Another SLI or not ?...

tehseraphim

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Jul 28, 2010
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I'm currently running this card http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-nVidia-GeForce-PCI-Express-01G-P3-N988-TR/dp/B0032W602A

I recently finished building a system with the following specs -

I7-940 CPU, 6GB DDR3 PC-1600 RAM (triple channel), and the Intel DX58SO motherboard (did the big deal from Intel). When I bought the card I wanted something just to play wow with, but now I'm thinking I'd like to get a little more performance as I might be moving up to larger games. I'm running everything on a 40" 1080p samsung tv, and I just ran 3d Mark Vantage and got these scores -

3DMark Score - P6488 3dMarks
CPU Score - 35922
Graphics Score - 5096

I know these threads come up all the time, but I might still be able to process a return through newegg on this card and possibly pick up a GTX 480. However, it would be a lot easier for me (and in the event I cant do an exchange) pick up a 2nd 9800 GT and SLI them. I really have no designs for directx 11 - I just want higher framrates in games. I might pick up FF14 when it comes out, so I want that to shine.

Thoughts?
 

Tamz_msc

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For that resolution, the 9800 GT is not enough, and unless you get another one at a very cheap price(like a new one for 50$ or less), there is no point in SLI.For that resolution get a GTX 460 1 gb at the very least.
 

tehseraphim

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Yeah Im 2 weeks out of return policy but newegg is letting me RMA the card I have and I'm def. upgrading to the GTX460 1gb card - I was hoping the 9800 GT would cut it as I've used my 8600M GS on a 1080p screen and gotten ok results. In for a penny, in for a pound though :)
 

Dane Bouwer

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Apr 13, 2010
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read the article about the GTX 460 in Sli beating the GTX 480 in performance, heat, power consumption in idle and ....most importantly..... PRICE!!! for the same price of 1 GTX 480 you can Sli two GTX 460's and get more performance...especially at the resolution and display you're running at!

yeah, you have a pretty decent rig there, and nothing will look better than two monsters lying next to each other in your case!!!

there will be no point running your card in sli because of the low bit rate and core ratio, for your rig, your GPU is definitely your bottleneck prob, and sli-ing it will only give you a bit more performance, but not the performance you really want!

2 x GTX 460 and you're the bomb!!

Hope this helps!!

Dane
 
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wouldnt that mean its better (for the same price of 2 GTX460s) to get 1 GTX 480, with the possibility of ugrading to a sli setup in the future? that way he would have even more preformance. rather than putting it in sli on a weaker card and maxing out its potential ? please correct me if im wrong.
 

Dane Bouwer

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wouldnt that mean its better (for the same price of 2 GTX460s) to get 1 GTX 480, with the possibility of ugrading to a sli setup in the future? that way he would have even more preformance. rather than putting it in sli on a weaker card and maxing out its potential ? please correct me if im wrong.



well, i am including the fact that he wants to buy 1 GTX 480, so i advised him to buy 2 gtx 460 (same price, much more performance)

but if he wants to, and can afford it, to buy another GTX 480 in the future....by all means, that will mean one bad ass rig!! but for the mean time, 2 x GTX 460 will out perform the GTX 480, running all games on his 40'' perfectly...

remember, yes, he can get the most expensive rig out to date.... but we all also work on budgets and whats best for the people!! :)

but yes, the GTX 460 is weaker than the GTX 480, but put two of the GTX 460's next to each other, and you've got one powerful powerhouse full of power!! (okay i'll stop using the word ''power''-even though the GTX 460 Sli derserves it!! :)

Dane
 

Although some of us prefer to SLi from the get go, that way we don't run into any possible issues with getting another card at a later date.