Even with PAE the chipset still has to implement the remapping of the memory. For instance the Intel 945 chipset does NOT support the remapping of the memory and PAE provides no help what-so-ever. Not even with custom BIOS can you enable access to the full 4 GB memory space. Even then a 32-bit version of the O/S from Microsoft will not see the memory as useable, because it cannot see the remapped memort addresses since thay appear to be over the 4 GB limit. Again Microsoft confirms that here:  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605

And limitless testing has proven this to be case regardless of what other source reported based on the design specs of things. Does this apply to non-MS operating systems? I have not personal experieince testing that so I don't know.

Agreed, had to regig my 900 when i got a 4890, had to move the hard drive and now the cables are cramped, upgraded to 902 and it wins. Though i'm looking at the Storm Sniper case now

This case.

This cooler.

My "budget box" limited myself to $1,000 for new hardware.....starts arriving today.....

CoolerMaster HAF932  - $140

Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W Single rail - $110

GigaByte GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX - $135

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83 Ghz - $220

CoolerMaster V8 (RR-UV8-XBU1-GP) - $60

XFX HD-487A-ZHFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 - $145

8GB G.Skill DDR2 1066 - $120

Rosewill 40-in-1 Card reader - $15

Samsung Black 22XDVD Burner - $31

Vista X64 - $109 (w/coupon)

Sub Total = $1,085


Already have.....
Logitech G9 Laser Mouse paid $79 a few months ago
Saitek Eclipse II Keyboard paid $43 a few months ago
(2) 640 GB Caviar Blacks $59 each
(1) 500 GB Caviar Black @$59 last Xmas
(1) 320 GB Hitachi @$70 a year or 2 back

Total = $1,454

will eventually (by Xmas) get another HD 4870 for Xfire
swap out some fans and maybe add a XFi ExtremeGamer sound card

What is it with you all and using Intel chips?

Hi there, Fuzzy...

Maybe I am too late to the party and you have already bought your stuff, but here are my 2 cents.

I have a 4890 too and I like it. I wanted a second one, but I am waiting for the 22nd of this month. At that date the 5850 and 5870 will be released (just in time for Windows 7). They are probably faster and maybe you won't need Crossfire. I have nothing against it (in fact I have used CF in the past too), but a single card means less issues with some older games (or new games which are not updated in the drivers yet). Of course there are tricks for that, but that means tweaking.

If you read about the new CPUs then Intel definitely beats AMD, but... In 3D gaming at resolutions of about 1600*1200 and higher the high-end CPUs all perform the same in terms of "frames per second".

Here is an interesting article about the new CPUs introduced at the 8th of this month: Core i5 750 - Core i7 860 and 870 processor review.

That article shows clearly what I mean. It compares all the current CPUs from AMD and Intel. The Intel CPUs only perform better in the non-3D-gaming categories and synthetic benchmarking.

I own an AMD Phenom II 940 @ 3.6 GHz (on air) and it performs in 3D gaming just as well as the big guys from Intel. Even at 3.0 GHz there is no difference. So, maybe you should reconsider buying an expensive Intel platform. Mobos for Intel CPUs and the Intel CPUs themselves tend to be more expensive than the AMD ones. It can save you a lot of money.

Of course if you do other tasks which require intensive computing then the above may not apply to you.

About SSD drives... They are still rather expensive and not many games benefit from them, unless they require lots of loading during gameplay. Oblivion and Fall Out 3 are such games. Other than those two, I cannot think of many others. I have chosen for a cheap solution as a concession: 4*500GB Seagate HDDs (with 32MB cache each) in RAID 0.Those work fine too. Just an idea to consider.

It's like everything to do with PCs. As soon as you buy anything its out of date It's that kind of industry.

The two 4890s are an inexpensive solution to getting high end graphics and will probably be the first thing to be upgraded anyway. My resolution is 1600x900 and the 4890s seem to like it.

I work a lot on RAW files, to lots of memory and a speedy hard drive are essential. It doesn't matter how much memory you've got, some graphics still use a massive amount of paging, particularly the processing of Nikon NEF files.

A lot of my games will be on one of my other drives to save space on the SSD. Most rely on graphics power anyway.

I hope you read the article, Fuzzy. It's really cool.

Yeah. Everything will be out of date in no-time. But I am following the 3D gaming market for a while now. And graphics cards seem to have more impact than faster CPUs. Of course that only works in your case... You want high end stuff.

But if you really have lots of CPU intensive stuff other than gaming then go for the best Intel CPU you can afford.

And oh! Make sure to have extremely good air flow! Otherwise you'll overheat your graphics cards!

Have fun.

The case has two fans blowing directly on the cards. Plus I chose the deluxe version of the mobo because it has proper spacing for crossfire.

Yes, the article was interesting. In reality there very little in it. What a shame for gamers they can't combine four cores into one.

My current AMD 4400+ and 8800GT is suprisingly quick on some games. UT3 flies along, no problem. Of course the 2 4890s will be 4 times quicker than the 8800GT...

BTW... Nice talking to you again, sir.

Yep. I have a case with 8 fans... They are fairly big, so they don't make a lot of noise.

Talking about noise... The standard/reference ATI cards tend to be noisy. Several brands have non standard solutions with less noise and better cooling. They are a little bit more expensive (not much, though), but they are worth it, because after market coolers are often a pain to install and may even cause damage to your card and may void the warranty. Also, cooling solutions that keep the hot air in the case are a no go. Especially with CF you want the hot air to be blown out of the case. Sapphire's Vapor X series come to mind. I wouldn't opt for MSI's Cyclone, though. That one keeps the hot air in. Not sure about the Club 3D solution either for the same reason.

Your 4400+ is definitely holding you back. It won't be able to drive CF properly.

Anyway... Good luck with your purchase.

The money is spent. Garrrgh, in a few years it will be worth nothing...

It will be about two weeks before I can start installing software. The overclock takes days of testing at each setting to make sure its running safe and stable.

I'm looking forward to running 3dmark

Cool! Good luck.

I am interested in how it goes. Maybe post some pictures of the machine while building it? That would be great.

I've ordered some games too, you know, stuff I'd like to play but would drag my current rig into destruction.

Earlier you mentioned Fall Out 3. Is this any good, or is it just a Quake clone where you frag everyone then wander round aimlessly looking for stuff?

It's on sale at the local Game store complete with two expansion packs. Looks good value if its ok.

Fall Out 3 is an RPG with shooter elements. It's not a real first person shooter like Quake. Imagine the 50s after a nuclear war. It has a "sci fi" feel to it, not a true "Science Fiction" feeling. That's the setting. It's fun to play and you can play it for ages. There are lots of "quests" (each has its own little story) to do and discover.  I recommend the version you saw on sale. One of those expansions allows you to continue to play after the main mission ends. It converts it to a true sand box game. FO3 also has some great mods (from eye candy to gameplay mods) and of course a patch created by the community which fixes a lot of bugs Bethesda left in. The latter is highly recommended. Make sure to get the latest official patch (1.7) too.