Upgrading from 1900xtx, guide me!

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

I have been looking at the new cards and wanted some opinions.

I have an asus p5k deluxe p35 mobo.

I know you can run sli on a crossfire mobo, but not sure if thats worth it. Since cards are so cheap, I can get one card and add a second later....

Whats a good set up?

3870 x2
8800gt x2
8800gtx x1 ?

I run a 24" monitor @ 1920x1200 for gaming if I can.

Also, are the fans relatively quiet or a psuedo-vacuum?

Sorry about all the questions and thanks ahead of time.

EDIT: If you look @ my tag and see what I am currently running, is two video cards too much on a 650 watt psu?

[cantankerous]

I went from an X1900XTX that was overclocked to a vanilla 8800Ultra and wow, the difference was definitely night and day. I was expecting some increases but not like I did. Get an Ultra if you can. They have come down drastically in price and all can overclock higher than a GTX especially on the memory. I guarantee you you won't be disappointed.

[Soulburner]

I went from an X1900XTX that was overclocked to a vanilla 8800Ultra and wow, the difference was definitely night and day. I was expecting some increases but not like I did. Get an Ultra if you can. They have come down drastically in price and all can overclock higher than a GTX especially on the memory. I guarantee you you won't be disappointed.
:nono: See this thread.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=169732

[xMrBunglex]

i think the Ultra and GTX's price make them obsolete with the new cards on the market. an 88GTS costs less and gives almost the same performance. the 88GT is obviously a very nice card, but their single slot design makes them pretty loud and whiny. the 3870's are a little slower, but they're very refined and make almost zero noise (i have two 3870's in my quiet PC and can't hear them at all at idle. when they get hot from gaming, i can hear a gentle "whirr" coming from them if i mute my speakers.)

since you have a CrossFire motherboard, i'd personally recommend a 3870 if you think you'll upgrade to dual cards in the future. if you'll stick with a single card, an 88GT or GTS (512MB) will be a little faster.

[AliG]

I suggest dual 3870s. I recommend either waiting for his' iceq 3 turbo edition of it (their 3850 is already out, its only a matter of time) or going water with them to really make use of how well they oc. New bioses will be out letting you to get past the current issues the cards are facing. Not to mention xfire scales far better than sli, expreview compared xfire 3870s to 8800gt sli (both stock) and the xfire setup won quite a lot even though in single card the gt gives quite a lot more fps. ATI's drivers seem to be better than nvidias for the most part, but you will get the advantage for crysis due to the engine being designed to run best on the 8800gtx (that's what happens when you release your high end card over 6 months late ati!). I've never heard of sli being ran on xfire boards before, but even if it is possible I doubt it would scale very well due to driver configurations

[darkorb]

i think either get a GT/GTS (512mb) or wait till feb.

that XTX is still a monster card

[Budwise]

i just upgraded from an XTX to a 8800GT and just overclocked the piss out of it. Its hard to beat it for the price. That said, even crossfire or SLI will still struggle with games like Crysis at that resolution...

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

I've never been a big fan of spending 500 on one card. I think I spent 320 on my 1900xtx and thats about as much as I want to spend. I know these cards can be found at 250 or less which is epic compared to the 600 dollars the ultra costs.

I guess what I should ask is this....

Is it worth buying one 3870 now, then later, doing crossfire for the performance & extra memory to run games @ 1920x1200....

Or, just get an 8800gt & the thermalright cooler and OC the heck out of it to try and make up for having "only" 512 mb ram vs 1 gig w/ the crossfire set up?

So its between the 8800gt & 3870 in crossfire. Ultra & GTX is out....

I usually play FPS, so you see why I'm wondering whats the best choice here.

[Budwise]

in multi GPU configuration you still only get the memory from one card. So its still 512 vs 512.

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

Ah! I did not know that. My n00b-ness is showing!

So I'm guessing realistically, buying the 8800 gt 512 mb & either air or water cooling it, then OCing it like crazy is the way to go.

Any objections?

[revogamer]

get a eVGA if your in the us, step-up to the D9E or D9P early next year

[xMrBunglex]

dual 3870's are obviously faster than a single 88GT, but they cost more too. so the question is how much you want to spend. a single 88GT will struggle with CoD4 at your resolution with max settings, but 3870 CF will be able to handle it.

http://www.legitreviews.com/images/reviews/605/cod4_1920.jpg

source: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/605/9/

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

dual 3870's are obviously faster than a single 88GT, but they cost more too. so the question is how much you want to spend. a single 88GT will struggle with CoD4 at your resolution with max settings, but 3870 CF will be able to handle it.

http://www.legitreviews.com/images/reviews/605/cod4_1920.jpg

source: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/605/9/

This was my thinking.....

I can buy one 3870 now and if I feel the need, just get another card I'm set.

The 3870 MUST be better than my x1900xtx, so for now, I'd be set with just one card until I get some games like COD4 / Crysis. The most demanding game I have right now is UT3, so that will handle it fine.

Dropping in a second wouldn't cost too must more, considering the price would / should drop.

This sounds like a good idea?

[Jakko]

3870 sounds like the best choice.
I wouldn't go with SLI on a crossfire mobo...

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

I'm still leaning towards the 3870, I'm just worried that my 650 watt psu can't run it.

With all my fans, the pump, HDDs, OC'd q6600, that might be pushing it a bit.

Anyone actually run 3870s on water cooling w/ less than 700 watts? That PSU calculator doesn't have the 38x0s yet to plug in.

EDIT: ATI recommends a 550 watt psu for crossfire. So 650 would be enough w/ my set up or is that pushing it? If it is, then I guess I'm looking at a single card solution.

[Budwise]

your 650W should be just fine if its a quality PSU...

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

your 650W should be just fine if its a quality PSU...


Its a seasonic S12 Energy Plus - 650 watt. A good quality PSU.

Still amazes me that even Ocing & using a pump for liquid cooling can run a crossfire set up. I guess these cards use a LOT less power than the 2900s.

Dual 3870s should hold me for a few years before overhauling and building a new set up. Thanks guys....:up:

[xMrBunglex]

i don't have water cooling, but i do have an overclocked Conroe, two DVD drives, a fan speed controller, three hard drives, five case fans, a sound card, TV tuner, and dual 3870's on my 600W power supply. Seasonic makes great PSU's; you'll be fine.

[zanzabar]

if ur worried about power ur xtx uses about 200 the reference 3870 uses 120-125W so u would be ok to run 2

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

Awesome, thanks guys.

Now I just need some funds! Anyone care to contribute?

[darkorb]

i would also get the 3870 since u do have teh chance to crossfire

then 3870 uses less power than ur XTX so u will be fine even for Xfire

[swaaye]

just remember that SLI and Crossfire do not work well in every game. Sometimes you will only get the speed of one of the cards. And there can be visual bugs.