Noob needs help!

[cowmanjanga]

Actually I'm not totally new but back when the the video cards were still in the 9xxx I bought two Nvidia 9800GTX and run them in SLI mode. It has been working great for all games but two years ago I started playing in TripleHead mode which greatly enhances the experience and I cannot go back to single screen. I usually run not the highest resolution but 4320x900. It's lovely but while these two cards run great on single screen they are not great once I put it in Triple head mode. Framerates drop to about 30-40 percent of what they were on the single screen. Anyway my point is that I figured the other day that cards must have gotten way more powerful just because thats what happens. So I looked and the numbers for nvidia and ati have all gone crazy! I went from 6xxx to 7xxx to 9xxx and now we are back to the 2xx? I lost track of what order and wich are good or not. What would be a logical next upgrade without breaking the bank? I run windows 7 Ultimate, 8 gigs ram, amd x2 6000+, 9800gtx x 2 running through a Matrox TH2G with 3 19" Samsung SyncMasters. Any comments or reccomendations would be helpful. Thanks

 

[Kreij]

What would be a logical next upgrade without breaking the bank?

Give us an idea on what you are willing to spend.

 

[Red_Machine]

New motherboard, CPU, RAM and graphics cards. With a setup that old, you gotta do a complete overhaul. I'd suggest Intel's new Sandybridge-based CPUs.

 

[MRCL]

ATI 6xxx series and nVidia 5xx series are the latest.

Be aware thoough, that if you kill your piggy bank and get yourself, say, two GTX590, your CPU will have a very hard time keeping up.

Also, the power usage requirements skyrocketed, too, while your PSU may be sufficient for two 9800s, it may not survive two new cards. So keep an eye on that, too.

But yes as Kreij said, whats your budget.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2964.html

As Kreij said, you'll need to determine what you are willing to spend.

 

[brandonwh64]

He could probably get away with keeping the 9800GTX in SLI and get a nice system then later on upgrade the video cards

 

[Pestilence]

Any modern card will be bottlenecked by a 6000+ X2

Hell there are reports of 580's being bottlenecked by Phenom II X4's

 

[JrRacinFan]

He could probably get away with keeping the 9800GTX in SLI and get a nice system then later on upgrade the video cards

Any modern card will be bottlenecked by a 6000+ X2

Hell there are reports of 580's being bottlenecked by Phenom II X4's

Best advice right here! Those 9800GTX's will perform, they are roughly equivalent to a GTX275 (in games that support SLI) when paired with the proper cpu. If wanting to move onto something better, HD6870/GTX560 Ti and above to make it worth your while.

 

[cowmanjanga]

Thanks everyone for your input. Yeah I probably will upgrade everything...I wanted to upgrade the cpu but then I would have to upgrade the motherboard, memory etc etc...I have a decent case and antec tp-750 power supply. 2 - 1terra sata hard drives and two 320g ide drives, dvd. Well crap! I think you guys are right. I will start by upgrading the computer and worry about the cards later. Dangit now I have to go research motherboards. I originally was looking to spend between $500-800 but Motherboard+memory+kick ass processor pretty much will blow my Video card money. At least I'll have a decent computer! Better start saving up....

 

[JrRacinFan]

What motherboard are you currently running? If it supports Phenom II lineup could pickup a 2nd hand quad as your first upgrade then research motherboards/ram for it at a later time.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Dangit now I have to go research motherboards. I originally was looking to spend between $500-800 but Motherboard memory kick ass processor pretty much will blow my Video card money. At least I'll have a decent computer! Better start saving up....

Heh, $500-800 is enough to upgrade your whole computer.


Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Tu...

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6G...

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR...

PNY VCGGTX570XPB GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 32...

$745

 

[JrRacinFan]

Heh, $500-800 is enough to upgrade your whole computer.


Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Tu...

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6G...

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR...

PNY VCGGTX570XPB GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 32...

$745

Why do that if OP has to save to get there? I mean video card budget was probly going to about $150, and for that could just pickup a nice quad maybe even Thuban but thats going by motherboard support.

I agree with you if the motherboard OP has currently does not support the 140W Phenom II lineup.

 

[cowmanjanga]

I'm going to keep this shopping list in mind. I've been wanting a new computer but I just couldn't see doing it when this one works still but I think I'll use this one for my Media Center in the Living room and build me a new one. I would like to just get the whole new getup but if I can get use some phenom's and get them at a decent price I might consider that. My motherboard is the MSI K9N2 SLI Platinum AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI ATX AMD Motherboard. I believe it supports the phenom and phenom fx. Supposing I went this route I've seen the AMD Black Edition Phenom II X4 3 GHz Processor for around $100. What do you guys think?

 

[JrRacinFan]

get it if you got a feeling that its going to be a while before you can fully afford the new setup and you need something new