[nearmiss]

BSHD

I will take back the 9800 GTX board for sure. Maybe if you have a minute you would look at :

http://microcenter.com/search/search_re ... submit.y=4

There are three 8800 choices I will get anyone you suggest.

I've got the memory 4 gig on two plug-ins. Using XP is great as far as I'm concerned. My wife has the Vista on her machine, which is fine. She loves to do all the media and picture processing stuff.
The tricked out stuff is a overkill for IL2 series. I'm not in to any games except Combat Flight Simulators anyway.

Here is the ram memory I purchased.

http://shop2.frys.com/product/5523110?s ... IN_RSLT_PG

Taking stuff back isn't an issue. I have to live with this system for the next 2-3 years. Conscientious efforts now I hope will pay big dividends. I careless, if I pay restocking fees I'd hope to be much better off system wise.

MY X241W Acer 24" monitor would not drive screen via a DVI cable. I've been using it Analog for some time. When I hooked up the new VC (two DVI ports) even with the Analog adapter the monitor was giving me a "No Signal". I just sent it back for depot repair, whatever the heck that is.

I do appreciate all your input. Sorry I got distracted. I understand the feeling more than you realize. I've spent over 20 years as a consultant. I've given a lot of advice and a great deal of it wasn't regarded. I don't blame people. It's gotta have something to do with human nature being what it is.

I look for forward to your response

Thanks again

[SVHAK]

http://www.asus.com.tw/products.aspx?l1 ... odelmenu=1

http://www.antaresdigital.com/customer/ ... 435&page=1

Hi, don't take my advice, listen to the expert :wink: I'm just posting so you see what i got.

My card is the bottom one, it's open (no wrapping) & has the big fan, in fact 50% of the card is fan.......that is great :wink: I am not to happy about those other enclosed cards with all that nice wrapping around, i'm sure there are heating problems in there :lol:

Do not get one of those new silent ones with no fans & modern cooling systems, my mate got an 8600 with all that modern stuff & is having lots off issues........you want it with a big fan.

Well good luck :wink:

Ps- couldn't find a benchmark comparison between the 8800 & 9800, sorry.

[BigSilverHotdog]

No problems mate, and sorry if I sometimes come across as egotistical or arrogant -- I simply don't have time to argue with the 10,000 internet trolls who all think they know better than me. (my vista rant was obviously directed at Gentlekiller who didn't even bother explaining his stance he just announced one and disappeared) I'm a results oriented kinda guy -- less fluff, more substance.

Of the video cards you linked to the 8800GTS 512mb is the better, as the GTS512 is the "new" GTS series based on the revised g92 core the same as the 8800GT (which is also the revised version). It has higher clock speeds and slightly more cores/texunits. A friend bought 2 for SLI and regrets it only because one was more than enough. He decided to keep the SLI for now in the hope more games come out that use them, but my 8800GT setup runs all the games we play at nearly identical speeds (we both have Q6600 clocked at 3.2 as well, same OS, same game settings, hell I set his entire system up to match mine because that is what he asked for).

The Acer sounds defective. Sorry about that it does happen to every brand no matter how good. Never happened to me so far though and we're still using the 3 we've purchased over the years in our home, and friends who have bought the same on my recommendation are still using them without a problem. Fingers crossed.

PS: Good memory.

PSS: SHVAK actually the cooling system on your card is probably less effective than the "wrap around" ones. The wrap around ones are hiding a very effective cooling system that channels air across a large surface area heatsink and out, cooling the memory AND the cpu together as a unit. VERY effective and a much more quiet fan. This is why they went with it as the reference design. Here is the system I am referring to: http://www.ncalcomputers.com/catalog2/i ... 800_gt.jpg

My wife has that one. Here is mine -- but i took off the fan shroud

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127329

[GentleKiller]

No problems mate, and sorry if I sometimes come across as egotistical or arrogant -- I simply don't have time to argue with the 10,000 internet trolls who all think they know better than me. (my vista rant was obviously directed at Gentlekiller who didn't even bother explaining his stance he just announced one and disappeared) I'm a results oriented kinda guy -- less fluff, more substance.

Of the video cards you linked to the 8800GTS 512mb is the better, as the GTS512 is the "new" GTS series based on the revised g92 core the same as the 8800GT (which is also the revised version). It has higher clock speeds and slightly more cores/texunits. A friend bought 2 for SLI and regrets it only because one was more than enough. He decided to keep the SLI for now in the hope more games come out that use them, but my 8800GT setup runs all the games we play at nearly identical speeds (we both have Q6600 clocked at 3.2 as well, same OS, same game settings, hell I set his entire system up to match mine because that is what he asked for).

The Acer sounds defective. Sorry about that it does happen to every brand no matter how good. Never happened to me so far though and we're still using the 3 we've purchased over the years in our home, and friends who have bought the same on my recommendation are still using them without a problem. Fingers crossed.

PS: Good memory.

PSS: SHVAK actually the cooling system on your card is probably less effective than the "wrap around" ones. The wrap around ones are hiding a very effective cooling system that channels air across a large surface area heatsink and out, cooling the memory AND the cpu together as a unit. VERY effective and a much more quiet fan. This is why they went with it as the reference design. Here is the system I am referring to: http://www.ncalcomputers.com/catalog2/i ... 800_gt.jpg

My wife has that one. Here is mine -- but i took off the fan shroud

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127329

well, i am telling you for me, the vista is flaweless, and remember about the beginning of XP? :wink:

[SVHAK]

PSS: SHVAK actually the cooling system on your card is probably less effective than the "wrap around" ones. The wrap around ones are hiding a very effective cooling system that channels air across a large surface area heatsink and out, cooling the memory AND the cpu together as a unit. VERY effective and a much more quiet fan. This is why they went with it as the reference design. Here is the system I am referring to: http://www.ncalcomputers.com/catalog2/i ... 800_gt.jpg

My wife has that one. Here is mine -- but i took off the fan shroud

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127329

Good to know........thanks :wink:

I have no issues with it.......probably cos the box is full fans......if it had wings it would take off.

Anyway, thanks for your always good, quick & down to earth no messing about approach to advice, I've done a lot of what you've mentioned in other posts & my system is now working full blast.

Thanks. :wink:

[nearmiss]

BSHD

I'll take the 9900 GTX back today. I opened it and they may charge a restocking fee. I really don't care. I will leave experimentation to the hinder world.

Thank you

[nearmiss]

No problems mate, and sorry if I sometimes come across as egotistical or arrogant -- I simply don't have time to argue with the 10,000 internet trolls who all think they know better than me. (my vista rant was obviously directed at Gentlekiller who didn't even bother explaining his stance he just announced one and disappeared) I'm a results oriented kinda guy -- less fluff, more substance.

Of the video cards you linked to the 8800GTS 512mb is the better, as the GTS512 is the "new" GTS series based on the revised g92 core the same as the 8800GT (which is also the revised version). It has higher clock speeds and slightly more cores/texunits. A friend bought 2 for SLI and regrets it only because one was more than enough. He decided to keep the SLI for now in the hope more games come out that use them, but my 8800GT setup runs all the games we play at nearly identical speeds (we both have Q6600 clocked at 3.2 as well, same OS, same game settings, hell I set his entire system up to match mine because that is what he asked for).

The Acer sounds defective. Sorry about that it does happen to every brand no matter how good. Never happened to me so far though and we're still using the 3 we've purchased over the years in our home, and friends who have bought the same on my recommendation are still using them without a problem. Fingers crossed.

PS: Good memory.

PSS: SHVAK actually the cooling system on your card is probably less effective than the "wrap around" ones. The wrap around ones are hiding a very effective cooling system that channels air across a large surface area heatsink and out, cooling the memory AND the cpu together as a unit. VERY effective and a much more quiet fan. This is why they went with it as the reference design. Here is the system I am referring to: http://www.ncalcomputers.com/catalog2/i ... 800_gt.jpg

My wife has that one. Here is mine -- but i took off the fan shroud

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127329

I remember when guys came over to the house and saw my system 5+years ago, They laughed at my big fan placed and aimed to cool my computer. Those were the GeForce2 and 3 days when I actually placed a 110VAC fan facing into the open case of my computer to keep it cooler. It was a 4" fan used in electronic power supplies. I've still got the big blowing baby in my parts box. Maybe, I'll have to resort to it again someday. LOL

I bought the ANTEC 900 case for this new system, since my old case only had 2 small fans. The ALtec case has fans out the wazoo and is setup to accept a couple more. THe case is the same size as my old one, and the fans have blue LEDS facing into each fan 90 degrees apart.

http://www.antec.com/productImage.php?P ... SetZone=en

When someone walks into the room at night when I'm done with this puppy they'll think they're in a disco. LOL

[BigSilverHotdog]

Yeah I built my wife's machine to be flashy and loud.

http://www.sunbeamtech.com/PRODUCTS/Tra ... -Blue7.jpg

I installed a blue LED kit in the side in addition to 2x120mm blue led fans (front and back) and the 3 80mm blue led fans that came with it (side and top)... too bright. I turn it off whenever she isn't around lol...

Edit: And yes, the good old days showed us some good times. The Geforce2 GTS was my first geforce card, I upgraded from a TNT2 Ultra which itself was an upgrade from a Voodoo3 (I was into this stuff big time even back then when 32bit vs 16bit color was the hot issue). I remember buying Vigilance because it looked like a really refined action game (3dfx ONLY and I had voodoo2 SLI back when SLI really WAS SLI) and it was one of the most disappointing poo-piles of the 90s. Still, good times.

[nearmiss]

Yeah I built my wife's machine to be flashy and loud.

http://www.sunbeamtech.com/PRODUCTS/Tra ... -Blue7.jpg

I installed a blue LED kit in the side in addition to 2x120mm blue led fans (front and back) and the 3 80mm blue led fans that came with it (side and top)... too bright. I turn it off whenever she isn't around lol...

Oh Yeah! that'll get it.

[Morbit]

I don't know mates :o
9800's are cutting edge with pci express 2 (you'll need a new motherboard for that) and open gl 2.1
and they're getting great reviews over on Newegg, but they're already talking about a 9900 :roll:

In order to take advantage of the DX10 you're going to need vista
what I've done is I'm running a dual boot with XP pro and Vista32

right now I'm running a core dual 6600 OC, 8800gtx,and a 24in acer In 1920x1200
Works great for now, but what about BOB :wink:

[nearmiss]

Morbit

I'm no authority, but I don't waste my time reading reviews from any site that sells what they review. It's nothing for newegg or other similar sites to remove negative reviews.

I don't even trust Guru3d anymore, because they get their revenues by product promotion. You can buy Articles as advertising disguised in the article format.

IMO, forums are the best route to decent information about products. It is harder to ferret out the information, but in the long run it's better advice. IMO, of course.

The dual boot is a sensible solution

[BigSilverHotdog]

I don't know mates :o
9800's are cutting edge with pci express 2 (you'll need a new motherboard for that) and open gl 2.1
and they're getting great reviews over on Newegg, but they're already talking about a 9900 :roll:

In order to take advantage of the DX10 you're going to need vista
what I've done is I'm running a dual boot with XP pro and Vista32

right now I'm running a core dual 6600 OC, 8800gtx,and a 24in acer In 1920x1200
Works great for now, but what about BOB :wink:

This is the kind of hype-regurgitation I'm talking about. The 9800 is not cutting edge. It is 2 8800 cores sandwiched onto 1 card, running with SLI mode automatically enabled and set in nvidia drivers. How can you use the term "cutting edge" to describe technology that is well over 2 years old? (or older depending on what parts you count) Despite being on one card it is STILL a 2-GPU SLI solution. It was designed to lure 2 types of buyers: the gullible or ignorant with plenty of cash, and the single slot people (especially SFF) who want SLI but for whatever reason can only have 1 slot. I was once one of those people that talked up SLI like it was worthwhile, then I actually used it for a year. It isn't.

Dual booting is a possibility if you wish to use Vista for some reason. I can't think of any good reason, but if you can, it's much preferable to dual boot than to abandon XP right now. DX10 remains useless, only a few games look -slightly- better with DX10 effects enabled and the performance hit is awful. Plus compatibility is still rancid.

BOB is unlikely to take advantage of multiple GPUs. If you have information to suggest otherwise, please link us. I have a feeling people are expecting far too much from BOB, and will be very disappointed when it's not the jump that IL2 was over... well what did we have before... Jane's WWII Fighters perhaps?

PS: What's a "core dual 6600 oc" -- Do you mean core2quad Q6600?

Back to work...

Edit: Picture of my office assistant for s&g --

http://b.imagehost.org/0796/Picture_059.jpg

[nearmiss]

I've just returned from MicroCenter. I returned the 9800 GTX card.

My inquiry about the 8800 GTS card turned up no cards in stock.

The clerk went so far as to say they would not re-order as it was a discontinued item.

NewEgg shows to have ample supply of the cards.

http://www.newegg.com/

BSHD, I would appreciate you taking a minute and give me a couple of best choices from newegg.

Thanks

[BigSilverHotdog]

#1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130337

#2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130325

#3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814143119

EVGA or BFG because low chance of defective, excellent price, but most of all, best customer/RMA service. EVGA typically gets your rebate check back to you within 2 weeks, by far the fastest I've seen in the industry graphics or otherwise.

Edit: Remember the 8800GTS512 runs hotter than the 8800GT. Quite a bit hotter, in fact, around 65-70C idle as I recall.

[nearmiss]

#1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130337

#2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130325

#3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814143119

EVGA or BFG because low chance of defective, excellent price, but most of all, best customer/RMA service. EVGA typically gets your rebate check back to you within 2 weeks, by far the fastest I've seen in the industry graphics or otherwise.

Edit: Remember the 8800GTS512 runs hotter than the 8800GT. Quite a bit hotter, in fact, around 65-70C idle as I recall.

Ordered the #1 choice above.

Thank you