Building Comp- Thinking about 6800 Ultra...

[Cyber$nake]

Does anyone know where I can get a fair-priced 6800 Ultra Thats SLI-ready so that if I want to "upgrade" I could get another one? Thanks ahead!

 

[[Matt]]

Needle in a hay stack. You will have an extremely difficult time trying to find a PCIe ultra. You're better off getting a PCIe 6800GT and overclocking it.

 

[Cyber$nake]

I dont want to take risks and voiding warrantys...but I Guess ur right. I found some on ebay, but w/ electronics that can b risky, and i found one 4 650$ at newegg. They should be cheaper somewhere...

 

[WaryWolf]

http://www.gameve.com/gve/Store/ProductDetails.aspx?sku=VC-XFX-034

PCIe 6800GT for $440. i'd say that's a pretty good price if you don't want to fork out loads for an ultra, and then another one later.

 

[oni_666]

Just rememeber that if your gonna use 2 xGeforce 6800 Ultra's, Then you better get a really good branded PSU.
I'm sure you've read that Nvidia recommend using at least a 480watt psu with one Ultra, Although according to various resources on the 'net, A good 300 watt can suffice.
Also be aware that the Ultra uses 2x molex connectors, These molex connectors must come straight from the psu, I.e. you can't add a splitter and run a HD as well.
So with 2 ultra's your gonna need one hell of a good PSU with 4 separate molex connectors that are unshared.
I'd recommend something like the 660watt Enermax server standard PSU.
Maybe someone else running SLI ultra's can point you in the right direction for a good PSU though.

 

[WaryWolf]

good point, a good branded psu rated 500watt and above should do the trick. but one point: the pci-express bus can supply more power through the bus (75 watts i think) so it only requires one extra connector.

 

[oni_666]

Just had a quick look at the power requirements and it doesn't seem as bad as I thought, A good 500wat PSU should suffice.

 

[[Matt]]

I dont want to take risks and voiding warrantys...but I Guess ur right. I found some on ebay, but w/ electronics that can b risky, and i found one 4 650$ at newegg. They should be cheaper somewhere...

When overclocking a 6800GT to a 6800 ultra there is virtually no risk as 95% of GT cards will clock well past ultra speeds.

 

[firemachine69]

good point, a good branded psu rated 500watt and above should do the trick. but one point: the pci-express bus can supply more power through the bus (75 watts i think) so it only requires one extra connector.

»»»»» ULTRA IMPORTANT! «««««


No, seriously. A basic analogy is putting your tricked out $100K Supra on a set of twenty dollar Walmart tires.

I can't stress it enough. Antec, Vantec, Enermax, Zalman, OCZ, PC Power and Cooling, Fortron (higher end).

 

[baron insig]

booohooo i have a crappy rig ona sumvision psu o yeah!!! my 12 V rail is 12.79!! over voltage shexay and did i mention 350W but i have a athlon 2400xp a 9600xt and a sb audigy zs so meh only compnents i care about are my hdd and sound lol

 

[Cyber$nake]

When overclocking a 6800GT to a 6800 ultra there is virtually no risk as 95% of GT cards will clock well past ultra speeds.

Wow I nvr knew that. In that case I may just OC a GT if I have to. *Wonders how far an Ultra could go...*

Thanks for the info! The pwr supply I was lookin at was a Thermaltake Silent PurePower 560W Power Supply for AMD and Ive heard lots of good stuff about Thermaltake so that probably will sufface.

 

[Dumb Dude]

Just rememeber that if your gonna use 2 xGeforce 6800 Ultra's, Then you better get a really good branded PSU.
I'm sure you've read that Nvidia recommend using at least a 480watt psu with one Ultra, Although according to various resources on the 'net, A good 300 watt can suffice.
Also be aware that the Ultra uses 2x molex connectors, These molex connectors must come straight from the psu, I.e. you can't add a splitter and run a HD as well.
So with 2 ultra's your gonna need one hell of a good PSU with 4 separate molex connectors that are unshared.
I'd recommend something like the 660watt Enermax server standard PSU.
Maybe someone else running SLI ultra's can point you in the right direction for a good PSU though.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the PCIe cards require additional power connectors from the PSU.

EDIT: I'm wrong, but they don't really require a full one. It comes with an adapter because it really isn't a molex plug in the card. I don't think I'm making any sense but here is one from newegg: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-215&depa=0

 

[X|Rolando]

The PCIE gf6u does require 2 molex-zors - they connect to an adapter (that looks like a strange splitter) which then plugs into the gfx card.

If Im not mistaken that is

 

[oni_666]

Anyway..according to what I've read recently ..with Ultra's its not so much important to have loads of wattage but to have a good ampage on the 12V+ rail. Like I said in my other post, you can get away with a enermax 300W for one Ultra (this was AGP too).
Although I normally would'nt buy generic hardware, I took a chance on my new psu.
Its a generic PSU that I bought from www.aria.co.uk
£35 i think i paid, 550watt, 37A on the 12V+ rail.
The original 12V+ rail voltage showed up in motherboard monitor 5 as only 11.3v, But I've had an external multimeter hooked up and the voltage is closer to 11.8V, And fluctuates by only a few tenths of a volt.
The fluctuations are well within the 3-5% that most other branded psu's differ by.
The other rails are pretty much at the same stability too.

Check out the PSU here.
Worth a shot, If you need a high wattage, high ampage PSU on the cheap.

http://www.aria.co.uk/productsList.asp?Category=96&Submit=submit

Its the one, nine down, entitled "550w clear power supply"