8800GT Build Planning

[averagebilly]

Hi, I just got two GeForce 8800GT graphics cards, and don't know much about that era of computer compnents (I was still a kid). I would like to use these in a build, but don't know what was around back then. If anyone could educate me on hardware from that era, or even find me places that still sell them (new or used).

[Atmos]

best place to find era matching components is gonna be ebay or aliexpress surprisingly, they have a ton of the older athlon series cpus and celerons

 

probably like an athlon64 would be a good choice from that time period. no idea on motherboards at all from that era unfortunately, and ddr2 ram may be a bit hard to find.

[BetterThanLife]

Core 2 Quad, EVGA nVidia 790i board

4GB DDR3 1333.

[LogicWeasel]

18 minutes ago, BetterThanLife said:

Core 2 Quad, EVGA nVidia 790i board

4GB DDR3 1333.

The core 2 quad newer boards had DDR3?  Well I'm surprised I thought that when the first Core i7 line rolled out (Nehalem I believe) that was the major switch to DDR3, but I suppose that the earlier LGA 775 boards had DDR2 and the later stuff moved to DDR3? 

 

Somewhat reminds of the AMD Phenom II side where you could get boards with either.

[BetterThanLife]

Just now, LogicWeasel said:

The core 2 quad newer boards had DDR3?  Well I'm surprised I thought that when the first Core i7 line rolled out (Nehalem I believe) that was the major switch to DDR3, but I suppose that the earlier LGA 775 boards had DDR2 and the later stuff moved to DDR3? 

 

Somewhat reminds of the AMD Phenom II side where you could get boards with either.

Yuppo indeedy doo

 

DDR3 on LGA 775

[averagebilly]

28 minutes ago, BetterThanLife said:

Core 2 Quad, EVGA nVidia 790i board

4GB DDR3 1333.

Are there any boards that only have 2 PCI-e slots? I don’t have that much to spend on this build. (I just built my first rig on New Year’s Day)

[Atmos]

10 minutes ago, averagebilly said:

Are there any boards that only have 2 PCI-e slots? I don’t have that much to spend on this build. (I just built my first rig on New Year’s Day)

Like, i hope you know your build wont be able to run modern games, and will struggle in a lot of modern day tasks, right? It would basically just be a bit of retro decoration, or maybe old school emulator stuff / retro games. I dont see a use for it outside of that lol.

[averagebilly]

5 minutes ago, Atmos said:

Like, i hope you know your build wont be able to run modern games, and will struggle in a lot of modern day tasks, right? It would basically just be a bit of retro decoration, or maybe old school emulator stuff / retro games. I dont see a use for it outside of that lol.

I already have a capable PC for gaming, and I only want this new one for trying older games, and possibly exploring case modding.

[Atmos]

Just now, averagebilly said:

I already have a capable PC for gaming, and I only want this new one for trying older games, and possibly exploring case modding.

Fair enough. And at least the hardware inside there will be super cheap, so no real worries about damaging anything with metal shavings lol.

[averagebilly]

2 minutes ago, Atmos said:

Fair enough. And at least the hardware inside there will be super cheap, so no real worries about damaging anything with metal shavings lol.

The 8800s were free! A family member found them on Facebook from someone trying to get rid of them.

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

1 hour ago, averagebilly said:

and don't know much about that era of computer compnents (I was still a kid). I would like to use these in a build, but don't know what was around back then.

at that time, pc games are not anywhere near intensive for hardwares. I was playing CS1.6, aoc, gameboy & ps emulators back then.

[Mo5]

Since you're going with that era build and you're mainly gaming on it getting a C2D E8400 and overclocking the shit out of it is probably the best bet. Games didn't really use more than 2 cores back then. Coupling it with some 4GB of RAM and a nice SLI capable board to top it off. If you want to go for a period correct case you can hunt down an Antec 300 - iirc that was one of the more popular cases of that time.

Man, this era of "but can it run Crysis?" is probably my favorite.

Also interested which OS you will choose

Edited March 12, 2019 by Mo5

[averagebilly]

6 minutes ago, Mo5 said:

Since you're going with that era build and you're mainly gaming on it getting a C2D E8400 and overclocking the shit out of it is probably the best bet. Games didn't really use more than 2 cores back then. Coupling it with some 4GB of RAM and a nice SLI capable board to top it off. If you want to go for a period correct case you can hunt down an Antec 300 - iirc that was one of the more popular cases of that time.

Man, this era of "but can it run Crysis?" is probably my favorite.

Also interested which OS you will choose

What about a core 2 quad? https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Q6600-Quad-Core-Processor-Cache/dp/B000LRMR26

[LogicWeasel]

2 minutes ago, averagebilly said:

What about a core 2 quad? https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Q6600-Quad-Core-Processor-Cache/dp/B000LRMR26

I have fond memories of the Q6600 being branded as the Intel workhorse quad-core.  It is period-correct (came out about 6+ months after the 8800GT was released, fyi) and a very solid pick but I would never pay what that Amazon price is asking.  They should be much cheaper elsewhere.

[averagebilly]

10 minutes ago, LogicWeasel said:

I have fond memories of the Q6600 being branded as the Intel workhorse quad-core.  It is period-correct (came out about 6+ months after the 8800GT was released, fyi) and a very solid pick but I would never pay what that Amazon price is asking.  They should be much cheaper elsewhere.

It’s only ten dollars, so I think that I’ll get it, as I trust amazon more than other online retailers.

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

19 minutes ago, averagebilly said:

What about a core 2 quad

i think you are heading a wrong way.

you want to try out old software and games, not hardwares.

you could still have a powerful modern pc running win95/98 or dos .

 

for modding the parts, old hardware dont really look that good and those huge flat cables were really a nightmare. (eg no sata ports, no usb for os installation )

 

for modding and retro purpose , i suggest start from sandy bridge i5 as minimum startline

[Mo5]

4 minutes ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

i think you are heading a wrong way.

you want to try out old software and games, not hardwares.

you could still have a powerful modern pc running win95/98 or dos .

 

for modding the parts, old hardware dont really look that good and those huge flat cables were really a nightmare. (eg no sata ports, no usb for os installation )

 

for modding and retro purpose , i suggest start from sandy bridge i5 as minimum startline

I think you're thinking a bit older than it actually is. C2Q times were in like 2008 and there definitely was SATA and USB booting

[averagebilly]

13 minutes ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

i think you are heading a wrong way.

you want to try out old software and games, not hardwares.

you could still have a powerful modern pc running win95/98 or dos .

 

for modding the parts, old hardware dont really look that good and those huge flat cables were really a nightmare. (eg no sata ports, no usb for os installation )

 

for modding and retro purpose , i suggest start from sandy bridge i5 as minimum startline

I already have the 8800GTs, and actually find the wide cables rather appealing.

[LogicWeasel]

30 minutes ago, averagebilly said:

It’s only ten dollars, so I think that I’ll get it, as I trust amazon more than other online retailers.

I just saw the new price, didn't see the used price, yes the used price is just fine that's a fit.

[averagebilly]

13 hours ago, LogicWeasel said:

I just saw the new price, didn't see the used price, yes the used price is just fine that's a fit.

Is this a good motherboard?

https://m.newegg.com/products/9SIAGSH8TF9824

[Mo5]

1 hour ago, averagebilly said:

Is this a good motherboard?

https://m.newegg.com/products/9SIAGSH8TF9824

doesn't look like it. also go used. there's no new 775 boards being made anymore or if they are they're certainly not good.

[averagebilly]

7 minutes ago, Mo5 said:

doesn't look like it. also go used. there's no new 775 boards being made anymore or if they are they're certainly not good.

Ok, I'm having trouble finding a LGA 775 board that also supports SLI. Do you know any?

[Mo5]

4 minutes ago, averagebilly said:

Ok, I'm having trouble finding a LGA 775 board that also supports SLI. Do you know any?

there's bound to be lots out there. something with any nforce sli chipset will work natively and there are some hacks out there to enable it on other chipsets but how much you trust hacked drivers from like 2009 is your choice lol.

[averagebilly]

57 minutes ago, Mo5 said:

there's bound to be lots out there. something with any nforce sli chipset will work natively and there are some hacks out there to enable it on other chipsets but how much you trust hacked drivers from like 2009 is your choice lol.

This would work, right? 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/XFX-nForce-750i-SLI-LGA775-Socket-Intel-MB-750I-72P9-Motherboard/254109936204?epid=12024982032&hash=item3b2a21ea4c:g:pNoAAOSw85JbzOaw

[Mo5]

58 minutes ago, averagebilly said:

This would work, right? 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/XFX-nForce-750i-SLI-LGA775-Socket-Intel-MB-750I-72P9-Motherboard/254109936204?epid=12024982032&hash=item3b2a21ea4c:g:pNoAAOSw85JbzOaw

it would... but be careful and read the description. it needs some minor work