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Best video card upgrade for my existing hardware

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Hello,

I have the following rig I bought back in 2009:

1 x Antec P193 Gunmetal Gray Aluminum / Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

1 x Antec CP-850 850W Continuous Power CPX SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC "compatible ...

1 x EVGA 017-P3-1295-AR CO-OP Edition GeForce GTX 295 1792MB 896 (448 x 2)-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI ...

1 x GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

1 x Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601920

1 x OCZ Diesel 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive Model OCZUSBDSL4G

1 x OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK


I wanted to know if people still do the SLI (2x cards) + Dedicated PhysX card? I originally got this rig with the intention of turning the GTX295 into the PhysX card, but I never hear about people doing stuff like that these days.

I don't know that I really /need/ to upgrade the whole setup (I have room for more memory though).

So... recommendations? 2xGTX680 + GTX295? Toss the GTX295?

Notes:

- I have 2x24" 1920x1200 monitors and might get a third if I find the new setup runs smoothly.
- I don't have liquid cooling, but my rig is getting loud so I may consider adding it.
- If possible, I'd like to avoid upgrading the PSU

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the GTX 295 is really old, getting another one to sli will be stupid at this time.
toss it out.
almost no one uses dedicated phsyx card these days, a 200$ card can run phsyx easily. and the there is also the optimization issue.
Sli with 295 is not good, dedicated phsyx is just a hassle and useless.
what is your budget?? do u play at 1920x1200 or just 1080p??
do play in dual monitor??
what games do u want to play??

I am reading up on my motherboard and it looks like I'll definitely be tossing the GTX295. I was asking about doing something like 2x680 + 1x295 but it seems the PCIEx8 would slow down the second PCIEx16.

I play at full 1920x1200 and I would LIKE to do dual or triple monitor gaming but I have disconnected the second monitor for the time being since I got weird alt-tabbing behavior.

I want to play PlanetSide2, Assassin's Creed (the new one), etc. Just about any new games.
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Is the SLI/crossfire preferable to say a GTX 690?

It's kind of annoying, I always buy 1 card with the intention of getting a second one down the road and doing SLI or crossfire but in retrospect I doubt I will ever get a second outdated card just to accomplish this, even though it would give me a comparable experience. For instance, I could buy a second GTX 295 used and probably get the same performance of 1 GTX 680 today.

So then do people only really bother with SLI from the get-go?

MORE IMPORTANTLY! Will my PSU support SLI or Crossfire of aforementioned cards?

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Sli or crossfire from the get-go is not that great either,
coz if u have money to buy 2 7770's just get a 7850 or 7870.
or if have money for 2 GTX 680's just buy a GTX 690.
single cards are always better.
people who do SLI or CFX should do it within a year or 2.(but buying a new gen card is always better)
your PSU is great for SLI or CFX. i say get 2 GTX680 or GTX 690.
or crossfire 7970.
if u can afford it a GTX690 is great, and it will be like 2 GTX680's in SLI

GameGod said:
I am reading up on my motherboard and it looks like I'll definitely be tossing the GTX295. I was asking about doing something like 2x680 + 1x295 but it seems the PCIEx8 would slow down the second PCIEx16.

I play at full 1920x1200 and I would LIKE to do dual or triple monitor gaming but I have disconnected the second monitor for the time being since I got weird alt-tabbing behavior.

I want to play PlanetSide2, Assassin's Creed (the new one), etc. Just about any new games.


If you're getting 2x680, then you NEED to upgrade your CPU aswell, so you actually also need to upgrade the MOBO to fit todays socket, it will bottleneck those Cards.

GameGod said:
So then do people only really bother with SLI from the get-go?

MORE IMPORTANTLY! Will my PSU support SLI or Crossfire of aforementioned cards?


A large part of the reason that we're discouraging you from SLI in your case is that the 200 series cards do not scale in SLI anywhere near as well as the 4, 5, and 600 series. A second 295 would yield roughly a 50-60% performance boost, while the newer cards will give an 80-90% increase.

AMD cards do scale slightly* better than Nvidia in multi-card configurations, but it's not a big deal.

Your PSU will easily handle a pair of 680's.

Enjoy!

I ended up buying 1 GTX680 4gb. There was a deal at Fry's and it was cheaper than getting a 2gb model or some of the 7870s or whatever the equivalent is.

I don't see the 4gb model on the video charts, so I'm secretly hoping that it actually outperforms (even slightly) the equivalent ATI models (since they slightly bump the 2gb 680 with their 3gb).

I don't really feel an urge to upgrade my CPU at this time, but I may bump up the memory. I had a friend tell me it's better for me to get 12gb in 3 sticks rather than just supplementing my existing 6gb.

My existing CPU fan is also WAY too loud and I want to buy a quiet model, but I don't OC and my case has a LOT of large fans so I'm not super concerned with the latest and greatest.

Thoughts?
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