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Buying MOBO and confused: Lucid Virtu MVP & DIGI+ VRM
What are "DIGI+ VRM" and "Lucid Virtu MVP"? And do they matter when running linux? I am buying a new mothereboard for a new machine and I am confused about what these features are and if they can even be taken advangae of if not running Win7.
I think Lucid Virtu MVP has to do with frames and syncing on an Ivy Bridge-based board. Thanks.
Digi+ VRM is a chip that improves voltage regulating for the CPU, the Lucid chips are for using multiple video chips/cards. You shouldn't bother about the first, it works with every mainboard, I don't know about the Lucid chips.
Which mainboard do you intend to buy?
honestly, I have no idea which motherboard I intend to buy. Must be Z77 is as far as I've figured out so far. I think I need SLI/Crossfire too though (doing computer graphics with the machine). I was looking at these though:
SLI/CrossfireX is only needed if you want to play games in extreme resolutions with extreme graphics settings, for all other purposes a single graphics card is powerful enough.
I personally would go with one of the ASUS boards, I am not a fan of MSI.
Those "Military Grade", OC Genie II and things are more or less only buzzwords to make the boards more attractive, UEFI is a modern replacement for the BIOS.
It would be easier if you describe us what exactly you want to do with the machine (including the software you want to use and your budget), so that we can recommend appropriate hardware for you.
P.S.: I wouldn't even think about running XP on modern hardware.
It would be easier if you describe us what exactly you want to do with the machine (including the software you want to use and your budget), so that we can recommend appropriate hardware for you.
Sure. thanks again.
Use: Professional Graphic Design, Programming, Chemistry Simulation, Gaming Software:Blender3D, GIMP, MyPaint, Synfig, NAMD2, GROMACS, Code::Blocks, folding@home Budget: $1000 to $1200 for full computer(maybe more if realllllly needed) Already have: Old Harddrive, 3 crappy monitors, DVD drive, possibly junk ATX case, mouse/keyboard, Win7 home (no hardware capable yet)/ XPpro / Ubuntu
Plus I want to be able to buy and play a game made in the last 3 years, something I can't currently do (minesweeper and Doom 1 run sort of ok :P).
OK, the only thing that really needs a fast video card is the gaming thing, but Blender, Chemistry Simulation and folding@home will also benefit from a fast card. A fast CPU will also help with your purpose, Blender and GIMP will also benefit from a good amount of RAM.
This leaves 260-460$ for the video card. For around 260$ you can get a Radeon HD 7850 or a Geforce GTX560, both pretty decent cards, for around 400-450$ you can get a HD7950 or a GTX670, both really fast cards. With all of them you should be able to play all modern games in 1920x1080 resolution with high or very high details.
Keep in mind that if your old harddisk is a IDE disk, not a modern SATA disk, you also will need a new harddisk, the same is true for the DVD drive.
Budget: $1000 to $1200 for full computer(maybe more if realllllly needed) Already have: Old Harddrive, 3 crappy monitors, DVD drive, possibly junk ATX case, mouse/keyboard, Win7 home (no hardware capable yet)/ XPpro / Ubuntu
Plus I want to be able to buy and play a game made in the last 3 years, something I can't currently do (minesweeper and Doom 1 run sort of ok :P).
Dont even think about SLI/crossfire on that budget.
I wouldnt be running Gromacs or NAMD on a system without good airflow. Same with folding@home, though I wouldnt run it at all. A case that is old enough that is might be 'junk' would probably have poor airflow and few fan mounts, and 80mm fan mounts only.
Even if your old HDD is SATA, it will be slower than current HDDs...let alone SSDs. Wont make much difference to folding@home, probably a minor difference to Gromacs or NAMD.....it will make a differnce for loading/saving times with Blender, GIMP, Synfig and MyPaint. If you are only doing small images, there wont be much differnce, with large images there could be a big difference.
I'd be buying a new HDD, a SSD or both for your uses.
Discounts applied on newegg cart:
Subtotal: $1,199.93
What is your opinion of SB-E with X79 though? It can support 64+GB ram. Should I get an X79 board with the lowest processor and upgrade when IvyBridge-E comes out?
You dont have to spend $150 on a full ATX. Midi ATX would more than suit your needs, and a decent brand midi ATX case should be about half (maybe a bit over) thecosts of a full ATX.
1000watts is about 3 times more power than you will ever use with your setup. While I've used coolmaster PSUs for budget builds in the past, I wouldnt go buying a 1000watt CM PSU, even if I needed that much power. I'd be getting a smaller PSU (550-700) from a more reputable company (seasonic, corsair, maybe even antec).
95%+ of 'water cooling kits' arent worth the money. TT Bigwater 760 Plus is just another one, which in typical TT style is huge. Dont bother when you can get cheaper aircoolers that perform at the same level as cheap and nasty water cooling kits. (like Phanteks PH-TC14PE, or Noctua NH-D14)
What is your opinion of SB-E with X79 though? It can support 64+GB ram. Should I get an X79 board with the lowest processor and upgrade when IvyBridge-E comes out?
I mean, $300+ on a motherboard, another $300+ on a CPU, and you are talking about 'upgrading' to IB-E when (if!) it comes out (which could be another $300-1000, and IMO the minimum that LGA 2011s IB-E CPUs will be on release is $500). For a system that you have budgeted $1000-1200 for, thats impossible.
A well balanced LGA 1155/AM3+ system on a $1200 budget would be faster than a LGA 2011 system anyway.
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