8800 GTX over a 9800 GX2

[xxcoop42xx]

hey guys im looking at the ebay on the interweb at some 8800 GTX for around $100. i currently have a 9800 GX2 and am not really happy with how it performs. what i mean is i have a 19" lcd at 1440x900 res and in crysis all high settings w/ no AA i only get about 34 fps average and then when alot happens i drop below 10 fps sometimes. i force AFR2 because recent tests with my other pc and SLI GTX 260-216 showed that this was the best setting for SLI performance to get the highest fps in my games. i also tested that with the GX2 and it showed best/most fps in games but still lacks performance. so i found a EVGA 8800 GTX 768MB for under $100. so should i scrap the GX2 and go for the 8800 GTX because from what ive seen for benchmarks it is giving me better performance than what im getting now with the GX2. it gets an average of 40 fps in crysis all high settings and 2xAA on 12x10 res and thats bigger than 14x9. i really would like to get the 8800 GTX not only because better performance but it ( i hope) isnt as hot as the GX2 either. my GX2 hits 90C with 70% fan playing crysis so im hoping to get a cooler card and reduce overall system temps. so if anyone could help that would be great. again 8800 GTX for under $100 used for only 2 weeks is what the seller said. should i go for it and dump/sell the GX2?

 

[xnem3s1sx]

Your not going to see a huge performance jump unless you buy 2 GTX 2xx's or a 4870x2. Benchmarks often still include the GX2, so there is no reason that you need to replace that yet. What processor are you using? Is your power supply sufficient? And as far as your FPS dropping during action, that's supposed to happen, that's how it works, the more the graphics card has to process, the longer each frame takes to render, therefore, you get fewer frames every second. If its really bothering you, try dropping some of the explosion effects, they use a lot of processing power.

 

[xxcoop42xx]

no im not going for a GTX 2xx card, i already have a 9800 GX2 but it performs like crap so i was wondering about switching to a 8800 GTX because from what ive heard and seen i will get the same/slightly better performance out of it than the GX2 is giving me. theres no point in running a GX2 when a 8800GTX will do the same and probably run alot cooler. im leaning towards getting the 8800GTX but i would like for you guys to give opinions about the performance increase/decrease i might get. i found a great deal for the 8800GTX for under $100. im really close to deciding but would like more info. my system specs are:

gigabyte ep43-ds3l mobo

e8400 oc'ed to 3.6GHz

4GB Ram dual-channel

630w psu

9800GX2

 

[boulard83]

what is your ram speed ? your sure it run Dual-channel ? Proc and mobo seems to be FINE. PSU brand ?

ths GX2 is known to perform sometime AWESOME and later crapy but with this res ... i think there is somethings that isnt working properly ... Driver ? Hardware ?

My 9800GTX+ 512mb (@800mhz) never drop under 24 fps in crysis. HIGH settings. 1650x1080 . E6850 @ 3.6ghz.

and this was with my 2g RAM installed never tryed with my 4g 4-4-4-12 1t @ 800mhz

 

[xxcoop42xx]

i have a rosewill 630w with 4 +12v rails and its got 60A total. the GX2 needs 40A so its getting power, the ram is pc 6400 or 800Mhz and is running in 1:1 ratio according to cpu-z. i have the newest beta drivers from nvidia and all bios/drivers are up to date.

 

[boulard83]

you connected the 2 power connector on SAME psu rail ?

 

[xxcoop42xx]

i have four +12v rails i.e +12v1=20A, +12v2=20A, +12v3=20A, +12v4=20A. here's the link to my psu:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182149

correction it has 50A total not 60 like i said originally, sorry. it should be giving plenty of power to my system but my GX2 performs like trash so i think i will replace it with a 8800GTX 768MB.

 

[boulard83]

I know, i already looked at your PSU spec. But if you plugged the 2 power connector to you GPU from the SAME psu rail, you only have 20amps (if this PSU really gives 20amp/rail) to your GX2

Make sure you plugged 2 dirrérent PSU power rail to it.

 

[xxcoop42xx]

yeah i used both pci-e connectors if thats what you mean, it has a 6-pin and a 6+2-pin (8-pin) and those both go to the card. i still would like to know why my performance sucks so much, i mean my cpu is at 3.6GHz. that should be plenty fast enough for SLI but i still get bad frame rate in crysis.

 

[boulard83]

Ok. i know you plugged the 2 connector. if you look at the WIRE comming from the PSU. the 2 connector you used are from the same "WIRE" ? you have like 10 wire with lotta connector to each of them.

1 for mobo, 1 for Hard drive ...........

Maybe your 6 pin and 8 pin (6+2) are from the same WIRE coming from the PSU. This wire deliver 20amps, another one gives another 20 amps !

If all the 50 amps pass true the same wire, it will just melt down

Edit 1 : Im french from quebec sry about my english

 

[xxcoop42xx]

i dont think your right because if the GX2 only got 20A out of the 40A it needs im pretty sure the card wouldnt work/turn on. i had this GX2 in my other system about a month ago and it has a 750w psu and i used a method of powering it where it only got 36A out of 40A and that caused the fan to stop working. but the fan is working and the card is on so its getting the full 40A.

 

[B-Unit]

You may see marginal improvements in SOME games that dont play well with SLi, but I doubt Crysis will be one of them.

 

[xxcoop42xx]

You may see marginal improvements in SOME games that dont play well with SLi, but I doubt Crysis will be one of them.

so your for the switch to the 8800GTX

 

[boulard83]

ok ill trust you but your GX2 is still supposed to run way better even if its running with one gpu ...

 

[xxcoop42xx]

i think ill go for the 8800GTX, im just not getting the performance i thought i would get out of the GX2.

 

[brendano257]

The GX2 has it problems I know, but the 8800GTX is very oudated in terms of tech. Your better off with a 260, or 280, or 4850 CF, 4850X2, or a 4870 it's your choice, but I wouldn't recommend the 8800GTX.

And I hate to mention, but it's my understanding that in order to get the X2 out of your 9800GX2 you must have a board capable of SLI because your card is essentially SLI on one board.

 

[boulard83]

as far as i know, the MOBO see the X2 as 1 card. The card itself runs the "SLI".

well ... as far as i know ...

 

[xxcoop42xx]

as far as i know, the MOBO see the X2 as 1 card. The card itself runs the "SLI".

well ... as far as i know ...

your right, the sli is internal therefore giving the person w/o a sli mobo the ability to have sli because its a single card, that was the whole point of the GX2. but i just tried playing crysis with only one gpu then both gpu's and saw no difference. i know crysis is sli optimized because in my main gaming pc with sli gtx 260-216 when i run crysis with one then run with sli i get almost double performance. but im starting to think i have a HDD bottleneck if thats possible. it could all be the HDD's fault. the hdd i used to build this pc is pretty old. its even a IDE HDD running at 5400 rpm or less. i think if i put a SATA HDD in it i would see better game performance. what do you guys think?

 

[roadrunner197069]

Why downgrade?????

 

[xxcoop42xx]

what would be the downgrade to you? i think i need to replace my IDE HDD for a faster SATA HDD and replace the 9800GX2 with a similar/better performing 8800GTX. my GX2 runs like crap like the sli doesnt work at all but it does and it is turned on. i saw a few benchmarks that show the 8800GTX doing just as good/better in crysis than the GX2 so i dont really see a downgrade. plus i gain 256MB more vram as the GX2 only has 512MB and the 8800GTX has 768MB. at a res of 14x9 i also dont really need a "sli" setup anyway, i only put the GX2 in this system because i put sli gtx 260-216 in my other and this was left over.