7950gt/7900gto SLI or wait for 8800?

[liquid51]

I currently have my 7800GTX 512 on ebay, and the current bid would allow me to purchase a 7950gt/7900gto outright with some change to spare. Hopefully, that price keeps going up.

My 7900gt is currently vmodded at 700/2000. Now, I've done a decent amount of searching and haven't found anything concrete on 7950gt/7900gto vmod OCing. If I could reach speeds close to those of my 7900gt, with 512mb vram, SLI, for $250-$315 a pop... man that is tempting.

And as far as the 8800 release is concerned, I've kind of outgrown having the latest and greatest, as I know that a vmodded SLI setup with 512 vram per card, each clocked at 700/2000 would kick ass, regardless. And uber cheap at that. But, is DX10 going to make up for a lower clocked single card setup?

I guess all I really need to know is, where's the info (if there is any) on 7900gto/7950gt vmodding?

 

[40sTheme]

7950GT OCing-terrible. Bad chances you'll be able to get a good overclock on that one. It's a good card, but it can't run at too higher speeds than stock.
7900GTO-some people have had good luck, others not so much. It's memory can be faulty (rejected GTX's).
As for info, I couldn't find any for the 7950, only the 7900gt, and there isn't a whole lot of information for the GTO atm.

 

[lopri]

1000MHz memory?! Wow that's unbelievable. Geez, my GDDR4 is only 50MHz faster than that..
What is the size of your monitor? I'd say wait. It's now less than a month to G80 launch. As per your claim regarding your growth over the latest and greatest - that's what I tell myself every time I make a new hardware purchase. You know, the G80 will last you longer with DX10/SM4/Whatnot..

 

[Hal0]

If yopu are hurry, get the GTO, if not just wait for the g80 and see what happens. I will not buy any DX10 card until second generation, but its just my opinion.

 

[liquid51]

man lopri, I know what your saying. lol. I'm gonna end up talking myself into an 8800. But I really want to make use of this a8n32-sli! It's been acting as a single card mobo for over a year now =(.

yeah, that 7900gt is a rediculous overclocker. Maybe I'll just save my money and get another one of those. problem is, an additional 256mb doesn't cost that much more at all. makes for a tough descision.

And 40sTheme, are those OC results on stock voltages? I can't find anything on a 7950/7900gto volt mod. The thought of a rejected 7900gtx, if thats the case, doesn't bode well, thats for sure. My 7900gt only hit around 590/1760 before the vmod.

The whole thing that has me hung up at the moment is the fact that a new 2407WFP might be in my stocking for christmas. A couple 512 cards in SLI wouldn't hurt to have when runniing something like Oblivion at 1920x1200. But two 8800's will never find their way into my bugdet =(.

good point hal0. I guess I could live with the 7900gt 256 for a while. It's not as if it struggles or anything =P. With my x2 4800 at 2.6ghz, I should be able to live with socket 939 and the a8n for a while to come.

 

[liquid51]

ok. the 8800 is out. Im NOT doing it! =P

but I hear of ppl hitting 700/1600 no problems on a stock voltage 7900gto. For the price, that would be an excellent choice for a reletively inexpensive SLI system

 

[thegimp03]

I got a GTO the other day for a little under $260 but I have a MIR for $30 for it so it makes it $230. Pretty cheap for a 512 mb videocard.

 

[Cheesetogo]

I'd get an evga and just use the step-up program to get an 8800 when it comes out.

 

[cleanerupper]

The 8800 should be out somewhere around November 8th, correct?

 

[Madellga]

If you can buy a powerful single card. SLI is nice but it has some bugs.

I don't include the 7950GX2 in this category (single card), as it has the "bugs" from SLI also.

I had one until recently and dumped in favor of the GTO, got a lot of cash back.

I had 7800GT SLI before and the issues were similar. It's a good performance bump but not a 100% smooth ride.

 

[caberguy]

My EVGA 7900GTO goes 720/800mhz, memory might go faster but coolbits maxes at 800, and for some reason Riva isn't working. Coolbits sets my card at an auto "optimal" OC of 700/760mhz.

I posted a 10,8xx in 3dMark05 with an E6300 and 1GB DDR400 on the Asrock 775 Dual-VSTA. I was fairly pleased. Temps have maxed out at about 44deg.