GPU performance to price advantage?

[mentalcrisis00]

Hey all

I'm looking for the best performance advantage to price, I like getting the most out of my money. My choices are:

Add another XFX 9800gt to add to the one I have already and go SLI. $99 after $30 rebate, I'm not enthused about the added heat and noise this would generate.

Gigabyte 9800gtx 1GB $180 after $30 rebate ( I like this one because of the cooler and fact that it's a GTX but it's the only one I found that only needs ONE pci express power plug)

ATI 4870, lowest priced one is $220 on newegg, it's an asus and gets horrible reviews due to the fan dieing on people.

OR

Just keep the 9800gt I have and use $0. Anyone know what the performance advantage with the Gigabyte 9800GTX would be over the card I have now? I know the GTX260's are down to roughly $200 now but I have a 485W psu with only 1 PCI ex power plug.

With my current rig below I get 30 frames in crysis on high, and a 3dmark06 default score of 8185.

 

[zerocool84]

That 9800GTX+ looks interesting. It only has one SLI connector, one PCIe power connector and doesn't have the SPDIF connector on the top.

 

[daveybrat]

I think adding a second 9800GT would be the best value for your pc. An SLI'd 9800GT will smoke a 9800GTX single card in most games. And for $100 upgrade, that's your best bet.

 

[mentalcrisis00]

Originally posted by: zerocool84
That 9800GTX+ looks interesting. It only has one SLI connector, one PCIe power connector and doesn't have the SPDIF connector on the top.

Ya I've noticed that gigabyte is all about efficiency, and if they don't think a feature is necessary they don't add it. Seemed interesting because it's the only gtx+ with the need for only one power connector and people say it's less of a power hog.

An SLI'd 9800GT will smoke a 9800GTX single card in most games.

Thanks for the advice daveybrat, it would definitely be nice to have something that could bolster or even match a 9800gtx. Seems like the only problem with SLI is the driver bugs and whether or not a game engine is created with SLI in mind. Most of the games coming out that are worth playing seem to have SLI code.

Perhaps I'll wait for the 9800's to go down in price a tad more than. Since I bought my 9800gt a month ago they've already gone down in price $10-$20.

Cheers

-Ray