What do you think? Suggestions please

Hello, I had a plan to do a small upgrade this summer on my pretty ok system I have now that I bought a year ago.
Info about system:
Q6600 OC to 3.5ghz
Gtx260, overclocked about 20%.
4gb ddr2 1066mhz
Asus p5q Deluxe motherboard.
22" monitor + 37" tv.

The initial idea was to get another gtx260 and a 24-26" monitor, that way I could run the 22", the 24-26" and my 37" tv at the same time I figured. This wouldve been a pretty cheap upgrade. Then I noticed.. my motherboard doesnt support SLI! only crossfire

So now my dilemma.. I really want some kinda upgrade this summer, especially the extra monitor. But if I only buy the monitor, I wont be able to run 3 screens, and I would feel my single 260gtx would be abit more lacking than I want it to be with a 1920x1080 resolution monitor while supporting 3 screens with some addon card(?).

Also to note. I have an extra gaming computer at another place that I use when I visit my hometown. It has a 3ghz dual core and 7950gt card, I use this comp quite abit, less now since the video card is getting more and more dated.


So the scenarions I have worked up are more or less this. All include new monitor, probably a 26" with a 1920x1080 resolution.

1. Buy 2x radeon 4870 (could be some other ati model if its better) and crossfire, this should allow me to use 3 monitors in normal usage and enable crossfire when gaming (I assume). This would allow me to put the gtx260 into my other comp, making it quite viable aswell.
I am not totally sure about using ATI cards tho, they seem so random in performance, and I also play some games where I force AA in nvidia settings, my friend had little luck doing that with his 4850. I would hate to lose that feature.

2. Buy a new SLI motherboard and another gtx260. Would leave me with an unused motherboard and no upgrade to old comp card.

3.Buy a gtx295 and some addon card (not sure what this would be tho) so I can have 3 monitors. Gtx260 goes to other comp then.

4. Complete upgrade of main computer with motherboard, i7, ddr3, new cooler and a second gtx260. The other comp would be rebuilt to use the leftover hardware. This would by far be the most expensive option, but Im not sure from a gaming pov if its that much of an upgrade over my current system with an upgrade to gfx.


I would love some input on what you might think would be the best idea, I dont really wanna waste money on small performance gains, but Im not afraid to spend some if the gains are worth it.

Thanks for reading!

Was thinking the same. But I am still abit concerned about radeon with forced AA.
And about crossfire, is the switch between 2 cards non crossfire (aka, use 3-4 monitors) to crossfire (2 monitors, gaming etc) easy? Automatic?
Thanks for your input!

If you're going to go for the two 4870's, make sure you get plenty of air to them with fans etc as they will heat up a fair amount. Also be prepared for a dark time of buggy catalyst drivers (and btw, ati's stuff has higher gpu clocks and gddr5 over nvidia, but they lack decent stream processors and decent code that drives them which makes them cheaper..)

My advice is your number 2 scenario, except the new 260 is a single 280 (your old 260 can go to your old machine), maybe sell your old board on e-bay or to a local pc shop and make some scratch back off the upgrade.


I have a XFX GTX 280 XXX edition, play most 2008/09 games on near enough highest settings with very good FPS, no real need for SLI to be honest unless you fancy starting a folding farm with three 9800GTs.

Thats my opinion.

Go with whatever you feel is right.

I try to be objective when it comes to all things computers, but my experience with ATI cards isn't good. Not only myself, but friends too. One friend of mine got one of the first 4870's to come out, it got really hot and eventually he had to take it out for fear of melting the damn thing to the board.

Nvidia may be more pricey and less impressive on paper, but they still deliver the goods stably at the very least.

Other than that, if you have the cash, get a GTX 295. Those things are blisteringly quick (and still on the run from the law after the complete slaughter of the 4870X2 ).

+1 for Proffit

It depends what you're into. Sure ATI will give you good performance with its swanky high GPU clocks and GDDR5 but you'll see no end of problems.

Nvidia will give you solid, day on day performance for a few more dollars/pounds, my 280 is testament to that.

ATI should just close and get together with its mother company AMD to see if they can put their 'wonderous' processor tech into the somewhat lacking Phenoms

get 2x ati 4890 s

I got a 750ow corsair powersupply so I think its alright. But is 2x 4890 worth 25% higher costs compared to 4870s?
Thanks

i guess not really unless you get one thats oc'd above 950 core just remember u need 2x 6pin and 2x 8pin pcie connectors

ocd 4890
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102840