6800Ultra SLI to 8800GTX Video Upgrade?

[AbydosDallas]

Ok, I was one of the early adopters of the 6800 Ultra. I even bought 2 and put them in SLI. This setup has been good, up until I changed monitors to a 23" Apple LCD. I've been noticing serious chopping, artifacts, and lower frame rates. After doing a lot of homework, I've seen how well the new 8800's scale with higher resolution gaming and figure that will solve my problems. I know there aren't many hard details on ATI's answer to the 8800, but I'm not terribly concerned either if it will suit my purposes for the next 2 years. So here's what I'm running at the moment:

DFI Lanparty NF4
AMD FX-55
1GB Mushkin DDR400@2-2-2
SoundBlaster Audigy (Considering a X-Fi if load on CPU is significantly reduced)
2x eVGA 6800 Ultras in SLI
2x 74GB Raptors in RAID0
OS: Windows XP Pro 32bit
Enermax Noisetaker II EG701AX (600W)

The only changes I'm planning on making are adding an eVGA 8800GTX with the AC3 cooling and a PC Power&Cooling 1KW power supply for a little future proofing. I'm just wondering if this move makes sense to fix my video issues when gaming? Is ATI's next uber GPU going to be so revolutionary (or be available for purchase in the next 2 months even?) that I should hold out a bit longer, or am I on the right path to fix my problems now?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

[Blurry]

Might want to upgrade your cpu..I think your CPU might be a bottleneck but then again, what do I know? (still on a northwood p4)
An 8800GTX will defintely solve all your problems (with exception to Crysis) and if you feel its not enough, SLI later.

 

[AbydosDallas]

I thought the cpu/mobo/mem might be the cause too. I agree that upgrades in those departments would yield positive results, but I'm trying go for the best bang for my $ right now. After analyzing posted benchmarks, it's seems that upgrading video first would offer the best results for gaming vs. a CPU upgrade. Regardless of C2D's stellar performance, when it comes to games, AMD still seems like a viable contender (so long as those benchmarks are accurate). I primarily use my system for games and internet/e-mail, so other functions are of less concern to me until the games I enjoy become multi-threaded.

Thanks for your input, it's really appreciated.

 

[MegaWorks]

Get this processor and Overclock it to 2.6Ghz or more.

 

[nitromullet]

I've got a GTX with a 24" screen, and it's played everything I've thrown at it. The answer to your question is that you really don't have much of a choice at the moment, and since you have an SLI capable motherboard it makes sense to stick with NVIDIA. If it turns out that you really, really want an X2900 when they come out, you could always sell the 8800GTX. I would go with an EVGA card, so if the 8900GTX (or an "8800 Ultra") comes out within 3 months of the purchase you can use their step-up program. I also wouldn't worry too much about the cpu because at 1920x1200 your video card will still be the limiting factor in the majority of cases, and in any cases where it isn't you will probably already be getting decent FPS.

 

[Fraggable]

I'm betting your memory is the issue here. Before you upgrade to a $500 video card spend a little bit on another 1GB of memory and see what happens. 1GB is not even enough for games like Far Cry and BF2 at 1680 X 1050 and high detail.

6800 Ultra SLI is still a lot of power. Current games should be ok with that configuration, though games in the near future will probably start to demand more.

 

[Munky]

6800U SLi will get rocked by a single x1900xt, let a lone a 8800gtx. Your cpu is still good for gaming, and while an additional gig of memory will benefit you in certain games, the main bottleneck with high resolutions is the video card. Even a single 8800gts 640mb will be a good upgrade in your case.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: munky
6800U SLi will get rocked by a single x1900xt, let a lone a 8800gtx. Your cpu is still good for gaming, and while an additional gig of memory will benefit you in certain games, the main bottleneck with high resolutions is the video card. Even a single 8800gts 640mb will be a good upgrade in your case.

:thumbsup: Listen to the munky-man. I moved from 6800GT SLI to an x1900xtx at 1600x1200 and the difference was very big (even in games where SLI did very well such as FEAR, Doom3, HL2). And the jump from the x19xtx to the GTX is, again, huge. So, yeah, you'll notice. I'd do it myself if I could afford it right now.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

hey even a 8800gtx 20 would give you a major boost but i agree with the ram comment. its probaby just as importnt for general smoothness of games. if you really only hve enough cas on hand to get a single 8800gtx i' recommend 8800gts 320/640 and 1 gig (atleast ) of mmore ram

 

[MDE]

I'd move to 2GB RAM first, after that it really depends on that games you play and what settings you want to play at.

 

[tvdang7]

just think double performance every generation

9800 pro >6800 ultra >x1900xtx>8800gtx

 

[AbydosDallas]

First, I'd like to thank everyone for their input on this. I do have another GB of memory (matched set), but I don't use it since I can't get my system to POST with 4 sticks. I'm hoping the new power supply might allow me to go with some more aggressive timings to try and sync them all a bit better. As to the video card, it sounds like going ahead with the 8800gtx will fix the issue and the eVGA step up program will help with the future upgrades. (I wish I'd have held on to my original packaging for my ultras, but lesson learned) Here are some of the games I play and the issues;

Prey (6800 does fine if at 1280x1024)
Vanguard (Windowed mode at 1280x1024, bad artifacts and frame rates)
Quake 4 (Tried full screen, bad idea. Doom3 engine doesn't seem to like ultra setting w/o 512MB+)
Oblivion (I can get this to work for about 5 minutes at 1024x768, before it starts looking like a van Gogh)
Rise of Legends (Low frame rates 10-24fps)

It seems I'm on the right upgrade path for now, and I will try plugging in my other 2 sticks. I'll post my results later in case the information helps someone else out. Thanks again for all of the constructive input. This is a great forum.

 

[Kromis]

Welcome to AnandTech!

 

[RamIt]

try going back to the older drivers that you used in the past. I haved noticed choppiness in games that were not there in the past with older nvidia drivers.

 

[json]

AbydosDallas, i say move on with the videocard 8800gtx sli. if enough money get a E6300 or something like that. Would you sell your 68's once you upgrade? msg me.

 

[biostud]

You probably need to run the 4 sticks of memory in 2T for them to work. But since the launch date of the R600 is so close now I would definitely wait to see what it has to offer.

 

[AbydosDallas]

After some interesting times and mistakes, I have yet to have a new working video card. I tried to install the 8800GTX from eVGA with the AC3. I learned quickly that this card does not play friendly with a DFI Lanparty SLI-DR when using the nVidia RAID. So in the midst of try to find a cable solution that works, I effectively killed my SATA port connected to aforementioned RAID. Additionally, I was unable to get any output from the video card after doing the old troubleshooting of taking every component out and going with the basics. I plug in my old 6800 and it still works. So, before RMA'ing, I order a new mobo (Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe) just to see if it may have been compatibility issues. Still nothing showing up on screen with the card. I wish I could put up some screenshots of before and after with 3dmark, but it looks like I'm going to have to endure the RMA process for now. Thanks for everyone's input on this, and I'll post results when the new card gets here.