Video Card Dilemma (need a very high performance card: 6800 gt-sli/ultra? x850 xt?)
- Thread starter Calzinger
- Start date
- Status
You do realize that PC-4400 RAM won't work with your motherboard right? The highest any AMD nforce4 motherboard will take is PC-3200.
Also have you considered getting a couple hard drives instead of just one big one? RAID 0 is very fast and it will cost you only a little extra to get 2 150gb hard drives instead of one 300gb. Heck if you were really adventerous you could get 4 80GB hard drives in RAID 0 and you would be flying through installs and everything else. For what you are talking about doing I think a RAID setup is important. 4 of these would do you well:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-135-106&depa=1
And actually I would recommend you not get SLI and get a different motherboard. Namely this one because it supports SATA II which is much faster:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-283&depa=1
Then you could get 4 of these faster SATA II drives:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-145-075&depa=1
BTW there is also a gigabyte mobo that supports SLI and SATA II. That is this:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-269&depa=1
Also I think the OCZ PowerStream would be a much better power supply. Unless you really need a modular one.
http://www.xoxide.com/powerstream.html
Also I think the x850 xt is the better plan. SLI is buggy and there are many things that don't support dual video cards. Also I read a review that showed the NVIDIA SLI setups barely even beating the x850's at most games. And the x850 xt actually beats two 6800 ultra's in SLI on counter strike/half-life. Of course the x850 xt is also a lot cheaper. That leaves you money left over to upgrade to a better card later + selling the x850 xt when you are done with it.
Also have you considered getting a couple hard drives instead of just one big one? RAID 0 is very fast and it will cost you only a little extra to get 2 150gb hard drives instead of one 300gb. Heck if you were really adventerous you could get 4 80GB hard drives in RAID 0 and you would be flying through installs and everything else. For what you are talking about doing I think a RAID setup is important. 4 of these would do you well:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-135-106&depa=1
And actually I would recommend you not get SLI and get a different motherboard. Namely this one because it supports SATA II which is much faster:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-283&depa=1
Then you could get 4 of these faster SATA II drives:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-145-075&depa=1
BTW there is also a gigabyte mobo that supports SLI and SATA II. That is this:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-269&depa=1
Also I think the OCZ PowerStream would be a much better power supply. Unless you really need a modular one.
http://www.xoxide.com/powerstream.html
Also I think the x850 xt is the better plan. SLI is buggy and there are many things that don't support dual video cards. Also I read a review that showed the NVIDIA SLI setups barely even beating the x850's at most games. And the x850 xt actually beats two 6800 ultra's in SLI on counter strike/half-life. Of course the x850 xt is also a lot cheaper. That leaves you money left over to upgrade to a better card later + selling the x850 xt when you are done with it.
The x850XT is the better of the above mentioned cards, but when I say better, I mean like 5FPS increase. It's price is a bit obnoxious and unless you have some obsession of having the very best, you'll be getting ripped if you buy it.
Get a single 6800GT, it's probably the best high performance card around now that'll overclock well and play all games fairly competetive with other cards that are more expensive.
With adding another card in SLI, let me be the first to say I don't like SLI or any idea of buying two things which are identical when I'm not getting double of what I would get if I were just buy one. SLI is something for someone with a lot of money. Also, in June, ATi has a card which is apparently double the speed of an x850XT. Therefore, it's pretty safe to say that this one card will outperform any two cards in SLI. So, you have to ask yourself, do you really want to buy another card for less performance than single card will offer?
Get a single 6800GT, it's probably the best high performance card around now that'll overclock well and play all games fairly competetive with other cards that are more expensive.
With adding another card in SLI, let me be the first to say I don't like SLI or any idea of buying two things which are identical when I'm not getting double of what I would get if I were just buy one. SLI is something for someone with a lot of money. Also, in June, ATi has a card which is apparently double the speed of an x850XT. Therefore, it's pretty safe to say that this one card will outperform any two cards in SLI. So, you have to ask yourself, do you really want to buy another card for less performance than single card will offer?
PC4400 ram will work if you OC a mobo which isnt hard at all 
Also im suprised an andatech review showed the 6800GT as good, as their usually ATI fanboys and love to fake stuff in ATI's favor.
EDIT: Also the world 3dmark03 record is held by a pair of XFX 6800GT's, not Ultra's. 6800GT is the best way, you can pick up a second one later for cheap, pick one up now for not much and easily OC to Ultra.
It's as easy as changing 1 regstery thing (you can DL a file and doubble click) and moving a slider to make it go to ultra speeds.
Also im suprised an andatech review showed the 6800GT as good, as their usually ATI fanboys and love to fake stuff in ATI's favor.
EDIT: Also the world 3dmark03 record is held by a pair of XFX 6800GT's, not Ultra's. 6800GT is the best way, you can pick up a second one later for cheap, pick one up now for not much and easily OC to Ultra.
It's as easy as changing 1 regstery thing (you can DL a file and doubble click) and moving a slider to make it go to ultra speeds.
Stay away from ATI this generation. The X850 is slightly faster than the 6800 GT, but it is also much more expensive and has little room for overclocking, plus it has no Pixel Shader 3 support, which games such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Age of Empires 3 is going to utilize. Nvidia completely won this generation, STAY AWAY from ATI.
Regarding the pc-4400, I haven't found a single board that supports ddr550. But if it can be easily overclocked to work, then I am satisfied.
Regarding the power supply, theres just some more sorting I have to do but I do have my eye on the powerstream (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-152&depa=1).
As for the card, I am looking for outstanding performance, but again, I want it at a reasonable increase while looking at cost efficiency. I think we all agree that the x850 XT has outperformed the 6800 series, but if the difference factor is minor and not noticeable by the human eye, then spending the extra $100 just doesn't seem to be worth it.
Now can we say that 6800 GT-OCed-SLI can outperform a x850 XT OCed?
I think the basic conclusion here is that you are getting a 5 - 10 fps performance increase for $120 more. That just doesn't seem straight out reasonable to me.
@gaara
I see your point. However, if I buy a 6800 GT now, it would definitely be much cheaper to buy an additional 6800 GT for cheap rather than dumping my first one for a superpower ATI card for full price. My point is that if I buy a 6800 GT now, it's more of an investment later on to add to it rather than throwing it away.
Regarding the power supply, theres just some more sorting I have to do but I do have my eye on the powerstream (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-152&depa=1).
As for the card, I am looking for outstanding performance, but again, I want it at a reasonable increase while looking at cost efficiency. I think we all agree that the x850 XT has outperformed the 6800 series, but if the difference factor is minor and not noticeable by the human eye, then spending the extra $100 just doesn't seem to be worth it.
Now can we say that 6800 GT-OCed-SLI can outperform a x850 XT OCed?
I think the basic conclusion here is that you are getting a 5 - 10 fps performance increase for $120 more. That just doesn't seem straight out reasonable to me.
@gaara
I see your point. However, if I buy a 6800 GT now, it would definitely be much cheaper to buy an additional 6800 GT for cheap rather than dumping my first one for a superpower ATI card for full price. My point is that if I buy a 6800 GT now, it's more of an investment later on to add to it rather than throwing it away.
Nubius
Golden Master
- Messages
- 11,599
You won't find a board that blatently says 'Supports DDR550'
It will underclock to PC3200 speeds, then from there you gotta make the adjustments yourself.
I'm not even going to comment on the 6800GT vs X800 or X850 situation, too much fanboyism for both sides really.
Best bet if you REALLY want to find out Cal, is just type in (card) vs (card) and of course card being the ones you're looking for, and research about 10 different reviews.
- Status
