The Furious Angels

FA Discussion => General => Topic started by: Maglorius on February 21, 2012, 10:46:52 pm

Title: Computer Hardware Assistance
Post by: Maglorius on February 21, 2012, 10:46:52 pm: I need a little assistance with my current gaming machine. The specs are listed below along with the upgrades I ordered.

Mother Board
XFX MB-N780-ISH9 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI Intel Motherboard 3-Way SLI Support

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813141005

CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor BX80562Q6600

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

Memory - (4 GB Total)
Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KHX6400D2LLK2/2G

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134066

Video Cards - (2 Installed SLI) I have a 3rd one also.

XFX PVT98WYDBF GeForce 9800 GTX+ Black Edition 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150327

Power Supply
ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ900 900W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Patent Piperock Modular Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817814013

Hard Drives (4 Installed in Raid)

Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136055

Case
XCLIO A380BK Fully Black SECC 1.0mm thickness ATX Full Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103010

Current Upgrades Ordered

SSD
OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706

Memory - (Ordered 2 sets to make a total 8GB)

Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KHX6400D2LLK2/4G

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104020

As I mentioned before, I currently still have a 3rd 9800 GTX+ I never installed in my computer, When I ordered my original PSU, I thought I was unable to hook up 3rd 9800 GTX+ video cards in SLI because of the power cable hook ups I was limited too.

This all changed when I saw this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjSI1fcGECA

The computer in this video has the same PSU, Tagan BZ900 with 3 XFX GeForce 260 GTX in 3 Way SLI.

After doing some research, I have come across 6 pin PCIe Splitters. I am not a "power guru" so I am not sure if I can use these types of splitters but if I can, how would I hook it up properly to avoid power issues?

Edit: Forgot to list CPU *Fixed*
Title: Re: Computer Hardware Assistance
Post by: Maglorius on February 22, 2012, 08:48:00 pm: Where the experts at? lol!

Calling you out!
Title: Re: Computer Hardware Assistance
Post by: likwidtek on February 23, 2012, 12:28:38 pm: So how many PCIe power plugs do you need vs how many your current power supply has?

Are the current PCIe power plugs all on independent cables?
Title: Re: Computer Hardware Assistance
Post by: Maglorius on February 23, 2012, 01:15:26 pm: This is the picture of what my PSU looks like.

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/ABS-Tagan-BZ-Series-BZ900-900W-ATX12V-EPS12V-SLI-Ready-CrossFire-Power-Supply-/00/s/OTYwWDEyODA=/$(KGrHqJ,!jQE8Jc0!)3+BPLHQUeryQ~~60_3.JPG

Here is a picture of the PSU power chart from the side.

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/5/8/1/0/8/0/webimg/518074158_o.jpg

Currently I have 4 PCI-E plugs coming from the PSU into 2 video cards. 2 red and 2 green connections. I have an open Sata/Molex port completely open and I could probably consolidate one of the other Sata/Molex ports on the other two.

The PSU has a "turbo" switch that is suppose to connect all the rails together, not sure if that is what I need to use or should I avoid it.

My thoughts were to purchase two splitters

2 of these if it will work
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812201004

or

2 of these if I require the power
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200106

I am lacking the knowledge on "power" when it comes to properly distributing what is needed for each device.
Title: Re: Computer Hardware Assistance
Post by: likwidtek on February 23, 2012, 02:03:51 pm: They'll work but they'll eat up all your molex connectors. using 6 connectors and that much power for 3 VERY outdated cards seems silly. Honestly, I'd sell each one of them on the cheap and slap that money towards a current generation card. They're going for $30 each on Ebay right now. That's $100 off of a current DX11 card.

That's just me though. Running those 3 old cards in SLI is going to cost you a lot in electricity too. Not to mention the extra heat they'll put out.
Title: Re: Computer Hardware Assistance
Post by: Maglorius on February 23, 2012, 06:47:00 pm: I think its just a matter of, i have the parts and the upgrades were a minimum expense. So why not use what i have until it dies completely.

I know i could sell off the video card, but i am actually ok with the performance and not worried so much about the power bill or heat.

I am just not sure which splitters i need to use to hook them up properly.

My components will consist of:
cpu and fan
8 gb memory
3 9800
Dvd burner
4 HD 250 GB each
1 SSD
1 320MM fan
1 250MM fan
2 120MM fan
Title: Re: Computer Hardware Assistance
Post by: likwidtek on February 23, 2012, 07:26:21 pm: Try the 1 to 1 power adapters with the PSU in turbo mode. If it distributes the power evenly to all the rails you should be fine. It won't hurt anything. Worst case youll get an error from the driver saying one of the cards isn't getting enough power.
Title: Re: Computer Hardware Assistance
Post by: Maglorius on February 24, 2012, 08:11:32 am: Thanks for the help Likwidtek!
Title: Re: Computer Hardware Assistance
Post by: likwidtek on February 24, 2012, 10:49:05 am: Good luck dude!