Tired of my SLI setup and it inability to Alt-Tab out of games

[Oyeve]

I currently have 2 eVga 7800 GT CO cards in my system. They run great in single or SLI mode but I cannot upgrade the video drivers past FW 81.83 because I am using a ULI chipset and Nvidia blocked SLI for ULI in higher versions of FW. I need to Alt-tab out a lot while playing games and many of them just dont like that. Many time when I go back into the game its either a half screen or a half screen that work on the upper part but the bottom half is at the last pic of whatever game I played. So I am thinking about giving up on SLI and get a single card that runs about the same as 2 7800 GT cards (or better, if possible) I am not looking into the 8800 series as I am not going Vista for a while yet and figure I could sell the 2 7800 GT cards and come close to breaking even, plus I heard the 8800 cards are long and my case is very cramped as is. So, my question is, what single will give me simular performance as the 2 7800 GT cards? I saw This and would like to know if this card will give me identical performance? Thanks.

I also saw This one

BTW, the games I mostly play now are FEAR, BF 2142, Oblivion, GTA:san Andreas, NWN2.

 

[vhx]

Just a question, are you using split frame rendering mode or alternate frame? Do they make a difference in this case?

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: vhx
Just a question, are you using split frame rendering mode or alternate frame?

Honestly, I dont know. I do not see that option with the SW version I am stuck at.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: vhx
Just a question, are you using split frame rendering mode or alternate frame? Do they make a difference in this case?

Found something like this. It was called (IIR) rendendering - SLI single or off or SLI-antialiasing. the latter seems to be more stable but I notice its slower in Oblivion so I just set it back to SLI Multi GPU. I want a single card solution that is as fast as my 2 7800 GT cards. Anyone know if the card I linked above are a good solution?

 

[bamacre]

If you can wait, 320MB 8800 GTS.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: bamacre
If you can wait, 320MB 8800 GTS.

Dont plan on going Vista and dont like buying first-gen HW. I'll check that out tho. Thanks.

 

[rstrohkirch]

Originally posted by: Oyeve

Originally posted by: bamacre
If you can wait, 320MB 8800 GTS.

Dont plan on going Vista and dont like buying first-gen HW. I'll check that out tho. Thanks.

I'm not sure what Vista has to do with his recommendation

You asked for a $300 card and the card he suggested will probably be the fastest card in the $300 bracket when it comes out...be that it supports dx10 or not

 

[SPARTAN VI]

Originally posted by: rstrohkirch

Originally posted by: Oyeve

Originally posted by: bamacre
If you can wait, 320MB 8800 GTS.

Dont plan on going Vista and dont like buying first-gen HW. I'll check that out tho. Thanks.

I'm not sure what Vista has to do with his recommendation

You asked for a $300 card and the card he suggested will probably be the fastest card in the $300 bracket when it comes out...be that it supports dx10 or not

He probably thinks that he needs Vista to use the 8800GTS.. which is only true for the DX10 aspect of the card.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: bamacre
If you can wait, 320MB 8800 GTS.

Seconded (or thirded I guess). By all accounts it should be a smoking deal and you do not need Vista to run it.

If you can't wait, get a X1950XT.

KT

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: SPARTAN VI

Originally posted by: rstrohkirch

Originally posted by: Oyeve

Originally posted by: bamacre
If you can wait, 320MB 8800 GTS.

Dont plan on going Vista and dont like buying first-gen HW. I'll check that out tho. Thanks.

I'm not sure what Vista has to do with his recommendation

You asked for a $300 card and the card he suggested will probably be the fastest card in the $300 bracket when it comes out...be that it supports dx10 or not

He probably thinks that he needs Vista to use the 8800GTS.. which is only true for the DX10 aspect of the card.

No, I dont think I need Vista to get that card. In the first post my concern was the size of the 8800 series of cards, not vista. I only mentioned vista because I will not be going that route for some time. I guess I should have given more details.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Oyeve
No, I dont think I need Vista to get that card. In the first post my concern was the size of the 8800 series of cards, not vista. I only mentioned vista because I will not be going that route for some time. I guess I should have given more details.

I'm pretty sure the GTS is shorter than the GTX, so it may still work for you.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Oyeve
No, I dont think I need Vista to get that card. In the first post my concern was the size of the 8800 series of cards, not vista. I only mentioned vista because I will not be going that route for some time. I guess I should have given more details.

I'm pretty sure the GTS is shorter than the GTX, so it may still work for you.

Maybe, but I'm looking to spend 300 or less.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: Oyeve

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Oyeve
No, I dont think I need Vista to get that card. In the first post my concern was the size of the 8800 series of cards, not vista. I only mentioned vista because I will not be going that route for some time. I guess I should have given more details.

I'm pretty sure the GTS is shorter than the GTX, so it may still work for you.

Maybe, but I'm looking to spend 300 or less.

It's probably going to run ~$280ish after a couple of weeks of it's release.