Better Graphics: Help Me

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signeffex

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Hi
I need advice on what graphics card will outperform 2 Asus 8800GT 512MB cards in SLi. Im a noob to sli and advanced hardware but in my opinion i think alot of games dont handle Sli well. it seems like they work better when i disable Sli. I flashed my bios and installed latest nForce drivers. I have a Asus P5N-E SLI nForce 650i SLI motherboard. So anyways ive decided to buy a single card that will be better than these 2. I know the likes of Gtx 295 is better, but what is the cheapest Nvidia card that will beat the 8800's? gtx260?
 
cerebus

cerebus

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I'm betting that a gts250 will perform about the same, or a 4870.
 
Grimspoon

Grimspoon

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And the 9800gtx is pretty much a 8800GT, so you basically have a GTS250 :D

If you really want something better, possibly the new 4890?
 
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signeffex

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For some reason im not an Ati fan. Maybe coz i know a little more bout nvidia. I think they have better technologies like physx and stuff and most games claim its best played with nvidia. they also seem to research future tech alot more. aside from all that, my mobo has sli support so if i go with nvidia i can always sli again. my guess if sli gives so much crap i can only imagine what crossfire is like.
 
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signeffex

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Maybe you right. ive been to nvidia's sli forum and many ppl dont have nice things to say. anyways budget is a bit blown so sli it will have to be. but i think when i change to a single card i will be happier.
 
Grimspoon

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I don't like Ati either. Every Ati card I have had pops within 2 years, I think I got unlucky, but has put me off them never the less. Persoanlly I would stick with your Sli setup for now and maybe wait till the GTX295 gets cheaper. I am actually planning on getting another 8800GT to run in sli before I upgarde to a new card.
 
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signeffex

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what motheboard do you have Grim? I had to flash my bios before i got any joy from sli. it used to freeze after 30 seconds in GRID, no matter what settings it was on. I retract my previous statement and i now think that products are not tested properly before they are released. look at all the games that are released with terrible bugs! Windows Vista, lets not even go there and sli, alot of ppl are saying its luck, it works perfect with 1 game and crappy with another, they say that you have to have the right driver for that specific game to work which sometimes means an older driver and not the latest. I think these are all issues that should have been covered long before products reach our shelves. i mean how the hell will a novice user flash his dam bios or troubleshoot his problems? luckily i know a tad bit about pc's and i was sitting fingers crossed as i watched the progress on my bios being flashed.
 
Grimspoon

Grimspoon

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signeffex said:
what motheboard do you have Grim? I had to flash my bios before i got any joy from sli. it used to freeze after 30 seconds in GRID, no matter what settings it was on. I retract my previous statement and i now think that products are not tested properly before they are released. look at all the games that are released with terrible bugs! Windows Vista, lets not even go there and sli, alot of ppl are saying its luck, it works perfect with 1 game and crappy with another, they say that you have to have the right driver for that specific game to work which sometimes means an older driver and not the latest. I think these are all issues that should have been covered long before products reach our shelves. i mean how the hell will a novice user flash his dam bios or troubleshoot his problems? luckily i know a tad bit about pc's and i was sitting fingers crossed as i watched the progress on my bios being flashed.
Click to expand...

I got an Asus P5ND Sli board. I have flashed the BIOS before so souldnt have a problem. I didnt know there was such issues with SLi, I really didn't. Still really keen on another 880 ;)
 
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Keeper

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signeffex said:
Maybe you right. ive been to nvidia's sli forum and many ppl dont have nice things to say. anyways budget is a bit blown so sli it will have to be. but i think when i change to a single card i will be happier.
Click to expand...

bleh - go to Corsairs Site and take a look at the amount of people moaning about the HX1000W - horrific stories. AFAIK it's one of the best, if not the best PSU.

that being said - the amount of people that complain is minimal - people don't really visit their harware manufacturers forum to say how good it is, only when it's bad... the people that wanna say how good their hardware is go to other forums to brag, like this one. :p

PS: ATI Rocks man.
 
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signeffex

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Good point keeper but i am not an advanced gamer myself and maybe for some the problems are negligable but i have had better performance from a 8600 in nfs undercover than im getting in certain games now with 8800's in Sli. my argument is that ive had to flash the bios just to get this thing to work. How many regular ppl know how to do that? it should be made easy after all u simply have to insert a disk into a gaming console to play it. i get your point though. Grim i never knew sli was like this either but generally im happy with my system and i play and enjoy my games even with all the glitches. im just dissapointed in the fact that these things are marketed as if the are perfect right out of the box.
 
K

Keeper

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well generally sli and xfire suck really.... it's just not worth it - it's more of a bragging factor, and nvidia and ati know that.
 
SirFooK'nG

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I think the GTX280 and above would beat that in Sli. Reason, 2X512mb 8800GT still only work in 256bit interface. 1 X gtx280 with 1gig ram will have 512bit. Other than that, it wont be a huge difference, only at much higher resolutions such as 1920X1080 and above.

Anyone buying the GTS250 ... hmm think again. The 9800gt with 1 gig ram is cheaper than the GTS250 with 512, yet its the same chip!
 
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signeffex

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Well said keeper! I thought it was the BIZNIZ till i got it. Its highly overated. i say if you can afford to then go for a more powerful single card! and i also say alot of the guys online here dont speak from experience when they give advice.
 
D

dracolusus

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signeffex said:
Well said keeper! I thought it was the BIZNIZ till i got it. Its highly overated. i say if you can afford to then go for a more powerful single card! and i also say alot of the guys online here dont speak from experience when they give advice.
Click to expand...

What he said, tested 2x280GTX and if the game supports SLI properly, its awesome...if not...you'll feel the waste of that extra R5000 :)

Save and get the most powerful single card processor you can afford. IMO your 8800 SLI's are more than enough for the next year...
 
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