I would sure hope so.
Well it appears like the cards aren’t compatible with crossfire. But I happened to find this.
What would be the performance increase on a crossfire set of Radeon HD 6450 compared to a single Radeon x1950? (I sure hope there is an increase…)
As you can see I’m on a low budget here. 
How much are you willing to spend on a new GPU?
I would prefer under 100$, for a since GPU or crossfire/sli setup with dual dvi. Although if it isn’t worth it to buy the cheaper GPU’s I will probably just save up.
Get this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150540
It will run everything, including but not limited to, Battlefield 3, Skyrim, and Dota 2.
Update!!! I found a sale. I can upgrade my disc drive to a blu-ray writer for the same price!
The card reader isn’t able to be supported simultaneously with my case’s usb ports so… I’m looking for a new one of those. Everything else works fine. Light up fans are cool.
How cool is newegg with you saying “hey… this part is perfectly fine I just don’t have the room on my motherboard”?
Well, I guess it depends. Did you already buy the part? Otherwise I suggest not ordering it at all.
I’ve got the old H50 in a PC I used as a server for TF2, they aren’t bad, although dedicated loops perform much better.
If you want to go liquid but aren’t quite ready to make the jump they are ok, but I’d say you are better off building you own CPU blocks and getting a cheap pump and radiator, and it will then be more modular.
Here’s a really easy example:
Now, this block isn’t the best you can build, but it isn’t half bad. It won’t look the cleanest, but in the beginning DIY was all you could usually get and most blocks looked similar to it.
You can also get one milled at a local machine shop for a decent price(usually cheaper than retail), but you need to be good with CAD. I’ve seen some really nice custom Waterblocks, some even perform better than retail blocks.
I’ll have to look into that. Currently I get my blocks from Koolance, and they aren’t cheap. I bet I can save myself and my customers some money by getting my own made. Can you do me a favor and PM me with some more info about that if you have any?
I don’t have much information on machining them as I’ve never personally had it done. I would take a look at the designs of others and see how they set theirs up. Maybe ask around a lot in the DIY and diehard cooling community, I’m sure somebody would be willing to help you plan them out.
Awesome, thank you sir.
Question, though I’m sure I know the answer. I’m gonna dut and rebuild my computer from scratch. While I’ve got my data files and whatnot on my WHS2011 rig, I always worry about having to do a fresh install and forgetting a program or 3 that I need and can’t find anymore. So, once I replace the mobo, what’s the best way to go about getting everything back in order, if plugging the old drive won’t do it (or will it, provided I feel like chasing down dead drivers?)
The magical computer! It’s built! Yay! I’m actually using it right now.
Maybe a 690?
Personally, I’d much rather see a budget friendly 660 or 670… mainly because I want the price of the 570 to go down so I can pick one up.
I already ordered my new case that I can actually fit one in. I think the Black and Green NZXT Phantom will look very nice. It will be the first full tower I’ve ever purchased for myself, and I’m really looking forward to owning one.
EDIT: Crap… Didn’t realize I just double posted. My bad.
Woohoo, I have everything installed in my new case.
First, the exterior. (yes that is a wii to the right of it)
http://i.imgur.com/Afswvl.jpg?1
Now it’s time for the shot of everything inside*:
http://i.imgur.com/FOqXwl.jpg?1
- You can see all the cables that come off of the PSU, and there are so few poking out, this case has A LOT of room behind the mobo tray, like 1.5" of clearance.
And here’s a closer view of my cable management attempt:
http://i.imgur.com/JkFuIl.jpg?1
And here are it’s modest specs:
Case: NZXT Phantom Black/Green (quite obvious… LOL)
PSU: Thermaltake 600W, nothing really special here
Mobo: ASUS M4A78L-M Motherboard (AM2+, so I want to pick up AM3+ to make full use of the CPU, as well as provide upgrade potential)
CPU: AMD Athon II x2 240 @2.8ghz stock(going to try and unlock the multi, as it can be done on this CPU, It’s a rebranded Operton)
Ram: 2gb DDR2 RAM(slots are full, and I’m not buying any more as I’ll be picking up a new mobo and DDR3 ram eventually)
GFX Card: EVGA 8800GT Superclocked @702mhz core (Stock 650mhz, reference card is 600mhz)
Capture Hardware: Blackmagic Design Intensity Pro HD PCIe x1 Capture Card. (above the GFX card in the pics) If you want HD captures, I highly recommend it.
Monitor: Samsung S22A350H - My personal favorite monitor, the colors on it are amazing once calibrated properly. Ridiculously bright too(turn it down or you will melt your eyes). Great for Movies and Anime.
Mouse: Razer Deathadder 3500dpi version - Very comfortable, and excellent for gaming.
^^I love the green LED’s!
I purchased a mobo from the trading outlet and pulled enough components from “dead” computers to build a pretty decent starter system. I’m throwing them all in a Cooler Master Elite 311 (black/red) I bought for $45 shipped off Newegg. I’ll post some pics when it’s done! 
Less than 5 1/2 hrs until the nVidia special announcement…
You kids and your phantoms, I swear.
I’m am anxiously awaiting both your build, and the announcement. It can completely dictate what graphics hardware I purchase. A new flagship card would be awesome. The green LED’s are very awesome, actually. They aren’t too bright to be distracting either.
The cooler master elite is a pretty decent case, I think you will enjoy it.
I love formal cases as much as the next guy, but the Corsair Obsidian Series Cases are way too expensive for me to justify purchasing one. I really wanted a full tower, and I love the look of NZXT’s cases in general. I saw some excellent reviews on this case, and I liked the general appearance(and I really like black and green), so I jumped on it. It’s all a matter of preference anyway. It also has a built in fan controller, and it’s actually not that bad(I have owned a sentry 2, and while not quite as high tech as the sentry, it does the job pretty well).
The pictures really don’t do the case justice though, the appearance is excellent and I appreciate even the most minor of construction choices. I don’t know if you’ve owned a phantom, but I think it may change your opinion on the case. Cable management is pretty excellent as well, although I was a little disappointed that the SATA cable I used for the DVD drive didn’t reach if I routed it behind the motherboard tray, so It’s sort of hanging there in the middle. (my fault though, my cables are too short). The HDD’s are to be mounted in the in the trays backwards so they can be plugged in from behind the tray and keep the cables out of sight. I wish the sleeving on my PSU cables was more flexible, as I could have made it a lot cleaner if that was the case. With all the room, It would be excellent for liquid cooling as well.