8600gt SLI x2 VS. one 9800gt

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ReillyRoo

Weaksauce
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Sep 26, 2008
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i am running two 8600gt cards right now. every time i have gone into the store and asked the local geek if there is one card i could get (Below $200) that would be better then these two they have told me no, and to stick with what i have. but now with the 9800gt out at around $175 or so, is it time to replace my two 8600gt cards with one of those?

im sure this type of question comes up a lot (is 2 lower end cards better then 1 higher end card) and i have heard the arguments, but in this specific instance what do you all think?

thanks in advance. this forum has been extremely helpful to me in the past few weeks with my tech problems.
 
Im not 100% but i believe performance wise the 9800 and 8800 GTs are pretty similar but i think the 9800s run cooler.

An 8800GT would be faster than 2 8600GTs without a doubt.

You could always buy 2 used 8800GTs and SLI them. They go pretty cheap used.
 
The 86GT's are just the 76's with DX10 right? I thought in most benchmarks they were actually just as fast or worse than the 7600GT's.
 
Ive actually been thinking about this for awhile, and I really think the best bang for the buck is a sub 110 dollar 9600GT. There not as fast as the 8800GT/GTS sure, but they also dont consume as much power, and there alot quieter and cooler in most cases.
 
Or if you happen to find [another] deal for the 9600GSO @ $35 a piece. That'd trash the 8600GT too.
 
lowteckh said:
Or if you happen to find [another] deal for the 9600GSO @ $35 a piece. That'd trash the 8600GT too.
Click to expand...

Tiger direct (bleh) was runniong the 50 dollar rebate on 9600GSOs again.

they are really good cards for the price. Blows away an 8600.
 
i got a 9800gt for $99... sooooo its not expensive at all.. you could get 2 for 200$...
 
ReillyRoo said:
i am running two 8600gt cards right now. every time i have gone into the store and asked the local geek if there is one card i could get (Below $200) that would be better then these two they have told me no, and to stick with what i have. but now with the 9800gt out at around $175 or so, is it time to replace my two 8600gt cards with one of those?

im sure this type of question comes up a lot (is 2 lower end cards better then 1 higher end card) and i have heard the arguments, but in this specific instance what do you all think?

thanks in advance. this forum has been extremely helpful to me in the past few weeks with my tech problems.
Click to expand...

there are several cards below two hundred that will crush that, bang for buck the 4850, followed closely 9800GTX (if you can find it really cheap), the 8800GTX if you can find it cheap, the 8800GT (skip the 9800GT, same thing but cost more), All these can be bought in the 100 to 140 range. I strongly recommend the 4850. really I would bump my price point up just a hair, for 225 you can get a 4870 or GTX260
 
Valset said:
there are several cards below two hundred that will crush that, bang for buck the 4850, followed closely 9800GTX (if you can find it really cheap), the 8800GTX if you can find it cheap, the 8800GT (skip the 9800GT, same thing but cost more), All these can be bought in the 100 to 140 range. I strongly recommend the 4850. really I would bump my price point up just a hair, for 225 you can get a 4870 or GTX260
Click to expand...

this is the specific card i was looking at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121266

reviewers are saying that this thing is closer to a 8800gts. is THIS card a better purchase then an 8800gt or 4850?
its only $130 after rebate.
 
ReillyRoo said:
this is the specific card i was looking at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121266

reviewers are saying that this thing is closer to a 8800gts. is THIS card a better purchase then an 8800gt or 4850?
its only $130 after rebate.
Click to expand...

no, not better then a 4850 except if you plan to run SLI. you can get a 4850 for 140 AR so.. Then again you can run SLI as an upgrade option so you can consider it. In my mind the next step down from a 4850 is the 9800GT for 99 dollars at TG
 
4850 is the under $200 budget king right now. 8800 GT / 9800 GT the $100 and under leader. 9600 GSO the "I want to spend less on my card than I did on Crysis and my PSU sucks" leader. The next appreciable jump up from the 4850 is the 4870 and GTX 260 at $200-250. Then GTX 280 ($450+) if you want to stay single GPU, then 4870X2 ($500+) if you want to go dual GPU.
 
im getting a lot of adviace to move to the 4850 it seems. i have never owned an ati card. does it have similar management software like the nvidia control panel? does cross fire work the same as SLI?

honestly i never really thought to leave nvidia.

i like the art on the 9800gt i showed.
this 4850 has similar art:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121253

is this a better card then the 9800gt?
 
Just to clarify, you cannot run Crossfire on a SLI capable board. You have a SLI capable board, so you're limited to one ATI card unless you change motherboards. The 4850 is at least a little faster than a 9800GT, yes, in most cases a good bit more.
 
silent-circuit said:
Just to clarify, you cannot run Crossfire on a SLI capable board. You have a SLI capable board, so you're limited to one ATI card unless you change motherboards. The 4850 is at least a little faster than a 9800GT, yes, in most cases a good bit more.
Click to expand...

woa! good to know! i was unaware that i needed a new mother board to crossfire ATI cards. well that certainly made my decision for me.
thank you guys for your help.
 
ReillyRoo said:
woa! good to know! i was unaware that i needed a new mother board to crossfire ATI cards. well that certainly made my decision for me.
thank you guys for your help.
Click to expand...

You don't need Crossfire support, though. A single card is /so/ much faster than your current setup, I don't think you even realize.
 
ReillyRoo said:
this is the specific card i was looking at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121266

reviewers are saying that this thing is closer to a 8800gts. is THIS card a better purchase then an 8800gt or 4850?
its only $130 after rebate.
Click to expand...

the problem here is that the 4850 is about 140 after rebate and comfortably beats a 8800GTS, in fact the 4850 and 9800GTX+ trade blows/ beat each other depending on how you look at it. that is what kills the deal. at least with a 9800GT for a 100 dollars you save some money. but most people would do better to get the 4850 for the extra money. That or save up and get one of the lower cost GTX260/4870
 
well i got the 9800gt because i liked the art and it came with a free game.
it is %100 better then my two 8600gt cards that i had before (as you all said it would be).
thank you for everyone opinions and help.

i decided to stay with nvidia so that in the future i could sli this card and not change motherboards.

tanks again.
 
I've had 2x 8600GTS's in SLI, and while they came close to a single 8800GT, they couldn't quite cut it. Dual 8800GT's RAWK though.
 
Try to avoid 256bit GPUs, for they are starting to be a major bottle neck with the newer games.
 
I have 9600gt in sli and it rocks. Runs fallout 3 at 1900x1200 on ultra quality just fine. Maxes out left 4 dead as well not saying much but still very nice. Got one card on release day for 150 and picked up the second for 60.

They were going for 50 or 60 bucks after rebate for a while but have gone back up in price for some stupid reason.
 
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