Stepup to GTX 280 from 9800GX2?

It would cost me $130 to stepup to a GTX280 from my current card, a 9800gx2. I've been pretty happy with my gx2, but the only problem I have is the sometimes low frame rates in games like Age of Conan. I'll get anywhere from 15-80fps on Age of Conan (outside.... 150fps inside of buildings). On the highend the FPS is great, but sometimes it dips very low and even starts to stutter. Is it worth it to upgrade?

Also, I don't have all of the original packaging which EVGA says they require. I have the CDs and spare parts, but I threw out the things like the packaging cardboard and anti-static bag. Will EVGA screw me or should I be alright, assuming I still pack the card decently?

It is including shipping, although I guess it is only shipping from EVGA back to me, and it'll be another $5-10 to ship it to them.

Not in any way worth $130..

Don't do it. The 9800GX2 is actually a better card. The only advantages of the GTX 280 are lower power consumption when idle and better scaling in SLI. If you only have one 9800GX2 you will actually lose some fps if you replace it with a GTX 280. OK, I don't know about AoC, but that's what I saw in the benchmarks from other games. Read the GTX 280 reviews for yourself, for example at www.anandtech.com.

Actually Age of Conan works guiet nice with 280. It's very game dependant where 9800gx2 or 280 is better...
But is it worth of it, hard to say.

From the test results here on Tom's Hardware, I'd say send me the $130 rather than stepping up. We'll call it even If you want to waste $130 I'd rather it go to a good cause. LOL

Seriously though, the results on that GTX 280 weren't very impressive to me. Some of it may be due to early driver versions, but still. Take that $130 and put it towards your account dues for AoC. My 8800GTS (G92) plays AoC fine on "High" (shadows reduced). I can only imagine your 9800GX2 is plenty.

Can always reduce the view distance on AoC from 15 miles to 10 miles. (Seriously, you can see a long ways in that game).

The GTX 280 really shines when using AA and AF. I would pay the extra $130 because I like high qually images without jaggadies.

it won't be a step up.. just save the money and see what's ati will have to offer...

but seriously... changing your 9800 gx2 at this point seem silly..
you won't gain that much of performance no matter what you'll buy...

btw. you may wanna try to OC your q6700 ..
though I'm not sure how much processing power does
AoC needs..

(15 fps with such system seems really odd.. )

The price and performance issues aside, there are two reasons that actually speak for stepping up.

1. Some games actually run better on single card solutions until Nvidia spends enough time to tweak it's drivers. So in some games the GTX might be superior. This will be especially true for new games and games that go under the radar.

2. Since you have a SLI capable mainboard, it is worthy to note that SLI scales a whole lot better than quad-sli. Your rig is quite top of the line and by that, it seems, money is not really the limiting factor. If you have a big screen or run at insane resolutions, a GTX 280 SLI option would probably superior to a quad SLI solution - not to mention that, the GTX memory package (bus, amount, etc.) is worlds ahead of a GX2 which makes it a lot more "future proof".

I find Age of Conan is not too CPU depend. I had a Q6600 clocked at 3GHz, xfx8800GTS G92 and 4GB RAM (win XP 32bit), I run conan on high settings, no bloom and shader 3 and get 30-70fps outside (dropping to 18fps at worst) and 60-130fps inside. To see if the CPU made any difference I clocked higher; 3GHz to 3.4GHz and it made no difference what so ever.
So I don't believe Age of Conan is CPu depend, I believe it more GPU than anything else

just my experience

I never said it was MORE CPU dependent, just more so than most games. His system seems fine and should be overkill, though the CPU screams for some overclocking, regardless. Ok, OP I want you to find a place that stresses that system then randomize the port that AoC uses, should be in settings. Do this a few times and see if there is any change, if there is then we know you must tweak the port until it is at it's fastest speed. Also Nvidia motherboards have some network software that smooths the internet connection in games, this lowers the max FPS and heightens the minimum FPS, in theory. Before all this you should make sure ALL drivers are updated, those network drivers can cause a little bit of harm in this instance. If nothing else look up patches and setting configurations for your hardware to see if others are having similar problems. MMOs can be a pain in the neck, among other places.

^Who said GTX280's in SLI needs AT LEAST 1200w? Yes they are very power hungry, but I doubt they need at least a 1200w PSU.

WOW really?! Sorry i doubted you raven.

GTX280 will beat anything in SLI. even 2 9800 gtx2's

only get GTX280 if u can sli. if not dont do it.

GTX 280 SLI do not require "at least a 1200W PSU". There are 1000W PSUs on the certified list @ http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html
And how do you get "an EXTREMELY cool case, cooler than an open-air set up" ?? The best you're ever going to do is get the case temps equal to an open air setup (ambient temperature). And I haven't seen anything saying that is an actual requirement for GTX 280SLI.