Another gtx9800+ or a GTX480?

[EngineeringMarvels]

Hello,

I am experiencing a dilemma here:
I have a CPU Intel core 2 Duo, 2.53GHz overclocked to 2.91.GHz in the AI setting "overclock" on a ASUS p5n-e sli motherboard ( A quick extra question would be if you think that's alright and won't damage the CPU?),6 Gb of RAM 800 MHz with a GTX9800+.
Now I've being wondering what would be better, Just buy another GTX9800+ and run them in sli, or buy a higher end card, like the GTX480 or GTX470 ? Which would give me the best perfomance, the sli or the other single card ? I need it to run not only games, but simulation programs as well, like autocad and so on, and other graphic designing programs. Please, give me an opinion, as I know many of you Know much more than me in this field ! Thank you !

 

[king game]

you can add the Ram and the GTX9800+ to you mobo and it wont cause any damage to you Cpu but make sure you have 600W or 700W psu(certified one)

using two cards will excert more pressure on you mobo it will heat up a lot and also needs a lot of power

but a single card would hold good Somethig like the GTX 470 or HD5850
instead of a GTX480 you could get a HD5870

but if you have a shortage of $$$ get a new GTX9800+ and sli it

hope this helps

 

[Emperus]

In case your motherboard supports SLI, you have the option of getting a couple of GTX 460 1GB video cards.. They scale very nicely in SLI giving much more performance compared to a single GTX 470 and performing similar to a single GTX 480 (at a lower cost of course)..

 

[skolpo]

^ Weird answers.

Anyway, what's your power supply? The total power draw of two 9800GTX+'s in SLI is 400w+. You'll need some decent headspace in wattage and 35 or more amps on the 12v rails.

For your question, imo, I wouldn't want to SLI two 9800GTX+'s because there are some great single GPU solutions out there like the GTX 460 and 465 that won't run you too much money and will outperform the SLI setup you're going for. I would sell the 9800GTX+ you have now, save up another 120 dollars or so and pick up a GTX460 1GB.

 

[Mousemonkey]

^ Weird answers.

Anyway, what's your power supply? The total power draw of two 9800GTX+'s in SLI is 400w+. You'll need some decent headspace in wattage and 35 or more amps on the 12v rails.

For your question, imo, I wouldn't want to SLI two 9800GTX+'s because there are some great single GPU solutions out there like the GTX 460 and 465 that won't run you too much money and will outperform the SLI setup you're going for. I would sell the 9800GTX+ you have now, save up another 120 dollars or so and pick up a GTX460 1GB.

Where did you get that number from? Tom's have it at more like 250w.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-radeon-power,2122-6.html

Performance wise SLi'd 9800GTX's would be about on par with a single GTX465 or 460.

 

[skolpo]

Got it from guru3d
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce--9800-gtx-sli-review-plus-model/3

But I guess I didn't take into account the system they were using. Either way, I'm a nay on SLI'ing 9800GTX+'s

 

[Tamz_msc]

If I were to add another 9800 GTX+, I would overclock that CPU much more, to something like 3.6 GHz at least.

 

[EngineeringMarvels]

Thank you all very much for the answers and help. I was looking up the 460 and it does seem like a much more reasonable/wise choice. I am on a budget, so I'm trying to take the most performance I can get. By the way, I forgot to mention, my power supply is an ULTRA 750W.
Again, thank you all for your opinions and help.
If you could give me a bit more info on the overclock I mentioned above ( on my original question regarding the CPU) I would be immensely gratified ! Is it alright to keep that overclock ? Could I go for a bit more perhaps ?
Thank you all !

 

[Tamz_msc]

You should overclock the COU to get more performance out of a GTX 460