Building new system

[cb]

Hi all,

I'm getting ready to build a new machine but will use Win XP Pro rather than Vista for now. I'll be getting a NVidia 680i motherboard. So a few questions:

1. Are the new DirectX 10 cards backward compatible with DX 9?

2. If a card it touted as "built for Windows Vista" does that mean it will only work with Vista? (I hear this is true of some memory)

3. Do DVI to D-sub adapters work well? I have a Samsung SyncMaster 957 monitor I am very happy with.

4. I plan on doing some gaming (older games primarily for now - not DX10) and also connecting to a 61" rear projection HDTV (to be bought soon. So, recommended SLI cards in the $100 to $200 range?

Thanks all!

 

[Fallen Kell]

Originally posted by: cb
Hi all,

I'm getting ready to build a new machine but will use Win XP Pro rather than Vista for now. I'll be getting a NVidia 680i motherboard. So a few questions:

1. Are the new DirectX 10 cards backward compatible with DX 9?

Yes

2. If a card it touted as "built for Windows Vista" does that mean it will only work with Vista? (I hear this is true of some memory)

No

3. Do DVI to D-sub adapters work well? I have a Samsung SyncMaster 957 monitor I am very happy with.

They simply convert the DVI-A signal portion into a VGA pin out, so as long as the analog out on the video card is good, then the converter is good.

4. I plan on doing some gaming (older games primarily for now - not DX10) and also connecting to a 61" rear projection HDTV (to be bought soon. So, recommended SLI cards in the $100 to $200 range?

Thanks all!

What kind of HDTV? 1080p native? 1080i native? 720p native? These will make a big difference in what card(s) you should be looking for. A 1080p display will need a very beefy card to get the 1920x1080 resolution. A 720p will only need to do 1280x720, so 1080p is almost double the number of pixels that the card would have to render.

Really though, in that price range, you will be better off getting a single higher end card then 2 lower end cards to SLI, as the difference between the last few generations of cards show that the newer generations have all been as fast or faster then the SLI setup of the older generation.

 

[cb]

Thanks, Fallen. Regarding the TV, it will be a 1080P native which I understand translates to 1920 x 1080. Right now I'm looking at the Samsung HL-T 6189 LED DLP but I could end up doing a Sony XBR3 once available or a JVC d-ILA.

cb

 

[undeclared]

Outputting to the tv isn't really a big deal, as even the cheap cards have an HDTV decoder chip or similar built-in.

My suggestion: 8800 GTS 320 (based on your price range), 640mb ver if you use 1600x1200 or higher.

The TV stuff will be handled fine, especially if the TV for example has HDMI or VGA (D-Sub) in some cases.

I suggest you look into it. If it costs a little extra, pay it. That is, it will run all DX9 games very very well.

 

[cb]

Ooookay. Then let me throw this in. Most of my gaming activity will be on a monitor normally at 1280 x 1024 and not more than 1600 x 1200. As for the TV - occasional use with the PC - 1920 x 1080 (1080p) or maybe 1840 x 1036 (an overscan thing - don't ask). If I get an 8800 GTS, do I really need 640 or should 320 suffice for RAM? And, do I even need a SLI MB or is it just smart to get one anyway? thanks again.

 

[aka1nas]

You can probably get by with the 320MB card, but at that resolution you may take a performance hit when running AA in some games compared to the 640MB card.

 

[undeclared]

SLI MB is kind of a waste of money unless you are going to use the features really IMO

I think the Asus P5N-E (Nforce 650i) is a better choice personally, but that's just me..

680i is very expensive, and you can pop that money into the CPU or video card instead

 

[cb]

Thanks everyone, great advice!

 

[tuteja1986]

Originally posted by: cb
Hi all,

I'm getting ready to build a new machine but will use Win XP Pro rather than Vista for now. I'll be getting a NVidia 680i motherboard. So a few questions:

1. Are the new DirectX 10 cards backward compatible with DX 9?

2. If a card it touted as "built for Windows Vista" does that mean it will only work with Vista? (I hear this is true of some memory)

3. Do DVI to D-sub adapters work well? I have a Samsung SyncMaster 957 monitor I am very happy with.

4. I plan on doing some gaming (older games primarily for now - not DX10) and also connecting to a 61" rear projection HDTV (to be bought soon. So, recommended SLI cards in the $100 to $200 range?

Thanks all!

SLI is bad ! Don't get it you plan to play old games ! don't think about it if you are about to run windows vista because SLI driver suck on vista. One 8800GTS/2900XT will do you fine in 1080p resolution. Just get a decent 590 Nvidia chipset or 650 chipset if you really want to go SLI but don't come crying on the forums when you see old games like deus ex refuse to work on vista/sli.