Thinking of building this computer:

[farlex85]

Yeah, I would think in your situation you may not need sli. Sometimes sli can improve performance w/o having to go through the trouble of selling your card for a new one. The thing is, sli doesn't scale that well. You get about 50% to 60% out of the second card w/ 2 gts 512. Imo it would be better to go evga and plan on stepping up to a 260 or 280 gtx once the prices drop a little. You might wanna hold off on making a decision about that until right before you buy, let the cards come out and see what kind of numbers they are putting up, and what kind of prices you got. The evga ftw would be good if you do wanna plan for sli, but see how it pans out.

1 8800gts is quite good by itself, about equivalent to 2 9600gt's in sli (the ladder is a little faster, they scale better than most nvidia), and it uses less power and creates less heat doing so, and it costs less. Once gts would do ya fine for anything out right now at max (I have the same card), with the exception of crysis, which still runs quite well. if you step up to the new cards, you will likely be good for quite some time.

 

[MKmods]

thats the cool thing about SLI. If you want or feel the need you can upgrade. (if you want next gen you can sell the 8800GT (easy) and get the new versions which will work in SLI too)
If you get a non sli/crossfire mobo the only way to upgrade is an expensive GPU or X2 model.

 

[Reynardin]

I might just get the SLI board to be on the safe side.

 

[farlex85]

thats the cool thing about SLI. If you want or feel the need you can upgrade.
If you get a non sli/crossfire mobo the only way to upgrade is an expensive GPU or X2 model.

Well, the thing is, economically, in almost every case its better to do one single than sli (not always though, 2gts 512 is equal to gx2 and cheaper). Like the 9600gt sli v.s. 8800gts 512. Almost equivalent performance, for more money for the 9600gt solution. Plus you think if you add another 8800gts down the road, you pay like $350-400 total for an sli set-up that is will probably be weaker than a comparatively priced card at that time. Plus the mbs cost more, and leave less room for other expansion. In almost every way non-sli usually wins out right now, unless your going for a super rig, or don't want to bother selling your current card at a later time. And then you gotta think that the cards you now have two of will just further depriciate in value, making you have to pay more money to upgrade later.

 

[MKmods]

I havent used one yet but this looks pretty nice
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134046

add 1 more if you need a bit more oomph and I bet its pretty sweet.

Im not sure why farlex85 is so set against SLI but I have been using it for several years and love it. First it gives you the option (you dont have to use it but you can if you change ur mind later).

SLI works better with cheaper cards, 7600, 8600,9600GT all scale better than the high end cards.

If you get a cheaper card it is easier to sell later and usually you lose less $$ on the sale.

Yes 1 high end card is easier sometimes BUT if you want to upgrade in the future its more of a pain to sell than a cheaper card. And why spend more $$ if you dont have to. Get 1 8800GT (best deal for high end card) or save a few bucks and get the 9600 and try it out. If its cool Great. If not get 1 more and it beats the higher end card.

 

[farlex85]

I havent used one yet but this looks pretty nice
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134046

add 1 more if you need a bit more oomph and I bet its pretty sweet.

Im not sure why farlex85 is so set against SLI but I have been using it for several years and love it. First it gives you the option (you dont have to use it but you can if you change ur mind later).

SLI works better with cheaper cards, 7600, 8600,9600GT all scale better than the high end cards.

If you get a cheaper card it is easier to sell later and usually you lose less $$ on the sale.

Yes 1 high end card is easier sometimes BUT if you want to upgrade in the future its more of a pain to sell than a cheaper card. And why spend more $$ if you dont have to. Get 1 8800GT (best deal for high end card) or save a few bucks and get the 9600 and try it out. If its cool Great. If not get 1 more and it beats the higher end card.

lol, I'm not dead-set against SLI, I just think generally the cons far outweigh the benefits, for the reasons I gave. 9600gt's scale better than any other nvidia card right now (90%), so they have the best value at sli. But, like I said, the performance from those can be had for cheaper and with less power and heat w/ a 8800gts. I dunno, its all up to the user though, I just think its generally more advantageous to get the best single card you can afford, then sell it down the road when your ready for a new one. Sorry MK, I know I keep knockin your sli suggestions, which aren't bad, its just not what I would do.

 

[MKmods]

lol, no prob

 

[Reynardin]

why do the cheaper cards scale better?

 

[MKmods]

I think the better cards (8800 versions and up) play pretty much the games at max...hard to go better than max.
I have always used 7600GTs and 8600Gts in SLI and they pretty much double the scores in 3DMark benches. But the 8800 cards are like 20-30% better in SLI (remember they already run the games pretty fast so 20-30% is ok just not the best value)

My absolute favorite was my 8600GTs in SLI, with my X2 6400 I was like 10K in 3DMark06. Small cards, played my games at max, made very little heat, needed no extra power cables and were like $60 each.
The 9600GTs do good too (not double but good) about 12K in 3DMark06

For me VALUE rules, I dont have money to waste so I need my hardware to be a good deal. Thats why I am so into SLI and cheaper cards.

 

[Reynardin]

how long do you think it will be before even the 8800 cards will not be able to play the games on max settings?

 

[farlex85]

Hard to say. Dx10 is catching on very slowly b/c of people whining about vista, so it may keep maxing out games through the summer. Once dx10 starts taking full throttle though, the gts 512 won't be able to max everything. Also, it depends how these new cards really end up doing. After all, games can only get as good as the graphics hardware allows. So if these new cards blow the old ones out of the water, it'll be sooner than later the old ones become outdated.

 

[Reynardin]

What is a good MOBO which is good at OCing and isn't SLI? I don't really know what makes them good at OCing.

 

[farlex85]

Basically boards capable of achieving high fsbs (thus high cpu clocks= fsb *multi) and remain stable are considered good chips. Then people have tendencies to go w/ different brands and boards within those chipsets b/c they offer different features, such as more memory options, better BIOS layout in general,or good/ bad experiences w/ a brand.

Basically, if doing sli, it seems the evga 750i FTW or the MSI P7N SLI would be your best bets, as they clock well. Although, they might not have features you may want (certain number of sata ports or positioning of ports on the board) so a 780i would work well also. They are more expensive and don't seem to clock as well.

If not sli, any P35 will do. Just find one w/ features you want. I would just say stay away from ECS boards, as they tend to be made cheaply and not too well. Gigabyte, MSI, DFI, Asus, and Abit would be the top brands to look for, and what most people here own.