Too many choices!

[Suffix]

I know forum vets hate when peoples first post is a post theyve answered a million times, So sorry if this is one of them, I tried my best to search to see if its already been done here so if it has already been done just point me there!

I guess I have been out of the game for a while, last graphics card I bought was a 9800 pro. But that was back in the days when nvidia had a card, ati had a card, compare benchmarks and buy. But now that im a little older and have a little more money Id like to build a better system. Im very into gaming so Id like my new pc to run the latest games at high settings, something Ive never been able to do. So here goes the hard decision, sli, crossfire, single card? I guess to clarify, my budge isnt that high, maybe 2000 at absaloute max, preferably around $1500. So from shopping around at newegg it looks like I could build a pretty beafy machine for a 1000 easy minus the graphics card(s). So is it better to get like a single 7900gtx or dual 6800's or an x1900xt or dual x850's? I mean from the benchmarks ive seen dual cards is kind of hit or miss, I think I saw a few where like dual 7800's barley did a few fps better than a singer 7800. All seems to confusing. Sorry, I know I rant, so

recap:
Graphics budget 500-700 (negotiable)
sli, crossfire, single card?

I guess the advantage of a really top of the line single card is eventually I could afford its sister?

Input/recomendations/literature on the subject would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[cleeve]

Start out by reading the 'best cards for the money' sticky at the top of this forum.

 

[Vile]

7900GTX pwns 2x6800GT, 1900XT pwns 2x850

IMO, SLI / Crossfire should only be considered if you have a huge budget and are able to buy 2 of the best cards out there at the moment.

If you can afford the X1900XT, that'd be your best bet.

 

[moparman390]

Off the top of my head, if you want to go single card X1900XT or 7900GTX, either way you can't go wrong. The single card will be between $550 and $575. If you want to go dual cards in that price range, two 7900GT's. The two 7900GT's will cost just over $600 and preform a little better. So the choice is up to you. Personally, I'm going with two EVGA 7900GT KOs.

 

[Suffix]

7900GTX pwns 2x6800GT, 1900XT pwns 2x850

IMO, SLI / Crossfire should only be considered if you have a huge budget and are able to buy 2 of the best cards out there at the moment.

If you can afford the X1900XT, that'd be your best bet.

I dono, if i get the nicest x1900xt 512mb, its not even crossfires supported, well according to newegg, so thered be no possibility of pairing it up later down the road. While with the 7900gtx 512, its sli supported so I would be able to pair it up down the road if I chose to put the money into it. But correct me if Im wrong.

Anyone have some good benchmarks showing dual 7900's and x1900's vs a couple lower end models? All the ones I found were either just the 7900's and x1900's or werent recent enough to include the x1900's and 7900's.

 

[chuckshissle]

I say a single 7900GTX 512Mb is a good choice. ($600) My 7800GT (490/1200) can attain 100fps at BF2 with 2xAA and Highest Settings on game at 1280x1024. So I have no doubt a single 7900GTX will impress you.

 

[linux_0]

I agree with prozac26 && Chuckshissle SLI and Crossfire are not worth it.

Get a single nice card like a 7900GT / GTX or X1900XT / XTX

nVidia = better OpenGL and works under virtually any OS

ATI = better D3D and mostly works under windoze only

 

[Suffix]

Yeah That is what I was thinking, was the single nice card and then a year later if my system is left in the dust I can shell out a few hundred for the second 7900gtx, which will have gone down in price by then. Alright thanks for all the responses, it helped allot in making up my mind on a graphics solution. now on newegg the stock 7900gtx's seem to run with a core clock of 650 and memory of 1600 and are right at $500, but then there is like the bfg that runs 670/1640 is that worth an extra $50 Linky!, and is a card that runs 690/1760 worth the extra 75 bucks? Linky! I asked a friend of mine whis kind of hit or miss on info like this and he said it was worth it because when your talking computers everything happens in milliseconds so a small difference is processing power puts you ahead quite a bit in any incriment of time. Any truth to this? Thanks again for the help so far.