Widescreen Gaming Forum

Currently I am running two 8800GTX cards in SLI and a 8400GS card for SoftTH. I know rumor has it that SoftTH doesn't like SLI, but it works even though I haven't extensively messed around with benchmarking.

Is it time for a video card upgrade? Should I sell the 8800GTX cards (I see them going for about $100 each on ebay) and get maybe a 9800GTX+ ($155) or a GTX 285 or 295? Is something else coming out soon?

My specs follow:

MOTHERBOARD: MSI P7N Diamond LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX
CPU: Intel BX80570E3110 Xeon E3110 3.00GHz 1333MHz FSB 6MB L2 Cache LGA775
VIDEO CARDS: Two EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI
(also a MSI GeForce 8400 GS 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 for SoftTH)
MEMORY: Patriot Viper 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
POWER SUPPLY: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX ATX12V / EPS12V 750W
HARD DRIVE (MOSTLY OS):
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive
HARD DRIVE (STORAGE): Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA-300
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD

Something else is always coming out soon :lol: but other than that, today is a good day to... upgrade.

Just forget the 9800, it has nothing a 8800 lacks really. Nvidia's GT200 is good for you !

Of the 3 cards in your list, only the GTX295 is a worthy upgrade. Two 8800GTXs beat a single 9800GTX+ easily and are more or less on par with a single GTX285, but are no match with a single GTX295. So, if you want to upgrade now, go with the GTX295. Actually a single GTX295 might be the highest that you should go. Anything higher (eg GTX285 SLI) might put the bottleneck to your CPU.

Nvidia's next top of the line GT212 (40nm) will come out in Q2, according to earlier news. Also, the GT300 (supposedly to be as revolutionary as when the 8800GTX first came out with the G80) is also scheduled to come out in Q4 this year.

If you are not happy with the 8800GTX SLI, get the GTX295 now. But if you are still somewhat satisfied with the two 8800GTXs, then wait for the GT300 and save money now because by then, I suppose you need to upgrade your CPU as well.

As he often is, p is right. You have a fairly good setup now. When you upgrade it, go big and match it with an equally preforming CPU.

I agree with the posters above. If your setup can make it, then keep it.

Keep in mind the timeline as well. The 8800GTX vs. the GTX285 doesn't bring anything new exept more memory and SP's. More performance, but same architecture (smaller die on the GTX285).
The GT212 and GT218 are rumored to be same as well, only smaller die, faster memory and more SP's and such.
GT300 is bringing in new features like DX11 and also with a new architecture.
Traditionally, new cards from Nvidia have a high pricetag at launch. GTX280 had a pricetag of $650.
Go for a GTX295 or similar if you need a performance boost now. It will set you back some $$$, but you'll have better performance. Or wait until the GT212 comes down in price after launch.
If the GT300 comes out in Q4, it means year 2010 perhaps before the prices have normalized. You might want to keep an eye on the GT300 as the "lasting upgrade". :)

If you are willing to consider ATI, rumor has it their soon to come (supposedly April) 4890 will have GTX285 performance for around $250. Of course that remains to be seen though.

It's just a matter of answering this question: Are your games already that slow/unplayable with your current GPU? If so then it's good to upgrade. If not really, then you can wait.

SLI 768MB 8800GTX's...Wth man, is there something you CANT run?

Honestly I don't see why...but hey my machine nears ancient for this forum...

Considering 2 gtx is about equal to 1.01 times a single gtx in performance, that point is moot.

Considering 2 gtx is about equal to 1.01 times a single gtx in performance, that point is moot.

And at that, My single 88GTX is really starting to show its age.

Except for a few, usually useless, features, I can run games at max. I haven't and probably won't raise my resolution any time soon.

When I have some time I might play around to compare sli vs not in newer games I'd added but I won't get my hopes up to see much of a difference between both.

According to charts sli 88gtx/ultra is about same to a single gtx280/285 and close to that april-bound ati card.

So far the only recent game I've had any interest in is burnout paradise, and even if I wanted to I can't buy it since it's not available anywhere.

The demo runs quite well apart from that worthless super-shadows options so it's not a reason to look for a new card either.

I'll have skipped 9xxx, gtx2xx and might even skip the next gen if no games come out that are remotely useful.

If the consoles didn't have the same lack of games, I'd probably buy a 360, ps3 or wii next.

You never said what resolution you intend to use. If your not gaming at 1920 or above resolutions i dont think you need to jump yet. It seems more and more PC games are 360 ports with no graphical advantage to the PC. I say wait...

I'm running 5040x1050, and SoftTH allegedly doesn't play nice with SLI so this has me considering running just one card instead of two. The GTX 285 or 295 is tempting me.

As was already said: I wouldn't bother unless current games are already giving you unplayable framerates. At 1920x my 8800 GTS 512 is still keeping up splendedly with every new game I throw at it which doesn't have "Crysis" in the title. Somewhat dissapointingly it doesn't look like anything is coming out in the forseeable future to change this either.

wow 8800 gtx in SLI is so good why would you want to upgrade now?
it can still run everything at max.

Softth works with SLI only as long as you have 3 cards.

I played around with it a bit with 8800ultra in sli + a pci-e 1x 8400gs to get 3 monitors.

As for getting rid of 8800 gtx sli, I'm considering it myself. So far it seems a 4890 or 285 would give me about the same performance as I get now, it would also allow me to fetch a 2gb vram model to help with fsaa at 1920x1080

SLI is very overrated in performance.

Most apps I've tried 1 vs sli with my current cards at most show about 5-10% difference max if at all. And that's not counting the heat these put out or the stability problems that causes.

The main reason I'm looking into it however is to reduce the footprint of my gaming rig. I'm currently seeing if the zotac mini-itx with pci-e 16x could be a way to make a decent gaming rig without the real-estate it's taking right now. I've thought about building it without changing cards but the problem I run into is the card length.

The best and mostly only viable case I've found so far only allows up to 9" cards. I'm even considering buying it, cutting it and extending it a bit. For it's price though, I may as well build one from scratch.

I'm currently seeing if the zotac mini-itx with pci-e 16x could be a way to make a decent gaming rig without the real-estate it's taking right now. I've thought about building it without changing cards but the problem I run into is the card length.

IIRC, that PCI-E 16x slot is only 4x electrical, so it's a bottleneck of epic proportions.

I thought about replacing my 4850, what with the fan dieing and having to keep the side of my case off with a desk fan blowing in to keep it from over heating.

Then I thought, there's not really anything I can buy that will justify the money that is vastly better than my current one. I'll wait until DX11 cards come out, and then again wait until they are down into the 200$ range.

I smell thread necromancy around here :P

[quote]I'm currently seeing if the zotac mini-itx with pci-e 16x could be a way to make a decent gaming rig without the real-estate it's taking right now. I've thought about building it without changing cards but the problem I run into is the card length.

IIRC, that PCI-E 16x slot is only 4x electrical, so it's a bottleneck of epic proportions.

From what I read the jetway models are 16x physical 4x electrical but the zotac one is supposed to be 16x/16x, still to be confirmed of course.

I haven't looked that much into it either and I'll likely wait since the trend for smaller gaming capable boards has only just started.

Hopefully by the time the next batch of cards come out I'll have more case and motherboard options to make a micro-gaming rig that'll at least equal my current one.