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260 GTX SLI? or single 280 GTX??
hey sup all. maybe you can help me decide. im getting my tax refund in the next 2 weeks YAY ME! anyhoo, Im deciding on what to replace my aging 8800 GTS 640mb with. was figuring i want to finally go SLI 
with a 260 GTX set up, since they are around $270 each, on newegg.com VS a single 280 GTX which goes for $339 on average. now I dont know if i wanna go full SLI with a 280 GTX since i have a 700 Watt rocketfish PSU, it may be too much. my current set up you can see in my sig, but ill read it off anyways just in case.
6400 X2 3.2ghz,4GB PC6400 DDR2 XMS2 CORSAIR, 2RAPTOR X HD's 74GB, 150GB(150gb is unplugged for now think it gave out so i believe i have to RMA it anyways) 640 GB WD SATA II. XFI Extreme Music, ZALMAN 9700 LED copper heatsink with 90mm fan, and 4 case fans, 2 front 2 back. (minus the 8800 GTS of course)
taking into consideration my current set up, what do you feel would be best for me??
3.4ghz Phenom II X4 965, 8GB PC12800 DDR3 GSKILL, EVGA 560GTX 2GB OC, 640GB HD SATA II, BFG 1000WATT PSU. MSI NF980-G65 TRI-SLI MOBO.
Comments
Go with a HD 4870x2 2GB ($450) or HD 4870 1GB CF ($225 each). It will be better than both you suggested.
But if you're a fanboy who would sacrifice performance for a brand name, GTX260 SLI would be a lot better than a GTX280...just make sure the GTX260 is a core 216, cause the first 260's that came out were garbage, and are still for sale.
yeah the one i was looking at has 216 cores.SO i may get that. I dont want to really get an ATI for a couple reasons, 1, i have a nforce chipset so I tend to stay with platform specific hardware rather than have alternating hardware such as I would have if i bought a 4780. also I dont think I can use a 4780X2 anyways since its technically crossfire, and my motherboard is SLi, so it wouldn't be compatible woould it? I play age of conan, farcry 2, and these games seem to favor nvidia performance wise. anyways, if anyone else can cue in, by all means, I wont be purchasing anything curently for the next 2 weeks til i get my refund, so i have time, so any info would be great.
also calindor, how would a 4870x2 be beetter vs a 260 SLI or 280 GTX? is there documented benchmarks?
also nice to see a former earth and beyond player
wow brings back good memories to a poorly managed MMO with potential.
3.4ghz Phenom II X4 965, 8GB PC12800 DDR3 GSKILL, EVGA 560GTX 2GB OC, 640GB HD SATA II, BFG 1000WATT PSU. MSI NF980-G65 TRI-SLI MOBO.
Yeah the 4870x2 will be better than GTX280 or GTX260 SLI, and its only 1 card, kind of like a 9800GX2, its 2 cards but only takes 1 PCI-E slot...it also recommends a 600w PSU, so you should be fine.
Heres a benchmark for AoC and some other games showing it compared to 4870, 4850, gtx260, gtx280, gtx260 sli, gtx280 sli
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3372&p=5
However most 4870 benchmarks are the old 512mb version (or 1GB for x2)...they remade them as 4870 1GB and 4870x2 2GB...and there was something like a 30% performance increase, even more in really high resolutions...similar to how NVIDIA remade the core 216.
and always a pleasure to meet a fellow EnB player
If you're feeling frisky, go for the GTX295.
It's a single-slot solution (but two cards SLId) that has consistently topped the charts. It's more expensive, but it usually gets between 10 and 20 FPS more than the 4870x2, unless the game unfairly favors ATI cards.
It will run you roughly $550 or less, but you can't find a better card on the planet. Especially for a single-slot solution.
Yes, I am an English Major.
nah egam, my system would bottleneck the 295 most likely. if i had a nice quadcore, id buy it, but with a 3.2ghz dual core and PC6400 DDR2 id probably wouldnt get full effect of the card also given i have a 22 inch monitor at 1680x1050.
3.4ghz Phenom II X4 965, 8GB PC12800 DDR3 GSKILL, EVGA 560GTX 2GB OC, 640GB HD SATA II, BFG 1000WATT PSU. MSI NF980-G65 TRI-SLI MOBO.
You're fine with the Dual-Core. Bottlenecking hardly ever occurs at the CPU level anyways. It's usually the VGA card or the RAM. The card operates at its pique right around that resolution, by the way. Too far below and the CPU takes over, but higher resolutions are fine until the zany-super high ones where it's more of an on-board Video RAM that becomes the issue.
The only thing which might choke it is the RAM, but if it does, it will choke on just about any new card anyways, whether it's the 4870x2, 4870, 4850, GTX260, GTX280, etc. Anything after the 8-Series (if the RAM is your chokepoint).
But it is the best card out there.
Yes, I am an English Major.
sounds like 4870x2 is the best option, like the flatline performance across the board with AOC. so ill be getting that when i get my money
. thanx calindor. im sold 
ill check newegg.com for prices. however 4870x2 should wokr properly right? in my ASUS M2N-SLI deluxe? since its a nforce chipset. thats all im worried about frankly. ill get the asus version.
actually xnay that, im seeing based on reviews, the 4870x2 gets really hote.g. 80-100 celius, and is unstable (driver issues, ati CCC crashes), im thinking for stability, my best bet will be a 280 GTX.
3.4ghz Phenom II X4 965, 8GB PC12800 DDR3 GSKILL, EVGA 560GTX 2GB OC, 640GB HD SATA II, BFG 1000WATT PSU. MSI NF980-G65 TRI-SLI MOBO.
I have 2 8800GTX's in SLI. I noticed no improvement when I only had 1 card in. I even have a SLI bridge to boost perfomance. SLI just isnt worth the money. Save the cash and buy a good sound card.
Basically, the second card doesnt give you 2 times the capibility, it adds no more than .5 times more. So, 1 card is all you need. Money shouldnt be wasted on stroking epeen.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
The reviewer has a mishapen head
Which means his opinion is skewed
...Aldous.MF'n.Huxley
If you have no improvement, then you're probably only counting one game..or a game like Crysis which doesnt get much improvement from multi-gpu. Normally there is a 40-70% increase in performance from going SLI or CF.
Another thing is you need to have a good board, especially for SLI, if you have some old/cheap SLI board, don't expect good performance when in SLI.
and the thing to know about temperatures, especially with AMD cards, is that each company uses different coolers, for example this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx...
is most likely going to run hotter than:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx...
GTX cards also run really hot, its normal for a GTX280 to hit 80ºC, however they are designed to run hotter than your normal cards...Theres reviews saying that ASUS 4870x2 never goes over 60-65...However its going to be loud, but GTX cards are also loud, SLI'd GTX's sound like a wind turbine.
Persoanlly, I am building with the 285.
Up untill SLi is fully embraced that is. Then maybe a little quad 295 action.
But that's just me.
Edit: Now, if I was an ATi person, the 4870 X2 is a beast. Although it does consume a lot of power.
DarkFall FAQ - Read then Question with Boldness
Gor for the 280 GTX. Toms hardware (link) lists it as faster and to be honest isn't SLI that great with modern cards, it did a lot more on older cards, better get a 4870 x2 instead of the 2 260 cards. I have the 280 card myself and it is really runs great, had 2 8800 cards before but to be honest I just got something just over 5% boost in the games that supported it, and many games don't The 280 always runs fast, not only in certain games.
The best choice if money is not a problem
A quick search on the internet and you will see most people put the gains from using SLI at no more than a 30% gain in performance (frame rates). If spending that amount money for such little gain is worth it to you, by all means go for it. I say wait a year or so till all games support SLI and board makers really tweak the performance to get REAL dual card support.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
The reviewer has a mishapen head
Which means his opinion is skewed
...Aldous.MF'n.Huxley
SLI has been around for a number of years and the gain just doesn't seem to be worth the cost...unless of course you got cash out the ass to burn. Then by all means splurge...but still seems that games are lagging WAY behind the techknowlegy. Not sure what exactly the problem is but alot of the game makers drag their feet when it comes to making their games utilize SLI systems.
which is why i decided to buy a 280 GTX since its for $340 at newegg.com now.this way ill have lot less issues to deal with over the long run.
3.4ghz Phenom II X4 965, 8GB PC12800 DDR3 GSKILL, EVGA 560GTX 2GB OC, 640GB HD SATA II, BFG 1000WATT PSU. MSI NF980-G65 TRI-SLI MOBO.
sli is totally pointless. It doesnt improve performance really. And besides the hardware is way ahead of software anyway.
Heck Im still using a 7950 gtx 512mb card and I can max all settings for everything Ive come across (Age of Conan, LOTR, Fallout 3, etc) with a min of 60fps at 1920x1080.
Id go with a single 280 card. It will outperform any 260 in SLI anyday of the week. ATI has its fans, I used to be one of them but I got tired of compatibility issues with many games. It always seemed like if the game wasnt specifically developed with ATI in mind, performance wasnt so hot.
Nvidia 280 all the way
one of the same reasons i went to nvidia. I have almost no crashes, or blue screens unless its due to the game itself (just released and bugs were overlooked) AOC crashes a bit here and there, but overall very stable maxxed at 1680x1050 4xx AA 16x AF.
hell i got a x1650 pro AGP for my old system and I cant even run mys ystem full speed for some reason. I have a 500 watt system too for a 3200 XP(2.2ghz) 2GB of ram, 80gb(but may need to replace it) onboard sound everything lol. thank god it was dirt frigging cheap i may get rid of it truthtfully go for a 7600 GS agp card. the drivers were always crap, ATI CCC crashes, vpu crashes, restarts, etc. you name it, i had issues on it.
once i replce my 8800 GTS ill giev it to my nephew and let him bring it over my house when he stays over. so have an extra high end system
his a 4400x2 
but its gateway which sucks balls(had a ridiculous issues with , but thats another story. hehe)
3.4ghz Phenom II X4 965, 8GB PC12800 DDR3 GSKILL, EVGA 560GTX 2GB OC, 640GB HD SATA II, BFG 1000WATT PSU. MSI NF980-G65 TRI-SLI MOBO.
I have used nvidia during many years because ATI where failing before and after talking to some friends about the ATI cards today I decided to give it a try and I bought HD4850 1gig and I was very satiesfied the 4870 is much better but the 4850 is better card for the price I think and about the cross fire or SLI its not worth it yet