Summer upgrade finalized - Opinions?

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Sovereign

2[H]4U
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
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You are that excited you posted this twice?

At 1680x1050, you don't need SLI. Anything higher than that, then you'd see performance increases with SLI.
 
Gott said:
You are that excited you posted this twice?

At 1680x1050, you don't need SLI. Anything higher than that, then you'd see performance increases with SLI.
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No, my stupid university's internet caused the browser to say that it couldn't connect. So I hit "Back" and hit "Submit" again. Obviously this got through, if you read the second post I said the same thing (University internet = fail, please delete).

I have a pair of 7900GTX cards, I'm not getting SLI again unless it's single-card I don't think.
 
Sovereign said:
No, my stupid university's internet caused the browser to say that it couldn't connect. So I hit "Back" and hit "Submit" again. Obviously this got through, if you read the second post I said the same thing (University internet = fail, please delete).

I have a pair of 7900GTX cards, I'm not getting SLI again unless it's single-card I don't think.
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:)

I'd say getting SLI at that resolution isn't worth it at all. Single solution cards will perform exceptionally well (depending what card it is of course) and you probably won't see a performance increase with SLI at that resolution.

The 9900GTX is looking like a single GPU card which will be plenty of power for you at that resolution. But what the specs are, who knows? :cool:
 
What kind of performance increase are you looking for here, with this upgrade? You already have a dual core thats very capable. An upgrade to a quadcore would only help specific apps/games that were designed to take advantage of it. If you want better gaming performance, you'll need to upgrade your video cards. If you want better overall computing, stick with the mobo/cpu/ram upgrade.

I agree with everyone else, SLI isn't needed at your resolution. Sell your 7900GTX's and pickup a single 8800GT or GTS 512MB instead. Then you can pickup a cheaper, P35 motherboard that will OC that Q9300 even better than the SLI board. What are your OC'ing goals?
 
I have horrible luck with overclocking (I always get bad steppings) so I'm not even going to try for anything beyond 3.0GHz. NVIDIA boards allow you to unlink memory and CPU, so I'm going to do just that. I'm also trying to control costs somewhat, in addition on the GFX front I am waiting until July/more definite information on the 9900 series.

I'm looking to do an overall overhaul. Better computing first, then better gaming once the videocard situation is more under control.
 
Intel boards allow you to unlink CPU and RAM upwards, but there's really no point on Intel platforms -- the performance benefit just isn't there.

Q9450: 8 × 400 = 3.2Ghz, DDR2-800
Q9300: 7.5 × 400 = 3.0Ghz, DDR2-800
 
This RAM has a rebate cutting its price from $91.00 per kit to $61.00 per kit, and the rebate is only valid until April 15, so I will most likely purchase this RAM before then (because OCZ = ownage and RAM with heatspreaders tends to overclock better than RAM without heatspreaders).
 
If gaming is your primary goal, your PC in your SIG is pretty decent. You have lots of RAM, fast hdd with lots of disk space and sound card. I agree with enginurd, you can sell the 2 x 7900GTX for an 8800GT or 8800GTS. Either card will be good to run most of the games at 1680 x 1050 res. What games do you play or intend to play? I'd say go for the 8800GTS 512Mb due to the price drops. I would overclock your Opteron 170 cpu, sell the 7900GTX and get 1 x 8800GTS 512MB card and get the Acer 22". Unless you intend to do more than just gaming on the pc such as video encoding, photo editing etc than yeah upgrade your pc. But, if it's primarily for gaming, overclock the opteron cpu, sell the 7900GTX cards and get 1 x 8800GTS and buy the 22" display. By going this route, you increased gaming performance and also got a bigger monitor to game on for half the cost that you came up with in your OP. Besides, you still have that option of a mobo, cpu, ram upgrade later on anyways.
 
BTW, if you want to put SLI to work, get a 24" and run games at 1920 x 1200 res with AA and AF enabled. This will take advantage of an SLI setup. But, 22" with 1680 x 1050 res, not really.
 
I'm looking to get a single-card dual-GPU NVIDIA part (9900GX2) because IMO it will have longer legs than, say, a 9800GTX. For now, I will be running SLI because I currently have two 7900GTX cards that are part of my original build! I am not "buying" SLI at this point, I already have it (just to clear up confusion earlier in the thread).
 
enginurd said:
Right, and then theres those of us saying that you should sell those, and pickup a better, single card instead.
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And there's me waiting until more information comes out about the 9900 series. Also waiting for my personal budget to be able to accommodate an extra graphics card; it's not my main concern right now.
 
One thing's for sure, most likely you will get a 22" LCD or a monitor upgrade. Doing this is not a waste as you gain a higher res display and will game on a larger display. This is an incentive already. As far as the video cards, if you get a 8800GTS 512 card now, it's not a waste. The price is decent and outperforms those 2 x 7900GTX cards in SLI.
 
Eh, whether you sell your cards now or later is irrelevant. As long as you realize that SLI on a 22" isn't very cost effective, and that you're spending all that money on an SLI system, for a 22" monitor for 1 game, then we've informed you. We can't tell you how to spend your money. We can only give our opinions on how to get the best bang for buck. Whether something is a waste or not is pretty much up to you.

Personally, I was disappointed with the 9800 series from NVIDIA, and the G92 8800 series cards are a better bang for buck, IMO. Waiting for the 9900 is fine, as long as you can wait. Wait as long as you can, buy when you can't; mainly because the GPU is the fastest depreciating component in a gaming PC.

HardwareGuru is merely pointing out that the price of the 8800GTS 512MB is pretty damn low, and you'd get great performance out of it on a 22" monitor. He's basically saying you don't have to wait for the 9900 series to get good performance on a 22" monitor.
 
General Crespin said:
How is he "spending all that money on an SLI system" if he has a SLI setup already?
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He listed a $260 SLI board... a good P35 board is around $150 or less (heck, the IP35 Pro is $110AR right now). Also...

I thought he was planning a new SLI system to replace the old one? He said he wanted the GX2, so he wouldn't need an SLI board, then afterwards he said he's looking at the 9800GTX but wants to see what the 9900s will do, but he's also waiting for more money for an "extra" card. Therefore, I thought the "extra" card was for a new SLI setup. I guess the part that confused me was the "extra" part, because its unclear as to what he meant as the extra card.

Sovereign said:
I'm looking to get a single-card dual-GPU NVIDIA part (9900GX2) because IMO it will have longer legs than, say, a 9800GTX. For now, I will be running SLI because I currently have two 7900GTX cards that are part of my original build! I am not "buying" SLI at this point, I already have it (just to clear up confusion earlier in the thread).
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Sovereign said:
And there's me waiting until more information comes out about the 9900 series. Also waiting for my personal budget to be able to accommodate an extra graphics card; it's not my main concern right now.
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EDIT:
[LYL]Homer;1032332455 said:
"Finalize" it the instant before you click to buy in 3 months.
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I agree. Discussing right now leads some people to believe you're buying right now (including me). Plus, many things can change from now to June.
 
I would like the SLI option (you can't do that with a P35!), in addition I already have the 22" monitor on the way (should be here by Thursday). I wanted to get the free two-day shipping from Amazon (where I also had a $10 gift certificate) while my Amazon Prime free trial is still active.

My reasoning for possibly using SLI at lower resolutions is that it gives my graphics cards longer legs between upgrades. Dual 7900GTX SLI does not even begin to show any signs of slowness at 1280x1024 (current monitor resolution). However, the question then becomes "Should I get a lesser graphics card and upgrade more often" rather than using SLI as an upgrade option.

I will look at those P35 boards with that in mind...
 
Sovereign said:
My reasoning for possibly using SLI at lower resolutions is that it gives my graphics cards longer legs between upgrades. Dual 7900GTX SLI does not even begin to show any signs of slowness at 1280x1024 (current monitor resolution). However, the question then becomes "Should I get a lesser graphics card and upgrade more often" rather than using SLI as an upgrade option.
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You're not alone when wondering such a question... and the answer is:

YES, you should upgrade more often. A single 8800GTS G92 would outperform two 7900GTX cards in SLI, so you wouldn't be getting a "lesser" card. SLI is NOT a good upgrade path unless you have a monitor to take advantage of it.

SLI is only needed for high resolution 3D rendering. So, if you have or plan on getting a 1920x1080 LCD or higher, and want to game on it at native resolution, then keep SLI as an option. Otherwise, theres no need for it. SLI as an upgrade path isn't worth it unless, again, a large LCD is in the future plans. There should always be a better single card solution, and you could sell your old card to help offset the cost.

From the FAQ:
tiraides said:
Why should I (not) use SLI/CrossFire?

SLI/CrossFire is absolutely not worth considering if...
  • you're gaming at a resolution under 1920x1200 (as you'll see no performance benefit over a single card), and
  • you plan on buying one card now and another one much later (like, over 6-12 months after buying the first card).
SLI/CrossFire as an upgrade path is usually a very poor idea, as by the time you're ready to get that second card, a new single card solution will likely be available that will outperform two of your older cards in tandem. Furthermore, there really is no cost benefit to the upgrade route, as any additional cost in getting the new card can be easily mitigated in most situations by selling the original. By avoiding an SLI/CrossFire solution when it will not be of benefit, you gain a cooler running, simpler to maintain system, and, more importantly, access to a much better (and broader) selection of motherboards.
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I like this board but I don't want to jump on it just because of the MIR when I might be able to wait (I've only bought the monitor now). I'm buying the RAM to grab the giant rebate but I'm not buying a mobo yet! I'm not even touching CPUs until later this month and maybe the price on that board will go down?

Also, I've gotten over my SLI obsession, and with dual monitors SLI = ANNOYING.
 
Sovereign said:
I like this board but I don't want to jump on it just because of the MIR when I might be able to wait (I've only bought the monitor now). ...I'm not buying a mobo yet! ... and maybe the price on that board will go down?
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That price was good for one day, btw. Maybe it will go down, maybe not. Maybe there will be a replacement (Abit IP45 Pro)?? :eek: And if there is a replacement, we all know new parts aren't exactly cheap.

I still hold to my ever giving recommendation: wait as long as you can, buy when you can't wait anymore.
 
With Intel rumored to be dropping the price of Q6600s by $40 on April 20th, I'm going to hold off on mobos and CPUs for now.
 
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