Need advice

Z

Zerbyte

n00b
Joined
Apr 16, 2008
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18
Hi all.
With all the upcoming games displayed at E3 I want to make sure I can play them well.
I currently run a single GeForce 8800 GTS card. Windows Vista 64 Bit with 8 gigs of RAM.

Im wondering if getting another 8000 series card and running em in SLI would be the best bang for the buck since they are so cheap, or to move on up to a single 200 card.

A nice quiet card that doesn't get overly hot like the 8800 card would be nice to find.
Not sure if many cards are noisy nowadays anyway.
 
It's always better to have one powerful card than two as powerful cards. The GTX 200 series run extremely cool and aren't loud at all. You'll also be able to overclock a 200 card and save some money on the electric bill. I don't know if the older cards have Physx or CUDA, but they are pretty useful.
 
I say wait until these games displayed at E3 are out, as better cards at cheaper prices will be out as well.
 
Thanks guys.
Did they ever change the need for the Nvidia cards to be the same generation to run SLI with the 200s?
Would be nice if a 200 could use my 8800 for the dedicated PhysX.
 
Zerbyte said:
Thanks guys.
Did they ever change the need for the Nvidia cards to be the same generation to run SLI with the 200s?
Would be nice if a 200 could use my 8800 for the dedicated PhysX.
Click to expand...

You could do that but that isn't SLI. You can use any Nvidia card to run as a PhysX card.
 
I'd go for the GTX 260 Core 216 edition. They're probably the best bang for the buck NVIDIA cards out there right now. The 8800 probably isn't strong enough to be used as a PhysX card, but try it out and see if you get better performance or not.
 
Wait. The majority of the games at E3 will not be out until next year so wait for prices to drop and more importantly, new hardware to be released.
 
Thanks again for the advice. Looking on Nvidia's page I finally did see the second card as a PhysX dedicated one but no how to guides.
Anyone know if you just pop in the new card and the software handles the rest or if the two cards still need linked with some sort of connector still?

Does brand matter much? Saphire,EVGA,BFG etc etc. I just want one that is reliable and quiet :)
And does say PCI Express 2 work in 1 etc or am I looking at whole new motherboard even though what I have runs my 8800 fine.
 
Last edited:
Ok, so I ordered a 260 216 core card, I found my power <PSU?> is 550w. Can that run both the 260 and 8800 card as a physX dedicated one if I dont overclock anything?
Or should I just use the one card?
If it is not good to use both can I still just leave the 8800 in and not have it used until I get a new power supply?
 
Zerbyte said:
Ok, so I ordered a 260 216 core card, I found my power <PSU?> is 550w. Can that run both the 260 and 8800 card as a physX dedicated one if I dont overclock anything?
Or should I just use the one card?
If it is not good to use both can I still just leave the 8800 in and not have it used until I get a new power supply?
Click to expand...

What 550W PSU do you have? A good quality 550W will be be able to power both cards. But there are a ton of shitty 550W PSUs that can barely run the 8800GT let alone a GTX260.
 
I agree with Danny Bui, ensure your power supply has sufficient amps (you can check if you need on your actual power supply) to power your CPU and graphics card. Additionally once you have updated to the newest Nvidia driver you will need to go into the Nvidia control panel and enable GPU physics support and then define which GPU to run it on ( if you only have 1 GPU it defaults to that one installed ). Additionally you made a solid choice in a GTX 260 (216) it is what I currently run (sli)
 
Glad I saved the packing slip from when I bought this computer 3 years ago.
Says its an Antec TP2-550 EPS12V, but I don't see the amps but web says 36.
Good enough?
 
Intel BOXD975XBXLKR 975X 775 is what it says for the motherboard
CPU is Intel Core 2 X6800 2.93G 775R
 
Zerbyte said:
Says its an Antec TP2-550 EPS12V, but I don't see the amps but web says 36.
Good enough?
Click to expand...

Not really:

The Truepower I and II series as well as the Smartpower series were well known for their above average death rates due to a poor choice in caps and cooling design. In more specific terms, Antec/CWT specified/used caps that did not respond well to heat. Unfortunately, Antec made the decision to have the PSU fan only ramp at really high temps in an effort to keep the PSU quiet. However, just medium to high temps were enough to screw up the caps so really high temps were murderous. Over time, this degraded the quality and performance of those PSU series.

So I recommend replacing the PSU, especially if you hear a squeal, whine, or any odd noise coming from the PSU. However, do note that the Truepower I and II series as well as the Smartpower series had a three year warranty. So if you do hear a squeal, whine, or any odd noise, that's enough grounds to RMA the PSU.

The BFG LS-550 is a good replacement choice.
 
36 amps is needed just to power one Core 216. You definitely need a big more juice. Danny is right about the failure rates. You could replace the fan if it's out of warranty to save yourself some money. But your system is going to get louder and you do need some skill to change the fan and power it. Check out OCZ power supplies.
 
Just wanted to give a big thanks to all responders. Really eased my mind, a big help. :)
 
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