9800gx2 and pci-e 1.1 vs 2.0

J

joshlet

n00b
Joined
May 8, 2007
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42
reposting this from a different subsection of this forum..


so ncix is having a crazy sale right now, featuring the 9800gx2 for an insane price of $260

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...0&promoid=1008

i have my credit card sitting in front of me ready to go. the only thing holding me back from making a decision is the fact that i might potentially need a new mobo with pci-e2.0 to fully utilize the power this card has to offer.

currently im using the p5k-e, but i'm wondering if i should perhaps sell it and pick up a cheap p5q pro.

what kind of differential in performance should i expect switching from a 1.1 mobo to a 2.0 mobo? and is it worth the switch?

thanks!
 
As long as your 1.1 PCI-E is X16, don't expect a lot of difference. I wouldn't spend the money on a new board unless you are unhappy for some other reason with your current board.
 
caw2007 said:
As long as your 1.1 PCI-E is X16, don't expect a lot of difference. I wouldn't spend the money on a new board unless you are unhappy for some other reason with your current board.
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agreed, but I would not buy a 9800GX2. not with the prices of the GTX260 where they are at right now. You will get a better game experience from the GTX260. That is why the price on the 9800GX2 have dropped so much.
 
The 9800GX2 also depends on SLI - internal SLI, but SLI nonetheless - meaning that your performance will always hinge on whether a good SLI profile is available for a game, whether the game even supports SLI, and the game engine's graphical scalability. It will also suffer from micro-stuttering.
 
Valset makes a great point as well:

Definitely look into a GTX 260 instead of the GX2.
 
the only reason i would consider getting the 9800gx2 is because its less than half price right now ($260).
 
I don't see any question as to whether it should be GX2 or GTX280...especially considering you can get a GX2 here: http://www.evga.com/products/bstock.asp
for as low as 240
the GX2 smokes the 260, and beats the 280 almost across the board, granted it's amazing that the 280 can almost match the GX2 with just one core, but numbers are numbers, and when the GX2 is 2/3 the price, there's no contest IMO
 
nflesher87 said:
I don't see any question as to whether it should be GX2 or GTX280...especially considering you can get a GX2 here: http://www.evga.com/products/bstock.asp
for as low as 240
the GX2 smokes the 260, and beats the 280 almost across the board, granted it's amazing that the 280 can almost match the GX2 with just one core, but numbers are numbers, and when the GX2 is 2/3 the price, there's no contest IMO
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In average FPS, perhaps, but the GTX 280 walks all over the GX2 when it comes to actual gameplay experience. The GX2's min FPS just bottoms out, and there is the micro stutter, piss poor scaling in some games, etc... The GTX 280 is playable at higher IQ than the GX2 is.
 
i keep hearing about this micro-stutter...is it really that noticable?

also, ive been reading up a bit on 4850 in crossfire...it seems pretty viable as well.

basically i have no idea what to do here.

on the one hand i really want the 9800gx2 becasue its 1. a fucking monster and 2. cheap as hell. but then again, getting 4850's in crossfire will cost me about the same thing (maybe a tad more) for similar performance and better driver support?

there's way too many options available here, i have no idea what to do ;/
 
kllrnohj said:
In average FPS, perhaps, but the GTX 280 walks all over the GX2 when it comes to actual gameplay experience. The GX2's min FPS just bottoms out, and there is the micro stutter, piss poor scaling in some games, etc... The GTX 280 is playable at higher IQ than the GX2 is.
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It still doesn't justify the price difference. I'd go for the 9800GX2 personally(especially at that price!)
 
man if it was 25-50 dollars more to get a 280, i would instantly do it.

i have roughly 250-300 to spend on a video card, and i figure i'll go either 9800gx2 or crossfire 4850.

after seeing the b-stock at evga's site, i realize now i can get the 9800gx2 for even less...$230!!!

seems like quite the steal to me..
 
i'd go for the gtx 260 maxcore if it's in the price range... the 9800gx2 i used to have couldnt handle some of my games maxed out at 1680x1050 because of it's small memory bus. the gtx 280 i have now plays all those games maxed out at 1920x1200 flawlessly.

Since the performance of the 260 isn't really that far off to the 280, and it's memory bus is also wider, you should take that into consideration as well. I've noticed smoother gameplay going from 9800gx2 to the gtx 280 even though the fps aren't as high. It's all about consistency.

I've used 8800gts 512, SLI 8800gts 512, 9800gx2, 8800gtx, SLI 8800gtx, and now the GTX 280... and nothing beats it.

Bought the 9800gx2 for $560... If I had a choice now at this price, I still wouldn't buy one.
 
XpediencY said:
i'd go for the gtx 260 maxcore if it's in the price range... the 9800gx2 i used to have couldnt handle some of my games maxed out at 1680x1050 because of it's small memory bus. the gtx 280 i have now plays all those games maxed out at 1920x1200 flawlessly.

Since the performance of the 260 isn't really that far off to the 280, and it's memory bus is also wider, you should take that into consideration as well. I've noticed smoother gameplay going from 9800gx2 to the gtx 280 even though the fps aren't as high. It's all about consistency.

I've used 8800gts 512, SLI 8800gts 512, 9800gx2, 8800gtx, SLI 8800gtx, and now the GTX 280... and nothing beats it.

Bought the 9800gx2 for $560... If I had a choice now at this price, I still wouldn't buy one.
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can't argue with first hand thorough experience I suppose
for me there's absolutely no question, but that's 90% because I don't game and I just have each GX2 core folding 24/7 :)
 
haha, i used to be a hardcore gamer, but not as much anymore :) I suppose if you don't want to push the envelope, the gx2 is perfectly fine

I had a problem watching movies with the gx2 though on vista 64. Any videos I watch youtube or not, it would artifact and freeze my computer. The problem was intermittent. My bro even had the same problem when i put the gx2 into his computer... It could just have been my card was being a dumbass.. lol

Thanks to EVGA stepup program and price drop, I paid nothing for my upgrade :D

No complaints anymore, except I wish there was an engineering sample of a GTX 380 in my computer...
 
ok ive decided to get 2 x 4850's for some crossfire lulz.

i checked out a whole bunch of reviews and it seems to be the clear victor, in most cases surpassing even the gtx 280.

also, two of them are only about 40 dollars more than the 9800 gx2.

looks like i wiN?
 
It's a win, if you ever want to dual monitor, you can! SLI doesn't offer that option... atleast not yet... :eek:
 
im going to be gaming primarily on 1680x1050.

id liek to be able to maximize all settings for, not ironically enough, maximum lulz and entertainment values.

i also have another monitor ill probably hook up so i can play like 8 tables of poker at a time.
 
haha everyones got their limits...if i buy out all my cash i won't be able to win any more!
 
i thought about the GX2 for maybe a day. then i said i didnt want old tech :p, i got a GTX260 in the mail right now.
 
bazookaworm said:
It still doesn't justify the price difference. I'd go for the 9800GX2 personally(especially at that price!)
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not to be a hater but the 9800GX2 is not a good card. you can find threads on threads of people that were happy to get rid of it. its good for benchmarking and that is about it. (a few games do well on it) no matter how you look at it the current gen of cards smoke it in real game play
 
joshlet said:
i keep hearing about this micro-stutter...is it really that noticable?

also, ive been reading up a bit on 4850 in crossfire...it seems pretty viable as well.

basically i have no idea what to do here.

on the one hand i really want the 9800gx2 becasue its 1. a fucking monster and 2. cheap as hell. but then again, getting 4850's in crossfire will cost me about the same thing (maybe a tad more) for similar performance and better driver support?

there's way too many options available here, i have no idea what to do ;/
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never noticed it that i can recall.
 
joshlet said:
ok ive decided to get 2 x 4850's for some crossfire lulz.

i checked out a whole bunch of reviews and it seems to be the clear victor, in most cases surpassing even the gtx 280.

also, two of them are only about 40 dollars more than the 9800 gx2.

looks like i wiN?
Click to expand...

At your current resolution you may not really need crossfire. really I would think a 4870 or a GTX260 would work good. And you will have the option to add another latter.

not that crossifred 4850 aren't good, there just awesome for the price.
 
Joshlet, first off in response to your initial question. Your motherboard will be fine and there will hardly be any difference in performance for today's cards using PCIE 1.1 or 2.0. Future cards maybe but none of today's.

Secondly, as soon as I seen the title I knew this thread would be hijacked with " Don't get that card get this card blah blah.

Most of the rubbish spouted on here is laughable. The 9800GX2's are excellent cards and for anyone to say they're not is really quite sad and uninformed. I suspect a lot of people are trying to justify their own expenditure, using the analogy " I've bought it so it must be better".

I have used both the GTX280 and the 9800GX2 and my favoured card is the 9800GX2. Why? The simple answer is 99% of my collection of games, of which I have hundreds run faster on it. The GX2 also runs cooler. I run my games at 1920x1200. Now I understand that should I run at 2560x1600 I may prefer the 280, but I don't I run at 1920x1200 and at this res 99% of my games run faster for me. That is a fact. Whether people refuse to believe it is up to them. I really don't care.
Normally I don't get involved in petty disputes about better hardware, but I couldn't sit back and watch the crap I'm reading here saying how bad the GX2 is. I also do not suffer the so called micro stutter that some are mentioning. Maybe that's because I know how to set my PC to run properly? Maybe I'm just lucky?

Finally, I'm not saying that the 280 is a crap card. On the contrary it's another excellent card from Nvidia. What I'm saying is don't listen to ill informed people who say the GX2 is not a good card. That is just uneducated tripe. Both cards are good. I just prefer the GX2.

I'm pleased for those that love their GTX260's & 280's, but please dont BS about the GX2 only being good for benchmarks because that's just not true.

Put's tin helmet on and awaits response.


MacAttack
There Can Be Only One
 
To my knowledge no current video card actually reaches the data transfer limit of the PCI express bus. I could be wrong though =o

Edit: Sorry, didn't read the full title. Even so I'd say it probably doesnt matter :D
 
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