Absolutely confused...Help!

[szala11]

Hi folks!

Im absolutely confused... First of all, here is my current system specs.:

ASUS STRIKER EXTREME mobo
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0Ghz
ASUS Silent Knight cooler
2*2GB CORSAIR TwinX 4096Mb DDR2 800Mhz DHX CL5 KIT
2*1GB CORSAIR TwinX 2048Mb DDR2 800Mhz DHX CL5 KIT
ASUS EN8800ULTRA/HTDP/768M
Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Gamer
FSP Bluestorm 800W PSU
500 GB SATA2 Western Digital
500 GB SATA2 Samsung
Aspire X - Cruiser black case

This system is approximately 10 months old, not even 1 year old!!! (Bought it in 2007.09.24) The fact is that I'm selling this rig right now. Cause: Price dropping. When I bought this system, I planned to use it for at least 3 years, then buy another rig. First to notice : the drastic price dropping of the nvidia video adapters. I lost a LOT OF MONEY when I invested into a 8800Ultra... and nvidia SLI capable mobo which I only used so far with 1 card.

Having read thousends of benchmarks and articles about video cards and SLI&CF i'm planning to change to a more cost effective side: CF solution. I think ATI cards have more price/performance ratio than nvidia cards even though im currently an nvidia user.

I was thinking of putting 2 GTX260 in SLI into this system later on, but i noticed, in the long term it is more expensive then the ATI solution where you can mix 2 cards non-(!)-identical cards even if the faster card downclocks itself a bit. With the flow of time you can just keep switching 1 card, always selling the slower one and buy a better one. 2*4870 has the same and sometimes better performance than 2GTX260s for less money.Also it is hard to sell later on 2 cards at the same time.

So I can't really deciede... SLI or CF?Im talking about long term and price effectiveness. Is it really true that 8x8 CF has the same performance than a 16x16 SLI solution? Also i think TRI&QOAD-SLI is a VASTE OF MONEY!!! WHY do we need it? For a 100 inch monitor??

Also, from which chipset does CF benefits more? X48 or P45? Which motherboard do you recommend : the ASUS Rampage Formula with X48 chipset and Dual16xCF or the ASUS Maximus II Formula with P45 and 8x8CF(?). Or what other CF boards do you guys use?

 

[WR2]

Don't Panic! You're not that bad off. What size/resolution monitor do you have (or are planning to get in the near future)?
8x8 CF has the same performance as a 16x16 SLI AND 16x16 CF solution - at 1280x1024 resolution?

At 1280x1024 the dual X8 (P45) performs about the same as the dual x16 (X38/48).
At 1680x1050 the dual x16 slides ahead of the dual x8 by a few FPS.
At 1920x1200 the dual x16 starts to pull away from the dual x8.
At 2500x1600 resolution - its no contest. The extra bandwidth of dual X16 lands trumps dual x8 lanes soundly.

You could just sell your 8800ULTRA and get a 9800GX2 for about $250 and keep the rest of your system.

 

[aevm]

Yeah, you could sell your 8800 Ultra (hopefully for $90 or more) and buy a 9800GX2 for $290:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130338
(There's even one for $245 at newegg but I don't trust PNY too much)

Or you could spend $200 on a second 8800Ultra:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3094314&CatId=2513

Performance is very close in both cases.

 

[szala11]

Well. Currently I use a Samsung 245B 24 inch (?) monitor(big screen). I use Vista and XP SP3 in 1920*1200 solution(dual-boot). Mostly I play games in 1600*1200 or in 1920*1200 resolution on mid-high settings, depends...
I really *don't need* 2500*xxxx resolution!!

I dont know... shall i buy 2*9800GX2 in SLI(Maybe 1 and later SLI)? Will it last for at least *a year*? Porbably no... In this case it is better to buy a much cheaper but with better cost/perfmomance ratio 4870?and later set it up in CF? Hell knows...

When I bought my Ultra was around 800$. NOW I can hardly sell it for 175$!!! To hell with this nvidia market! And it is not even 1 year old...

Also I still can't find a good article comparing 2 8800 Ultra in SLI with the latest models like 4870, 4870x2, 9800 family, and the new GTX2xx family in all possible solutions. (dual card setups and single). Shall I get another Ultra or just throw the current one away and replace it with a single one?

Im sick of this headless, rushing developement... I think I'm lost.

 

[aevm]

Two 9800GX2 cards need a lot more than an 800W PSU. Think 1200W. Also, that's a 4-GPU setup and won't scale so well. That is, the second 9800GX2 won't add much value.

If you want the smallest change possible, WR2 has already told you how. If you want something more ambitious, like a new MB and a quad and so on, consider something like Asus Rampage Formula or P5E Deluxe with a HD 4870X2 for now and an additional HD 4870 later.

 

[WR2]

If you have $550 to spend I think a single 4870X2 is the MUCH better option than dual 9800GX2 (quad GPU)

But for the ~$275 cost of a single 9800GX2 you get a nice SLI bump in many games.

Find more 8800Ultra/9800GX2 benchmarks here: Anandtech 9800GX2 review
Look under the tables for the 1920x1200 res figures if the chart is 2560x1600 res.

Right now I think a GPU upgrade will drop your anxiety and increase your gaming performance.
In another six to eight months you can start thinking about a MB/CPU upgrade to the X58/Nehalem i7.
The good news is that no matter what GPU upgrade you choose you can move the GPU over till you see what the next Gen GPUs have on offer.
And there's a very good chance that your next X58 motherboard can do both CF AND SLI.

 

[szala11]

Thanks for the help guys! I think i will do some more research...
Hmm... very good pointing on the X58 motherboards... Wonder when they come out...