EVGA 9800 GX2 120 Day Step Up

[mhouck]

I have a 8800 gts G92 and my step-up expired on 3/10 for the regular 90 day period. EVGA has extended their step up to 120 days exclusively for the 9800 GX2. Currently I can't see what EVGA has set the step up price to because of site maintenance. But Newegg has the 9800's at $599 and I preordered my original 8800 at $350. New 8800's are $244 to $269 for stocks. I could SLI my 8800 for roughly the same amount as step up.

Here are my concerns.

Cons:
1)On a few of the reviews I've seen the GTS's SLIed perform better than 9800 at of 1900*1200 where I game mostly.

2)I have a PCI-E x16 1.0 board. Not sure if this is a hinderence on this card.

Pros:
1)I won't be locked into Nvidia chipsets for my MoBo.

I'm inclined to wait and see if EVGA extends the step up for the 9800 GTX too and see what complaints arise from the GX2.

Any suggestions?

 

[nanaki333]

meh.. go ahead and stepup, the later when the prices come down, you can sli another gx2 and have quad sli! it's all about overkill in my book!

 

[mhouck]

Thanks Nanki. That's the way I'm leaning right now. If I SLI the gts's then that's the end of the upgrade path. I can't imagine getting a 2nd GX2 but it's nice to dream. Having to break down for a 1000 watt or more PSU on top of the other card would be a monthly mortgage payment would be a nightmare.

 

[bryanW1995]

don't bother if you're happy with the performance of the gts. You'll be disappointed if you get a 9800gx2 imho. If you're truly itchin' to upgrade, wait for gt200 and get the single card single gpu upgrade.

 

[rgallant]

Originally posted by: mhouck
I have a 8800 gts G92 and my step-up expired on 3/10 for the regular 90 day period. EVGA has extended their step up to 120 days exclusively for the 9800 GX2. Currently I can't see what EVGA has set the step up price to because of site maintenance. But Newegg has the 9800's at $599 and I preordered my original 8800 at $350. New 8800's are $244 to $269 for stocks. I could SLI my 8800 for roughly the same amount as step up.

Here are my concerns.

Cons:
1)On a few of the reviews I've seen the GTS's SLIed perform better than 9800 at of 1900*1200 where I game mostly.

2)I have a PCI-E x16 1.0 board. Not sure if this is a hinderence on this card.

Pros:
1)I won't be locked into Nvidia chipsets for my MoBo.

I'm inclined to wait and see if EVGA extends the step up for the 9800 GTX too and see what complaints arise from the GX2.

Any suggestions?

I'am in the very same spot.

but two things stand out about the 9800GX2 and the 9600GT

1-the new drivers coming out are only for them, guys at 3dguru collect modded drivers for the 8800 cards ,(cards being sold today). whats going to happen when the new cards come out,with their own special drivers, will people be modding drivers for a one time 9800GX2, eg. new game fixes,AA problems.

2 - seems the drivers for the 9800GX2 in the reviews have their own overclocking control panel, will that be for ever in all the driver releases and will programs like RivaTurner work in time ?

Not sure ,I just Might go with the masses this time, and do SLI (new board)

 

[WicKeD]

I am thinking of stepping up my 8800Ultra to 9800GX2. It will only cost me shipping.

My board is PCI-x 2.0
I cant SLI since I own an Intel board.

I would like to say benchies on the 9800 GTX and maybe wait.... decisions , decisions....

 

[manowar821]

I WOULD step-up, but unfortunately, I purchased my damn 8800GTX on Sept 22. TOO LATE!

 

[Puffnstuff]

I'm actually considering doing it for my sons 8800gt. Do they go off what you paid for the card? If so that would make it easier since I bought it when they were gouging hard.

 

[mhouck]

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
I'm actually considering doing it for my sons 8800gt. Do they go off what you paid for the card? If so that would make it easier since I bought it when they were gouging hard.

Yes. Its what you paid minus taxes and shipping

 

[rgallant]

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
I'm actually considering doing it for my sons 8800gt. Do they go off what you paid for the card? If so that would make it easier since I bought it when they were gouging hard.

[ Do they go off what you paid for the card?] yes -rebates

 

[ajaidevsingh]

Stepup...that is the best route

 

[ashishmishra]

I paid $357.18 for my 512MB 8800GTS so yes I'm stepping up as I don't plan to get an SLI board anytime soon.

 

[djnsmith7]

I'm not really all that impressed with the GX2 results at the moment, so I don't know yet. I'm still very interested to see what the 9800GTX will bring upon the official release. We'll see what happens.

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: djnsmith7
I'm not really all that impressed with the GX2 results at the moment, so I don't know yet. I'm still very interested to see what the 9800GTX will bring upon the official release. We'll see what happens.

Yeah it's a shame the OPs standard stepup ran out. I'm betting the 9800GTX will fit nicely under the GX2.

 

[Obsoleet]

You're going to want to avoid SLI at all costs. The GX2 is SLI.
It's NV's proprietary tech and has limitations that aren't worth actually paying for. Besides you don't need that fast of a video card to own in games. Unless you just like 3dmark there's no point.

I know a lot of pro-gamers and they don't run gimmicks like SLI to whoop up on 90% of the population. Like I said real pro gamers (unless sponsored to use it) don't generally use SLI nor whatever trinket AMD has for a multicard solution.

It's pretty sad to see some guy pop on a server talk about his SLI setup then just get completely owned in the face round after round.
Stick with what you got, maybe consider a single 9800GTX after we see officials on it.

 

[ashishmishra]

Originally posted by: Obsoleet
You're going to want to avoid SLI at all costs. The GX2 is SLI.
It's NV's proprietary tech and has limitations that aren't worth actually paying for. Besides you don't need that fast of a video card to own in games. Unless you just like 3dmark there's no point.

I know a lot of pro-gamers and they don't run gimmicks like SLI to whoop up on 90% of the population. Like I said real pro gamers (unless sponsored to use it) don't generally use SLI nor whatever trinket AMD has for a multicard solution.

It's pretty sad to see some guy pop on a server talk about his SLI setup then just get completely owned in the face round after round.
Stick with what you got, maybe consider a single 9800GTX after we see officials on it.

I've never run SLI before but I have several games that I can't play on max details with AA and AF. To mention a few, DIRT (with other cars around), Call of Juarez DX10, Lost Planet DX10, and yes Crysis could use some boost as well. Furthermore this card will enable to keep my current install intact and save me from buying an SLI motherboard, when I'm perfectly happy with my P35 motherboard.

I'm not a pro-gamer, I'm sure I suck at most multiplayers, but I don't care. I like single player games as a hobby and I like to be able to play them at max details. Since I had to buy my 512MB 8800GTS at launch (because of a new machine build) I paid $357 at launch, thanks to evgas step-up extension I can use some of that excess money I paid for the 8800GTS (It pains me to see their current prices and used market value).

Like many people have mentioned, people have different needs and one size does not fit all. Some people have applications that can make good use of the extra power. They should absorb all the knowledge, compare the different benchmarks and make a decision for themselves. I know I've made mine, I'm #176 in the step-up queue

 

[bryanW1995]

ultra to 9800gx2 is a no-brainer. For the rest...meh.