Moving Back Home

[Bush]

So I’m in the process of packing up and moving back to the US. I built a computer here in China and I’m disassembling and bringing back the mobo, cpu, ram, vid card, hd, and dvd..

 

Here is what I’m bringing back:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core

ASUS A8N-SLI ATX AMD Motherboard

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel

XFX Geforce 7900GTX

Maxtor DiamondMax 10 250GB 3.5" Serial ATA150 Hard Drive

 

The problem I have is that I don’t have a case or psu back in the states that I want use. I have a Lian Li PC-65 that has other hardware in it. For awhile now I’ve been looking at putting something together that is a little more portable for lan’s. And I want to have something waiting for me when I land back in the States.

 

Lian Li PC-V300B

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811112113

 

I know they are expensive, but I put together a Lian Li PC-65 awhile ago and absolutely love the case, so with that said I am to going stick with the Lian Li and the PC-V300. It’s in the budget.

 

Now I need a MB

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813186115

 

Or should I purchase another video card and go SLI and use the existing mother board and swap cases with the Lian Li PC-65. The current case is a cheap foxconn case that I didn’t intend on shipping back home, but decided to so I can put something together for the fiancé.

 

Would I get that much of a performance boost going SLI? The only games I play are CSS, BF2, FEAR, and Wow.

 

Or am I going completely down the wrong road and there are micro atx mobo’s that support SLI. I just didn’t see any at newegg. Or do you only need two PCI E’s? I don’t know, I’m a bit out of the loop on this stuff.

 

In a nutshell I just feel like purchasing some hardware, it’s been over a year, and my next upgrade isn’t until late next fall when I will be building a complete new system.

[boiler]

To be honest, if you're planning on building a whole new system in the fall, I don't think there's a single thing wrong with the setup you have right now. I'm not an AMD guy, but that processor is still pretty solid for most stuff out right now. I definitely wouldn't get another 7900gtx for SLI, it's just not worth the money. Your processor would hold it back, and for the money it wouldn't be much more to go with an 8800gts or something. Cujo has said this before, and I'll quote him on it: SLI just isn't worth the money unless you buy both cards at the same time. Your card is definitely no slouch, and I wouldn't touch it until you do your new build and go DX10.

 

That's a cool looking micro atx case. You may be able to find some more "portable" mid-tower cases, but they may not be what you are wanting. My only word of caution on that is make sure there's enough room in that micro atx case for your hardware, and especially that 7900gtx. That's a big card, and things may get really cramped. Reading just the first few reviews of that case seem to indicate that you either will have a LOT of trouble getting your vid card in that case, or it flat won't fit at all. With that big card, you're probably going to have to go with at least a smallish mid-tower case to avoid the headaches/case modding. I would also be concerned about heat in that small case.

 

I will say that I've worked with a few micro tower cases that *might* have enough room in them for a card that size, but I would have to check on that.

 

Unless you really really want to go micro atx (and can find a case to comfortably fit that card), I wouldn't replace your motherboard either. In my opinion it doesn't make much sense to buy a new motherboard right now unless you're going with one of the new intel core 2's (or AM2 if you're an AMD-only guy) and then you would have to buy a new processor and RAM if you did that. You don't NEED SLI if you want to buy a micro atx mobo though - I don't think they even make micro's with SLI, but I haven't really checked. I can't imagine them having the space for it though.

 

CONCLUSION:

I would buy a nice new case (probably "portable" mid-tower - maybe micro tower) and 500W-ish power supply and enjoy your current stuff until you do a fresh build in the fall. for PSU's, I have an Antec Neo 550W modular PSU and it's great. (I'm running a core 2 E6600 and 8800gts with it).

 

In the end though, it's your money so spend as you wish! I can't recommend that case you picked though for the hardware you listed. Just read the reviews carefully to see if your stuff will fit, then find a good one!

[Cujo]

to echo what boiler said, all those games are limited more by your cpu then by that card unless you're running res up above 1600x1200 but even then my x1950xtx isn't limiting my css at 1920...

 

overall, his comments are spot on.

[Preacher]

A nice alternative case might be the Ultra Microfly It has a little more space and uses a standard size Power supply. While slightly deeper than the Lian Li it is also a very nice case. This also might be an alternative