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i have 2 mobos and not sure which way to go , i am wondering if i should get a second hd3870 to run in the Asrock ALiveXFire-eSATA2 R3.0 (crossfire) . but i also have a nvidia 550 chipset mobo spare , would a 8800gts 512 using this mobo (Gigabyte GA-M55S-S3) be better than a crossfire setup using the asrock mobo ?
rest of system specs below :
700w psu
athlon x2 6000+
2 gb corsair xms2 6400
win xp pro sp2
coolermaster cm690 case
yuraku 22" tft @1680x1050
Well since you are saying get a second 3870 I assume you already have one, so a second will cost you ~£115 a GTS will cost you ~£165 (cheapest models both on Scan) they will perform similarly with the crossfire system in the lead so I guess it depends on personal preference for a single or multi card solution and if you reckon you can sell your current 3870 for £50+ (should be easy) to make up the difference in cost.
Also I have no idea how good the crossfire on that board is... a single card solution may turn out to be faster in the end.
I'm pretty sure 2*3870 would be faster then 1 8800gts but I dont know by how much. (Maybe 10%, but dont quote me on it). I think it varies game to game.
However you may be better off with a single 8800gts 512, as firstly I am not sure how good crossfire is on that asrock mobo (as Webby mentioned) and a single card solution would generally be quiter and less heat would be produced.
Or you could just stick with one 3870 and see what comes out in the future. If you are playing at a resolution of 1600*1200 or less, one 3870 is normally fine.
i am playing @1680x1050 , although stalker seems to pause every now and then . i also had this with my old 8800gts 320 , never found out why it does it either :( . i have also seen a 8800gtx for £200 , are these still worth it ?
Not entirely sure why stalker would pause for you. But in terms of what card you should get I would probably go for the 8800gts. multi card setups can be a bit useless if the drivers at working for a particular game. Its one of the biggest drawbacks and does also affect the 3870x2 and the 9800gx2 since they're basically crossfire/sli configs. So in some games you may see a boost but in others if the drivers aren't working too well then you'd be left essentially with the performance of just one card.
At your resolution the gts should definitely be enough. Not sure if you would want to get the gtx mind you. Generally speaking an overclocked gts is pretty much on par with a 8800gtx. Unless you don't mind spending more money and want a faster card I'd stick with the gts, especially at your resolution. I'm gaming at 1920x1200 on a 640mb gts and its fine, the 512mb version is better than mine so should be ok for you.
which is the best brand of the new 8800gts 512 ? , not sure how much i can get together yet . does the price matter on how good they are ? (say one for £150 and one for £180+ ? )
For 1680x1050 a GTS is overkill, you'll find a GT at that resolution is better, or the difference is negligable.
A gts may be over kill now, but crysis won't run 'properly' with all settings on v. high and plus assasins creed looks like another hardware killer. with a gts he could overclock it and get pretty much the same performance as a gtx. if money isn't too much of an issue then the gts will provide a bit more future proofing for a bit more cost, but cost wise a gt is definitely better value for money.
most of the cards are just reference designs, they're basically the same as each other. but there are others which have different/custom coolers, these are generally to make them either more quiet or so that they can be overclocked by the company.
Was doing a search for 8800gts for another guy on the forum and came up with this
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK
the original one I posted was from ocuk, but in the space of a day they've put it back up in price.
It's been slightly overclocked and has a lifetime warranty, also its cheaper than many of the standard gts'!. If you can't wait then you can get pretty much any other gts and it'll be the same as others. I've got a leadtek 640mb gts and it runs fine and have even been able to overclock it a bit as well.
One company that is good is evga, they also have lifetime warranties and a 'step-up' program. basically within 90 days of buying your card you can upgrade to a better by swapping the one you have and just paying the difference. But the thing is obviously you normally pay more for their cards.
It depends on you really, either get a bog standard one for as cheap as you can find or get a factory overclocked/one with a custom cooler which may cost a bit more.
yea evga cards are good , my bro still has my old evga 7800gs co and it still works well . all these options hmm not sure what to do now lol
it really does depend on how much money you've got to spend and what you what out of this upgrade. If you want the cost effective solution the gt will be enough, but if you want more performance and that little bit of safe knowledge that you won't have to upgrade for a little bit longer then the gts should be the better solution.
I remember when I was speccing for my current rig, my friend kept on saying that a 320mb gts would be more than enough. forward 6months on and I got a 24" monitor and i'm glad i didn't take his advice cos i did think about upgrading my monitor at the time but wasn't definite.
if you don't play many games that are too graphics intensive then again the gt will be a cheaper option. but i've always tried to choose the option that will safeguard my build a little more than is probably necessary as I don't mind spending a bit more than is needed. hope that helps a bit more with your decision
in my experience goin slightly overkill on graphics card is never a bad thing, i had my 8800GTS on my old 939 system even though it was getting massively bottlenecked. still performed well!
Now that im on C2D i see no point in changing it and im glad i spent the extra money and got more than wat was needed for a balanced system at the time.
just been playing stalker for a few hours , the constant pausing is getting worse . i checked the mobo temp and it was 50c ( burnt my finger when i touched the north bridge) , i think i am putting my old mobo back in to test my system in stalker . what gets me is i can play bioshock for hours no problem , but every other game i play apart from stalker makes my system freeze . i have tried many drivers but i always get the same :( . that will teach me to try the ati chipset lol
if its the asrock mobo thats overheating im not suprised int he slightest, they are budget mobos and i have experienced them getting very hot on many occations. Stick with the gigabyte and if your still not happy with gfx performance, sell the old card and mobo and get yourself a new GTS
i think i will sell the mobo/gfx card /ram (ram i have spare due to mem upgrade) on the bay , then use the money to get a 8800gts . at a later date i might change the mobo for a better one