I currently have a dell xps 600 (don't make fun, it was a present) with 1 nvidia 7800gtx. Which would deliver me more performance on the cheap: 1. buying another 7800gtx and running the two in sli. 2. buying one of the newer graphics cards eg: 8800gtx or 9800gtx (I think this method would be expensive though). Things to note: Im running xp not vista, so direct x 10 is of no concern for me. Remember Im trying to do this on the cheap, so a SLI setup with 2 $500 GPUs is out of the question. Im simply trying to up my graphics performance for approx $200-300.
don't spend the money on another 7800GTX, they're pricy for being used, and you won't find any new ones in your price range. all you need is a powerful single card, like the ATi HD4850 or the nVidia 9800GTX.
Hey thanks for the quick reply. Would there be any problems using an ATi card in a sli motherboard, with an intel processor. I thought that ATi paired better with AMD and that nvidia paired better with intel chips. I could be wrong as im kinda a hardware noob. Any help on deciding between the two would be great. Which one of the two, ATi HD4850 or the nVidia 9800GTX would perform better? matt.
there are no problems with mixing them up. you'll see members with intel cpu and ATi cards. as i'm hearing and reading, the ATi HD4850 is very powerful, and decently priced at $200. it can run practically any game on high/very high, with the exception of crysis, but no single card can max it out at a decent resolution. but before you get a newer card, what power supply is in the xps? new cards will require a quality power supply, around in the 500w range.
The dell xps has a 600 watt power supply so would that work? As far as the card goes, I think I will go with the ati HD4850 because it performs better than the nvidia, and is pretty cheap. Unless there are any objections..
Ok, so I was looking through newegg and I found this asus branded card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121253 I know asus makes good motherboards, but what about their graphics cards?
I actually don't favour the majority of Asus boards, the cheap ones aren't so good. However, I own an Asus HD3870 and it's excellent. A word of warning though, Asus' warranty can be a big pain. I think the Sapphire card may have an easier warranty should you ever need to use it (All HD4850s are currently made in the same factory, it's just a sticker at present) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102747
Thanks for all the help. I'm going to go ahead and buy the Sapphire, seeing as the asus has a poor warranty. Plus the Sapphire is like ~$20 cheaper then the asus.
oh, I didn't see that. Thanks. I think that I will still go with the sapphire, because having a warranty that is actually usable might come in handy if there is some hardware problem (I hear they run hot?). Once again, thanks for pointing that out though..
As far as I know, they have the same problem as my X850XT did. The idle fan speed is too low. Bumping it up to 40% can drop the temps drastically. There is an easy hack for this that can be found with a quick visit to Google.
