What can I suggest? SLI or better card?

[Jonny Two Shoes]

My Dad recently purchased a second hand rig, well at least a newish second hand PC.

It came with a quad core Intel cpu (Unsure which one atm)
2Gig Ram
Looks like a 19/20 inch widescreen
8600GT GFX card
Case and PSU all connected up nicely

He spent around R9000 for it as far as I know. I will inspect the PC more closely when I have time.

Anyway first thing I noticed was the 8600GT. There was a little doubt in my mind about this card and I know my Dad wanted good performance.

Should I suggest he SLI it with another (mboard has 3 PCI-Express slots...first time I seen this..so can you SLI 3 cards?)

Or should I suggest he buy an 8800GT or something?

 

[.Froot.]

It depends if you want to run two screens, what "good performance" means to him, yada yada.
The 8800GT is a pretty mean card, however. Really fun to play with.

 

[hj2k_x]

I think the consensus will be that no matter how many 8600s you daisy-chain, you will still see better performance from one 88** series card.

What does your dad want to do with the machine?

 

[kaaskop]

Dont think the 8600 can daisy chain anyway. Normal SLI but not "tri-sli". Need a card with 2 brigde connectors on it. I got a crossfire rig and its buggy. Go for the best single he can afford. 8800 and upwards.

 

[hj2k_x]

Dont think the 8600 can daisy chain anyway. Normal SLI but not "tri-sli". Need a card with 2 brigde connectors on it. I got a crossfire rig and its buggy. Go for the best single he can afford. 8800 and upwards.

Indeed. That is also true. And 2 x 8600GT is not going to be better than 1 x 8800GT is it?

 

[The_Techie]

I'd recommend the 8800GT

 

[Jonny Two Shoes]

Thanks for suggestions so far goin to part time studies now but will get back to this thread later. My dad believe it or not is quite the gamer. Crysis and assassins creed etc... Excuse if this post doesnt come out right. From my cellphone you see

 

[hj2k_x]

Thanks for suggestions so far goin to part time studies now but will get back to this thread later. My dad believe it or not is quite the gamer. Crysis and assassins creed etc... Excuse if this post doesnt come out right. From my cellphone you see

Hmm, well the 8800GT or the newer, cheaper and similar-specced 9600GT should sort you out I reckon.

 

[.Froot.]

The 9600GT is ~ the same price as the 8800GT but with a lot more kick per buck (about double the bandwidth).
Really powerful. You would need two 8800GT's to compare with one 9600GT.

 

[hj2k_x]

The 9600GT is ~ the same price as the 8800GT but with a lot more kick per buck (about double the bandwidth).
Really powerful. You would need two 8800GT's to compare with one 9600GT.

Prophecy have the 9600GT for under R1800. I can't find the 8800GT for under R2000...

 

[The_Techie]

The 9600GT is ~ the same price as the 8800GT but with a lot more kick per buck (about double the bandwidth).
Really powerful. You would need two 8800GT's to compare with one 9600GT.

Doesn't change the fact that the 8800GT outperforms the 9600GT, double the bandwidth or not.

If you have the cash, I recommend getting the 8800GT, else get the 9600GT.

 

[.Froot.]

Doesn't change the fact that the 8800GT outperforms the 9600GT, double the bandwidth or not.

If you have the cash, I recommend getting the 8800GT, else get the 9600GT.

Ooh okay. Heard otherwise elsewhere but I believe you

 

[The_Techie]

Ooh okay. Heard otherwise elsewhere but I believe you

Review 1, review 2, review 3, etc etc etc...

Let me compare them for you:
8800GT: 112 stream processors
9600GT: 64 stream processors

The 9600GT does have higher clock speeds, but the amount of stream processors make quite a bit of difference

 

[.Froot.]

Review 1, review 2, review 3, etc etc etc...

No no, I said I believe you.

 

[The_Techie]

No no, I said I believe you.

I'm just citing some sources which back up my claim, not trying to convince you

 

[HavocXphere]

@Jonny Two Shoes: That card sucks yes, but it should be OK for now. Why not wait another half a year or and then buy? Let it be for now and if something starts lagging then you can also fix the problem with $$$ then. However:

The other thing to consider is how much horsepower you need to run the LCD @ native resolution...the 8600 might not be able to handle this in which case -> 8800.

 

[.Froot.]

I'm just citing some sources which back up my claim, not trying to convince you

Hehe yeah okay.

 

[Brawler]

what about the 9800GTX?
http://www.prophecy.co.za/point-view-9800gtx-512mb-graphics-card-p-27495.html

 

[Jonny Two Shoes]

What happened to the days when a card from a higher series with a higher number and more recent was generally faster than an older one? i will tell my dad to just hang on for a while and see first. Although CM Dirt lags really really bad on high settings. I think it might be somethin else though thats causing that. Drivers perhaps.

 

[PostmanPot]

Whoa, R9000?