Buying a new graphics card. Need a little advice

[Drazn]

I currently have 2 8800 GTSs in SLI configuration. What do you guys think that will surpass that? My budget is around about 500$.

[Mabyboi]

For 500$ you can easily grab a like-new gtx 295... preferibly a single pcb edition. or if your feeling adventurous try finding a 5870 around the same price... OR SLI 285's if you can for that price.. any of those solutions will hold you off for a while.

[Stryder75]

For 500$ you can easily grab a like-new gtx 295... preferibly a single pcb edition. or if your feeling adventurous try finding a 5870 around the same price... OR SLI 285's if you can for that price.. any of those solutions will hold you off for a while.

Yeah, what he said. :up: I would agree with the gtx 295 or 5870. Both will give you great performance and last you a while.

[HeXploiT]

Let me be the guy that encourages you to spend more. For 30% more $$$ you can beat the 5870 by double the power.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102863&cm_re=5970-_-14-102-863-_-Product

[zalbard]

Don't get GTX295. It doesn't support DX10.1, DX11, and only has 896MB of VRAM per GPU.
Not future proof at all.
Get AMD 5xxx or wait for Fermi imo. :up:

[BeepBeep2]

Definately get a 5870, two 5850's, or wait for Fermi.

Fermi looks promising as long as they can take care of heat / production issues...20% faster than a single 5870. Fermi is just around the corner so if you are set-in-stone on staying with nvidia I would go for the 512SP Fermi card due out next month.

[HuffPCair]

Go ATI or wait till Nvidia decides to actually release their cards

[5ILVgearX]

In this stage, definitely go 5870 or go home :p:

or fermi if you can wait a few months :shrug:

[Drazn]

what's a fermi? Sorry, I have been out of the video card market for a minute.

[5ILVgearX]

The next generation CUDA architecture, code named “Fermi”, is the most advanced GPU computing architecture ever built. With over three billion transistors and featuring up to 512 CUDA cores, Fermi delivers supercomputing features and performance at 1/10th the cost and 1/20th the power of traditional CPU-only servers.

;)

http://www.nvidia.com/object/fermi_architecture.html

[JohnZS]

If ATi had a 2GB 58xx GPU out now Id say buy it. However they do not so best bet is to wait until GF100 rumour has it ATi have a refresh coming soon too hopefully faster than current offerings and with 2GB of VRAM
John

[Drazn]

You know guys I have been asking around and now im totally lost. I would like to give you guys my system specs and you guys tell me what you would suggest to upgrade. Like I said I have been out of the game for awhile so any help would be great appreciated.

E8400 3.0 ghz core 2 duo (OCed 3.6)
BFG Tech GeForce 8800GTS 512MB x 2
OCZ Platinum 4GB DDR3 1600
EVGA NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI MOBO
COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evolution ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Real Power Pro 1000W Power
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro
ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler
Seagate Barracuda 750GB SATA

[Frag Maniac]

I'd hold off for a Fermi, if the CPU you currently have can handle it without bottleneck and/or you can handle OCing it.

[Drazn]

I'd hold off for a Fermi, if the CPU you currently have can handle it without bottleneck and/or you can handle OCing it.

I have the CPU currently OCed to 3.6.

[zalbard]

I'd get a cheap quad CPU (Q9550 for example) if you're happy with your mobo, and Radeon 5850. But thinking about it, 5850 won't be so much faster since you already have 2 cards... so maybe opt for 2x 5850, which is pricy, but they will surely get cheaper once Fermi is out.

[CryptiK]

It's not really a good time to be upgrading right now. Fermi is due out within a couple of months (hopefully hehe), and this should be a very quick card. It's release should bring down prices of other cards, so if you buy something now, you'll probably kick yourself in a month or two when the prices drop, or regret your card choice, or both.

To give an idea of how your system stands now, what do you score in 3dmark 03/05/06? I've got no idea what 2 GTS's score with your CPU, so it might help with suggested upgrades.

[Jowy Atreides]

You know guys I have been asking around and now im totally lost. I would like to give you guys my system specs and you guys tell me what you would suggest to upgrade. Like I said I have been out of the game for awhile so any help would be great appreciated.

E8400 3.0 ghz core 2 duo (OCed 3.6)
BFG Tech GeForce 8800GTS 512MB x 2
OCZ Platinum 4GB DDR3 1600
EVGA NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI MOBO
COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evolution ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Real Power Pro 1000W Power
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro
ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler
Seagate Barracuda 750GB SATA


Strip your pc apart and ebay the components, the whole platform needs updating as you're build is soon becoming locked out

[Necetra]

Why not just hold onto it and wait to see what Fermi does to the GPU market?

[5ILVgearX]

And Fermi Definitely won't be so cheap as $500 :shrug:

As the GTX 280's Launch price was $650 USD :eek:

[Frag Maniac]

I have the CPU currently OCed to 3.6.A wise speed choice. I myself plan a no overvolt OC on an i7 CPU. If I can't get a good price on a 960 when the i9s come out, I may go with a 920. A 3.6GHz OC may be all you need to avoid bottleneck with a Fermi, too soon to tell yet though.

As for speculated Fermi pricing, it's rumored to be near equal in performance to the GTX295, currently going for around $525. So if it's priced anywhere near that it will be justifiable if performance rumors are true. I'm expecting pricing of $500 to $600, with street prices soon $50 below that if the production numbers are reasonable.

[HeXploiT]

Strip your pc apart and ebay the components, the whole platform needs updating as you're build is soon becoming locked out

To what i7? That's terrible advice. 775 is still a very powerful platform.
Within a year we'll have another platform trumping i7. Will you tell him to dump his i7 then?