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Question for Upgrading Video Card

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jednx01   05-21-2009 at 12:36:59 AM

I'm considering buying a new videocard to boost the performance of my system. My current specs are:

CPU: q9450 2.66 quad core @ 3.4 ghz

Ram: OCZ reaper 1066mhz ddr2 4gb

Videocards (currently): 2 gtx 260's in 2-way sli 192 core version

Motherboard: 780i board

Harddrive: 500gb 7200rpm seagate

Case: Antec 1200

PSU: Corsair HX1000 (1000w power supply)



For upgrading the videocard I was considering adding another gtx 260 192 core. The mother board supports tri sli, so that's not going to be a problem. The main question is whether this is the best option to take. Will this processor be too much of a bottleneck to make tri sli worth it? Also, would the power supply be enough to support three gtx 260's? I game at 1920x1200 by the way. I'm on a budget for this upgrade. Spending more than 200 dollars isn't really an option, so please don't suggest elaborate graphic solutions like completely upgrading to tri sli gtx 285's. :P

Anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated!

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alvine   05-21-2009 at 12:53:00 AM
- 0 +

i personally would not get third 260........just wait for new series of graphic cards to come out and see bigger performance improvements

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kevin1212   05-21-2009 at 01:28:06 AM
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That setup should be treating you well, unless you have really high standards. What resolution do you play at?

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uncfan_2563   05-21-2009 at 02:05:38 AM
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yea seriously, i'd kill for that rig.

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edeawillrule   05-21-2009 at 02:32:16 AM
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Sell the 192s you have now and replace them with 216s.

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jednx01   05-21-2009 at 04:31:18 AM
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First off, I don't think it would really be worth it to sell the 192's just to get 216's. Anyway, the resolution I run on is 1920x1200. For most games the performance is pretty good, but could be slightly better. (Specifically in crysis, crysis warhead, and far cry 2.... I usually upgrade every year or so, and was just thinking about upgrading with a third 260 since the price has dropped to 150. (Makes me wish the price was that low when I first bought them. :??) This fact that the videocard prices dropped so low got me thinking about my pattern for upgrading. Even if Nvidia or ATI come out with their new cards in Q4 - like expected - the cards will still be extremely pricey for the first few months. Also, drivers and other issues generally are present when cards are first released, so I like to wait for a little while after the new series comes out. (Once the price drops, drivers are better, performance reviews are out, and bugs are worked out.) I was thinking about getting a third gtx 260 to last until next february or march once the new cards have dropped in price, then upgrade to either the new g300 series or whatever ati has cooked up and keep those card(s) for at least a year....

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uncfan_2563   05-21-2009 at 04:36:02 AM
- 0 +

well i like your process of thought with waiting on the q4 directx11 cards, we share that though :)

I think if you honestly have to increase your performance you can get another 260 but i personally think it's a waste and you've got enough power, but that is a decision that only you can make. If you were to upgrade i would agree with you on the 3rd 260.

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edeawillrule   05-21-2009 at 04:43:12 AM
- 0 +

The reason I made the suggestion that I did is 3-way SLI scales horribly.

Message quoted 1 times
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jednx01   05-21-2009 at 06:07:51 AM
- 0 +

edeawillrule wrote :

The reason I made the suggestion that I did is 3-way SLI scales horribly.


Yeah I know where you're coming from here, but recently nvidia has gotten much better in terms of tri sli scaling. In the past tri sli scaling has been horrible, but its much better now. In certain games the performance in tri sli is not much better than sli, but those specific games generally don't need the power boost anyway. Games such as Far Cry 2, Crysis, etc. are showing significant framerate boosts with the third card. For example, based off of results that other people have gotten, a third gtx 260 should push my crysis framerate from 38fps avg. (very high) to high 40's or low 50's. (Also, more imporantly to me, it should help keep the minimum framerates from dropping as far as they do.)

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