GTS 250 SLI, or single 4870

[RPinney]

I am building a new system soon (couple months at most), and I have recently seen found a really good deal on a pair of GTS 250s for $130. However, this would limit my choices in motherboards, because I plan on using a phenom II processor. Are there any motherboards which support both SLI and phenom II (the AM3 one)? I can't find any at the moment, I don't care if it's DDR2 or DDR3 memory. I have heard of some motherboards requiring a BIOS flash in order to recognize the phenom IIs, but I am unaware of which motherboards they are talking about.

Also, I would think going with 1 graphics card (4870 which I can also get for about $130) might be the better option for down the road, in addition to giving me more choices on a motherboard. I play at 1680x1050 resolution, with high settings but I can't stand when my FPS drops at all.

I should also note that SLI motherboards tend to be $30-$50 more expensive than the crossfire ones.

Or I could also wait a couple months and hope prices drop. Though, I can't see them dropping much more than they already have.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Two GTS250 would wipe the floor with a 4870.
If you can get two GTS250 for an amazing value of $130 (retail would be $250+),
go for that!

 

[jennyh]

Well if you consider the sli mobo would cost $30-$50 more than a xfire one, you might as well spend more on your graphics cards. I'm pretty sure you could pick up two 4850's for around $170 now.

You could also wait yes, and you're right it's probably a couple of months before the dx11 cards are out. As for the bios flash, most am2 mobos were built before the phenom II's were out. It's not a huge issue really, the cpu will still work it just won't report the info fully to the system and you might have issues with your RAM.

 

[RPinney]

Over at newegg.com

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162029&Tpk=galaxy%20gts%20250

There is a $40 rebate that goes through June 30th. Also, with bill me later taking another $20 off, it is $200 before rebate, and $120 (I did the math wrong lol) after both rebates. The rebate form even says it works for 2 purchases.

I just needed a good opinion or I would always second guess myself, thanks!

Let me find that rebate form link...


still debating, lol

 

[jennyh]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?nm_mc=AFC-SlickDeals&cm_mmc=AFC-SlickDeals-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&Item=N82E16814102824

might be interesting to you.

 

[RPinney]

I hear 4800 cards are really loud? Is this the case?


@jenny: Don't you think those DX11 cards are going to be way overpriced? :-/

 

[Jaysin]

I hear 4800 cards are really loud? Is this the case?


@jenny: Don't you think those DX11 cards are going to be way overpriced? :-/

Why? They will offer midrange and low end DX11 cards as well.

 

[coozie7]

@ RPinney: If you are thinking about this card I strongly advise you to read the customer reviews first:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162029&Tpk=galaxy%20gts%20250

What is your monitor resolution and do you intend to upgrade it in the near future?

I would suggest a GTX260 anyway; It's as fast or faster than the HD4870, a similar price and makes more sense with a SLI MB on a new build.

DX 11 is a non-event apart from a few tech demonstrations and will not really be of much importaince for a year or so, by which time Win7 will have had most of the bugs taken out of it, we'll finally have stable DX11 drivers and the hardware will have come down in price. Deep breath. So we can upgrade Vista to DX11 and our cards to DX11; Just in time for the flood of new DX11 titles. (sarcasm at the end).