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nvidia boy considering a switch...

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Right, but in current games the difference is not that much, esp in half life 2. So I guess my point is... would it be better to have dual 6800GT's now and not upgrade for 4 years, or to have a X850XT PE now and upgrade when the r620's/NV60's start showing up?
 
Originally posted by: Waylay00
Just get an X850xt PE. I'd rather have 10% performance loss than spend $1000 on video cards alone.
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plus you can always add another x850 xt pe a year or two down the line for a major performance boost.
 
Originally posted by: LtPage1

plus you can always add another x850 xt pe a year or two down the line for a major performance boost.
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its already been posted, you need a card that supports SLI, this generation doesn't so you can't do this.
 
Originally posted by: NarcoticHobo
Right, but in current games the difference is not that much, esp in half life 2. So I guess my point is... would it be better to have dual 6800GT's now and not upgrade for 4 years, or to have a X850XT PE now and upgrade when the r620's/NV60's start showing up?
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Neither of these options. I would get 6800GT right now for $370. In 1 year another mid-high end card with price performance of 6800GT for $370. Then another card in 1 year from before for $370 again. This runs you $1110 but every single year you'll have a very fast graphics card as opposed to having the best setup today with dual sli, slower setup when R500/NV50 come out and even slower in 3rd year and 4th. If you buy DualSLI right now you are spending $200-300 on a mobo + $500 on a videocard a piece. R620 or whatever you want to call it will cost $500. Thats 1300 + 500 = $1800. The problem is out of those 4 years, the SLI setup will only be good for first 2. In 2 years, midrange cards will be faster, not even talking about high-end ones. That is why unless you can afford to drop $1000 on graphics cards every 1 year, it's always better to upgrade using the card that gives you 70-80% performance that year so that eventually that strategy will outgrow the "dropping down massive cash on the best hardware today, hoping it'll last you 4 years."

This applies for CPUs too. Someone who spent $800 on FX55 and keeps it for 3 years vs. Someone who buys a64 3200+ for $200 today, A64 4500 + for $200 1 year from now, A64 5300+ for $200 2 years from now, and so on...eventually the person with teh slower component in year 1 will catch up while retaining all the new features that new components bring.

In this case buying a card and not upgrading for 4 years is not a wise option since you wont be able to experience longhorn's DX10 interface either.

But what is important to you? Knowing you have the fastest computer out of your friends for 1.5 years and a slow one for next 2.5 years or having a good machine for all 4 years, but not the best one out there?
 
Yea, thing is 6800GT is same price as a X850XT PE right now...

And since I have to have a computer by January... so I figure I'll have $500 to start off, save a bit more, then I can upgrade in 2 years to the next big video card and a $200 processor. Then the next big update will be in four years, with a new MB and etc.
 
get an SLI motherboard and a single SLI 6800GT. when its not enough in the future, and GTs cost half what they cost now, get another and add another 80% to your performance.
 
Originally posted by: NarcoticHobo
Yea, thing is 6800GT is same price as a X850XT PE right now...

And since I have to have a computer by January... so I figure I'll have $500 to start off, save a bit more, then I can upgrade in 2 years to the next big video card and a $200 processor. Then the next big update will be in four years, with a new MB and etc.
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If you are basing this on how the 6800GT are way over MSRP right now what makes you think the X850 will be at MSRP. I personally believe it will be at like 700-800 at first.
 
Originally posted by: Computer MAn
Originally posted by: NarcoticHobo
Yea, thing is 6800GT is same price as a X850XT PE right now...

And since I have to have a computer by January... so I figure I'll have $500 to start off, save a bit more, then I can upgrade in 2 years to the next big video card and a $200 processor. Then the next big update will be in four years, with a new MB and etc.
Click to expand...

If you are basing this on how the 6800GT are way over MSRP right now what makes you think the X850 will be at MSRP. I personally believe it will be at like 700-800 at first.
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Cause I can preorder one from buy.com for $466.
 
Originally posted by: NarcoticHobo
Originally posted by: Computer MAn
Originally posted by: NarcoticHobo
Yea, thing is 6800GT is same price as a X850XT PE right now...

And since I have to have a computer by January... so I figure I'll have $500 to start off, save a bit more, then I can upgrade in 2 years to the next big video card and a $200 processor. Then the next big update will be in four years, with a new MB and etc.
Click to expand...

If you are basing this on how the 6800GT are way over MSRP right now what makes you think the X850 will be at MSRP. I personally believe it will be at like 700-800 at first.
Click to expand...

Cause I can preorder one from buy.com for $466.
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Oops I didn't read that sorry
 
Originally posted by: Budman
ATI drivers are just a good if not better than Nvidia.
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When did they implement fog tables in Direct3D (it works in OpenGL and Rave)?

When did they repair DirectDraw (look up "Armored Task Force" and "ATI" to see people disable hardware support for 2D acceleration)?

Why do they only have alibi drivers for Linux and none for FreeBSD? Granted, they don't have to do more, but arguably NVidia's support is better, which is the original claim.

Why does my tri-head setup with AGP and PCI cards not allow a restart of the grahics subsystem when the AGP card is an ATI one (require reboot to get it back in line)? It works fine with a NVidia AGP card.

Why do they still do deceptive marketing (in this case sneaking on cards with half the memory width under the same designations that full cards are written reviews about)?
 
This is easy,

If you are going to get a single card and want it right now. The ATI cards devilver more realworld power that Nvidia.

If you want to throwdown some serious cash, go Nvidia. The SLI will rule ass and Nvidia currently has the most high tech GPU with Pixel Shader 3.0, but to beat the ATI you need the SLI kicking in your game.

I love competition,

Happy Times!
 
Several of the newer ATI cards have been at Newegg for a while now. An OEM X850XT is $499 currently. X800XL's are ~$420.
 
Why do they still do deceptive marketing (in this case sneaking on cards with half the memory width under the same designations that full cards are written reviews about)?
Click to expand...

It is utterly ridiculous to accuse ATI of that. Sapphire is solely responsible for that, and they corrected it in a hurry.
 
Originally posted by: Waylay00
Just get an X850xt PE. I'd rather have 10% performance loss than spend $1000 on video cards alone.
Click to expand...

Amen...of course you could get a pair of BFG 6800ultras for $700 from Outpost. Then again you can get the x800xt agp for about $350-400 and it is more than enough for the next couple/few years.
 
SLI offers hit and miss performance it works in some games and not for others. The ones it does work for the performance gained is 10-25% and you certainly are not getting what you paid for in the respect of price to performance. Here is the kicker: some games when run with SLI are slower than a single graphics card.
 
Originally posted by: Computer MAn
Originally posted by: NarcoticHobo
Hell, I just realized I can probably get this card and a PCI express motherboard for about$600 before jan, which leaves me with approx $400 left over... In a few months that would be enough to upgrade to the ATI SLI board, and then I've got my SLI whenever that becomes a necessity.
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I have a feeling that when ATi releases their SLI the current cards will not be compatible because they will need some kind of connector like Nvidia uses and these don't have them. I am proably wrong just be aware.
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ATI SLI is done through the mobo isn't it?
 
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