Odie
Plague Spewer
WAR Former Councilor
Posts: 885
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Post by Odie on Aug 28, 2008 8:00:19 GMT -5
So i have a GeForce 8600 GT. I know, not the best card ever. But it has SLI. With the price being under $80 for another card should i go SLI or save the money and buy a new single card to replace it?? Thoughts?
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Post by GrilledCheese28 (aka Aruth) on Aug 28, 2008 8:10:53 GMT -5
Single card replacement. Then sell that one to re-coup a few dollars.
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Big Hoss
Warforged
Warrior
I like Nachos Yes
Posts: 530
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Post by Big Hoss on Aug 28, 2008 8:26:56 GMT -5
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Odie
Plague Spewer
WAR Former Councilor
Posts: 885
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Post by Odie on Aug 28, 2008 8:29:40 GMT -5
Will i be able to SLI my 8600GT with it?
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Post by thanatosj2 on Aug 28, 2008 8:33:51 GMT -5
No, you'll need two of the same GPU types to SLI. This doesn't mean 2 of the same brand 8600GT's, but two 8600GT GPU's. (i.e. you don't need two BFG cards although it's recommended they're the same; you could mix one EVGA with a BFG as long as they're both 8600GT's)
What resolution do you play at and what type of processor do you have?
SLI is ONLY worth it at higher resolutions and will not provide adequate performance there if your CPU is going to bottleneck your system.
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Big Hoss
Warforged
Warrior
I like Nachos Yes
Posts: 530
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Post by Big Hoss on Aug 28, 2008 8:34:02 GMT -5
no its ATI based
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Odie
Plague Spewer
WAR Former Councilor
Posts: 885
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Post by Odie on Aug 28, 2008 8:41:55 GMT -5
Dual Core 2.0 ghz 4g of Ram
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Post by thanatosj2 on Aug 28, 2008 8:46:35 GMT -5
You should be alright there, but what about resolution? SLI isn't worth it below 1920x1200. If you're anything less then that, get a single faster card. (By faster, I'd skip the 8800gt line as it's a step up from you, but for not much more you could get the 9800gt.)
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Odie
Plague Spewer
WAR Former Councilor
Posts: 885
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Post by Odie on Aug 28, 2008 8:48:45 GMT -5
I have a 22in HP w2207h LCD
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Post by thanatosj2 on Aug 28, 2008 9:28:44 GMT -5
That one is 1680x1050. Honestly, you'll get more out of a faster single card then you will if you drop $80 on a 2nd 8600GT.
I'd look at it like this: (these are just generic numbers but you'll get my point.) Current single card running 60fps. Current card + 2nd for SLI at 1680x1050 running 70-75fps. New single faster (mid-range) card running 100-120+fps. If not even higher.
Factor in a single card using less power then two, less heat, etc etc. and you'll see the single card solution makes sense. If you move up to the 9x series I'd opt for a 9800gt. The 9600 is nice, but... eh entry level cards never quite had the silky smoothness of mid-range to high-end.
The ATI alternative card would be a 4850. Either way, you'll be spending between $120-160 so it's a step up from the $80 range you were looking at. However, you'll most likely double or triple your current framerates with either one of those cards. That could be the difference though between a Warhammer RvR slam my head on the keyboard lagfest and a "holy shit there's over 40 people here and I can actually play silky smoothness!" Food for thought.
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Odie
Plague Spewer
WAR Former Councilor
Posts: 885
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Post by Odie on Aug 28, 2008 9:39:04 GMT -5
Thanks for all the info!!
I think im going for the single card option!
I wont be picking it up until right at the start of WAR. Actually the day before launch (I took my vaca from the 17th through the 23rd so i could finally play with you all!!)
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Vejuz
Harpy Archer
Not all who Wander are Lost
Posts: 1,296
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Post by Vejuz on Aug 28, 2008 9:54:56 GMT -5
Out of curiosity, how much RAM do you have? If your HD is slow having enough RAM is almost as, and sometimes more, important than having a good video card. By and large, a video card will determine how high you put your settings but RAM will determine how many unique objects can be rendered quickly. (Everytime your game has to access your HD, unless your HD top-of-the-line superfast, you lag.)
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Odie
Plague Spewer
WAR Former Councilor
Posts: 885
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Post by Odie on Aug 28, 2008 9:59:18 GMT -5
I have 4gigs of ram.
My HD nothing special. Sata drive
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Vejuz
Harpy Archer
Not all who Wander are Lost
Posts: 1,296
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Post by Vejuz on Aug 28, 2008 10:06:22 GMT -5
Should be fine then.
I badly need to upgrade my RAM. I've got 2 gigs on my laptop (Vista) and 1 on my desktop (XP). Not to hijack your thread Odalus, but does anyone know where to get super cheap RAM? I'm building a new system this X-mas/next summer so I don't want to sink much money into my current one. (My motherboard is old old old, so I doubt any RAM I buy will compatible with the new system.)
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Post by thanatosj2 on Aug 28, 2008 10:26:27 GMT -5
I badly need to upgrade my RAM. I've got 2 gigs on my laptop (Vista) and 1 on my desktop (XP). Not to hijack your thread Odalus, but does anyone know where to get super cheap RAM? Newegg, tigerdirect, etc. Local shops should still have older ram. How old we talking here though? You can get 2GB (2 x 1gb) kits for $20-$40 for DDR2 pc5300. If you're talking OOOOOOLD memory in the PC100/133 range then you can buy 1gb kits (2 x 512mb) for about $10-$20 if you shop around.
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