Larry's Rule exception?

[Desslok]

I am looking to resurrect my Dell XPS 710 with a Q6600 in it, I don't have time to convert it to an ATX motherboard so I need to get your opinions on the best bang for the buck GPU. I can run SLI.

Do the tech holiday sales usually start on Black Friday?

Thanks.

 

[kowalabearhugs]

I picked up a used 7970 for $100 shipped from a user on Reddit. It's ~3800 GFLOPS is comparably to the 280X. I've also seen some good deals on gpuShack and EVGA b stock. Both of those sites sell refurbished GPUs.

I don't think a Q6600 would have any trouble feeding work to a powerful dual GPU setup.

 

[TennesseeTony]

I'd certainly agree with kowalabearhugs, and highly recommend the USED market, specifically AMD 7970/280X series cards. They sell all day in the US on ebay for $150 and under. They are particularly exceptional at running POEM and Milkyway, as the double precision is utilized.

They're holding their value well. I purchased many 280X's last year this time, and at the same $150 or less price that they are still selling for.

The downside is that there are fewer BOINC projects that code for AMD cards.

Another downside is that it looks like you may be more into Folding@Home, and although they perform well there too, the GTX970 is nearly as fast, and oh so much more efficient.