Upgrade; 8800gtx SLi vs GTX 260 SLi

[vpsaline]

I can upgrade from 8800gtx SLi to GTX 260 SLi for considerably little funds. Will I see considerable improvement in performance? Im not a noob, I just havent kept up with recent benchmarking and all lately.

I game with a 26" 1920x1200 panel and could re-use my current 750w power supply I presume.

 

[vpsaline]

I play with 2x AA and 4x AF, I have a 750w 54amp (4 x 6pin psu). I use a X6800 @3666mhz. Do I need to get 280/285 SLi to make it worth my while and is my silverstone psu enough for it?

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

You will see a pretty decent improvement in gaming and any extra performance wont really be noticed since 2 GTX 260s in SLI can max almost all games at that resolution.

That PSU should be fine.

 

[jitpublisher]

Do you actually have a problem with the 2 8800GTX's you have now?
I would think that the 260's in SLI would likely benchmark faster, but really, do the 8800GTX's really lag anywhere now?

 

[blackhawk1928]

Yeah 2x 8800GTX's should be playing all games on your resolution maxed out as smooth as a knife going through butter.

 

[vpsaline]

Well not Crysis, not ARMA_2...probly not a lot of games yet to be released. 200-300$ to futureproof my PC a little longer, doesnt seem like such a bad idea. When I play team fortress 2 sometimes fps drops to ~35-45 and settings arent even maxed.

 

[blackhawk1928]

Yeah well...2 GTX260's aren't going to run crysis maxed on 1920x1200 either. Once you crank up your AF and AA, even your 260's will get brought down to their knees.

 

[coozie7]

Yes, I think you should see a useful improvement and if your PSU can handle two 8800GTX 'power hog' cards it'll run the more frugal GTX260 with ease.
But.
According to the internet rumour mill the new DX11 hardware should be in retail by Christmas at the latest along with Win7, given the power of your current setup I think it would be unwise to make a large purchase until those numbers are out.
Even if the numbers are not as tgood as expected, or hoped for, you'll still be able to give yourself a nice late Christmas prezzie
Dual GTX275s' perhaps?

 

[vpsaline]

Ive considered dual 275s, but I rather the speed of dual 280s. Problem is my PSU is 4x6-pin pci-e, 750w 54amps. Is it enough to run two 280s? Will it work longterm if I convert two 6pins into two 8pins using something like this? Ive considered dual 275s, but I rather the speed of dual 280s. Problem is my PSU is 4x6-pin pci-e, 750w 54amps. Is it enough to run two 280s? Will it work longterm if I convert two 6pins into two 8pins using something like this? Ive considered dual 275s, but I rather the speed of dual 280s. Problem is my PSU is 4x6-pin pci-e, 750w 54amps. Is it enough to run two 280s? Will it work longterm if I convert two 6pins into two 8pins using something like this?

 

[coozie7]

Please do not do that! It's confusing!
The 275 uses less power than the 280 and is about the same performance, which is why I mentioned it, besides, the 280 is getting hard to find!
I, personally think you'll be OK as long as the cards are not overclocked.

 

[vpsaline]

Do you know of a benchmark showing 275 sli vs 280 sli? Its not hard to find for me, and its a question of 250$ vs 260$ each so no difference in price.

 

[coozie7]

*smug* Like this?

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1554&pageID=6784

 

[megamanx00]

If you have the money to spend on those cards then go for it. Two of the 260 sp 216s will give you a pretty good increase over the 8800 GTX cards you currently have. While it's true that DX11 cards will be out by the end of the year, It seems that only the ATI cards will be available and that due to some technical difficulties the nVidia DX11 cards will have to be released latter than planed.