Go cheap or go BIG?

[Outlaw]

Again, didn't want to go off topic in my other post. The guys here at work aren't helping anything. They mentions the "2gb gtx 460" but that doesn't seem like its worth the gain in single mon setups.

[x88x]

doesn't seem like its worth the gain in single mon setups.

Unless you're pushing WQXGA sized resolutions on a single monitor, I think this is correct.

[diluzio91]

Just a side note, im running a single 6850 which is a little quicker than a 460 at 1920x1080, and with a few games that are installed on my ssd, with my phenom2x4 @4.1GHZ i do notice slowdown, bullet storm with its big open rendered environments is a big perpetrator, i run with all the eye candy on at max resolution, and i slow down as low as 30fps which starts to get a little choppy. I will be selling the card and stepping up to a 560 or 570. Not to talk you out of the 460, but for $50 - 70 more the 560 has a much higher performance. although if you are set on the 460 i have a friend who may be looking to sell a SLI pair to step up to a pair of 560's or 570's, I can talk to you if you would like.

[diluzio91]

ps, my friend says he can let the 460 1gb go for $160

[Blibbax]

Just out of interest, what clockspeed are you running that E6600 at? Might help to judge the extent of any bottlekneck.

I'd strongly reccomend against buying a C2Q right now. They're still not cheap - you may as well save up a bit and buy a modern platform all at once if that's what you want.

If you want to squeeze a little more out of your current system with a GPU upgrade, then it makes a lot of sense imo to get a single GTX460 now, then get a second one if you get a fast enough CPU to feed them in the future.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

ps, my friend says he can let the 460 1gb go for $160

And that's exactly what he should do.

My PSU's a steaming pile of manure (and won't be replaced for a while unless it actually burns out), and can't reliably handle both my 8800GTs - so at the moment I've just got one in there, and it doesn't make an enormous difference in the games I play. My system's a year or so behind the OP's, mind, but SLI will never be more than half again as quick, and that only under ideal conditions.

Get a single 460, run with that for a year or so until you can afford to upgrade the entire system, maybe overclock a bit (more) in the meantime, and enjoy.

[x88x]

SLI will never be more than half again as quick, and that only under ideal conditions.

SLI and CF have come quite a way since the 8xxx generation. I saw a quite comprehensive review of the 5xxx and GTX4xx series' a while back, and both were far past 50% scaling. I don't think either is to 100% yet, but 70% or higher is definitely possible now.

[Outlaw]

Thanks for all the replies.

diluzio91- The 560 Ti is only about 10% better then the Gigabyte GTX 460 Super OC, it's clocks are
$210
# Core Clock: 815MHz
# Shader Clock: 1630MHz
# Stream Processors: 336 Processor Cores.

The GTX I found on the egg was EVGA and clocked at
$200
# Core Clock: 850MHz
# Shader Clock: 1700MHz
# Stream Processors: 336 Processor Cores.

A new GTX 460 1gb can be had for $160 before any rebates assuming that is 160ea and not for the pair.

Blibbax- The E6600 is stock at 2.4Ghz. Are you saying to OC. I wouldn't have a problem trying it and only have done minimal attempts before putting back to stock. The price of the C2Q is what made me hesitant on that upgrade even thought it would be a good boost in performance.

FuzzyPlushroom- I think my psu is up for the challenge as it hasn't been taxed much with this current build other then maybe when all the hdd's are going, but even then, eh. lol It's an 850W

x88x- Which is why I was actually looking at SLI but worried now the rest of the pc couldn't keep up.

The GTX 570 looks to be pretty good too. At $360, it is actually 40 bucks less then the 460's sli'd.

[Outlaw]

Sorry to waste everyone's time but I went the cheap route and just bought another 8800gts to sli. This should get me another yr or 2 hopefully so I can do a complete build instead of a half-azzed one.

I found some reviews and benchmarks of almost my exact system and it looks pretty good. With better drivers now, I am hoping they will be as good if not better.


Thanks again,
Outlaw

If you decide to get rid of your 8800, let me know. Mine needs some company...

BTW: Your biggest bottleneck WILL be your GPU then the CPU. I still game on my system, but the GPU is now showing it's age.

There is some on ebay right now with BIN of 60-70 bucks. Some are cheaper with current bids going on. I was able to get an exact brand match and won for 59 bucks including shipping.

[Blibbax]

Blibbax- The E6600 is stock at 2.4Ghz. Are you saying to OC. I wouldn't have a problem trying it and only have done minimal attempts before putting back to stock. The price of the C2Q is what made me hesitant on that upgrade even thought it would be a good boost in performance.

I would