I just realized something very interesting. Two 9600GT cards on Newegg run about $350 or so, or possibly cheaper. A single 8800GTS before rebates costs around $310. Now... If the 9600GT gets a supposed 85% boost in SLI mode with another 9600GT... wouldn't that mean better performance than possibly even an 8800GTX, with less cost? I'd just need to pick up a SLI motherboard and a slightly more powerful PSU, so total, this might cost me maybe $150 more. But dang, this sounds really promising...

So what do you guys think? I plan on playing Crysis and other games with this rig, and I can make some very easy money at my job on Easter Sunday. Should I get the dual 9600GT cards, or stick with a single 8800GTS? This is one heck of a decision...

You don't always get an 85% boost though. It can vary from nothing to almost 100%, and depends on the games and settings. Crysis I do see as high as 85% in the most GPU intensive areas.

ANyway, yes, for crysis 2 9600GT would beat one 8800GTS 512MB. This is just the GPU bench which scales less than the GPU intensive later half of crysis. But anyway, at playable settings two 9600GT > one 8800U. Not all games will be this way though, but many sure will. http://www.firingsquad.com/hardwar [...] /page9.asp

Shoot, Oblivion, SLI 9600GT spanks one Ultra.
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardwar [...] /page5.asp

Same with COD4:
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardwar [...] /page8.asp

Not the case for HL2 ep2:
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardwar [...] /page6.asp

Keep in mind though that actual gameplay and timedemos are not necessarily the same results. Anyway, I should add, I am a big fan of 9600GT or 8800GT SLI instead of a single GTX or Ultra.

Imagine if the 9800gtx scales as well and they perform as well as an Ultra?

85% over an Ultra for €600 or so

600 Euros is nearly $900 US dollars for me. >_> No way in hell I'm paying $900 on GPUs...

But dang, this 9600GT SLI thing looks promising. Can I get a recommendation on a good SLI motherboard, so I can do a little more research of my own?

And more posts are appreciated as well. If one of you have a reason for me to go with a GTS instead, or if you have more support for the 9600GT SLI idea, please post!

http://en.expreview.com/2008/02/23 [...] w/?page=15
A comparison between the 8800GTS 512MB and the 9600GT SLI. The 9600GTs get on average ~45% better performance. Considering that 2 9600GTs cost about 20% more than a GTS 512 (sometimes less if you can find one of those "buy two and get free shipping" deals), the gain seems worth it to me. Although they didn't test the cards in Crysis

Excellent! Looks like I'll probably use SLI 9600GTs then. Thanks for the help!

I looked into PCI-e 8x/8x sli results vs 16x/16x and found little to no difference, so I bought a 650i mobo and saved some money. I own one and have used a few MSI P6N SLI platinums and it's a pretty feature rich and very stable mobo for the money.

Here's a review. With these kind of results I just couldn't see spending more money on the 680i. http://www.techspot.com/review/45- [...] page4.html

Anyway, I have nothing but good to say about this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130081

Get eVGA 8800GTS (G92) because its not $310 before rebate... Its actually $289.99 before rebate on newegg as we speak. (after rebate its $259.99)

I have it and it makes Crysis look easy with a whole lot of candy turned on.

Then when the (G92) gets even cheaper it would be a good SLI upgrade. (I am waiting till it hits $200 and I am gonna scoop it up because (G92) is gonna be around for awhile.)