285GTX SLI to 480GTX SLI upgrade question.

[gpitpitan]

Been out of the hardware game for awhile so I thought I'd ask ya'll for some advice.

Current setup i have an E6600 @ 3.2ghz with 8GB of ram and EVGA 285GTX FTW cards in SLI mode. I recently just picked up two additional dell 2408WFP's and am now sitting pretty with NV surround (3600x1920 config), photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kidchorus/sets/72157624431534571/

To cut a long story short, BFBC2 doesnt run where i want it to be (currently i have to set everything to low/med). Can i just buy the 480GTX and toss em into my rig or do i seriously need to think about upgrading to an i7 930 or something along those lines first before getting the 480 SLI setup.

Another question in my mind is, should i wait for a Fermi part refresh in the near future, along with apparent i7 refreshes ive been reading about in the news lately?

 

[requiem99]

With that sweet of a setup I would wait for Fermi rehash and simultaneously upgrade the aging 6600. You can get a bit more life out of your current parts if you can just overlook the problems with BFBC2 (which is hugely problematic even on 480s). I would wait and replace both together. You may not be very happy if you spend a wad to upgrade now. For your setup the time is not ripe.

 

[IRSmurf]

I would go with the 930, now. The next gen chips are apparently piss poor overclockers.

As far as a full blown Fermi part, I wouldn't hold your breath. I'll bet they're reserving those for their much higher profit-margin business side. If they are released for gamers, they'll probably be in extremely limited quantity.

Order an E758, i7 930, SLI GTX 480's, etc, now, before TigerDirect's 15.2% Bing Cashback is gone forever!

EVGA E758 A1 (lifetime warranty) = $270 - $30 MIR - $41 BCB = $199
EVGA GTX 480 SSC = E145-0482 JC $510 - $20 MIR - $77.52 BCB = $412.50
EVGA GTX 480 Vanilla = E145-0480 $490 - $30 MIR - $74.48 BCB = $385.50
(Why two cards? You can only claim each of those rebates one time. Two cards = two separate rebates)
Intel i7 930 (Buy a Microcenter if you live near one for only $200. Otherwise...) = $290 - $44 BCB = $246
Kingwin LZG-1000 LAZER = $190 - $29 BCB = $161

With $10 shipping that's $1,770 out the door - $265 BCB - $80 MIR = $1,425

That is $200 cheaper than NewEgg.

Don't forget to add RAM and a HSF. I left those out because everyone feels they have different needs. Some want 3GB, some want 12GB. Some what DDR3 1333, some want DDR3 2000. Some want an H50, some want an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro. I have no idea what you want. Hell, you are going to want to add an SSD, ASAP, too. But it sounds like you're the type of guy who'd already have one.

I like my 3GB of RAM at DDR3 2000 CL8. If I were building a rig, today, I'd go with 6GB of DDR3 1600 CL7. Whatever you do, FFS, don't spend more than $200 on RAM. Not until you've already added a GTX 250 for PhysX. (Mafia II demands it, for maximum physics.) I also like my H50. It's quiet and moves the heat away from my already super heated MOSFETS.