Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: jollyFE on May 14, 2010, 06:13:12 AM
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Any suggestions on Nvidia vid cards to SLi? Currently I have 2 9600's and am not happy with their performance. I would like to spend no more than 100 per card if possible.
thanks
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The 9800 series has gotten alot cheaper since the next gen cards have come out.. My 2yr old game comp has 2x SLI 9800gt's.. And I built my first comp last fall, it has 2x 9800gtx's.. Both play any game I want, no probs... I guess it depends on what you want to pay for a Vid card.. After all, it's all about money..
Heck, I havent paid attn lately, but I think 9800 might be several generations old now.. Still a great card tho...
RC
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Your best bet than would be the 9800 GT's then. Or get a single 260 for the same price and near identical performance.
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Get a GTX260 or a 5770...this way you have an upgrade path.
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Are you sure you want GPUs? You might be better off with a different CPU or something. What are your system details?
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Spending $100 twice on two mediocre GPUs probably won't even closely match spending $200 on a single good GPU. Why go SLI when a single card can wipe the floor with your 2x9800 setup, for example?
Don't lock yourself into SLI. It may be the worse-off choice compared to other options.
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Bottom line if you want good advice you need to give more details.
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From what I have read SLI or Crossfire at best gives you 15- 20% improvement over a single card. May only give you 10% depending on your system and the cards. I have yet to see anything definitive from a reputable source that shows better than that.
So why would you buy 2 cards and go SLI/Crossfire?
Much better off to buy 1 good card.
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Ok here's the sys specs, although it looks like a single better card is the way to go.
AMD Phenom X4 9550 2200MHZ
4 gig ram
XFX 750A motherboard
2x 9500GT vid cards
suggetsions for a good single vid card in the 100-200 $$ range?
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I dont know enough about your CPU to really know but I can tell you can improve things there for about $100. The problem I have is in telling if you will get enough of a boost for it to be worth it alone and whether or not the CPU is the bottleneck that may or may not prevent you from getting a performance boost if you move up to a GTX 260 (which would seem to be the next best option). The problem is that I would suggest the EVGA GTX 260 and they run at right on $200 and with shipping you will be over the line as it were.
By the way the 10-15% boost with SLI is no linger true with the Fermi line.
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OK keep this in mind. The 9800GTX+ card is the same thing as a GTS250. I have the 9800GTX+ I got for under $100 awhile back and while it's a capable card, I can still max it out fairly easily.
The next best thing in the Nvidia line-up in your price range is the GTX260. Looks like the best of which (based on the reviews) is this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127464 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127464)
It will run you right at $200 (I think there's a $20 mail in rebate though). This MSI brand card also comes with a 1 year warranty. You can find the 260 in other brands with a lifetime warranty for just a little more though.
Now, if you're interested in switching to 'the dark side' ATI cards are a great value right now, and perform just as good, if not better, than their Nvidia counterparts - at a much lower price. Personally, if I were to upgrade, I think I'd be interested in the ATI 5770 cards. These also support HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort.. and the new Eyefinity ATI technology... so they are quite a bit more future-proof than the Nvidia (non-fermi) cards out right now.
Here's a 5770 for under $170 with shipping: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462)
But, if it were me I'd spend the $20 more for this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150464 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150464)
Looks like it has faster memory and a bit of factory overclock... probably better cooling too.
And these two examples both come with lifetime warranties...
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Im not sure precisely which MB he is using but there is a known compatibility issue with Ati and the chipset I believe he is using (750a SLI).
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yes, that's my board. Kinda like to d
stay nvidia