790i Ultra Q6600@3Ghz 4G-DDR3CorsairXMS

I don't. SLI may be inefficient (you're not getting the full performance benefit you would with another card in optimal situation), somewhere around 30%, but it's much better than blowing $350+ on a 9800GTX with little to no performance benefit over a 8800GT/GTS. Two 9600GTs in SLI will blow that away, and I saw them on NewEgg for $130 each the other day.If you're going high-end, I don't see a problem with SLI, esp. with 9600GTs or 8800GTs. Otherwise, it's not worth buying that sort of motherboard, stick to P35.

Untrue. You realize that SLI implies heavier costs, not just for another card, but for increased cost of PSU and also cooling (liquid cooling isn't cheap). It is not even close to worth it.

And I believe only a 8800 GTS in SLI or anything above will beat a single 9800 GX2.

- PR-0927

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PR: 8800GTS 512MB in SLI was almost able to match the 9800GX2, however with improved drivers now the 9800GX2 can't be touched by those in SLI.

Also i was talking to someone at work and they said i could upgrade my evga 8800GTS at the evga site. He told me they swap out your card and give you credit to your upgrade so im proably going to check that out. Going to look in to geting 8800GT 512.

Yes you can. Although I recommend the 9800GTX, or wait to see if GT200 is released this July. You have 90 days since the purchase of your video card to "step-up". If you get a 9800GTX or GT200 (supposedly 9900GTX), you'll see a MASSIVE improvement over your 8800 GTS 320MB.

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EVGA's step up program sucks because it forces you to buy the cards at the MSRP which is a lot more expensive than what you would find at newegg in most cases. Totally not worth it.

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lol.

First off let me say that if you want some reliable information I would visit tomshardware.com or xtremesystems.org
I don't know where some of these guys are getting their numbers from.. But, frankly who cares?? Do you enjoy your system? Are you satisfied with it? If so, that's all that matters.

Yes, a G92 GTS would have been a BETTER option, but that still does not make the 320 version a BAD option. As far as the ram, some people are anal about it because of the price, that's the ONLY bad thing about DDR3. If money isn't an issue for you, then you made the right choice, point blank.

Game and enjoy, everyone else just needs to relax.

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EVGA's step up program sucks because it forces you to buy the cards at the MSRP which is a lot more expensive than what you would find at newegg in most cases. Totally not worth it.

You pay the MSRP difference, which is basically going to be the same difference.

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PR: 8800GTS 512MB in SLI was almost able to match the 9800GX2, however with improved drivers now the 9800GX2 can't be touched by those in SLI.

I see. What about with the beta drivers nVidia keeps rolling out for the 9 series cards? I believe some of them have shown big performance increases?

Then again, IMO, you shouldn't be comparing a 9800 GX2 to two cards, as it is one GPU, regardless of if it is a "dual-core" GPU (which is different from two GPUs).

- PR-0927

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Actually you can compare it to two cards in SLI because that is what the 9800GX2 is, basically two PCB boards glued together and running in SLI.

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Actually you can compare it to two cards in SLI because that is what the 9800GX2 is, basically two PCB boards glued together and running in SLI.

yep thats what it is

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lol future proof much? i would rather go with a 780i MOBO since new techs are UNreliable. to tell you the truth you really wont need a ddr-3 even if you are a hardcore gamer... and a lot of stuff aint very compitable with a 790i MOBO. for example you might need a VERY decent PSU if you are planning on SLIing your GPU, or else it will burn your PC to pieces.

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umm btw a 9800series has an equal preformance to a 8800GTseries in mid-high graphics, and i think 8800 can even outrun the 9800 at mid high settings. get 2 8800 instead. unless you want do some hardcore and extream gaming.

check this out:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9650 3.00GHz 12MB 775-Pin $1224
Motherboard: EVGA 780i SLI Motherboard 132-CK-NF78-A1 $399
RAM: 2 x Corsair Dominator 2gb (2 x 1gb) PC2-10000 1250mhz DDR2 $1772
HDD: 4 x Hitachi 1TB SATAII 32MB Cache Ultrastar $2224
2 x Western Digital Raptor X 150GB 16MB SATA (See-through Cover) $536
Case: Thermaltake Swordm $613
PSU: 1200W Thermaltake Toughpower Modular $415
GPU: 3 x 768MB Leadtek 8800 Ultra Leviathan Overclocked $3321
PPU: 128MB BFG AGEIA PhysX $300
Optical Drives: 2 x Sony BWU200S Internal Blu-ray Drive $1393
2 x ASUS BLT-1814 Lightscribe x18 SATA $84
FDD: Sony BLACK Bezel 1.44 MB FDD $19
Soundcard: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro - 'Xtreme Fidelity' sound card w/ breakout box and remote control $479
LCD/VFD Display: Thermaltake Media Lab $165
Cooling: Swiftech H20-APEX Ultra Plus Liquid Cooling Kit $495
OCZ Technology XTC Memory Cooler $39
3x 120mm Scythe Kamakaze VR LED Case Fan $90
4x 140mm Aerocool Streamliner 140mm Blue Fan $120
Thermal Compound: Tuniq TX-2 $8
Cables: Flexiglow Blue Illuminated SATA Cable, 50cm w/ EL wire $20
Thermaltake A2117 60cm EL Rounded FDD Cable - White $20
OCZ Enhanced VGA & HDD Power Lead With PowerShield™ EMI Control Technology $20
Monitor: 30" Dell 3008WFP LCD ~$2299 (without specials/discounts)
Speakers: Creative Gigaworks S750 THX Certified 7.1 $592
Keyboard: Logitech G15 $89
Mouse: Logitech G9 $99

Total: $17035

it was made sometimes ago so the price might be a LITTLE too high...

creidts goes to: WWW Link

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superfirepig: No. Just no. No to your comments about the 8800GT vs 9800GTX/GX2 and the rig you posted. No. Nada. Never. 8800GT can't touch the 9800GTX or 9800GX2 at ANY settings. You are highly misinformed. Also that rig would be outdated in a year. Spending $1500 will get you something that will last years with mild upgrades each year. Mainly GPU.

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Actually you can compare it to two cards in SLI because that is what the 9800GX2 is, basically two PCB boards glued together and running in SLI.

Yeah, but it isn't so black-and-white. It is two cards in one, but it's also just one card. It's a dual-core card, rather than dual GPUs.

Maybe we can call it 1.5 cards? LOL.

I mean think about it - as massive as the 9800 GX2 is, two 8800s put together are probably more massive - it isn't too easy to get equal or more performance out of something smaller. It happens, but not too much (until new developments, or use of better technology that already exists).

That's why I call it an unequal comparison. As much as the 9800 GX2 is "two" GPUs in one, it cannot fairly compare to two actual GPUs.

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At higher resolutions the 9800GTX outperforms the 8800GT and GTS by a small margin, maybe 5-10%.

Is it worth it? Of course not. But saying it won't "touch" either card is false. A decently OC'd 8800GT or especially a GTS could easily score similarly to a 9800GTX, and in some cases it does already. Just look at benchmarks.

A 9600 gets about 10K with a high end system, a 9800GTX with same system gets nearly 16k. SLi offers about a 30% improvement. Which gets the 9600 to 13k, assuming pretty awesome improvement, you get to about 14-15k. Which still is not the same level as the GTX.

You can get a 9800GTX for $300 or less, which is superior to two 9600GT's in SLI

Two 8800GTs are not close to a 9800GX2, but even close.

Sorry, but two 9600GTs are actually better.

This is even sadder because games like HL2E2 don't use extensive multi-threading, so the 9800GTX should wipe the floor with them. In both extensively threaded and non-threaded apps, the 9600GT SLI is superior to everything but SLI'd 9800GTXs. With the 9800GX2's slight performance gain over the 9800GTX, the above benchmarks don't simulate it quite as well (I wouldn't say its equal to two 9800GTXs in SLI). So in any case, two 9600GTs/8800GTs are just as good.

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Wow I just played this game on my new rig.I must say that HD gaming is pretty sweet. Now this game is not the most top of the line AAA titles (no disrepect) but it looks so good. I just played a huge game (Singleplayer) with almost no slow down or chopping and was pretty impressed.Mostly this is just for me to brag about my new computer LAWLZ. PC Specs:XP-proEVGA 790i Ultra SLIQ6600@3Ghz4G-DDR3 MEM CorsairXMSx1 8800GTS 320 (second coming soon)HANNS-G HG216D HDMI 21.6" LCD3DMark06

so basically you just came here to get some e-peen flexation over a mediocre new system? people with computers with lower specs than that play lag free. no giant feat

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Carbon, those benches are either canned or timedemos, which isn't real world performance. Look at this:

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ4OSwzLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

You can search for other reviews on their website for the other cards.

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superfirepig: No. Just no. No to your comments about the 8800GT vs 9800GTX/GX2 and the rig you posted. No. Nada. Never. 8800GT can't touch the 9800GTX or 9800GX2 at ANY settings. You are highly misinformed. Also that rig would be outdated in a year. Spending $1500 will get you something that will last years with mild upgrades each year. Mainly GPU.

well first of all, by running HL2 both at mid setting both card gets around 30 fps per second until you reach a extream HD setting then you can see the difference between the two, of course the 9800>8800gt. don't belive me? go try it, i did this experiment myself.
second, this is not my rig, just to show you how hardcore makers can be. it is made about sometimes ago so you might see some ridiculous price, other wise it is a extream at that time, also super expensive.

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You know why they're both getting 30 FPS? Your CPU is probably bottlenecking them. The reasons you see the gap at higher resolutions is because high resolutions require much more GPU power than CPU.

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You know why they're both getting 30 FPS? Your CPU is probably bottlenecking them. The reasons you see the gap at higher resolutions is because high resolutions require much more GPU power than CPU.

I would have to agree with Naoza. I had a problem with the Source engine where i couldn't get above 25-30fps, and i replaced the graphics card, it made no difference. That was back in the day though, but yeah, you're being bottlenecked by something else.

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BeefPopsicle, someone already said that. Maybe you should read threads as I answered this shot, poor one at that, at my manhood.

Yes, that is what I was doing. I said as much in the OP. I was starting a thread to talk about specs and HD gaming. If you do not want to do that make like a tree and get'outa'hea.

-1 to BeefPopsicle

PS: Your face is mediocre!

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You know why they're both getting 30 FPS? Your CPU is probably bottlenecking them. The reasons you see the gap at higher resolutions is because high resolutions require much more GPU power than CPU.

lol with my comp? i dont think so... even what you said is true, the problem is still on the GPU. well, if you don't agree that is fine... may i ask what is your dream machine? just basic builds will be fine or the one you have now, thanks

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Ashes of the Singularity

790i Ultra Q6600@3Ghz 4G-DDR3CorsairXMS

790i Ultra Q6600@3Ghz 4G-DDR3CorsairXMS

HD Gaming at 21.6"