Time to upgrade

[jpacelli]

Okay it's been 2 years since I've upgraded my computer. Currently I've got the following;
CASE: Thermaltake III
MOBO: ASUS A8N-SLI Premium 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI
CPU: AMD Toledo 4400
PSU: Thermaltake Silent Pure Power W0049RUC ATX12V / EPS12V 680W Power Supply
MEM: CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)
VID: Geforce 7800Gt 512Mb

HD: 2x250G SATA drives
DVD: 16x DVD Lite-On Burner
CD: 16x CDRW Lite-On Burner
LCD: Samsung 214T 21.3" monitor

I play games like NWN, NWN2, COD4, Crysis, Frontline: Fuels of War
I was planning upgrading the video card first.
I was looking at he following cards
8800 GTX (G92) 512mb
9800 GTX
9800 GX2

Will these work fine with the mobo, case, psu I currently own?
Is the PSU powerful enough?
I know the mobo is not PCI 2.0, so will the card work. Will I see performance degradation since it's not a PCI 2.0 slot?
Will I see CPU bottlenecks or is the CPU fine?

Joe P

 

[Denithor]

PSU should be fine, if you have a standard ATX case it should also work ok (may have to rearrange stuff a bit depending on where your hdds are located).

PCIe 2.0 is a marketing gimmick at this point. The standard PCIe x16 slot still provides plenty of bandwidth for the cards (much like AGP is still not really limiting bandwidth).

Now, CPU question. X2-4400+ is getting a bit long in the tooth. Is it overclocked or stock speed? If stock, that is going to bottleneck you a little with the GTS, more with the GTX and even more with the GX2 (to the point you probably wouldn't see a lot of advantage going from the GTX to the GX2).

Unfortunately the s939 chips are no longer in production so it's getting very hard and expensive to upgrade that platform.

Keep in mind that the GTX is basically just a GTS with faster memory. They are really overpriced at this point for what you get.

My suggestion would be buy a GTS and see how your gaming performance improves. If you need more the next thing would be to upgrade your cpu (which means gutting your box and rebuilding with an Intel C2D/C2Q).

 

[jpacelli]

Well we did just refinance our home and we are getting a check for $1500 for ESCROW. So if I can convince wife to let me use it all I've come up with the following system.
$259.99 EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
$579.99 BFG Tech GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB (512MB per GPU) 512-bit (256-bit per GPU) GDDR3
$329.99 Thermaltake Toughpower W0132RU ATX12V / EPS12V 1000W Power Supply
$249.99 Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model
$134.00 CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
$9.99 Arctic Silver CMQ-22G The high-density, ceramic-based thermal compound
$25.99 Thermaltake CL-P0075 80mm 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink

Subtotal: $1,589.94

Basically upgrading just the main components, re-using the case, HD, CD, DVD, LCD

Joe P

 

[crisium]

If you are getting an SLI motherboard anyway, just get two 8800GT cards and SLI them. Usually performs the same as the 9800GX2 yet would cost you $400 or even less with the low prices today. Or get two 8800GTS 512mb cards and SLI them. Usually does even better than a GX2, and should cost less than $480. 9800GX2 is best suited for single slot people or those interested in Quad SLI.

 

[recoiledsnake]

I agree with Crisium. You wouldn't want to SLI two GX2's in the future anyway, because of diminishing returns on the 3rd and 4th cards. Either don't spend so much on a SLI board or make use of the SLI (at least make sure there's a sane SLI upgrade path in the future). Also, Microcenter has the Q6600 at $200. http://www.microcenter.com/sin...tml?product_id=0257938

That power supply looks quite expensive. Your current one should be enough even for 8800GTS SLI. You can always get the new one anytime later on, if and when you need it (GX2 SLI).

 

[reviewhunter]

I would rather you get a pair of 9600GT & SLI them, the performance is comparable, if not better than a single 9800GTX:
http://lly316.blogspot.com/200...x-review-3dmark06.html

The cards will work just fine on non-PCIE2.0 boards, you won't lose any performance.
680W should be more than enough to handle the load.

 

[Jephph]

Yeah, 9600GT is only $100 on Newegg right now. I don't know how efficient your current PSU is, but I would look to upgrade anyway, even if just for future-proofing. 1000W certainly isn't necessary though, nor is the price practical. An 800W OCZ or Thermaltake will be sufficient, even if you decide to do SLI 9800GTXs. Make sure your case is large enough as well.

By the way, I'll accept donations, because I need a new setup too
Currently running:
Athlon XP 3000+
7800GS AGP card (from Christmas last year)
Compaq case and mobo
2GB DDR 333 RAM
400W PSU

 

[heyheybooboo]

I'm gonna guess if you replace that Geforce 7800Gt 512Mb with an 8800gt you are going to think you've died and gone to gamer utopia. It's got to be nearly 3X what you have going now.

8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 from the Egg (some $175 AR)

 

[Reckie]

Ive got the same MOBO with dual 7800GT and just bought a single 8800GTS (g92) to replace them. Couldnt justify paying $130 more for a 9800GTX when its almost the same performance as the 8800GTS.

Apparently the fan runs louder on the 9800GTX than the 8800GTS due to a higher idle speed so not only cheaper, less noise too.