My computer set up

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum, my name is ^^JiM^^

Basically, I have been saving up for a new computer.

My current computer specifications are as follows:

Nforce 680i Motherboard
8800 ULTRA OC 768MB in SLI,
Intel Quad Core: Q6600 2.44Ghz @ 3.00ghz,
2 x 450GB Western Digital HD @ 7,200 RPM,
4GB Dominator 1066Mhz RAM DDR2,
OS: Windows Vista 64Bit Home Premium.

Although i am happy with this computer, i have the money to purchase the 9 series as i would like to be able to play Crysis at 1920 x 1080 with a decent fps and ofcourse FAR CRY 2 etc.

My current settings are all maxed out but my resolution is 1024 x 768 as the gameplay becomes extremely choppy after any adjustments. (i have latest drivers and patches).

My question is, what is better than 2 x 8800 ULTRAS?

Is it 2 x 9800GX2 or is it 3 x 9800 GTX?

I know i can't T-Sli the GX2 so i was confused which one would be better.

I have the money so please tell me what is actually the best.

I will go for the skulltrail motherboard if it is the 9800GX2 and the Nforce 790i if it is the 9800 GTX.

For the advantage youd be getting with a 9800 it simply wouldnt be worth it. Save you money, wait til the next gen comes out. Beleve it or not, you still have one of the besy setups out, with little or really nothing to better at this time.

There isn't much that is better than two 8800 Ultras in SLI. I think you may have some system problems that are hindering your performance.

Usual suspects: Spyware/Viruses, bad drivers (sometimes the newest is NOT the best), defrag, clean your registry, check to see if there are background apps stealing resources.

Other things to check: Overheating, bad PSU or not enough power.

Not that you want to do this immediately, but sometimes a full reinstall of your O/S is the easiest way to get back to square one.

But, whatever the case, I think you should be getting better performance than you are.

Hmm, it seems i get 15,229 from 3DBenchMark 2006. Seems about right. Seriously. This is the speed i get. i get around 50-80fps with 1024 x 768 no AA everything very high. remember its 64bit vista and its using directx 10 and im guessing my CVAR is fully unlocked.

Even in Vista 64 I would expect FPS and 3DMark to be significantly higher...
I get 12110 in 3DMark and I'm massively CPU limited in comparison to you and your cards are a bit faster.
What driver version are you running?
I'm running beta 174.20's as with the current nvidia release CoD4 would crash bigtime with SLi enabled.
The current drivers for me have been ****!
I get about 20-30FPS with everything set to high in XP @ 1280x1024 and it's smooth.