Choices in upgrades!

S

soulesschild

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Messages
6,176
So I turned the big 20 today, and as a culture tradition in asian families, 20 is the age they give a huge gift to (I got 20 dollars on my 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th birthdays:'( ) so they bought me my long coveted 30" dell 3008WFP-HC. Now if you look at my sig, you can see my rig is running a 8800 GTS 640MB powering 2x 20" dell US WFPs. Now the new ATI cards are looking very promising, but not being released fast enough for me to take advantage of my 30"'s massive resolution. Plus I'm on an nvidia board (FTL). Should I buy a cheap 9800 GTX now that the price point has dropped and upgrade to the 4870's later if they look as good as the GTX 280s? I know I probably won't be able to game at the 30"s native resolution until I finalize my graphics cards but I'm ready for an upgrade, maybe even buy a new intel mobo if the ATI 48xx series are as promising as they show. Any advice from the [H] forum goers?

I should add a question, should I just upgrade to an intel x48/P45 board now? I'm not interested in running SLI anyway...I just have a 680i cuz I got it for 150 dollars :X
 
Since yesterday apparently, hell I was shell shocked when they told me, I was expecting another 20 dollars for me to go fill up on gas :O

The Asus rampage mobo looks very very promising....
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought you could run X-fire on any board with two PCI-e slots as the X-fire was on the card and not the MB?

Anyways, one 9800GTX, with the new $199 price, might be a decent stop gap until either the 4870x2 comes out or the price falls on the GTX 280. Depends on what games you are playing as the small bus width is really going to hurt at that rez.
 
Only really WoW/Mass Effect, thinking the latter is going to need some kick. Maybe 2x4850s?
 
Dunno, 9800GTX should be plenty for WoW at least. 22" and a 9600GT here and I can max everything with 8x AA and still pull 100+ fps. Of course it's a much older game and a MMO as well.
 
I'm sure you really want to hook that 30" up now but the other alternative is to continue using the 2 monitors you have until the 4870's hit or the GTX prices drop.

I know I'd personally find it hard to wait myself though. ;)
 
Being on a fairly limited budget, say 400-500 max. I'd say CF 2x4850's are my best option huh? Cuz I for sure need a second GPU to run the 2x20's and the 30. I just hope microstuttering won't become a huge issue. :(
 
Yep, with more than one monitor SLI can be a pain as you have to disable it to use more than one monitor. I think two 4850's should be able to handle it if not then the 4870's will but might be a bit too expensive.

Honestly, I would save a few bucks and wait for the 4870's as it would give you a bit more power for future games. Unless you want to upgrade again down the road.
 
Wow so big monitors, How can you possible game on so freaking big monitors? I play UT3 in windowed mode on 24" inch monitor, forget about Counter-Strike. I would suck badly.
 
With a 22" I still find myself moving my head slightly to take in the whole screen. :D
 
30 inch monitors are a god send when designing web sites and graphic designing (of course you'd want an awesomely calibrated high end monitor like that new 10000 dollar HP monitor, but that's a different story).

With the 4870's retailing at MSRP 299? I'd have a hard time swallowing it down and getting two of those. Though, might just sell off one of the 4850's and not run crossfire IF the 4870 can handle the 30 inch on its own. Hell, maybe sell both of the 4850's on the [H] forums for like 250 for two of em if I decide to go that route, right now I'm stuck on which mobo to get :(
 
It may be a wise to wait until the 4870 comes out and then make your final decision.
 
Krenum said:
It may be a wise to wait until the 4870 comes out and then make your final decision.
Click to expand...

I would love to wait, but the price point of the 4870 is out of my range currently. Would have to wait a few months before I would be able to say, justify spending that much.
 
That's the only problem I have with the 30" monitors. You have to spend big bucks above a 22 or 24 and then REALLY big bucks for a vid card to run it.

Don't get me wrong, If I had the cash I'd be all over one in a second. :)
 
Damn the new 9800 GTX's are dirt cheap now. Would save me money in terms of new mobo/2x 4850's. Hard to find specific reviews on 9800 GTX and 30 inch monitor :p
 
If you can wait a few days, I would wait for the [H] review on the 4850. That way you can get a really good idea on whether the 9800GTX or the 4850 would be the better choice.

I would almost be tempted to tell you to wait on a 4850x2 option, but it seems like you need the choice soon.
 
I don't think the 4850x2 will come out for a while, if ever, as the 4870x2 will not be out until August.

I do agree that the OP should probably wait until the 4870 reviews as a single 4850 will not be enough for a 30".
 
GrimR said:
I don't think the 4850x2 will come out for a while, if ever, as the 4870x2 will not be out until August.

I do agree that the OP should probably wait until the 4870 reviews as a single 4850 will not be enough for a 30".
Click to expand...

Oh the pains of waiting :( I got 2x 4850's as gifts :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top