Flakes

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at the moment i have one 7800GTX card and was gonna put in another GTX 256MB at the end of jan but now wondering if its worth it? should i just upgrade my card or go for another 7800GTX? i kno of at leat one person here running two GTX is it any good? aka run FEAR at atleast 60fps?
 

obobski

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THG's review seems to support yes for it maintaing over 60 FPS, however I tend to doubt said review given that my 6800GT won't maintain whatever ~70FPS they claim it capable of...it doesn't seem even close (then again, I am not using settings remotely near theirs (I have AF and AA turned on, not very high but it's still on))

Given the power of 7800GTX on it's own, a second one would probably allow what your wanting but maybe not at the resolution your wanting...(you didn't state which reso your looking at, given the SLI motherboard and 7800GTX, i'm guessing your gaming on a fairly high dollar system, so probably 1280x1024 or higher)

The question i'd have is what other options do you have? You could get a single 7800GTX 512, which if put in SLI would disable half it's memory, so that's a bit of a waste of 256MB

You could get an X1800XT, which is already reported to have odd performance in some games, AOE3 being one of them (however you didn't state AOE3 as a played game, so that might not be an issue for you)

You could get an X1900XT, which will probably be equivalent to an X1800XT on steroids in terms of performance...

while a second 7800GTX would probably cost the least, bench the highest, and run games with AA and AF the highest due to the extra processing power...

I'd suggest the 7800GTX based purely on the other options in the same performance range
 

DRAGoNX

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If you don't go SLI from the start, then don't do it. Well, sort of. Right now, with the G71/R580 around the corner I wouldn't do it. I'd sell the GTX and get the G71/R580.

You say you will be upgrading at the end of Jan? Thats when the X1900's are suppose to come out! And the G71's too. Save for those and get one of those as it will probably out perform your GTX SLI setup. (maby). 1 (ONE) GTX is suffeciant for any game right now unless your running at extream resolutions. Trust me, every game will run fine on your GTX, maby except FEAR, but for that just turn down the settings a tad. (bet it could run fine w/o any AA or AF.)
 

lakedude

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FEAR is a graphics card killer for sure. Even with no AA it runs choppy with my 7800 GT. FEAR runs good with the volumetric lights and shadows turned off. Maybe with the GTX you would only need to turn one of those off?

OTOH Call of Duty 2 runs perfect even at full screen res with AA. Not even a hint of choppyness.


You know spending all this money on graphics cards is kind of silly. If you look at the number of games worth playing and consider how many need the kind of power our card have you are looking at a very small number at this time. My card is silly enough but really only one game in the world requires a dual GTX setup. I bet is sure is pretty on such a setup........
 

Flakes

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yeah i thought that would be the general concensus. ill wait awhile and see what happens in this market after jan you never know the other cards might not be groundbreaking and if there not then theres no point upgrading to them.

btw system in sig.
 

obobski

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that'd be a fine idea too
and with the launch, 7800GTX 256 will drop in price even more...(it's down to what now? $450?)
 

raven_87

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I run FEAR @ 1280x1024 Max AA&AF all your goodies, softshadows, lighting etc...and maintain 45FPS. And with First Person Shooters...that more than playable.

I have a 7800GT in my Xazer...I actually am quite impressed with that card.
 

Flakes

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run FEAR @ 1280x1024 Max AA&AF all your goodies, softshadows, lighting etc...and maintain 45FPS. And with First Person Shooters...that more than playable.

yeah i would like to see that too run the benchmark in fear its in performance -> test settings.

this is what i get with everything on MAX, soft shadows on and 4x fsaa and 16x Anisotropic @ 1280x1024.

min = 23
average = 37
max = 82.

9% below 25FPS
62% between 24 and 40 FPS
29% above 40FPS
 

raven_87

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Here's the GT...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.asp?image=14-130-249-01.jpg,14-130-249-02.jpg,14-130-249-03.jpg,14-130-249-04.jpg,14-130-249-06.jpg,14-130-249-05.jpg&CurImage=14-130-249-02.jpg&Description=eVGA%20256-P2-N517-AX%20Geforce%207800GT%20256MB%20GDDR3%20PCI%20Express%20x16%20Video%20Card%20-%20Retail


Now here is for you guys...like I said. The only thing, my CPU is @ 2250mhz...I've had it like that since day one. Everything else...stock.

FEAR.jpg


Sorry...First run (Pic above) was @ 1024x768...this is @ 1280x1024 with everything I had said in my last post...my bad


FEAR2.jpg


I think I beat ya in everything bud...wierd
 

Flakes

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hmm, dunno i upgraded the version of the game and get slightly higher results, dunno, probs soft shadows, i turn that off when im playing anyway just had it on for the benchmark..dunno why we keep saying 1280*1024 cause it only goes up too 1280*960, unless you can change it manually somewhere(havnt looked). got it gonna edit the cfg with that res and try again lol.
 

viperxoc

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Hi,

I have 2 7800 GTs in SLI and totally blow away anything I have seen on here so far. If you put 2 GTXs on your system it will change your frame rates for the better. I have won FEAR once with my old computer and now with my new computer I am replaying it because it soo much smoother now. I just don't think you will need anything any faster than your GTX anytime soon. Unless you like to spend money I would suggest that you buy another 7800 GTX and put them into SLI.

Marrion
 

lakedude

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I run FEAR @ 1280x1024 Max AA&AF all your goodies, softshadows, lighting etc...and maintain 45FPS. And with First Person Shooters...that more than playable.

I have a 7800GT in my Xazer...I actually am quite impressed with that card.
I've got a 1280 by 1024 LCD but FEAR does not give a 1280 by 1024 screen option?? Did you do anything special to get FEAR at 1280 by 1024?
 

Flakes

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I run FEAR @ 1280x1024 Max AA&AF all your goodies, softshadows, lighting etc...and maintain 45FPS. And with First Person Shooters...that more than playable.

I have a 7800GT in my Xazer...I actually am quite impressed with that card.
I've got a 1280 by 1024 LCD but FEAR does not give a 1280 by 1024 screen option?? Did you do anything special to get FEAR at 1280 by 1024?

you need to edit the settings file in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Monolith Productions\FEAR
 

Flakes

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Cool, thanks Flakes.

i erm forgot to mention one thing make the file read only, or set all your options up first then edit the file, cause if you edit the file then set the gfx options itll set the file back to the 1280*960 setting.