That motherboard isn't going to run SLI. And it would suck for X-fire as the 2nd slot is only x4. All I have is anecdotal evidence but from my experience with the ASRock board I setup in my dads machine it wouldn't run SLI with an x16/x4 slot setup. I even hacked it and it was a no go. I believe it's because the x4 slot is ran from the chipset and not through the CPU like the x16 slot is and the Nvidia drivers don't recognize it properly. However it will run X-fire in a reduced capacity. Also after about a year now the ASRock board is losing it's ability to overclock like it did when new.
This should be great for you.. It costs 493 euros total. If you want to you could SLI 560TIs for a total of $637. Otherwise, you are free to spend the rest on a SSD, case, etc. Prices in Euros- Total $493 i5 2500k $140 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/inte...-33ghz-hd3000-igp-850mhz-6mb-cache-95w-retail Asus P8Z68-V $104 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus...gb-s-raid-sata-pcie-20-(x16)-vga-on-board-atx Corsair 8GB 1600 Vengeance $35 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-...c3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-150v TX650 $70 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w...ff-80-plus-bronze-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-quiet Asus 560TI DirectCU II $144 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...830mhz-shader-1660mhz-384-cores-mhdmi-plusfre
Thanks to everyone who got back to me...and Agent-A101 and brendruis for providing the specs and links....2 questions though... 1) will the 1gb of memory on the GPU cause issues running higher resolutions when using my TV? The Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 looks suburb for my needs; however what I want going forward is to xfire/sli a second GPU - I notice that this board will run dual GPus in x8 configuration. Is this a big issue, as opposed to running dual GPUs x16 each? Is there a Z68 motherboard that runs dual x16 configuration? Or am i worrying for no reason. Thanks again Graham
1GB GPU should be plenty for 1080P and lower resolutions, so you are good. As for 8x/8x its only a small loss (2-3%) compared to x16/x16. Todays cards cant really saturate a x8 PCIe2.0 slot so dont worry about it all.
Agent-AO1 / Graham, I'm afraid 1gb will probably be on the low side and as you intend to keep your card for the next year or two I would recommend a hd 6950 2gb or atleast a gtx 570 1.25Gb from nvidia otherwise with new games coming and already some current games using a lot more than 1gb vram at 1080p you'll be left with a drop in fps and the inabillity to turn IQ settinhs like AA up simply due to a lack of vram.
Okay, gentlemen..so the concensus is Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 with an 6950 2gb - worth getting the Toxic from Sapphire?
yes the sapphire toxic is definately a great card and you might even get one with the shaders unlocked.
I cant remember where i read this, but something along the lines of AMD is now lasering out the 6950 so it physically cant run the extra shaders? if that is true and if that affects new stock, is it worth getting the card now? anyone heard this also or have i read an untruth on the internet (as if!!)
I can't recall reading anything concrete about laser cutting but the newer models are non reference so many do have limitations causing the shaders to not unlock, maybe even software but again this isn't confirmed. The sapphire toxic on the other hand is confirmed as having the ability to unlock shaders on many parts and the unlocked shaders bios' are already programmed onto the second bios so it's only a matter of moving the switch to find out if the card has the capability to run all the shaders unlocked.
unless you are willing to wait months for the new series cards to release or know of a reference hd 6950, no not really, also the sapphire toxic 6950 cards do run out of stock quite often.
been a couple of days since i had time to come back here, but just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for your help in specing up my new PC. here is the final lineup: Intel CPU Core i5 Unlocked 2500K Sandy Bridge Quad Core Processor Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 S1155 Motherboard Corsair Memory Vengeance Black 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz CAS 9 XMP Dual Channel 650W Corsair Enthusiast Series PSU 6950HD Sapphire Toxic Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive Total cost from Scan £733.96. Overclockers £776.93 - £43 difference but you do get Dirt 3 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution with OC and these come to £50 if bought separately and are both games i would enjoy. Old stuff to go with above Coolermaster Wavemaster case - http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/chassis/588-coolermaster-wavemaster/ 7200rpm Sata drive I have a few other bits and pieces such as heat extractors and a dual fan GPU cooler. just looking forward now to getting the new pc start of December!
Ah..yes..! served me well, despite being a little bean up in places. Going to be removing all the old internals and give it a proper clean inside and out.
I have a ASUS EAH 6950 card. It's spec's call for a minimum! of 650 watt power supply. In a perfect world, you would include 50% extra headroom in your power supply. (basicly it works out to a 1000 watt power supply). I like the extra cooling of this card as I have all setting in driver to max and all settings in my games to max and I only hit 60C once, for 30 seconds, else in the 50'sC.
ok...doing a look here http://www.extreme.outervision.com/ Which I took from these forums it a 597w PSU- i used a 6970 as my gpu selection as going for the toxic 6950. Sailing a little close to the wind!
Um yeah..headroom is all good, but not 50%, and 1000W is just ridiculous tbh. Also the recommended min PSU for my 6950 is 500W, not 650W. 600W is OK.
