Intel SLI System Advice Requested

[PrimeGen]

Here's what I want to buy...

Why should I/shouldn't I? I'm going Intel so no need to sell me on AMD. This is all from Newegg.


* ASUS P5ND2-SLI Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI Intel Edition ATX Intel Motherboard

* Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

* G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory

* Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply

* Intel Pentium D 940 Presler 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core, EM64T Processor

* XFX PVT70FUDE7 Geforce 7800GTX 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card (I will SLI with 2nd card later when $$ affords)

Carried over from previous system:

Recent CD-RW & DVD+/-RW
SB Audigy 2ZS
40 GB Seagate Barracuda (as a 2nd Drive for music/etc.)

- P.G.

[jlreich]

Hello PrimeGen and welcome to the PcGuide forums.

First thing is the ram. Go for one of the recommended brands around here. Corsair, Kingston, Crucial/Micron, and Patriot.

Unless you are going to be doing some serious overclocking you can go with DDR2533. It's generally a little cheaper. The Presler 940 really can't use anything faster than that effectively so it's just a waste. Only the Pentium EE with a FSB of 1066 can use DDR2667 effectively.

I'm going Intel so no need to sell me on AMD

I wouldn't dare.

No problem if you want Intel, it's your computer. I know there were some bugs with the Intel version of SLI at one time, but I assume those have been worked out, but I haven't checked into it for a long time.

What are you going to use the computer for? I assume gaming since you have SLI picked out already, but what else? And what's your budget?

Do you need a monitor, KB, copy of OS?

[saphalline]

Only the Pentium EE with a FSB of 1066 can use DDR2667 effectively.

Nope. Check the numbers again. 1066 FSB = 2 x 533. Technically speaking, DDR2-533 is plenty for any Intel CPU right now. That may change as Core Duo/Solo hits the desktop arena, but for now DDR2-533 should be recommended for every Intel CPU.

DDR2-400 is actually more than enough for any P4 500/600 or any PD 800/900 with the 800 FSB, but DDR2-533 turns out to be the same price or even cheaper in some cases. That's why I just automatically turn to DDR2-533 for any Intel system. Also note that single-channel DDR2-533 is a perfect match for the 533 FSB of the Celeron D and PD 805. Perfection personified...

But yeah, ditto on the RAM manufacturer. G.Skill isn't bad per se, it's just that Corsair, etc is better.

[jlreich]

Oops! I have been starring at books and the computer all day. Maybe it's time I took a break.

[Wandrille]

i might be wrong on this, but the motherboard doesnt say its compatible with pentium d

[jlreich]

Hmm, interesting. Asus show support for the Pentium D 8** series but not the 9** series. Nothing about it in the latest BIOS release. Perhaps the next BIOS will have support for the 9** series.

[hockey man]

If you want to go Intel, I say that you wait for Conroe. The the early benchmarks are awsome. . .it would well be worth the wait. . .
http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2713

[PrimeGen]

Hmm, interesting. Asus show support for the Pentium D 8** series but not the 9** series. Nothing about it in the latest BIOS release. Perhaps the next BIOS will have support for the 9** series.

That bothered me also... I've heard of situations where people buy processors that "should" work on a mobo because a recent bios update allows it but the damned thing won't even post so there's no way to flash the bios to make them work. I'm wary of that.

Also, can I live with Corsair ValueSelect or is the XMS a must for what I'm putting together?

I want a nice, fast gaming PC that doesn't break the bank. It's tax refund time and I don't want to spend it all on this. Some of it has to go toward a credit card. Ideally I want to spend no more than $1400 ($1600 worst case)all together.

And do I really need the blistering video card, or will a lesser dual card SLI setup give nice performance for less dough?

Just so you all know, what I have now and want to be rid of is:

P4 478 2.6 400Mhz FSB (upgraded from a 1.6 which is now collecting dust in a box)
1 GB Rambus
40GB HD
CD-RW/DVD+/-RW
GeForce FX5600 Ultra 128Mb AGP (crippled to 4x by the old MB)
SB Audigy 2ZS

It's been good, and it's decent for basic needs, but I've finally become disappointed with the gaming.

- P.G.

[rond36]

I would get the P5N32-SLI Deluxe instead of the P5ND2-SLI.

The P5ND2-SLI has two PCI-E X16 slots but one of them only has 8 lanes.

The P5N32-SLI Deluxe has two PCI-E slots and both of them have the full 16 lanes.

Your processor is on the compatibility list for the P5N32-SLI Deluxe but it is not on the compatibility list for the P5ND2-SLI or the compatibility list for the P5ND2-SLI Deluxe.

[PrimeGen]

There seems to be a lot of confusion and trouble with the P5N32-SLI Deluxe from what I'm reading out on the web.

Maybe I should scrap Asus and go with something else that is more higher end processor friendly? Any suggestions? I want this build to go smoothly. I'm not looking for a one way ticket to RMA city.

Also, anyone have any thoughts on my question about the graphics?

And would I be taking a step back by skipping an SLI board altogether in favor of having a board with just one really high end card?

- P.G.

[saphalline]

One of the reasons AMD has been the CPU company of choice for gamers is because their CPU's lately have easily out-performed Intel's. And NVidia's SLI technology has been easier to set-up on AMD-based systems. The SLI chipset was made for AMD and wasn't ported over to Intel's side until many months later. In all the time since SLI has been released, I've never heard the words "Intel" and "smoothly" go together. Intel-based SLI systems usually have some weird little quirk in them, due largely to the fact that NVidia and Intel don't get along well. Past experience has shown me that investing in two companies that don't get along well is not a good investment.

Be that as it may, this whole idea of SLI may be a moot point anyway. There have been some recent benchmarks showcasing SLI's performance, or lack thereof. SLI is not a guarantee for better gaming performance, it all depends on how well the game's engine can cope with it. Even new A-list titles such as Age of Empires III have really bad SLI support, to the point where SLI can even hurt performance over a single vid card. Add to that the fact that SLI is only cost-effective if you can afford a second vid card within 6 months, and you can see why in general I've been recommending that people skip SLI altogether.

New vid cards are released so often that overshadow the previous generation that it becomes increasingly difficult to stay ahead of the curve. The new ATI Radeon X1900 XT, for instance, has so much shader power behind it that I foresee it being more future-proof than the fill-rate power of the GeForce 7800 GTX. Even the mighty 7800 GTX is about to be replaced by NVidia's next wave of GPU's within a couple of months. By year's end I don't think it audacious to conceive of high-end GPU's/VPU's on the market sporting 32 ROP's and a 1:2 ratio of ROP's to shader units. FP32/48 color support, ever faster Z-class implementations, and more efficient RAM bandwidth usage (or perhaps even 512-bit busses) could also make it onto the market. The vid card arena has long been out-pacing CPU advancements by an order of magnitude and I see no reason for it to slow down. In light of the issues with SLI (especially related to Intel), it may in fact be in your best interests to go with a single vid card system. I plan on spending quite a bit on my next core upgrade, and I'll be going with a single vid card myself.

[hockey man]

In order to make a suggestion about the graphics card, we need to know what you will be doing with the system. With dual graphics cards, the general rule of thumb is to get one great one insteat of two average ones. Then, if the budget is not there for 2 of those cards, or upgrading will not be in your future, we suggest not spending the money on a SLI MOBO.

[PrimeGen]

I want the PC for gaming and general use, the same as what I do with my current setup. I've just reached the threshold of my satisfaction with my gaming experience with the current hardware. I've not done a major update since '02/'03.

If anyone can steer me in the right direction I'd appreciate it. The cash is burning a hole in my pocket but I don't want to dive in without looking first.

Thanks.

- P.G.

[hockey man]

What is your budget? I forgot to ask earlier. . .sorry.

[rond36]

hockey man

I want a nice, fast gaming PC that doesn't break the bank. It's tax refund time and I don't want to spend it all on this. Some of it has to go toward a credit card. Ideally I want to spend no more than $1400 ($1600 worst case)all together.

I think you missed this in post #4

[hockey man]

Opps. . .my bad . . .okay, as Saphalline has pointed out, AMD is usually what gamers choose becuase at the moment, the are hands down better. . .but. . .things are changing. Here is an early benchmark of Intel's future- Conroe. A 940 is a great multi-tasking CPU, but it is not an excelent gaming CPU for its cost; that is why at this point I would wait until the third quarter when Conroe is expected to be released. In the above benchmark, a Intel Conroe E6700 @ 2.66GHz cleanly beat a AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 @ 2.8GHz in every test. That is the first time in a long time that Intel has come out on top. In other benchmarks that aren't new enough to have a Conroe in there, the AMD FX-60 is always near the top. . . .that is saying something. So, if you want to gam e well on an Intel, I would seriously suggest that you hold on for a bit. Another reason to hold on for a bit, is to let the new graphics technology cheapen up a bit. The 7900 series just came out. . .and they are really impressive! So, would you be willing to hold on?

[saphalline]

If anyone can steer me in the right direction I'd appreciate it. The cash is burning a hole in my pocket but I don't want to dive in without looking first.

As hockey man said, I would suggest waiting. We're about 4-6 months away from a massive CPU & socket upheaval. Intel's new Core microarchitecture is about to be released, and AMD is switching to a new socket and RAM type. In the area of CPU's, this does not happen often!

Last time Intel released a new microarchitecture was in 2001 with the release of the Pentium4. All CPU's since then have been modified versions of the Pentium4.

Last time AMD moved to a new socket was in 2003 with the release of the Athlon64. All CPU's since then have been modified versions of the Athlon64.

Give the fact that it's been 3-5 years since anything this major happened in the CPU arena, it would be in your best interest to wait another 4-6 months before buying. However, if you can't wait, we can certainly understand. At which point we would be more than willing to help you spend your money!