tyrellcorp

hi there,
i am in the process of building my first desktop. I have just bought the processor, which is the new quad core intel extreme 2.93mhz, and i want to make the system with two crossfire cards.Does anyone have any advice on which motherboard is the best suited for this set up. And are there any pitfalls or things i should know before i start buying the rest of the componants.Like , can i use a nividia chip set board with ati graphic cards or do i have to stay with intel or amd? when it says SLI ready on the board does this mean i have to buy nvidia cards to be compatiple or doesnt it matter? Should i buy one of these LAN party boards? Any feedback on this would be extremely helpful..!!!

IModIntel

For a Workstation, you would have been better off buying a quad Core Xeon

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IModAmd

If you want an station with crossfire... dude you need an motherboard crossfire ready ... so don't buy an mobo with an sli chipset ! so and Dfi LanParty series are really good boards^^ but for me the price are too high ... Think about Asus Boards .. really good stuff and software for an good price ... So ... I just want to know something ? How you will use your computer ... what you will doing with your new computer... if i know that i will say what buy(about lol!)

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tyrellcorp

well i am an animation student so i will be using it for alot of video editing and model rendering, and special effects, also when i am not working i want to be able to play oblivian with the settings maxed out!!

IModAmd

If you re an student try the Mac Pro ... Apple are renowed for the graphics ect... an really good computer
Technical Specifications

8-core processing

• Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5300 series processors
• Intel Core microarchitecture
  • 8MB of L2 cache per processor (16MB total; each pair of cores shares 4MB)
  • 128-bit SSE3 vector engine
  • 64-bit data paths and registers
  • Energy efficiency optimization
• 1.33GHz, 64-bit dual independent frontside buses

Quad-core Processing

• Two 2.0GHz, 2.66GHz, or 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon 5100 series processors
• Intel Core microarchitecture
  • 4MB of shared L2 cache per processor (8MB total)
  • 128-bit SSE3 vector engine
  • 64-bit data paths and registers
  • Energy efficiency optimization
• 1.33GHz, 64-bit dual independent frontside buses

Memory

• 667MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM) memory
• Eight FB-DIMM slots on two memory riser cards (four slots per card) supporting up to 16GB of main memory
• 256-bit-wide memory architecture

Graphics and displays

• Double-wide, 16-lane PCI Express graphics slot with one of the following graphics cards installed:
  • NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT with 256MB of GDDR2 SDRAM, one single-link DVI port, and one dual-link DVI port
  • ATI Radeon X1900 XT with 512MB of GDDR3 SDRAM and two dual-link DVI ports
  • NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 with 512MB of GDDR3 SDRAM, two dual-link DVI ports, and one stereo 3D port
• Multiple graphics card configurations including two, three, or four NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT cards
• 300W for up to four PCI Express graphics cards
• Support for up to eight displays1
• Support for digital resolutions up to 1920 by 1200 pixels; dual-link DVI ports support up to 2560 by 1600 pixels
• Support for analog resolutions up to 2048 by 1536 pixels
• DVI to VGA adapter included
• Dual-display support for extended desktop and video mirroring modes

Communications

• Two independent 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45) interfaces with support for jumbo frames
• Optional 802.11n AirPort Extreme wireless networking2
• Optional Bluetooth 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) up to 3Mb/s
• Optional external Apple USB Modem (RJ-11)

Storage

• Four independent 3Gb/s Serial ATA cable-free, direct-attach hard drive bays; four internal hard drive carriers included
• Up to 3TB of internal storage3 using hard drives in the following capacities:
  • Hard drive bay 1
    • 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 8MB cache
    • 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 8MB cache
    • 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB cache
  • Hard drive bay 2
    • 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 8MB cache
    • 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB cache
  • Hard drive bay 3
    • 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 8MB cache
    • 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB cache
  • Hard drive bay 4
    • 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 8MB cache
    • 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB cache
• 16x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
  • Writes DVD-R discs at up to 16x speed
  • Writes DVD+R DL discs at up to 8x speed
  • Reads DVDs at up to 16x speed
  • Writes CD-R discs up to 32x speed
  • Writes CD-RW discs at up to 24x speed
  • Reads CDs at up to 32x speed
• One open optical drive bay for optional second SuperDrive

Electrical and environmental requirements

• Meets ENERGY STAR requirements
• Line voltage: 100-120V AC or 200-240V AC (wide-range power supply input voltage)
• Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz single phase
• Current: Maximum of 12A (low-voltage range) or 6A (high-voltage range)
• Operating temperature: 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)
• Storage temperature: -40° to 116° F (-40° to 47° C)
• Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing
• Maximum altitude: 10,000 feet

Peripherals and audio

• 
• Two FireWire 800 ports (one on front panel, one on back panel)
• Two FireWire 400 ports (one on front panel, one on back panel)
• Five USB 2.0 ports (two on front panel, three on back panel)
• Two USB 1.1 ports on included keyboard
• Front-panel headphone minijack and speaker
• Optical digital audio input and output TOSLINK ports
• Analog stereo line-level input and output minijacks

PCI Express expansion4

• Three open full-length PCI Express expansion slots
• Configurable bandwidth and mechanical support for 16-lane cards
• 300W combined maximum for all PCI Express slots

Configuration Options

Standard Configuration (MA356LL/A) Build-to-Order Options Processor Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors
Two 2.0GHz, 2.66GHz, or 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors Memory 1GB (two 512MB) of 667MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM

• 2GB (four 512MB)
• 4GB (four 1GB)
• 8GB (eight 1GB)
• 8GB (four 2GB)
• 16GB (eight 2GB)

PCI Express graphics NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI and dual-link DVI)

• ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (two dual-link DVI)
• NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB (stereo 3D, two dual-link DVI)
• Two NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB
• Three NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB
• Four NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB

Hard disk drive 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s; 7200 rpm; 8MB cache

• Hard Drive Bay 1
  • 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s; 7200 rpm; 8MB cache
  • 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB cache
• Hard Drive Bay 2
  • 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s; 7200 rpm; 8MB cache
  • 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB cache
• Hard Drive Bay 3
  • 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s; 7200 rpm; 8MB cache
  • 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB cache
• Hard Drive Bay 4
  • 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s; 7200 rpm; 8MB cache
  • 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB cache

Optical Drive 16x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) Two 16x SuperDrives with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) Wireless Optional

• AirPort Extreme wireless networking2
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR module

PCI Express Optional Dual-Channel or Quad-Channel 4Gb Apple Fibre Channel PCI Express Card Displays Optional

• 20-inch Apple Cinema Display (M9177LL/A)
• 23-inch Apple Cinema HD Display (M9178LL/A)
• 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display (M9179LL/A)

The price : $2,499.00

And with machine you will can do playing to oblivion all IN MAXIMUM
But it if for doing money with your computer you will in paradise with this computer
And for the end! Apple base are better than PC base for doing animation ... and sooner for gaming !

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kYdizzle

so you already have a processor, and want a crossfire board. i would get
DFI LANPARTY UT ICFX3200-T2R/G

as it is the latest chipset from ATI.


i would wait a little to get your graphics cards. when the new HD 2900XT comes buy two

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IModIntel

Same advice as KyDizzle, you have a killer CPU, now get that DFI board, but wait until the new ATi R600 boards are on the market.

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IModAmd

He can buy an workstation board?Like asus branded workstation board... if he do alot of videos animation ... texturing ect... ? What your opinion ?

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IModIntel

Yeah, and they also cost like 500$... It's true the ASUS WS series are made to be installed in workstations (and some of them have crossfire) but if you still want some good performance and help keep the price down I'd go with the DFI. But of course, you can't compare the DFI to the level of the ASUS WS series.

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tyrellcorp

thanks guys ... !! i know a lot of people swear by macs for animation stuff and its all they use in the work place.. but i just cant leave the PC just yet...!

i also found this .... Asus P5W64 WS Professional Quad Core motherboard Intel 975X LGA775 Core 2 Extreme/ Core 2 Duo PCI-E ATX Motherboard ............

its got some good reviews. this is good for crossfire and it supports quad core.

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