Help me pick an 8 Series Card

[stevediaman]

i mostly play MMO type games, currently playing star wars galaxies, i plan on playing games like warhammer online in the future and maybe even tabula rasa...

im building a whole new system using a e6850 as a processor and 2 gigs ddr2 ram

my only problem left is picking which 8 series to get to meet my needs.

my options are

evga 8800gts 320 KO

8800gts 640

and the 8800gtx

if i get the 8800 320 KO ill probably within a few months set it up in SLI

if i get the 640 or the gtx ill probably take longer to get them in SLI since they cost alot more.

any opinions on this matter would really help me out

 

[gators1223]

don't sli them, if you have the money just get an 8800gtx

 

[Maziar]

first of all go for SLI if u play @ 1920x1200 or higher , i was in the same situation , i could buy a OCZ 8800GTX for $670 or buy 2x8800gts 320 , i went for 8800gtx, get the 8800gtx definitely

 

[nukchebi0]

Get an Evga model, which enables you to step up to the 8800 refresh in November.

 

[stevediaman]

8800 refresh?

and i only play at no more than 1600x1200

oh yea and i was only gonna get the KO for the 320mb GS... if i was gonna pay for a GTX it was gonna be standard clock and try to OC it myself...

 

[Yoosty]

He meant EVGA Step-Up program. Check links below.

http://www.evga.com/stepup/

http://www.evga.com/stepup/default.asp?switch=3

 

[jwolf24601]

Star wars galaxies is a VERY CPU intensive game, that only uses 1 core. So the e6850 is a good idea. I would even suggest pc6400(800mhz) ram so you can overclock your 6850 to 3.6ghz

You could probably get away with 8800gts 320mb

at 2.7ghz on my e4300 with an 8600gts I can play EQ2 at extreme quality most of the time, slow down a bit at certain areas. EQ2 uses same engine as SWG

Dont bother with the 640mb version, with 32bit applications windows (vista or xp) can only address so much memory to the application and the SWQ engine uses a TON of memory.

I expect tabula rosa will run fine on that set up as well.

e6850 @ 3.6ghz
2gb DDR2 800mhz
8800gts 320

If you have money left get a Raptor hard drive, it helps a lot with MMO's, and you can zone faster than your teammates. That's my next purchase after playing on my friend's.

 

[stevediaman]

my new rig is gonna be:

APEVIA X-Plorer ATXB8KLW-RD Black Body/Red Front Panel Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel

EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

Rosewill RX850-S-B 850W SLI Ready,APFC,ATX12V v2.2/EPS12V v2.91 Power Supply

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 Processor

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804

Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06

the problem is i know i can run SWG perfect w/ this setup, but i want/need this system to be able to run a few years.

ive been running a 2.8 pentium w/ 1 gig ram and a reg 6800 512mb for the last 5 years, im trying to do the same w/ min upgrading

honestly i like SLI cause it just sounds cool, u know havin 2 badass cards sittin in ur machine, but what i really need is just the best card that will last me the most time

keep in mind the only thing ill probably OC is the GPU... since its a little easier... but the processor is another story

also will it ever be worth it to SLI a 8800gtx? like lets say a year from now, and it aint cuttin it, instead of gettin like a 9 series, i get 2 8800gtx's?

 

[Maziar]

u said : and i only play at no more than 1600x1200

so SLI isnt worth it ---> Get a P35 board instead , also i dont know about rosewill , why dont u get Corsair,OCZ ,ThermalTake ... for PSU ?

 

[rammedstein]

get a gainward 8800gts320, they are heaps cheap and good quality.

 

[bruce555]

STEP UP MAN!!! Look into it!!! Get an Evga and in 3 months step up to the 9800's.

You pay $550 for a GTX now

In 3 months the 9800's come out for $650 for a GTX

They honor you $550 for the 8800 and you have to pay the difference of $100 dollars to get double the performance for less power.

This is cheaper than SLI'ing the 8800 later and will probably be faster.

EDIT: And most definatly be cheaper.

 

[Maziar]

no one knows exactly how much 8900 will be better so dont say DOUBLE PERFORMANCE ,there are also rumors that it maybe only a refresh