Plz help me with upgrade, SLI or single faster card?

[Ningenpo]

Hi,

I'm planning on upgrading my computer system within a near future. And I could really need some help in choosing btw two 7800 GT and one 7800 GTX 512. Or perhaps another solution?

And also if you have any coments on the other parts I'm buying, plz feel free to post. Have I made an error in judgement, tell me.

I have about 900$ to spend on graphics, and in Sweden two 7800 GT cost about 800$ and the 7800 GTX 512 cost about 870$.

Current parts that I plan on replacing:
San Diego 3700+, Asus A8V Deluxe, 4 * 512 Corsair VS, Gigabyte 6800 Ultra (scores 1400 with 3dmark06 ).

To:
X2 4400+, Asus A8N32-SLI, 2 * 1024 Corsair TwinX, one or two graphics cards.

Everything will be cooled with Waterchill Dual Extreeme kit for cpu and graphics card/s.

An extremely important factor to me is stability. I have a thing for Asus as it's one of few mobos that I've tested that is really stable. I've had MSI, Gigabyte and DFI that were all unstable. Does this go for Graphics cards also?

Is it good to both have the graphix card and the mobo from the same comany e.g. Asus?

Thanks in advance.

 

[pauldh]

I'm planning on upgrading my computer system within a near future. And I could really need some help in choosing btw two 7800 GT and one 7800 GTX 512. Or perhaps another solution?

GTX 512MB are rare and expensive. Wait until tomorrrow as it's X1900 launch day. It's looking like the $550 X1900XT will be quicker than the $750 GTX 512MB.

 

[Heyyou27]

About two months ago I was in the same situation as you. I decided to get two 7800 GTs. You'll get better performance and save money. I scored over 12,000 in 3D Mark05 where a 7800 GTX 512 only scores over 9,000.

 

[illicitsc]

Current parts that I plan on replacing:
San Diego 3700+, Asus A8V Deluxe, 4 * 512 Corsair VS, Gigabyte 6800 Ultra (scores 1400 with 3dmark06 ).

how the hell do u score sooo low with a 6800 ultra, im scoring 1700 with a 6600gt...

 

[pauldh]

Good ?, my 6800U scores 2754 without overclocking beyond stock BFG speeds; I was feeling that was low. 8O

 

[RichPLS]

If you want pure performance for the dollar, get an X1900XTX around $600 and available, the 7800 512 is not available, and b/o is over $750 up to $900 per single card.

Asus X1800XT Top

ATI Crossfire X1800

Keep in mind ATI does seem to be improving their drivers performance and dual core is a part of that.
So spend the $200 savings from getting the X1800XT or X1900XTX towards getting a Opteron 175.

 

[Heyyou27]

If you want pure performance for the dollar, get an X1900XTX around $600 and available, the 7800 512 is not available, and b/o is over $750 up to $900 per single card.

Asus X1800XT Top

ATI Crossfire X1800

Keep in mind ATI does seem to be improving their drivers performance and dual core is a part of that.
So spend the $200 savings from getting the X1800XT or X1900XTX towards getting a Opteron 175.

Or he could get two 7800 GTs in SLI, which will perform better than an X1800 XT. Although an X1800 XT > 7800 GTX 512 thanks to the price and small performance difference

 

[parlee]

i scored 1004 with the same proc and memory, but with an x700pro...

get a single x1900xtx for 700 dollars, will be the fastest card out, until 7900's

 

[RichPLS]

Or he could get two 7800 GTs in SLI, which will perform better than an X1800 XT. Although an X1800 XT > 7800 GTX 512 thanks to the price and small performance difference

In some apps, but not when comparing to a single X1900XTX which would be cheaper than two 7800GT's which would be far inferior while producing much more heat and power draw, not to mention you would get no AVIVO advantages, nor expandablity options.

 

[lakedude]

If you only got 300 bucks (usd) a single 7800GT is a fine option. However if you want to spend closer to $600 I think a single ATI 1900 XTX or XT would be better than two 7800s.

 

[Ningenpo]

Hi again, thanks for all the advice!

However, it might seem that I'm rich or something, but I'm not. It has taken me months to save up for this/ese new card/s, therefore I want to be completely sure (atleast very sure) on the better choise before I purchase. Therefore I have some followup questions.

I can add that I play games in 1280*1024, but that I want every other choise to be maxed, max anti-alising etc. Does that have an effekt on what card to buy? I've read that SLI will benefit more from higher resolutions (like 1600*1200).

I decided to get two 7800 GTs. You'll get better performance and save money. I scored over 12,000 in 3D Mark05 where a 7800 GTX 512 only scores over 9,000.

1. Can we agree that buying two GTs are better than buying one GTX 512?

2. Does anyone know aprox. how long it is before the next nVidia (7900?) comes out? If it's in a couple of weeks I might wait and see how i performs, but if it doesn't arrive in months I'll skip it.

3. Is really one x1900xtx better than two 7800 GTs? In sweden they cost the same. Can someone please post some links for any reviews?

And I have another less imortant question.

4. How come I get so incredibly low 3dmark06 scores?
I got like 4200 with 05.

I ran the test again but this time with 1024*768 but I got no more than 1600 points, then I ran the test in 1280*1024 and I got 1580 points. Stange? What's the most possible bottleneck?

My rig:
San Diego 3700@2.2, ASUS A8V Deluxe, 4 * 512 mb Corsair VS pc3200 cl 2.5, Audigy 2 ZS, Seagate NCQ 250Gb Sata, Gigabyte 6800 Ultra overclocked from factory to 425Mhz core and stock 1.1 memory. All is mounted in a Arctic Cooling T1 with 350W Seasonic powersupply.

The 6800 Ultra is AGP and doesn't have support for SM3.0

Thanks Again!

 

[raven_87]

Well, currently those two 7800GTS are about even with a X1900XT.
The shader count on the newest ATI line is incredible, but its going to take
a few months before you really see its raw power being used.

My opinion, wait a couple weeks, if there's no news from Nvidia, pounce
on the X1900.

BTW: The 6800U does support SM3.0...all Nv from the 6xxx on up do too.

 

[Ningenpo]

BTW: The 6800U does support SM3.0...all Nv from the 6xxx on up do too.

Not with my card for some reason, when I open 3dmark the SM3.0 checkbox is gray. But it might have something to do with my drivers perhaps, I'm using like 75.something. Everytime I try to upgrade the drivers the card crashes and I'll re-install the drivers that bundeled with the card then the card works again. Very strange...

Thanks!

I found a test that was a bit giving, sadly in swedish though.
Sweclockers test of x1900xtx

 

[Ningenpo]

For anyone interested, this is what I finally bought for my entire rig:

- AMD X2 4800+
- Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
- 2 gb Corsair TWINX2048-4000PT
- 2 e-vga 7800GT CO 470mhz
- Soundblaster X-fi extreme music
- Antec NEO HE 500W PSU
- 320 GB WD Sata
- 250 GB Seagate NCQ Sata
- 250 GB Lacie Ext hd
- Nec 3550A
- And a crappy, never to be used, floppy

- Waterchill Black Ice Xtreme II RDT02 120mm
- Waterchill CPU Cooler Antarctica DYO
- WaterChill tubes (1/2") 3m
- 2 Waterchill VGA Cooler DYO (Elbow fittings)
- WaterChill Xtreme Integrated Pump/Reservoir (12V)
- 4 ADDA 120mm 16db

- Logitech G7
- Logitech Z-5500 surround system
- 2 ADDA 120mm
- Arctic Silver
- Microsoft Ergo 4000 keyboard
- 16 Vga Ram heatsinks (Zalman)
- Zalman harddrive cooler (heatpipe)
- Samsung 913B

I think that was most of the stuff I bought.

I've built a nice (atleast I think so) home for some of the parts. This is my contribution to the modding world.

I'll post another picture in a couple of days when i've got all off the parts and installed them.

 

[parlee]

not a bad comp, but im curious, why didnt you go with an x1900xtx? its faster than 7800gt in sli and right now is the fastest card on the market.. im also wondering why u have 5 120mm fans AND watercooling? a bit excessive dont u think?

 

[Ningenpo]

not a bad comp, but im curious, why didnt you go with an x1900xtx? its faster than 7800gt in sli and right now is the fastest card on the market.. im also wondering why u have 5 120mm fans AND watercooling? a bit excessive dont u think?

Well, the part on graphics. After reading like 50 reviews I found that x1900xtx had a very small advantage over 2 gts. But that was over 400mhz gts. I've ordered factory overclocked to 470mhz. I don't want to OC after spending like $3000 on a computer (it's more expensive in sweden than in the US). I'll start to overclock when I need to, hopefully not for 6 months more. (Also, I've had bad experiences with all of my 3 previous Ati cards. And nothing bad with my 5 different nVidia Cards)

The part about the fans. I actually have 6 120mm fans @ 5v. My wood creation looks like a U inside, so I got 2 blowing air into the box and 2 blowing air through the radiators and out. Then I have one mounted to blow att the PSU and one to blow at the graphics cards zalman memmory coolers. I should have bought cooling that included the memory, but I only went for Gpu blocks.

 

[parlee]

yea i guess u make a good point with the overclcoked 7800gt's, and ud be stupid to overclock for at least a year because u wont need that extra performance with a comp like that

 

[Nytro]

u can try a 7800 gtx 256 mb, very good price/performance