Question Building a retro 775 rig - EVGA nForce 790i

[daniel.maxwell]

Hi gents,

I'm building a retro 775 rig with the best components I can find, based around the EVGA nForce 790i motherboard. Currently this is where I'm at:

• Intel QX9650 Core2Extreme 3.00 GHz (quad core)... on the lookout for a QX9770!
• Titan Fenrir Heatsink
• Corsair XMS3 2x 2GB DDR3-1600

What should I consider for:

• PSU
• GPU setup that leverages 2x or 3x way SLI? The manual suggests I can use up to 3x 8800GTX in Tri-SLI mode. I've also read that the best graphics card I could use with this mobo is the 660Ti (because cards like the 760 have UEFI BIOS, which the 790i mobo does not support)... could I use 2x or 3x 660Ti's in SLI mode?

Thanks in advance.

Dan

 

[Eximo]

SLI wasn't all that impressive even back then. What are you trying to run that needs that? Better off using a recent computer with a single powerful graphics card to run that.

I guess in my mind it isn't all that retro. In that era I was running an Athlon X2 6000+ and an 8800GTS. (Purposely built for DX10 support, as my favorite game of the time was going to support it) More than enough for pretty much anything I could throw at it. I think when Crysis was released that was the first game I didn't feel all that comfortable with. It ran and looked okay, but the GPU got awfully hot running it.

When I think retro, Win98 and earlier gaming comes to mind.

All I am saying, no need to waste money on extra graphics cards and the power supply/cooling to handle it since 95% of the games from around then will run more than fine on a single 8800GTX.

 

[daniel.maxwell]

Thanks Eximo, I realise I’ve been blasé in my use of the word retro! Ive been building out a handful of rigs recently - P3/Slot 1 running Windows ME, P4 (SL7CH)/S478 running XP, and this 775 machine. In my mind, anything pre 1151 is old tech having a lot of fun doing this... running old favourites like Deus Ex (1!) and FEAR (1!).

So whilst it’s good to be able to run games of the 775 era with maxed settings and resolution, it would be cool if I could use it to run Fortnite... albeit with reduced settings. I have a 1151 PC already, but my son is often running Fortnite on that and it would be good to play simultaneously.

Does that help provide a steer on my earlier question re: GPUs?

 

[Eximo]

8000 series cards can't run fortnite. You need minimum DX11. You would have to jump up all the way to the 400 series to make that work. And that is well below the minimum spec of a GTX660.

Only so much you can do with older hardware. And my basic point is any system just a very little bit newer than what you are talking about is very much contemporary. You can totally drop a GTX750Ti in that Core 2 Duo and play fortnite reasonably well.

LGA1150 is still going strong, LGA1155 still potent gaming systems with the right GPU. LGA1156 is starting to fade along with the later LGA775 chips.