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About LinkBacksI'm pondering getting an 8800GTX as an upgrade for my current rig, is it worth doing without also getting a new CPU and the like?
Current specs are:
A64 4000+ (single core at 233x11).
1GB RAM
2x6800GTs in SLI
480W PSU.
Some disks and whatnot.
I'm pondering getting an 8800GTX as an upgrade for my current rig, is it worth doing without also getting a new CPU and the like?
Current specs are:
A64 4000+ (single core at 233x11).
1GB RAM
2x6800GTs in SLI
480W PSU.
Some disks and whatnot.
I'd say you will need beefier PSU. And imho it's better to wait until November and new cards from nvidia.
As Cooperxs said wait until november or if you must have one now upgrade your PSU at the same time or get a 8800gts.
or do a full upgrade ?
I'm pondering the very same question - with a similar system. Your current cpu will not affect a 8800gtx by any noticeable amount when used at higher resolutions and AA/AF. PSU wise I am in the same situation but I recon that I should be ok after a bit of calculation. Is your psu a well known, reliable brand? How many fans, leds, hard drives have you got?
It's tough when trying to spread the cost of upgrading. An intel C2D or better requires new mobo and (2gb) ddr2. Couple that with a power hungry graphics card (and a bit of cpu overclocking) and it's new psu time as well.
I've had my opteron and x1800xt for 18 months so I have had great value for money. I'll probably go with a 8800gtx soon and then just wait until the cpu can't hack it and plump for a q6600 or similar in the new year.
"Reality is what it is, not what you want it to be." Frank Zappa. ----------- "The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." Huang Po.----------- "A drowsy line of wasted time bathes my open mind", - Ride.
[QUOTE=Butcher;1185562]I'm pondering getting an 8800GTX as an upgrade for my current rig, is it worth doing without also getting a new CPU and the like?
I would agree the rest of your system is a bit lightweight to support a GTX. A solid PSU, dual core CPU and 2 Gb RAM would be more suitable. Maybe a 320MB GTS would be more in order. Depends which games and what eye candy you want.
What size display do you have?Originally Posted by Butcher
P.S. Before you do anything get an extra GB of RAM.
With your current rig, Butcher, the 8800GTX would be bottlenecked by your old processor and the limited ram. I would advise not upgrading at this time, the £300 outlay would not show great returns.
As for the speculation about november's NVidia releases, there are widely varying reports on what will actually be released, and any GTX-beating card will likely be launched around the £450 mark. So don't let future potential releases hold you back from making decisions now, computer hardware is always going to improve no matter what.
CPU > 2.5ghz = no problem. The FPS drop is about 4% at the higher resolutions and AA/AF compared with an equivalent C2D. CPU bottlenecking is a bit of a misnomer. I agree with the ram.
"Reality is what it is, not what you want it to be." Frank Zappa. ----------- "The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." Huang Po.----------- "A drowsy line of wasted time bathes my open mind", - Ride.
It's a Tagan 480W, it's done me fine so far, and I can't see a single 880GTX being much over dual 6800GTs. From what I've seen most people overspec the required PSU by about a factor of 2 anyway.
Other stuff: 3x HDDs (1x15k rpm, 2x7200), 7 low power panaflow fans, no LEDs other than the power and HDD leds. Primary monitor is 1920x1200.
RAM is definitely something I'm considering, I'll have to check prices.
Games, I mainly play HL2 atm on it (runs fine at max res with the SLI on), also looking to grab Bioshock, so I want something that'll run it well.
Oh yeah, if it makes any difference, CPU+GPUs are watercooled atm, and I'd prefer to keep it that way. 8800 GPU coolers seem easy to get so that's not a big deal, but it does factor into price evaluations.
Didn't realise NV were so close to a release, I may hold on and either pick up a cheaper 8800 after the new cards come out or just do a full upgrade.
Your PSU will be fine with a 8800. It is absolute non-sense saying that it won't power it.
See
http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=115550
http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=114239
As fat_jez says in that thread
You have an single core A64.....My rig uses 350W (measured from a power meter) to run a Quad Q6600 and a Radeon HD2900XT under full load, plus the other stuff in my rig. It's powered by a 550W Antec Neo PSU.
lol - Butcher - we both have the same PSU and have come to the same conclusion. The PSU calculators are handy but I think they overestimate especially when I see links to PSUs with ratings no lower than 650w just below the calculated value!
The question now is "how long can I hold out before teh shinyitis becomes too much".
"Reality is what it is, not what you want it to be." Frank Zappa. ----------- "The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." Huang Po.----------- "A drowsy line of wasted time bathes my open mind", - Ride.
Hmm just checked my current rig on the eXtreme PSU calc, says 523W, unchecking the overclocked CPU increased that to 528W. That calc is highly dubious IMO.
PSU calculators are over rated but can give a fair indication of what you need.
Tagan 480w
Notice the amps!
For a 8800GTX it says
So you might be alright to get away with the PSU you have!A 475W PCI Express-compliant system power supply with a combined 12V current rating of 32A or more *Minimum system power requirement based on a standard PC configured with an Intel® Core™2 Extreme X6800 processor 30A
The absolute maximum a 8800GTX can consume is 18.75 amps off the +12v line.
You need to work out what the rest of your system can consume.
Sorry Mad-Max, but I disagree on the PSU calculators
They over-rate, are rarely accurate, and present figures which are impossible all too commonly. The threads I have linked have much more info in them
Also the picture of the amps may not be accurate as there is more than one type of 480watt TaganWe really need the OP to give us the exact model (of course, you could have linked the correct one, we won't know until he says
)
For example, the U15 series one has 2*12v rails with 20amps on each
Last edited by Agent; 20-08-2007 at 02:11 AM.
This is correct, there is more than one version of the 480-U01. There is the original . Then the version that is identical to the original but has a seperate, shielded, blue VGA connector (in my brother's rig). Then there is the model for SLi which has 2 extra sata connectors and 2 PCI-e 6 pin connectors (I have this one). And then there is the TG480-U22 which has got two 12v 20A rails (see pdf data sheet).Also the picture of the amps may not be accurate as there is more than one type of 480watt Tagan
For example, the U15 series one has 2*12v rails with 20amps on each
Last edited by iranu; 20-08-2007 at 05:15 AM.
"Reality is what it is, not what you want it to be." Frank Zappa. ----------- "The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." Huang Po.----------- "A drowsy line of wasted time bathes my open mind", - Ride.
I'd say y'all better check the space in your case. Eg, EVGA 8800 GTX is 10.5" - 266.6 mm long. Assuming all GTX models are a standard size, you could well have issues depending on your case. I know I certainly would, it would wind up touching the HDDs with no room whatsoever for cabling.
Just a heads up.
Edit: morning spelling.
Last edited by godsdog; 20-08-2007 at 08:13 AM.
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