Will a 8800GTX work with my rig?

I am concerned about power and possible bottleneck from processor, see my sig for my current rig - 8800GTX arrives tonight - specs for my psu can be found at newegg

Hi Grandad -

I used the power supply calculator on this page. It's the best psu calc. Got that you'd be at about 425w of power usage with the cpu overclocked to 3Ghz and everything running @ 100%, which would only happen during intense gaming or while running gpu benches.

So, as long as your psu can run @ 65% of it's 680w capacity still, it should be fine. By the time most psu's are about 3-years old (estimate), their capability will be down to about 80%. So, your psu would have to aged a great deal to not run 1 8800GTX, which would be very unlikely.

Thanks for the reply, I am fairly comfortable with the wattage of my PSU - I do however have reservations about the amps available on the 12 v rails, I am not sure how this works but mine seems lower than what is recommended.

And ... congrats on getting a new 8800GTX!

Looks like the 8800GTX needs about 18a max. The 8800GTX requires two pcie plugs, as you know. Your two 12v rails are rated at 16a-22a and 18a-24a. So, you should be fine, whether the pcie plugs are on the same rail or on different rails.

No I didn't know it required two

but I think my PSU has two available? not near my rig right now - anybody got any thoughts on compatibility with FX55, was wondering if that single core processor would cause a bottleneck?

Your psu has two pcie plugs, Grandad.

Well, in it's day the FX-55 was quite the chip. But, it's topped pretty easily by any Conroe or Wolfdale Intel, dual or quad. What that will mean is that you won't be getting the kind of framerates out of your GTX that it's capable of, probably only about 50% of what an overclocked Intel would give you.

If you wanted to make a change, you'd go Intel, which would require a new motherboard. It would run you about $550 - $650 to get a good MB, cpu, and RAM set. Intel chipsets and cpus are amazingly fast compared to AMDs, and your typical 2.66GHz Conroe will easily overclock to 3.6Ghz or higher. The newer Wolfdales, will almost all overclock beyond 4Ghz - at which speed you'll be getting excellent framerates out of you new GTX.

Now, I just need to convince my wife of this

QUOTE (Grandad @ February 20, 2008 12:11 pm)

Now, I just need to convince my wife of this

Ha - right. I'm sure that the 150%-180% framerate increase in game playing would be the clincher.

Looks like the wolfdales are the ones to have if you can find one! what mb and ram would I put with that?

Coolcase makes a good point about upgrading.

Here is a mobo and mem that wouldn't cost too much.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131225

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820145590

This would be a nice value choice. You can always spend a little more for the next step up, but this would be a great improvement over what you currently have and still be very high quality.

QUOTE (cool_case @ February 20, 2008 06:06 pm)

Hi Grandad -

I used the power supply calculator on this page. It's the best psu calc. Got that you'd be at about 425w of power usage with the cpu overclocked to 3Ghz and everything running @ 100%, which would only happen during intense gaming or while running gpu benches.

So, as long as your psu can run @ 65% of it's 680w capacity still, it should be fine. By the time most psu's are about 3-years old (estimate), their capability will be down to about 80%. So, your psu would have to aged a great deal to not run 1 8800GTX, which would be very unlikely.

Do you have the full version of that calculator? If you do, would you mind doing a bit calculating for me too?

in case you do, new specs will look like this:
Mobo:
Asus Striker II Formula
CPU:
Core 2 Extreme QX9650
GPU:
2xGeForce 8800GTS
Memory:
4Gb Corsair Dominator 1066Mhz DDR2
HDD's:
3xWD Raptor 150Gb
1xSeagate Barracuda 400Gb

PSU is this one:
http://www.lc-power.com/htm/products_detai..._id=31&a_id=130

MTM - sure.

Do you want the estimate @ stock or at overclock? If at overclock, what MHz would you be shooting for and what is the max vcore you'd use? Also, would you overclock your video cards?

QUOTE (cool_case @ February 20, 2008 09:41 pm)

MTM - sure.

Do you want the estimate @ stock or at overclock? If at overclock, what MHz would you be shooting for and what is the max vcore you'd use? Also, would you overclock your video cards?

Both, if possible

I will start at stock, but i will be doing some overclocking later on.
I haven't actually checked what the standard VCore for the CPU is, but i assume that it is lower than in older CPU's? Anyway, i won't be shooting over 4Ghz, more like 3,5 or something in that area.

GPU's i would probably overclock slightly, maybe around 10% or something like that. Of course i'd might want to try something more extreme at times, but not for 24/7 use.

QUOTE (MTM1977 @ February 20, 2008 02:49 pm)

QUOTE (cool_case @ February 20, 2008 09:41 pm)

MTM - sure.

Do you want the estimate @ stock or at overclock? If at overclock, what MHz would you be shooting for and what is the max vcore you'd use? Also, would you overclock your video cards?

Both, if possible

I will start at stock, but i will be doing some overclocking later on.
I haven't actually checked what the standard VCore for the CPU is, but i assume that it is lower than in older CPU's? Anyway, i won't be shooting over 4Ghz, more like 3,5 or something in that area.

GPU's i would probably overclock slightly, maybe around 10% or something like that. Of course i'd might want to try something more extreme at times, but not for 24/7 use.

At stock about 550 w
At 3500MHz oc - about 640w
At 4Ghz - about 700w

Add at most 50w to each for about a 10% video oc.

All estimates are high, as I've selected the psu and all components @ 100% load, which would only happen during intense benching or heavy gaming.