Sli GTX 260s or something else?

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Monkeypillow

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I ordered two GTX 260s from Dell a while back, and they've delayed my order with an estimated shipping date of 5/08/09. That's an awful long wait for me, so I'm reconsidering my purchase.

My total cost after rebate would have been ~$310. What else should I look at in this price range if I cancel my order?

I'll be water cooling, so a single card solution would be cheaper for me. I may be upgrading to a 30" monitor, so something that can handle that would be great.

Suggestions?
 
If you disregard the MIRs what would the total cost be then?

If its under $360 then you got nothing to lose, GTX 260 SLI is still a great set up even today so you're not losing much vs gtx 275/hd 4890 multi gpu set ups.
 
DeadSkull said:
If you disregard the MIRs what would the total cost be then?

If its under $360 then you got nothing to lose, GTX 260 SLI is still a great set up even today so you're not losing much vs gtx 275/hd 4890 multi gpu set ups.
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Before MIR, it's ~$330.

So there's not a single card out there that would best SLi'd GTX 260s for the same price or cheaper?
 
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The two GTX 260's in SLI would be the highest price/performance ratio you could get, especially if you're water cooling (they overclock really well when cold). Honestly, your next best bet would be 4890's in Crossfire, but it'd be ~$80 before MIR for not much more.
 
^This^ 2x GTX 260s SLI is still the performance sweet spot at the $300 spot. It will normally best a $400 4870 X2 by a small margin and is a shade slower than 2x 4890s, but $80 cheaper.

The closest competitor in that price and performance range is 2x 4870, but 2x GTX 260s will normally be faster.

Just make sure they are the SP216 version.

Edit: On your water-cooling comment... water-cooling is all well and good, but I'd much rather sink that money into better GPUs if given the choice. Water-cooling may give you %5-6 more OC headroom for $100 per card ($200 total) -- for that money you can upgrade a whole step-up in GPUs (e.g., you could get 2x GTX 275s (or 2x 4890s) instead of 2x GTX 260s).
 
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Mr. K6 said:
The two GTX 260's in SLI would be the highest price/performance ratio you could get, especially if you're water cooling (they overclock really well when cold). Honestly, your next best bet would be 4890's in Crossfire, but it'd be ~$80 before MIR for not much more.
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I will be water cooling, so GTX 260s it is then. Thanks everyone.

Now, how should I cool these bad boys. With all the revisions and process shrinks nvidia went through with this card, I'm going to have a bit of trouble coming up with a solution.

I can buy some Danger Den Tietons for the GTX 260 and GTX 280 locally for ~$92 each, but that seems like a bit much -- maybe not.

If I were to buy two Swiftech MCW60-R2 GPU Waterblocks, what else would I need to keep the things cool.

I assume I would need RAMsinks, but there are so many choices.
So far, I've found :
ENZOTECH MOS-C1 Mosfet Heatsink Kit
EnzoTech BMR-C1 Pure Forged Copper Ramsinks (Pack of 8)
Swiftech MC21 Mosfet Heatsinks (Pack of 4)

Which of these would I buy, and how many of each would I need?
 
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