

[mrw1986]

Why is Vista a bad move? With the hardware he's getting it wouldn't be a problem. Christ, he can go back a generation of hardware if he wants. Also, why buy all this new hardware to not be able to take advantage of it (e.g. Vista)

[AsRock]

Why is Vista a bad move? With the hardware he's getting it wouldn't be a problem. Christ, he can go back a generation of hardware if he wants. Also, why buy all this new hardware to not be able to take advantage of it (e.g. Vista)

Because i know ross and he be mainly playing Armed Assault and Armed Assault 2. And Arma don't support Vista all though it is possible to get working on vista but dam gave me enough headaches with out playing games on the dam OS. And when i did get it working i was 20 FPS less.

[rossiski]

About time you registered here lol.

Lol. So does that mean I should stop mooching off of you? :D

I wouldn't stick with the stock heatsink, pick up one of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003) if you can. That will give you much better temps then the tiny stock heatsink.

Yeah, I agree that the stock HSF shouldn't used. That xigmatek is TALL! My case has that huge 250mm side fan that intrudes down into the case. If that HSF is 16cm tall, I don't think I have enough clearance. But thanks for the suggestion.

Although, I could always mount the side fan on the outside of the case...:ohwell:

[AsRock]

Lol. So does that mean I should stop mooching off of you? :D



Yeah, I agree that the stock HSF shouldn't used. That xigmatek is TALL! My case has that huge 250mm side fan that intrudes down into the case. If that HSF is 16cm tall, I don't think I have enough clearance. But thanks for the suggestion.

Although, I could always mount the side fan on the outside of the case...:ohwell:

Aah friends don't mooch :).

Ross find me how wide that fan is and i'll let ya know if it fit or not :).

[rossiski]

Ross find me how wide that fan is and i'll let ya know if it fit or not :).

3cm (30mm) wide.

[AsRock]

3cm (30mm) wide.

It be close, there's 1 inch from end of the coolers heatpipes. it be a close for sure. i think it'll fit but you could be unlucky with a heatpipe with he frame of the fan. I would try it still would have to give the fan a spin manually before you turned it on to make sure the blades do not hit it. All though the blades are pretty flat and think they pose no issue and it be more about the higher parts of the fan... Easy corrected by moving some of the plastic of the fan in worst case lol.

[AsRock]

Here's a pic
http://home.comcast.net/~asrock/coolerdiscase.jpg

[rossiski]

Okay, I did it. Since the 4870x2 came out today, I pulled the plug.

G.SKILL 4gb RAM 1066
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231184
Corsair 1000HX PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007
E8600 Wolfdale 3.33GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115054
Sapphire Radeon 4870x2 2gb GDDR5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102768
WD Velociraptor 300gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136260
ASUS Rampage Formula X48
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131284
AudioFX 5.1 Gaming Headphones
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826504004


Everything should show up this Thursday or Friday and I'll build it this weekend.

Did I do well? :)

[tigger]

I run arma on vista with no problem at all.

[wolf2009]

I run arma on vista with no problem at all.

me too , get the latest patches , everything works out fine .

[farlex85]

Kick-ass rig man, enjoy. :toast:

[freaksavior]

very nice rig man, i had some bnib veloci raptors for sale in my fs thread . i was asking $265 shipped, i know not much cheaper but seriously, its $25!

[rossiski]

Good news. All my parts came and I'm typing this on my new rig. Scored over 14k on 3DMark Vantage Graphics (not the overall because of the Physx stuff not yet supported by Red).


Now I'm looking for a CPU cooler. The XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm is too large for my case. I've only got 6 inches (under 150mm) between the CPU die face and the edge of my 250mm case side fan.

I was thinking of an AC Freezer 7 or a Thermaltake. Something with some CFM to help with the case flow (north and southbridge are a little warm). Should I be dissuaded from either of those brands? Much obliged for a response.