Upgrading...

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Well, I'm currently looking at something like this:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz 6MB Cache 1333MHz FSB

750 Watt Multi-GPU Power Supply

Dual 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT

2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 x 1024MB or 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 x 1024MB

NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard

Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1

 

Edited August 21, 2008 by Deadly_Nightshade

[samm]

Dual 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT

Why? What's the price of these two? Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to buy a single graphics card for the same money? Even if the fps you get with the single one are the same, it will play a lot better (google for micro stuttering), and you won't depend on driver compatibility with every single game you play like you do when using SLI.

NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard

Again: Why? This chipset is two years old, and as far as I know, nVidia chipsets don't do all too well when compared to the Intel ones. Edited August 21, 2008 by samm

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Well, both the GeForce 9800 GTs and the nForce 680i were chosen because they seemed a good deal for the price (the 280 seems too expensive and I do not want to deal with the new/old 8800 GT/GTX hassle) and got, as far as I know, good reviews. The 9800 GT is basically the 8800 GT with a new name, correct? If so, how is the GTX 260? I'm not looking for a top-of-the-line system either, just something that will play the latest games without too much lag - but can still, of course, offer the classics.

[samm]

The 9800 GT is basically the 8800 GT with a new name

Well, yes and no. There are (going to be?) some with the new G92b chip, and some are offering the new HybridPower feature, while some really are nothing but 8800 GT relabled... I suppose for SLI to work you'd need two completely identical cards (not in terms of brand, but in terms of chip etc.). Wait for someone else to answer, or use google, I'm not quite up to date with that.

The 260 has become an ok deal now, I think, as it's become a whole lot cheaper since launch to counter ATI's offerings. Here's a review, the prices have changed since, so the conclusions have changed. Don't let my aversion towards SLI stop your plans Bokishi and Rosbjerg can tell you first hand what I only read and concluded blindly without ever having used it.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Ok, the GTX 260 is looking good so far -although the 9800 GTs are not ruled out- and I could always get another one -or two, considering this card supports triple-SLI -later, along with a more powerful PSU, if I wanted to go to an SLI system. The real problem is that I am having a lot of trouble finding any benchmarks for the duel 9800 GT cards; if I could finds those the choice would be a lot simpler.

 

EDIT: Well, it looks like two 8800 GTs in SLI are about the same as the GTX 260 - so I guess I only need to find out if the 9800 GTs are any better than the 8800 GTs.

Edited August 21, 2008 by Deadly_Nightshade

[samm]

EDIT: Well, it looks like two 8800 GTs in SLI are about the same as the GTX 260 - so I guess I only need to find out if the 9800 GTs are any better than the 8800 GTs.

The performance should be exactly the same between 9800gt and 8800gt because nothing has changed as far as the "stats" are concerned. There are of course pre-overclocked versions in different flavours, but the base speed is identical.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Well, I was looking into SLI more and I'm really not sure if I want to go that way or not - or, rather, I think it might be better if I get the GTX 260 and get another one, and maybe a more powerful PSU if the 750 watt cannot support two 260s, in a few months or so. This is the list of games that I own and are on nVidia's website under SLI compatible, and judging from it I might not need to go in that direction right away as there are very few games I cannot run at full at the moment anyways and I am not likely to be buying that many new games in the near future.

 

 

 

Advent Rising

Age of Mythology

Alice

Neverwinter Nights

Neverwinter Nights 2*

Rome: Total War

Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion

Doom 3

Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil

Sniper Elite

Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion*

S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl*

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic II

Freelancer

The Witcher*

Half-Life 2: Episode One (Aftermath)

Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2: Lost Coast

Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness

Tomb Raider: Legend

Hitman: Blood Money

Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines

 

 

*=Unable to run with everything turned on with my current PC.

[samm]

If you're looking into 260s, this might be relevant: http://en.expreview.com/2008/08/21/nvidia-...-mid-september/

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Ok, thanks.

[Spider]

If you're going for 9800-series you should be looking at 9800GTX+ rather than 9800GT. Not sure what the price on the GT is, but the GTX+ isn't that expensive. It was initially priced at $219 by Nvidia. But given how much the 260 has dropped in price, I'd think about that one myself. That or the 9800GX2 which actually outperforms the 260 and the 280 in some tests.

 

Or ATIs new cards, they have tested very good.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

I think I'll go with the GTX 260 and get another one -or two- down the road, thanks for the input. As for the ATI cards, I really do not like AMD or ATI for the simple reason that I have had bad experiences with their products in the past.

 

EDIT:

I looked into 3-way SLI and the 680i can do that, so I would only have to upgrade the PSU whenever I got the third card.

Edited August 23, 2008 by Deadly_Nightshade

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Well, I'm looking into pre-built systems too and they work out to only about one hundred extra dollars, so I'm unsure if I should build or buy (I'm going to be starting classes Monday and it sure would be nice to simply open a box and plug the PC in). I'll double check tomorrow and post more information for people to consider. Also, if you have any good build ideas for about ~$1,000 - $1,500 that are comparable feel free to recommend parts, etc. - although I do like the GTX 260 and the E8400.

Edited August 24, 2008 by Deadly_Nightshade