$$$$ versus performance: second 8800 320mb or single 4850?

[hesskia]

Way back when the 8800GTS (G80) was a big deal, i bit on an 8800GTS 320mb because i had a 19" LCD and didnt' plan on upgrading it. I paired the 320 with an E4300@3ghz, 4gb ram, and a 680i motherboard to look forward to SLI'n in the future when the 320 became cheap sinch i only had a 19" 1280x1024 monitor.

I got a sweet deal on a 22" LCD 1680x1050 a year ago and have been running most everything at the native resolution (no AA to 2x depending on title) and max details. I've been thoroughly happy with the setup.

I've recently decided that i'd like to upgrade my video card since the time of "cheap 320's" has come upon us. At the same time, the 4850 has recently come out and become a sweet deal around the $155-$170 (AR) mark.

So my choice is this: Pickup the 4850 (and forget about Sli'n ever on my 680i, which was the reason i picked it up), or pickup the $100 8800 320 and run Sli. I realize that I won't be able to enable 4x AA due to memory limitations, but what kind of frame rates would it get in comparison to the 4850?

I can't seem to find any benches of the 320 SLi in any recent games, nor in comparison to other recent cards. the only thing i can find are old games.

So, my questions is, what woudl be faster 2x8800 320 or 1 4850 and some idea of the relative increases for the money and situation?

 

[hesskia]

The straw the broke the camel's back is AoC; never played a MMORPG before, figure'd i'd try the heroin out for change.

 

[dagger]

There are no benches because most consider g80 8800gts too old to worth mentioning. Still, G80 8800gts sli will outperform a single 4850. For comparsion, 4850 perform about the same as g92 8800gts.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/HD_4850/10.html

 

[cjl]

Actually, a 4850 is slightly faster than a G92 9800 GTX, which is itself faster than a G92 GTS.

 

[doomsdaydave11]

Actually, a 4850 is slightly faster than a G92 9800 GTX, which is itself faster than a G92 GTS.

Correct.

Well, seeing that you have an SLI board already, I would get something like a 9800GTX+ when they come out later this month. It performs about the same as the HD 4850, and will probably be better for your setup, seeing that you have a 680i board. That said, the HD 4850 would still be my preference, if I had only a single card board/CF board. I would sell your 8800GTS 320MB. You could probably get at least $70 on ebay or craigs. Good luck .

 

[ausch30]

I had a 680i board (P5N32-E SLI) with 2x 8800GT SLI and my experience was inconsistent at best. I really just wanted to try it out and I did but I don't think I ever will again. The moral of the story is to just go with the single best card you can afford. As doomsdaydave said try to sell your card and pickup a 4850 or 4870.

 

[ZootyGray]

Boosting investment in old tek? More junk for sale too soon.

Maybe a used one if you just want to try sli.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Future games will require more vram (whats new), so getting anything with 512mb or more is what Id reccomend. Todays pricing due to ATI's new cards give us alot of options for decnt upgrades

 

[hesskia]

I agree that future games will require more VRAM.

I was unlucky enough to get a TR revison of the EVGA 680i; this means that I cannot run a 45nm Quad (although the dual cores work nicely), and i also cannot overclock a 65nm Quad (They will run at stock settings fine). EVGA fixed this on future revisions of the board.

I do not want to replace my motherboard until hte next platform comes out-I want ot bleed this system for all it is worth. I believe that while a single 4850 will outpace a pair of 320's with AA on, I may be happier without AA runnign SLI at half the price. THen when the new platform comes out, decide my upgrade path from there....


comments?