Fastest GPU to get that my system won't bottleneck?

[Meanstreak1600]

What do you think would be the fastest Video Card I could get that wouldn't bottle neck my system? Was thinking maybe the Saphire Radeon 4850x2, or a EVGA GTX 260, maybe 285. Maybe not worth it all all for all I know. I looked at Futuremark scores of other systems with an AMD6400x2 with newer cards and their scores were only a few thousand at most higher then my 3dMark06 score (approx 11,400 with XP). Worth upgrading or no? I do not want to buy new CPU/Mobo.

Currently have:
AMD 6400x2, Asus M2N-Sli Deluxe, 4 gb corsair XMS-2, EVGA Nvidia 8800Gt 512mb, SB X-Fi Fatal1ty sound card, LiteOn DVD and DVDRW, Bigfoot Killer M1 NIC, 2 x's Seagate Barracuda 250mb hard drives w/dual boot XP Pro 32bit, Vista Home Premium 64bit.

 

[gkay09]

Well buy another cheap 8800GT and SLI them...they perform similar to the 260...just a thought...
So when you plan to upgrade your cpu, mobo then you will have newer card options...

 

[meodowla]

As 'gkay09' said, go for another 8800GT and do SLi....that'll be good... or else get a GTX285 and use your 8800GT as PhysX card... anyway go for nVidia(coz that'll be better with your SLi supported board)..

 

[Meanstreak1600]

They want too much money for used 8800gt's on ebay, and i'm going to put mine in my son's computer (AMD 5000+ x2 BE with same mobo).

 

[mactronix]

Well the 6400X2 is far from a bad chip, my question is what use will the new card be put to ?
Specifically what size/res is your screen and what games are you looking at and also what level of AA/AF etc do you intend to use ?
You would also want to check your PSU can support any new card/s you are planning to run.

Mactronix

 

[geofelt]

They want too much money for used 8800gt's on ebay, and i'm going to put mine in my son's computer (AMD 5000+ x2 BE with same mobo).

If the 8800GT is pricey on ebay, then sell yours there, and use the proceeds to get a great card.
--sorry son---

You would get a nice boost with a good single gpu card like the GTX260-216, 4870, or GTX285.
I think your cpu could drive these nicely, particularly at higher resolutions.

 

[Jpain]

Hello !

1. http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3786&PN=1

 

[Meanstreak1600]

Well the 6400X2 is far from a bad chip, my question is what use will the new card be put to ?
Specifically what size/res is your screen and what games are you looking at and also what level of AA/AF etc do you intend to use ?
You would also want to check your PSU can support any new card/s you are planning to run.

Mactronix

Sorry should of included what type of monitor - I have a Samsung Syncmaster 22" /2ms widescreen, I run it at 1680x1050 at 75hz. I have a OCZ Gamstream 700watt PS sli/cfx certified that I'm waiting for the RMA since the first was DOA. Case is a Thermaltake Tsunami mid tower. I've been leaning towards an XFX GTX260 black edition core 216, but I don't want to waste money on a new GPU if my system won't make the most of it. The last ATI card I had was a Radeon 9800 which didn't last 2 years so I'm a little bit leary of ATI. Any GPU less then a GTX260 or Radeon 4870 wouldn't be much of an upgrade over an 8800gt IMHO, and I wondering if I should just keep what I got and upgrade everything later- the mobo, cpu, and gpu.

Right now I mostly play World of Warcraft, but I also occasionally play shooters like Battlefield 2, Crysis, and RPG's like Oblivion and The Witcher . I know my current GPU plays those games fine, I'm just looking for a little more fps in WOW and play Crysis with all the settings upped. The new Total War Empire game really bogs down the fps on my system, have to play it on lower settings. Would also like a GPU that will let me play blu-rays/hddvd's out to 1080p hdtv. Thanks, any input is appreciated.

 

[simo1000rr]

... or else get a GTX285 and use your 8800GT as PhysX card... )..

sry to jack the topic but i wanna know how to connect another 8800 gt with a gtx260 as a physx card do u sli them or just connect the 8800 to any pci-x16 slot..

sry again for TC

 

[B-Unit]

Dont SLi them, just plug both in. Release 180 and later ForceWare will do the rest.

 

[megamanx00]

Ascendtech has a good rating on pricewatch, though I think their website is a little crappy

PNY GEFORCE 8800GT 512MB $107.97
http://www.ascendtech.us/itemdesc.asp?ic=VC512PNYG8800GT

And google shopping turned up this card

PNY Technologies VCG88512GXPB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT 512MB $113.99
http://www.fadfusion.com/selection.php?product_item_number=10181603262


If you're going to get a single new card though then I would say you should be good with a Radeon 4870 or GTX 260 sp 216. Because of the CPU overhead of using SLi or Crossfire a single GTX 260 sp 216 may prove better for you in some cases than 2x 8800GT SLI just because your CPU won't have to deal with that overhead. If it was me I would take advantage of the SLi board and get another 8800GT for now and upgrade the rest of the system when I could afford it.

 

[Meanstreak1600]

I believe i'm going to just get the GTX 260, and put the 8800gt in my son's computer. I'll upgrade my motherboard and cpu later this year, maybe add another GTX 260 for sli in the future. Thanks for the replies!

 

[meodowla]

sry to jack the topic but i wanna know how to connect another 8800 gt with a gtx260 as a physx card do u sli them or just connect the 8800 to any pci-x16 slot..

sry again for TC

Disable SLi.... then at nVidia control panel, enable PhysX...... there you can select the GPU you want to dedicate for PhysX..