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8800GTX.. Time to UPGRADE TO 3D! Budget inside.

Snooble

Snooble

Snooble

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Joined
13 Sep 2008
Posts
660
Location
Central London
Hey all,

Time to upgrade my EVGA 8800GTX I bought for £350 couple years back (jeeeeze)..

My budget is £250 (flexible) - I have an SLI capable motherboard.. 4gb DDR3 and a Q6600 at stock.

What to do? - After lurking for a few days my ideas were either a 470GTX, or two 460gtx 768mb's in SLI.

I game at 1680x1050 using 3D Vision and a 120htz screen (if overclockers sort out the cable). But also run a second 1680 at 60htz beside it for movies/etc.

I want to be able to run almost all games (metro exl) in 3D with fps above 60 hopefully up to 120.

Also, what to do with my 8800GTX? I fitted a custom cooler on it. A Zalman. It runs real cool, 250fps on CS:S etc.

Ideas? Thanks in advance,

S
 
At £250 you just about might get away with two 460's.

I was going to say go 470.... but 'maybe' 2x 460 is the better route.

Me personally, I would probably go 470. (Was also going to say wait for the 6000 series from ATI, it sounds like for your needs Nvidia, will serve you best.)

If you went 470, you could always upgrade to another 470 for sli! Something to think about.... becuase with 2x 460's im not sure how much performance is to be gained from a 3rd 460..... (plus power draw, heat and noise)
 
Yeah it's only a dual sli board too.. (forgot the model ? been so long).

You think the 6 series is going to drop nvidias prices at all? Or you think they'll hold steadyish til they release again?

The benchmarks show sli 460s outperforming a 480. And at 1680x1050, 768mb shouldn't effect me right?

Just a bit lost on whether i'll feel an advantage from 460 1gigs, than 460 768mbs at 1680.

I only just bought this monitor, so won't be upgrading beyond 1680 for a long time. And whether I'll still feel the memory loss just running 2 screens individually (not Nvidia Surround :S)

Any advice?

S
 
nVidia 3D Vision for £250 for 60FPS to 120 FPS in the latest games is just not feasible. Considering your FPS is cut in half by 3D Vision, that means you're looking for graphics cards capable of running Metro 2033 at 120-240 FPS (3D off) for £250. Such a graphics card set up does not exist at the moment.
 
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Sorry kylew, not in Surround.

One monitor just sits with desktop while 3d app on other at 1680x1050.

And I don't expect to run Metro.. just the majority.

My main question is: Will I notice the difference of 460gtx 768mb SLI in comparison to 460gtx 1gb SLI when gaming at 1680 120htz with Nvidia Vision (or even without)? Because I've read it doesn't cap unless playing above 1920?

Thanks all,
S
 
Whoops, I meant 3D Vision rather than surround. What I meant is that turning 3D one will cut your FPS in half, so if your FPS is 50, turning 3D on will knock it down to 25FPS. I would suggest you don't get a card that has less than 1GB RAM, it'll obsolete far quicker than a card with 1GB of RAM. I'm not sure how much of a difference you'll notice at 1680x1050 now though, but I'd expect you'd notice some sort of difference.
 
Get a 470 now.

When you need more power upgrade to whatever future card that is going to be released by Nvidia or stick another 470 in when they are cheap.

x2 768mb 460's will be faster but using 3d with a card with less than 1gb will make performance decrease.
 
Snooble said:
Sorry kylew, not in Surround.

One monitor just sits with desktop while 3d app on other at 1680x1050.

And I don't expect to run Metro.. just the majority.

My main question is: Will I notice the difference of 460gtx 768mb SLI in comparison to 460gtx 1gb SLI when gaming at 1680 120htz with Nvidia Vision (or even without)? Because I've read it doesn't cap unless playing above 1920?

Thanks all,
S
Click to expand...


When it comes to mult gpu configurations, the memory size is not added together such as 768+768= 1536. Rather each card has access to 768mb of vram. Meaning at any one time 768mb vram is the maximum buffer size for all the cards. But they have 768mb each.... yea its confusing, but just look at it this way, each card has 768mb each so vram is 768mb, not 1536mb.

So, if your heart is set on 2x 460's I would defo get the 1gb versions.

Yea maybe the 6000 series will push the 460 prices down... but how much who's to say.

I PROBABLY wouldnt wait. Whether or not one 470 is better than 2x 460's.... not sure. One 470, gives you an upgrade path to another 470. 2x460, gives you the performance now, but with less upgrade options.

Choice is yours.
 
Thanks everyone.

I'm going for the 470gtx... or the 460gtx 1gb :S

One of the two.. any idea when a new Nvidia card's coming out? Bar the 465? Or is this the Dx11 set we're likely to have for a year or more?

I'm ready for a PCFormat front cover that reads "6000 Series Destroys Market!!" But oh well! Prepare for the worst.

What percentage improvement should I expect from a 8800gtx to a 460gtx/470gtx?

PS: read that 3d vision cuts fps by roughly 38% in most games due to some special kinda rendering that manipulates the first image..maybe in the tomshardware review.

Any launch date on the 6000 series? Understandably, I just got vision and want to play.

S

also, thanks for the lesson opethdisciple. Thought they were added..
 
I cant comment on if ATI cards would be good for your needs. All I can say on the out set is that it seems from your needs that Nvidia, will serve you best.

If your looking for 3d, than maybe your best of with purchasing a 470 and then another 470 down the road. However, I have no idea if one 470 is enough presently for 3d vision.

Thats some thing for you to find out.

I dont want you following my advise buying a 470, and being dissapointed that your 3d vision perfornamce is not what you hoped.

For sure 2x 470's will be ok-to-good for 3d vision, whether of not you want 3d vision now or wether you can afford to get by on one 470 now and then get another 470 later, is completly down to you.

Have a look around at reviews etc... to get a performance idea what cards/config suits you best.

I hope your running a decent cpu, otherwise nice gpu's will be bottlenecked...

Just noticed your running a Q6600 at stock.... you should try to overclock it as far as comfortably possible.
 
Never overclocked.. have a guide for q6600 g0 bookmarked. I'll get overclocking (to 3Ghz) and then wait it out til 6 series launch (or november - which ever comes sooner) to pick up a 470gtx.

Thanks a lot for your help.

S
 
If you want half decent framerates with 3D vision I'd recommend nothing less than a single 470.

A 460 will fall somewhat short of a decent playable gaming experience, unless you're willing to turn down the eye candy significantly.
 
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