wolf's graphics card dilemma

[wolf]

So just today I landed myself in a dilemma you guys might be able to help me with, In a nutshell I have 3 rigs and too many graphics cards so I want some input on how you guys would have them organized.

A little back story is the main rig (i7) was the GTX260 SLi, but since one was off for RMA I dove on a 5870, so now I'm in a real doozey.

rig1;

i7 @ 4.2 - P6T deluxe V2 - 6gb DDR3 1600 - 850w Zalman HP

rig2;

Q66 @ 3.2 - EP45-DS4P - 8gb DDR2 1066 - 650w Zalman HP

rig3;

AII X2 240 @ 3.5 - M4A785-M - 4gb DDR2 800 - 650w coolermaster

now all the graphics cards I have is;

HD5870, GTX260 1792mb (times two), HD4850 1gb OC (times two), 9800GT 1gb

Right now the 5870 is being backed up by the 9800GT for physx in rig 1

rig 2 has the two 4850's in Crossfire, and rig 3 has one GTX260.

but getting back my replacement second GTX260 makes me think I should rejig this all somehow, as 260's together will top the 5870, but anything less than the i7 will let the 5870 down....

My best thought so far is to maybe try get the 260's going in SLi on the P45, but 650w might not be enough...

Any thoughts towards this silly dilemma will be appreciated... cheers TPU

 

[OzzmanFloyd120]

Keep rig 1 as-is and put the 260s in the Q66 rig and then the 240 gets the 4850 xfire.
Obviously.

 

[wolf]

rig 3 only has one pci-express slot in it, its a micro atx board....

and are you sure 650w is enough for two 260's, and OC Q6600 and theres a good 6 drives in there too

 

[Zubasa]

Considering SLI scaling, even if the GTX 260 SLI is faster than a 5870 I will just keep a single 5870.
I assume you have GTX 260 216SPs that is, the 192SPs in SLI isn't faster I believe.
The GTX 260 216SP is about as good as a 4870 1GB.
It all comes down to basically 4870X2 vs 5870 and it is better off with the single GPU card.

 

[wolf]

Considering SLI scaling, even if the GTX 260 SLI is faster than a 5870 I will just keep a single 5870.
I assume you have GTX 260 216SPs that is, the 192SPs in SLI isn't faster I believe.
The GTX 260 216SP is about as good as a 4870 1GB.
It all comes down to basically 4870X2 vs 5870 and it is better off with the single GPU card.

Thing is the 260's (yeah c216) are also double memory, so 1792mb each, so In SLi is by far the best bet for them as I can just go for insane AA settings etc....

But so far I'm hearing you on the single most powerful card being the best for the i7 rig...

 

[MT Alex]

Can you swap the 850w PSU in rig one for the 650w in rig two? The 650w could power the single 5870, and the 850w in rig 2 the SLI getup.

 

[wolf]

The funny thing is im certain the 650 w has SLI certified written on it and the 850 doesnt but i get your point.

 

[inf3rno]

Can you swap the 850w PSU in rig one for the 650w in rig two? The 650w could power the single 5870, and the 850w in rig 2 the SLI getup.

A hell of a solution. And about the the third rig keep one 4850 in that rig and send one to me as friendship token

 

[wolf]

A hell of a solution. And about the the third rig keep one 4850 in that rig and send one to me as friendship token

Gah all this makes me want to just buy a new Enermax Revolution 85+ series PSU.... then I can phase out the crappy coolermaster extreme power 650w

 

[OzzmanFloyd120]

Those Coolermaster PSUs are actually pretty good.... I wouldn't call it crappy by any means.

 

[wolf]

Those Coolermaster PSUs are actually pretty good.... I wouldn't call it crappy by any means.

Yeah your quite right, she has served me well over the years, that thing powered multiple gfx cards and many many hard rives all at once and never skipped a beat... I just don't have piece of mind with it anymore...

 

[JrRacinFan]

Wolf

the Zalman 650, is it a single rail psu?

 

[wolf]

Wolf

the Zalman 650, is it a single rail psu?

Shit my bad its the Zalman ZM-600HP, so only 600 watts, and she has 4x12v rails @ 16 amps a piece. checkit

 

[JrRacinFan]

Ok, if it was a single rail I would say no problems running dual 260. Kinda iffy the split rails. If you could dedicate 2 of the rails just for the cards and know what rail for each ...

Could give hacked SLI a shot. Why don't you sell the 4850's and 9800GT then get a 2nd 5870 for crossfire?

 

[wolf]

Ok, if it was a single rail I would say no problems running dual 260. Kinda iffy the split rails. If you could dedicate 2 of the rails just for the cards and know what rail for each ...

Could give hacked SLI a shot. Why don't you sell the 4850's and 9800GT then get a 2nd 5870 for crossfire?

Im looking at selling the 4850's right now actually ahahhahaha, anyone In Aus interested PM me haha.

a second 5870 is definitely on the cards, or maybe an X2 for trifire...

Something about the 9800GT I just love and I cant part with it.

I do really want to give the hacked SLi a shot too, thanks to everyone who has made suggestions so far, the picture is getting less blurry