SLI an older card or go with something newer??

[CicatrizESP33]

Hey all,

I have been out of the PC hardware loop for a year or so now so I am a bit rusty on the latest "best bang for your buck" options out there. I recently got the itch to get a new PC going since my old one is really showing its age lately. I am on a bit of a budget and not really looking to budge too much there. Here is how it looks so far with my price range in the parenthesis:

CPU ($200): i5-750 Lynnfield
MOBO ($125): kind of depends on the whole SLI or not situation, was looking at the ASUS P7P55 but open to suggestions.
RAM ($110): G.Skill Ripjaw 2x2gb DDR3 1600
POWER ($100): OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP
OS: Win7

The GPU is where my problem comes up. I have an old 9800gtx+ from my old machine and I was pretty set on going with the Radeon 5770. According to the latest Graphics charts from May, the 5770 is only 1 tier up from the 9800gtx. I was wondering should I even bother getting a new card at all? Should I get another 9800 for $100 and put them into SLI? Is the dx11 on the 5770 the way of the future and the better choice?? I'm stumped, any help is greatly appreciated!!

edit: Forgot to mention, my price range for the GPU is a firm $200. Really hoping I'm not talked into going a bit higher. My total budget was $750 and that was pushing it.

 

[Lmeow]

For your motherboard I suggest the ASUS P7P55D-E Pro, which I suppose is kinda outta your budget at $189.99, but I really recommend that board. Another 9800 GTX+ is recommended for another $100 or so, two 9800 GTX+ in SLI would give around GTX 280 or GTX 285 performance which would be much faster than the HD 5770.

 

[CicatrizESP33]

Thanks for the response! I guess if the 9800 was the better choice, I could put the extra money I was willing to spend towards a better MOBO. Any other suggestions on hardware is most welcomed.

 

[Mousemonkey]

The main problem with the thoughts of SLi is that neither board mentioned so far appears at first glance to be SLi capable.

 

[randomkid]

The main problem with the thoughts of SLi is that neither board mentioned so far appears at first glance to be SLi capable.

The P7P55D-E PRO would as well as some other P7P55 series.
http://www.asus.com/Search.aspx?SearchKey=P7P55D

 

[Mousemonkey]

The P7P55D-E PRO would as well as some other P7P55 series.
http://www.asus.com/Search.aspx?SearchKey=P7P55D

The Asus site doesn't want to work for me but I fond the specs for that somewhere else and it does indeed list SLi as a feature.

 

[Petey1013]

Yeah I would probably buy the better mobo and wait and see how your card performs. If it's not terrible I'd probably just save up and buy a 5850/470 down the road, maybe in 6 months or so.

 

[jyjjy]

What is the native resolution of your monitor?
With a $750 budget an i5 system is doable but you may want to consider a Phenom II x4 system do give you more room.
Also if you are in the US this 700w OCZ Stealthstream is currently a rather impressive $42.50 after the rebate and promo code so you may want to jump on that while you can;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341019

 

[CicatrizESP33]

What is the native resolution of your monitor?
With a $750 budget an i5 system is doable but you may want to consider a Phenom II x4 system do give you more room.
Also if you are in the US this 700w OCZ Stealthstream is currently a rather impressive $42.50 after the rebate and promo code so you may want to jump on that while you can;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341019

My monitors native resolution is only 1680x1050. I was set on a Phenom II x4 965 at $180 but everything I was reading seemed to point out that the i5 was worth the extra 20 bucks.

I'll definitely keep my eye on that power supply. I was hoping to stay with the other one because it is modular and I am a little bit of a neat freak in my cases but sometimes saving money is good too.

 

[jyjjy]

Well what you want is the 955(with c3 stepping) which is $160;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808
Same exact core as the 965 just clocked slightly slower at stock which is irrelevant if you are going to OC(which you should not matter what processor you end up with.)
But the saving aren't just from the processor, equivalent AM3 motherboard are usually a nice amount cheaper as well. Taking a look at current prices the motherboard people have recommend above actually is the cheapest LGA 1156 board with two PCI-Ex16 slots at least at x8 and both 6 gb/s SATA and USB3.0;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.369221
There's a Gigabyte board that is slightly cheaper;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128409
but it doesn't have a combo with the i5-750(or free shipping) so you'll end paying more anyway.
On the AMD side this is the best deal I'm seeing for a similar motherboard + the processor;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.397499
It's $100 less even before the $20 rebate.
Now the AMD board is not SLI capable just crossfire and the i5 is a bit better but the savings are quite substantial.
As for the PSU, modular is a nice feature but when you can get a 700w PSU of a good brand for $42.50 and are on a tight budget you gotta do it imo.
Here is a nice combo for the memory plus an HD5770(should be great for 1680x1050 for now and you can add another in crossfire later for performance similar to an HD5870);
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.400319
The two combos + the PSU = $532.50 after rebates plus a quick look on Ebay shows you can get around $80 for even a used 9800GTX+. You can go for an i5 system instead but what I've outlined above is certainly your best value for the money right now.