Quathan

Hey guys, I'm new to the whole "building computers" realm. I have a general idea about how to put a computer together, and I don't think that will be a problem when I'm ready to build. See, pretty soon I'm going to buy all the parts and build my computer from the ground up. However, I'm unsure about a lot of different things, and I was hoping at least some of you guys could help me, since you all seem to know what you're talking about.

First of all, let me show you what I wish to build, and if you guys have any objections, or think that two or more parts wouldn't go together, please let me know!!

- Video Card - EVGA 017-P3-1291-AR GeForce GTX 295 1792MB 896 (448 x 2)-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
- Hard Drive 1 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
- Hard Drive 2 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
- Case - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
- Motherboard - EVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard [Core i7, 3-Way SLI & Crossfire Ready, E-LEET OC Utility]
- Power Supply - Thermaltake W0131RU 850W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified NVIDIA QUAD-SLI APPROVED 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
- DVD-RW Drive 1 - LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM
- DVD-RW Drive 2 - LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM
- OS (on first hard drive) - Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit (with SP1)
- OS (on second hard drive) - Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2
- RAM - CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory
- CPU - Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor

So, my second question is about my OS's; I wish to dual-boot them. See, I love the new games (like Crysis and GTA IV), but I love the old games as well. Some of my old games, like Neverwinter Nights and Forgotten Hope mod for Battlefield 1942 don't run in Vista. I've tried the solutions that are posted on various forums, but no dice. So, I am going to connect ONE hard drive to the computer, install Vista, then disconnect it and THEN connect the OTHER hard drive, and install XP to it. Then I'm going to connect them both, and I think a dual-boot screen should come up. Is this going to happen the way I think it will?

Now my third question, which on this forum I consider my "feature presentation," is about the video card. If you read the items on my list, you probably know that I am trying to build an extremely powerful computer. The computer I am using right now is a stock Dell computer, and lemme tell ya: I'M TIRED OF LAGGING AT MAX SETTINGS. I want to possess a computer that really kicks ***, and I'm fully prepared to buy whatever I need. However, I'm NOT wealthy and rich, so I don't feel like spending $1000 on an Intel 965 i7 Extreme Edition or whatever it's called. I also never said that I want to run Crysis, maxed out, at 100fps. 35-60 fps on that Trubritar benchmark video is good enough for me. And it just so happens that the video card he was using was (you guessed it) an EVGA GTX 295. I read some of the customer reviews on the thing on Newegg, and most of the people gave it a good rating. However, some people talked about having issues in "dual-gpu mode" (someone elaborate on that term). Other people talked about having various other display errors. I'm not so much worrying about the display errors, because I'm sure I'll get all the settings right (that is, if I don't need tech support). I'll follow all the instructions and whatnot. However, my question is: Will I be able to run this card in "dual-gpu more" all the time, and in all my programs and games, even the ones in XP?

Thank you SO SO much,
Quathan

dai

i think you will be up for a min of a 1000w psu to run this system

wibblet

yeah I agree minimum 1000w psu because of that beautiful i7 and the rest of the hardware will suck up your power and will cause your system to either fail or slow down.

wrench97

Dual GPU mode is like SLI linked and unlinked some games will run better with Dual mode enabled and some with it disabled for normal windows programs like Word, Explorer Web browsers I wouldn't think you would want it enabled no reason to.

Quathan

Well, how do you enable and disable it? Does it run hotter when you enable it? When you enable it, why would you ever want to disable it?

wrench97

In the Nvidia control panel you select enable or disable. A lot of games run slower with dual GPU's then they do with a single all depends on how the code is optimized.

Yes they run hotter enabled.