I've been looking to buy a few graphics cards recently, and I think I managed to find a couple bargins. I bought a HD5830 for $80, and am In the process of buying a 5970 for $220. Going to test it tomorrow or the next day before I purchase.
My question is, where to from here.
What is the cheapest, easiest system that I could put together to get the cards up and running as soon as possible?
I realise that I'll need a hefty power supply, and I'd like to leave a little room for expansion, so if possible a mobo with a third slot would be good. Although if it's gunna be expensive, then two slots would be fine for now.
Cheers
Congrats on the cards! $300 for both is a very good deal
The cheapest way is to use the cheapest motherboard you can find, buy a AMD sempron to go with it and use a riser on your 5830. (this ->
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/pci-e-1x-to-16x-riser-card-extension-cable-15-5cm-length-100061If you wanna be megacheap, buy a 8 GB USB stick and put a bootable OS on it. ram is whatever (buy a 1-2 GB stick and you're fine).
PSU, yeah. You have 2 cards now that draw some power, no doubt. About 500W combined for the cards and 50-100W for the system should cover it, with more to go. That's 600W draw, so a 750W PSU would do fine. I would reccomend this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371051&cm_sp=Cat_Power_Supplies-_-Spotlight-_-17-371-051As with expansion. More risers when you get more cards, up to 4 cards without any hazzle. You can use multiple PSUs on the same system, so whenever you need more cards, just buy another PSU and all is well
Sorry if this was all messy, i'm really tired