Video Card Decision

[Like2game]

OK i have everything i need to build my pc except for the OS and vid card. What i have so far is 680i sli mobo, 2x2gig crucial balistix pc6400, 500gig seagate barracuda 32mb cache Hdd, Corsair TX750w PSU, Q6700 cpu, zalman heatsink, and a cheap floppy drive and dvd rom from current pc. I am ordering the graphics card sometime this month and have not fully decided. I will be hooking this pc up to a 24 inch monitor and would like to run games at 1960x1200, but i can settle for 1650x1050 (or whatever that res bracket is). I was thinking about a either a single gtx260(around $350) or a single 9800gtx+(around $230)

I am concerned that my cpu will bottle neck me with games anyways so im not sure if i should go 260 , but with the size of my monitor i am worried about running some games on a single 9800gtx. I want to go with a single card that will work now rather than 2 9600gts or something. Just so i can keep the slot open for an upgrade in a year or so. My psu also has 4 PCI-E connections, but i dont want to have to upgrade it either when i get a second card so i am a bit worried about 2 gtx260s being able to run off this TX750. Any advice ?

 

[stalin90]

get a gtx 260 216:
Newegg.com - 216 processing cores, GeForce GTX 200 Series, Desktop Graphics / Video Cards, Video Cards & Video Devices, Computer Hardware

with a little overclock it can match a gtx 280. a q6700 wont be bottle necked by anything except maybe 4870x2 in crossfire. also a tx750 will do fine with gtx 260 sli, ive seen corsair 520's running 8800 ultras in sli and still have room for more upgrades.

the first thing that is goin to limit you is going to be your motherboard but that only because it doesnt like 45nm cpu's. ur pc will run 260 sli just fine dont worry about ur compatibility

 

[Like2game]

Ok i was looking up some 260s today on newegg.ca A few of the reviews for the Evga version of this card had a few reviewers complain about overheating. Is there a specific brand i should go for when picking out a gtx260 216 card ? Also any word of a sale upcoming soon ? I am not in to much of a hurry and can put ordering off for up to about December 15th.

 

[philbar71]

people that review on newegg dont know anything. just use riva tuner to control the fan speed and up it to 60% and you will be fine. and xfx is also a good brand

 

[BongWizard]

either xfx or evga will be your best bet for nv cards... also i've heard some good things about the bfg models

 

[Prototype]

XFX, EVGA & BFG are great companies. If you want to step up, BFG and EVGA offers that option. They have great warranty also. Lots of people wish they sell ATI GPUs.

 

[1337_JohnN]

^^^ That would rock! Life time warramty with a 4870x2!

 

[baron5]

yeah all three of those are great, but you might want to consider a 4870 instead of a core 216, which is better when AA is cranked up high, otherwise its about the same, except for a couple of games like crysis which are alot better to run on nV cards.

 

[BongWizard]

ATI cards tend to be better with the higher AA levels (because of the huge number of "unified shaders"), but the OP's got an SLI board, so i'd guess he wants the option to go SLI eventually... the core 216 will be the best value card for you without a challenge... and if you OC that q6700 you'll have way more than you'll need to avoid bottlenecking for years into the future (because soon enough games will be more multithreaded too)

 

[Trotter]

It's always better to run a single, more powerful card than two cards in either SLI or Crossfire, always. Nothing has been said about trying to run multiple GPUs, though, as this is a more expensive option.

I would recommend the 4870 unless you are just a diehard Nvidia fan. If you need more speed, the 4870 X2 is available.