An upgrade question.

[fannypack]

Here is my current system:

OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
EVGA 122-CK-NF67-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2N800SR4GK - Retail
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
INTEL E8400 @ 3.0 GHZ - Retail
EVGA 8800 GT Superclocked Edition. (Running two of these in SLI)

This was built back in February of 08. It has been a solid system for 2 years and is still very solid. I have an extra $200 available to me right now and I just cannot find any way to upgrade this system in a worthwhile way to where it warrants the expense.

The Motherboard (680i LT SLI) is a LG775 board and supports:

Core 2 Extreme
(dual and quad core)
Core 2 Quad
Core 2 Duo
Celeron D
Pentium 4
Pentium D 9XX
Pentium D 8XX

But there aren't any processors in the price range or even worthy of an upgrade since the technology is starting to age a bit.

The memory obviously isn't a problem at the moment.

So that leaves me with the cards. I run right now on a 24 inch display and I'm kind of noticing a problem running the later games in higher details, probably due to the 512 memory allotment on each card across the SLI setup.

But the trouble is I can't really find a new single card or crossfire/sli setup that'd trump the 8800 enough to warrant $200. Recommendations?

 

[Apocalypse23]

If I were you, I would sell those 8800 Gts ASAP on ebay or craigslist as they will sell you for close to under $200 on ebay anyway, if you market them right. Evga has a lifetime warranty and that can always be a selling point. I sold my 9800 gx2 for over $200US and upgraded to a 5870 for $461 CAD after taxes. The point here is that you want to future proof your current system as much as you can while you are still on a budget. The e8400 deserves a hefty overclock, you should be able to push it to 3.8-3.9 ghz easily on your board, I would do that, and also get a cheap heatsink like an ocz vendetta or a noctua, they are pretty good. Next up is the video card, like I said, purchase a $400 -$380 5870 and you will be set, at the same time sell those 2 8800 gts and you should get around $200 and it evens out almost. You will probably be shelling out some extra bucks for a heatsink thats about the way I see it.

Note: You may want to sell the cards individually since some buyers may not want two cards or have SLI boards so keep that in mind. Also, the sooner you sell them is probably the better since Nvidia will be releasing Fermi cards in March and selling the cards before that time is the best since the prices haven't come down yet.

Heatsink:
OCZ Vendetta 2 120mm. You can't go wrong with this heatsink, very effective and also very cheap!
http://www.ncixus.com/products/29311/OCZTVEND2/OCZ%20Technology/

Vid Card:
Better brands:
$401 - Asus 5870 with Dirt2 - 3 year warranty and also a better overclock-able Bios than other brands
http://www.ncixus.com/products/49229/EAH5870/2DIS/1GD5/A/ASUS/
$399 - Gigabyte 5870 (no game included) - 3 year warranty
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125299&cm_re=5870-_-14-125-299-_-Product
$399 - XFX 5870 (no game included) - Lifetime double warranty
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150443&cm_re=5870-_-14-150-443-_-Product

Cheaper ones:
$378 - Powercolor 5870 with Dirt2 - 2 year warranty
http://www.ncixus.com/products/46064/AX5870 1GBD5-MDHG/PowerColor/
$364 - Visiontek 5870 (no game included) - Lifetime Limited Warranty
http://www.ncixus.com/products/44143/900298/VISIONTEK/

Your choice ultimately, I would probably get an Asus with a OCZ vandetta 2, so thats around $420 - $10(mail-in rebate) = $410.

Visiontek 5870 would be your cheapest solution in this case with $364. Don't forget to include the shipping costs as well.

 

[fannypack]

If I were you, I would sell those 8800 Gts ASAP on ebay or craigslist as they will sell you for close to under $200 on ebay anyway, if you market them right. Evga has a lifetime warranty and that can always be a selling point. I sold my 9800 gx2 for over $200US and upgraded to a 5870 for $461 CAD after taxes. The point here is that you want to future proof your current system as much as you can while you are still on a budget. The e8400 deserves a hefty overclock, you should be able to push it to 3.8-3.9 ghz easily on your board, I would do that, and also get a cheap heatsink like an ocz vendetta or a noctua, they are pretty good. Next up is the video card, like I said, purchase a $400 -$380 5870 and you will be set, at the same time sell those 2 8800 gts and you should get around $200 and it evens out almost. You will probably be shelling out some extra bucks for a heatsink thats about the way I see it.

Note: You may want to sell the cards individually since some buyers may not want two cards or have SLI boards so keep that in mind. Also, the sooner you sell them is probably the better since Nvidia will be releasing Fermi cards in March and selling the cards before that time is the best since the prices haven't come down yet.

Heatsink:
OCZ Vendetta 2 120mm. You can't go wrong with this heatsink, very effective and also very cheap!
http://www.ncixus.com/products/29311...%20Technology/

Vid Card:
Better brands:
$401 - Asus 5870 with Dirt2 - 3 year warranty and also a better overclock-able Bios than other brands
http://www.ncixus.com/products/49229...1GD5%2FA/ASUS/
$399 - Gigabyte 5870 (no game included) - 3 year warranty
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-299-_-Product
$399 - XFX 5870 (no game included) - Lifetime double warranty
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-443-_-Product

Cheaper ones:
$378 - Powercolor 5870 with Dirt2 - 2 year warranty
http://www.ncixus.com/products/46064...HG/PowerColor/
$364 - Visiontek 5870 (no game included) - Lifetime Limited Warranty
http://www.ncixus.com/products/44143/900298/VISIONTEK/

Your choice ultimately, I would probably get an Asus with a OCZ vandetta 2, so thats around $420 - $10(mail-in rebate) = $410.

Visiontek 5870 would be your cheapest solution in this case with $364. Don't forget to include the shipping costs as well.

I don't see the GT's listed anywhere for $100. In fact, I see them listed between $60-$80 and that's brand new.

 

[RussianSensation]

I don't see the GT's listed anywhere for $100. In fact, I see them listed between $60-$80 and that's brand new.

Ya, you are right. 8800GTs sell for around $70 new:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-118-_-Product

You have to ask yourself what in your system feels slow. Is it the time it takes to open programs and run general tasks (sluggishenss)? -- Get an SSD hard drive. Is it the time it takes to encode video and work in photoshop? -- get a Quad Core processor. Is it low framerates in games? -- Get a 5850 or add another $100 and get a 5870. Answer this question first and go from there.

1) If I was in your shoes, I would try to sell your whole system to a friend if at all possible and then upgrade from there.

2) Alternatively you can sell the E8400 and upgrade to a Q9550 at microcenter. But again, if you are going with a new quad core processor, might as well sell your cpu+mobo+ram. Refer to #1 above. With $200 extra you can for sure get a new mobo + Core i5 750 and a decent motherboard.

3) As has been mentioned you could get a cheap $30 aftermarket cooler like Cooler Master 212 Plus. This will let you clock your cpu a bit higher. This one will also support sockets 1366 and 1156.

4) Add an SSD hard drive.

5) Your system is still decent. You can just take the $200 and save a bit more until Sandy Bridge arrives in Q1 2011. But selling parts in 12 months will net you even less $.

6) 8800GTs probably wont go below $50 over the next couple of months. I believe 5850 will be faster than 2x8800GTs (didn't check benches at the moment). If you sell those 2 for $50 each and add $200 you can have this card.

 

[Markfw]

Well, a 5850 is ~300 and a 5770 is $175, I think if you got $50 for your card, the 5850 is the best match I can see. You CPU should support it for now (as in not hold you back too much).

 

[happy medium]

If you have a SLI board I'd hold on to your money for a month.

Your 2 8800's should be fine for a month. They more or less = a gtx 275
The only real upgrade for you is a 400$ 5870, so I'd hold on to that 200$ for some competition.

 

[fannypack]

If you have a SLI board I'd hold on to your money for a month.

Your 2 8800's should be fine for a month. They more or less = a gtx 275
The only real upgrade for you is a 400$ 5870, so I'd hold on to that 200$ for some competition.

Yeah I've been reading into it some and it seems the E8400 if clocked up to 3.6-4.0 isn't much or any of a bottleneck on a 5870 as long as you're running 1920x1200 or higher. I run at 1920x1200. I think I'll wait for the next line of NV cards to come out and see where to put my money.

 

[Apocalypse23]

Yeah I've been reading into it some and it seems the E8400 if clocked up to 3.6-4.0 isn't much or any of a bottleneck on a 5870 as long as you're running 1920x1200 or higher. I run at 1920x1200. I think I'll wait for the next line of NV cards to come out and see where to put my money.

Note that your current card's value will drop in further in price once Fremi is released. The sooner you sell them, the better value you will get from them.

Here's an example of how much a regular 8800 GT can go for on ebay, mind you that yours is an OC version which should sell for around $80-$90. This also depends on your ebay feedback, there is a big market in Canada and US on ebay for vid cards. You could charge like $12-$15 on shipping as well and still make some cash.

Example:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160400306245&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I game at 1920x1080 on MAX settings with my E8400 @ 3.9ghz, and the 5870, no issues, no bottlenecks. You will be set for a good 1.5 years with the upgrade if you go the route I suggest. Yes at the end of selling your cards, you will probably end up peaking at $170-$190 but you still save money.

Getting a cheap 5870 like the $364 option + $20 (with $10 rebate) heatsink gives you $374 to burn. You already have $200 as spare cash, add the potential $170(sale money) to it even and you are still looking at gravy baby!

 

[fannypack]

Note that your current card's value will drop in further in price once Fremi is released. The sooner you sell them, the better value you will get from them.

Here's an example of how much a regular 8800 GT can go for on ebay, mind you that yours is an OC version which should sell for around $80-$90. This also depends on your ebay feedback, there is a big market in Canada and US on ebay for vid cards. You could charge like $12-$15 on shipping as well and still make some cash.

Example:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160400306245&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I game at 1920x1080 on MAX settings with my E8400 @ 3.9ghz, and the 5870, no issues, no bottlenecks. You will be set for a good 1.5 years with the upgrade if you go the route I suggest. Yes at the end of selling your cards, you will probably end up peaking at $170-$190 but you still save money.

Getting a cheap 5870 like the $364 option + $20 (with $10 rebate) heatsink gives you $374 to burn. You already have $200 as spare cash, add the potential $170(sale money) to it even and you are still looking at gravy baby!

So, guesswork basically, but what kind of performance increases should I expect going from my setup with the dual 8800 GT's to a 5870?

I figure one thing I could do is let this ride me out the next year or 2 where I could then sell the whole thing off and upgrade to a completely new system.

 

[Apocalypse23]

So, guesswork basically, but what kind of performance increases should I expect going from my setup with the dual 8800 GT's to a 5870?

I figure one thing I could do is let this ride me out the next year or 2 where I could then sell the whole thing off and upgrade to a completely new system.

2 8800 gt in SLI = 1 GTX 275

I upgraded from a 9800 GX2, also a 8800 GTS 512 to a Asus 5870, the performance is more than double that of my 9800 GX2 (equal to a GTX 280).

So yeah you will notice a significant difference (more than double), especially in games like Crysis, you can actually run everything on Enthusiast settings (shaders included) unlike the 5850. You can also overclock the 5870 fairly high (Asus one, youll have to flash the other brand bioses). But forget a gpu overclock for now, the 5870 is a pretty big beast. The newer games that are coming will give your current system a hard time.

You are also generating less heat running a newer gen single card, that will keep your system cooler, trust me, also drawing less power. Overall it makes sense I think.

Look up some reviews on the 5870 performance. What games are you playing and what are your plans to game in the future?

If gaming at big resos like 1920x1080/1920x1200 is what you like, the 5870 will wash away everything in its path, especially your two SLI setups. Another thing you can do still is overclock your e8400 and see how much of a performance spike you get with your current cards, you should expect about a 15% increase anyway, but this will be neglegible when compared to the 5870 still.

However, if you chose not to upgrade now, then in 2 years your system will die out completely, the e8400 will be the only thing worth selling then...but then you are literally spending every ounce from scratch for a new computer.

Depends on your needs really.

 

[fannypack]

2 8800 gt in SLI = 1 GTX 275

I upgraded from a 9800 GX2, also a 8800 GTS 512 to a Asus 5870, the performance is more than double that of my 9800 GX2 (equal to a GTX 280).

So yeah you will notice a significant difference (more than double), especially in games like Crysis, you can actually run everything on Enthusiast settings (shaders included) unlike the 5850. You can also overclock the 5870 fairly high (Asus one, youll have to flash the other brand bioses). But forget a gpu overclock for now, the 5870 is a pretty big beast. The newer games that are coming will give your current system a hard time.

You are also generating less heat running a newer gen single card, that will keep your system cooler, trust me, also drawing less power. Overall it makes sense I think.

Look up some reviews on the 5870 performance. What games are you playing and what are your plans to game in the future?

If gaming at big resos like 1920x1080/1920x1200 is what you like, the 5870 will wash away everything in its path, especially your two SLI setups. Another thing you can do still is overclock your e8400 and see how much of a performance spike you get with your current cards, you should expect about a 15% increase anyway, but this will be neglegible when compared to the 5870 still.

However, if you chose not to upgrade now, then in 2 years your system will die out completely, the e8400 will be the only thing worth selling then...but then you are literally spending every ounce from scratch for a new computer.

Depends on your needs really.

Well I play some FPS's mostly. I also play RTS games here and there but then again the 8800 handles most of what I play for the most part. I did notice that in Battlefield Bad Company 2 even in DX9 I can only get about 30-50 FPS on lowest settings and that dips in combat.

But at the same time as you said, if I upgrade for future games I'd still be likely to struggle with those games because of the other components in my system. Looks like what I really need for futureproofing is a better CPU in conjunction with a 5870 or the later fermi cards. But that requires a completely new motherboard and consequently, new RAM, too.

It's looking like my only realistic option here is to upgrade to a 5870 and get the performance increases to run all current gen games maxed out but because of the other limitations not really being able to max out future games. And a DX11 is in its infancy and because of this everything but my GFX card will be dated...

These 8800's have lasted a long time, lol. But now they've put me at a difficult decision because they're on the cusp of being acceptable for current gen games (Max details) and outdated for next gen (Along with the rest of the system.)

 

[Apocalypse23]

Well I play some FPS's mostly. I also play RTS games here and there but then again the 8800 handles most of what I play for the most part. I did notice that in Battlefield Bad Company 2 even in DX9 I can only get about 30-50 FPS on lowest settings and that dips in combat.

But at the same time as you said, if I upgrade for future games I'd still be likely to struggle with those games because of the other components in my system. Looks like what I really need for futureproofing is a better CPU in conjunction with a 5870 or the later fermi cards. But that requires a completely new motherboard and consequently, new RAM, too.

It's looking like my only realistic option here is to upgrade to a 5870 and get the performance increases to run all current gen games maxed out but because of the other limitations not really being able to max out future games. And a DX11 is in its infancy and because of this everything but my GFX card will be dated...

These 8800's have lasted a long time, lol. But now they've put me at a difficult decision because they're on the cusp of being acceptable for current gen games (Max details) and outdated for next gen (Along with the rest of the system.)

The thing is that the only Dx11 title I have played fully maxed out on my setup is Dirt2. It runs well. Dx10 titles are still coming out, being better than ever, they will play great on the 5870, with an e8400 overclock of course. The future proofing you are getting with the 5870 and the e8400 oc will last you over a year to say the least. That I think is still very good. Most games run excellent on an overclocked e8400. You have to overclock that processor though, if you don't, then it's not worth it.

I don't think you will be dissatisfied if you go the cpu overclock and vid card upgrade route.

Getting a quad core is all good but if you want to really futureproof then you are looking at a core i7 920 really, but who knows, AMD will probably release something cheaper and more comparable to that in 6-9 months anyway. Just hold on to the processor and mobo upgrade for now. Give the E8400 a run for it's money, I still am, it still has plenty of juice in it.

 

[RussianSensation]

These 8800's have lasted a long time, lol. But now they've put me at a difficult decision because they're on the cusp of being acceptable for current gen games (Max details) and outdated for next gen (Along with the rest of the system.)

So just wait until they are not delivering the performance you want. Fermi may put a price pressure on ATI's 5870 series in a month.

 

[Keysplayr]

Wait.