Help! 9800 gx2 or gtx 260 on my resolution

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Last response: September 11, 2008 2:37 PM in Graphics & Displays

Zstratto

September 11, 2008 1:28:50 AM

Hi I am building a new computer and am beginning to have a serious problem deciding between these two cards (9800 gx2 or gtx 260). I will be playing on a 22" monitor at 1680x1050 res. I game often enough but not really extreme, I will play games like WoW, Age of Empires 3, Flight Simulator X, and probably some FPS for sure at some point. I do want to play my games on very high settings smoothly. Here are some of the components I will be using:
CPU: q6600 OCed (around 3.2ghz)
MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131275
650w PSU

If there is something else that would be helpful to know just ask. I have seen this discussion on a few forums through google, but the results are very inconclusive. Also I have seen the comparison between framerates of these and other gpu's and it does not seem to convince many people which is why it does not really convince me (at first look it seems like the 9800 gx2 is far superior, is this true?). Any constructive opinions and suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks.

More about : 9800 gx2 gtx 260 resolution

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eklipz330

September 11, 2008 1:37:46 AM

well the 9800gx2 would be in your best interest when it comes to performance, but im sure it's power requirements are alot higher than the gtx260... although i doubt you can go wrong with either, i personally wouldn't know what to pick. lol

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invisik

Graphics card Expert

September 11, 2008 10:42:08 AM

i have the 2 gtx260 in sli in my system all i can say is it beats the 9800gx2 a decent amount. i owned the 9800gx2 but it got very annoying with the loud fan and heat it generated. in my opinion i would save the extra money and a get a gtx260 for 230$ at newegg. it will perform 10-15% slower but its cheaper and has less heat issues.

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L1qu1d

September 11, 2008 12:38:48 PM

actually the 4870 slightly outperforms the 260 GTX (exchange blows in some games), and the GX2 is 24% faster than the 4870. When it comes to 2 260 GTX in sli the GX2 doesn't stand a chance. It would have to be paired with another GX2 to over take the 2 260 GTXs.

But at the monitor resolution you have, the GX2 would be the better option.

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Related ressources

9800 GX2 or GTX 260 Core 216 - Forum
is 400 watts PSU enough for 260gtx , 4870, or GX2 ??? - Forum
GTX 260 vs 9800 GX2 - Forum
Nvidia gx2 vs nvidia 260 - Forum
Geforce 260 vs Geforce 9800 GX2 vs radeon 4850 - Forum

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Zstratto

September 11, 2008 12:48:08 PM

Thanks for the replies guys. I have been reading some more and have heard that because the gx2 has essentially 2 cards it may have trouble scaling. What does that mean? Also what is AA and is it relevent for my decision? And I'd like to note that noise is not really an issue, I will have a pretty cool (temp) case, and I am willing to buy either card (i.e. the difference in price is irrelevent). And to confirm, I do not need a SLI MB to run the gx2 correct?

Thanks

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L1qu1d

September 11, 2008 12:53:49 PM

no you don't need a sli motherboard.

Scaling means how many extra frames you get from the second card. Some games only use 1 card, but most games will be designed to use sli, most games in the future will be more and more designed for sli

(2 cards). The Gx2 would be the cheaper solution, and it is generally 24% faster some times more. The 260 GTX does close the gap in some games though.

If you are going with the 260 GTX instead of the GX2, your best bet would be the 1 gig version, atleast I heard there was 1.