Am I nuts !?!? Please talk me down from the ledge....

[Annisman]

P5N32E- E SLI mobo PNY 8800 GTX OC edition + HR03 cooler, E6600 OC at 3.4 Ghz, zalman 9700. ( my specs )
Zalman 600W SLI PS



Ok guys, here's the skinny. I, like many others have been waiting for a new Top end card to come out to replace the 8800GTX/Ultra. Instead we recieve and incredible 'mid range' card from Nvidia, the 8800GT. I love my 8800 GTX, it has been just like a video card to me! Anyhow..... Heres the plot I need advice on.... Should I sell my 8800 GTX and buy two 8800GT's to pit in SLI ? Money is NOT a factor. I should let you know that my only real motivation for this is Crysis, I am saddened that my 8800 GTX cannot perform up to task. I game at 1680x1050. I need at least 4X AA and 8 X AF, all settings on High, I get a miserable 15-25 FPS in XP. I also have Vista, with everything JAcked up, I get about 2 fps no kidding. Now before you say ' If money isn't a factor....why dont you just buy another 8800GTX in SLI ?'....well the answer is two-fold. 1. On my 8800GTX is the good old HR-03 Cooler, while an excellent cooler, it manages to take up most the room on my Asus P5N32-E SLI mobo, and it doesnt help that my Zalmann 9700 cooler makes it's presence felt further up my mobo. 2. I love my audio! I need my X-FI Fatality ( hes a *** ) Extreme Gamer sound card. Which takes up the bottom Pci E slot on my board. Because of these two factors I have never ever been able to consider SLI w/ 8800GTX's. NOW HERE COMES THE 8800GT.....SINGLE SLOT COOLING. these things are begging to be SLI'd and overclocked wouldn't you say ? Would you think it would be feasible, or even worth it to ditch my GTX for Two GT's? With single slot cooling, I could most likely keep my sound card....AND SLI 8800 monsters. Let's assume I get about 350 dollars for my 8800 GTX ( don't forget I have the HR-03 attached to it which is a big plus.) Here is my card on Newegg....about 500 dollars after rebates brand new. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133200

so lets say 350 for the gtx, all I would need is an additional 150-200 bucks to get 2 8800 Gt's in SLI ( dont forget money is not a problem) Do you beleive that this would solve my crysis dilemna? I have never done SLI before....is it worth it ? what do you think? Here are some benches involving 2 8800GTs in SLI vs. and 8800GTX and other video cards....please notice that while the gtx can keep up often with the 2 Gt's, it often gets beaten badly.
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_8800_gt_performance/default.asp

( this was posted by others I take no credit for this link )

What would YOU do in my situation? is SLI the answer? will the 2 Gt's and my sound card all fit on my mobo?
Will this be a substantial increase in FPS in games....espescially Crysis? Should I do it just to do it cuz im nuts? Also would my Zalman 600W PS be enough to handle them? IT is SLI certified and is an OUTSTANDING 600W PS. very expensive, very good efficency.

Either talk me down from the ledge or help me jump! Your input will be very much appreciated there really is no wrong answer, sorry the post was so long. - Annisman

 

[nukchebi0]

If money is not a factor, I will take a $2000 donation for my services...

In reality, I would think you shouldn't act until you know how the final game performs on your card.

 

[Annisman]

2000 is absurd man....would you settle for half that maybe? 0.o

I'm not saying im rich, I don't mind paying big money for the top vid card or cards. Thank you for your opinion, but I don't quite understand....are you saying that the final game is going to be that much more optimized than the demo? I don't think that's going to be the case at all. - Annisman

 

[nukchebi0]

You don't think, but you don't know. Making a decision based off a prediction isn't very wise when you have the ability to quickly remove the need for a prediction.

 

[matth87]

get another gtx then instead of the downgrade

 

[Annisman]

No, I can't do that, I need two SINGLE slot coolers, and Im not about to water cool my rig just to get single slots out of my GTX....plus I would be wasting an HR0-3 cooler. Another GTX is out of the question. Plus to buy another for SLI would be a huge waste of money in price/performance ratio. ( not that I care that much, but just another con.) here is how it goes for me in options. ( top to bottom is better gaming performance)

2x 8800gtx ( cant do it) too much mobo space, want sound card.

2x 8800GT ( can do it, costs some money, goodbye GTX!)

1x 8800GTX ( stay with what I have, but remain longing for at least slightly better gaming performance)

see my dilemna ? the shortened version!


Plus I don't see how exchanging 1 GTX for 2 GT's is a 'downgrade'....the GT performs very close to GTX levels.

 

[jamesro]

sounds like u answered ur own question in the last line of your last post?

 

[ro3dog]

I know money is not an issue, but patience is ,I say wait.

 

[nukchebi0]

Take my advice and wait to see how the new drivers and full version impact the FPS.

 

[aziraphale]

Just wait and don't be the industry's and your urge's doll. These few frames are no not worth worrying about; or do you think your gaming-fun comes solely from having the best possible performance? It's in your mind.

 

[CompuTronix]

Case cooling should be given certain considerations. Although the 8800GT is a reasonably efficient card, the single slot cooling design when SLI'd will produce a significant volume of heat, which is subject to recirculation. Since case temperatures will increase, EXCELLENT case cooling will be required for your proposed configuration. Also, depending upon Vcore and CPU temps, it may be necessary to downclock your E6600 to 3.2Ghz. Depending upon the title, gaming is always affected by CPU horsepower, so perhaps it's time for an E6750 which, due to G0 Stepping, is more thermally tolerant by 10c and overclocks higher. How about some Raptors? Goodbye GTX and 6600.

Comp

 

[Valtiel]

Wait for nVidia's new flagship. Shouldn't be too long as 8800GT is "midrange" these days.

 

[lunyone]

I know money is not an issue, but patience is ,I say wait.

Patience is a virtue. I would wait for the final game to come out and put it on your current setup. The demo is by no means a final product. They will be tweaking the final product for some time to come. They'll probably have a patch within a week of product launch to repair/fix issues with the game. Another thought is, you could wait and see what AMD has coming out mid Nov (crysis launch time) and see if they have something better than 8800gt's. Of coarse you won't be able to x-fire them, without a newer mobo, but you said $ wasn't an issue. I personally would just wait a few weeks and then you can know if you want the 8800gt's SLI'd or a possible AMD newer GPU.

 

[jaguarskx]

As many people have stated, patience is a virtue. You don't seem to need a new video card right away. Also Crysis is still being tweaked.

Patience can really payoff. In my case I've been postponing the purchase of a new LCD monitor. I was contemplating basically between two 26" LCD monitors, the $950+ Planar PX2611w and the $1,550+ NEC LCD2690WUXi for some time.

A little over 2 weeks ago there was a $400+ price drop on the NEC, and I finally decided to get my ass of the fence and place an order for the NEC monitor. I got it for $1,154 excluding shipping. My patience paid off.

 

[englandr753]

For the life of me I don't understand what the problem could be with your system. I ran the crysis demo with absolutely no issues. What is your issue? FPS?

How did the game actually play without looking at the FPS? I am using the 8800GTX ACS3 KO card in an AMD X2 6000+ setup with no problems what so ever. Super smooth game play on all high settings.

If your having problems you may want to do some investigating to make sure you have the correct and latest drivers installed.

Something doesn't sound right.

 

[hok]

Nvidia's new flagship? when is that suppose to be out? another 2 months?

 

[darkstar782]

I have managed to get two 8800GTXs, a pointless PhysX card, and an XFI into my motherboard... :/

A second 8800GTX would be a much better plan imho..

 

[hok]

have you seen the benches on the link you provided... the GT SLI are close to 80% increase on some games.! wow

 

[jamesro]

nVidias G92 is meant to be released before the end of this year im guessing start of Dec for Christmas sales?
reportedly 3 times more powerful than the 8800GTX which is crazy good
wait for those! and get one now thats a plan... im sure ur top of the line GTX will handle ur gaming needs for now..

 

[pip_seeker]

This game is meant to scale 2+ years into the future... what kind of frame rates do you expect 2 GT's will bring you? lol.

The other option is always... use lower settings and live with the GTX.

You were spoiled growing up right? This game will teach you a value lesson. > "Patience"

there, there now step away from the ledge.

 

[baddad]

This is what you do, water cool.
http://a896.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/47/l_3d6b8e9e13f55ae2f3d5944892691827.jpg

 

[Annisman]

looks like everyone is talking me down from the edge, I suppose I will wait for the flagship...but honestly how much longer will it take I cant see any sooner than 6-8 months. And Compu tronix....I have a Raptor 150, and the XCLIO A380 'Air Bus' Computer case, that's 2 250mm fans and a 120 exhaust, heat is never a problem.

 

[blade85]

personally i would just wait for the final release of the game and see reviews of how good sli'd GT's are before buying em.

 

[Aragorn]

The review you posted has the GT's SLI'd for most games but not for Crysis. If I were you I would want to know why. However across the board the SLI'd GT's are much better than a single GTX, so they should do a lot better in crysis too. That said I have seen benches where SLI'd cards do worse in certain games than a single card (or have very little improvement) so it is probably best to take the wait and see approach. That way when you know for sure you can take a running leap instead of standing by the edge an wondering. That way you have a better chance of getting to the next roof.

 

[zhaf]

don't BFG Have water cooled 8800 Ultra/GTX cards that are single slot? get one of those and sli... if you still have enough space and money REALLY isn't any problem then sell your gtx and get two BFG water cooled 8800Ultra and sli them.