Another 7800GTX or X2 3800+?

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Waterboy

Limp Gawd
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Aug 20, 2005
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I am debating whether it is better to upgrade my 3500+ to an X2 3800+ or should I get another GTX to go SLI? My monitors have a maximum resolution of 1600x1200 and that is what I am gaming on. I do noticed some slowness in FEAR, and COD2 demos. It might get worse in multi-player situations. The wife only allowed one item :(. Which should it be? See current setup in signature.
 
2nd 7800GTX if you want more AA, or more speed with max AA

or get 2 wifes?
 
I would go X2 3800+ toledo.

I believe the ability to do more than 1 thing at a time with 0 lag is a greater advantage the a second video card. THough I think you will see no, or very little benefit in game, other than you can do things outside of the game.

If you want the best video experience though, the 2nd GTX would give you a larger video upgrade.
 
tornadotsunamilife said:
I think either upgrade will not do anything significant to your current system at the moment.
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A second 7800GTX will SIGNIFICANTLY increase speed in the games mentioned. It is almost double in CoD2 (christ they have built in support for in the OPTION menu for SLI in this game)

The 3800+ wont do crap for improveing frame rate, especially when running at 1600x1200 w/ AA...
I have been monitoring the status on multi-threaded drivers and it looks like there is no way in hell you will see over 5% gain (again especially true when running higher res and AA). The second GTX can give 30-80% gain in those circumstances.

And if for some reason you play older games well then you can run 16x AA for a better visual.

NO BRAINER
Get the GTX.
 
Well, if you're considering the X2, you probably do something with your computer other than game. I'd go X2 3800+.
 
J-Mag said:
NO BRAINER
Get the GTX.
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a no brainer only if you assume he ONLY uses his computer to play video games... some of us still consider the computer to be a general purpose machine :p.
 
sativa said:
a no brainer only if you assume he ONLY uses his computer to play video games... some of us still consider the computer to be a general purpose machine :p.
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Maybe so, but did he mention 3d animating or video encoding or anythign like that? NO, he mentioned games, so obviously that is what is important.
 
RoosterUSMC said:
7800GTX no doubt, the 3800X2 performs like a Venice 3000 or 3200 in todays games because no games take advantage of the second core yet. If you went with the X2 3800 today you would be taking a step back. Wait six to nine months to get an X2.

You can see from this benchmark here http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/athlon 64 x2 3800_08010580841/8119.png that the X2 3800 performs worse than a single core 3800 in HL2.
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Until you overclock it to 2.4 and make it into a 4600+. That would either meet or beat the 3800+ (the 4600+'s single core version)

But seriously I would go for the second GTX. The dual core does a nice job, but if you wanna game at 16*12 for much longer you better slam that GTX in there real fast.
 
Waterboy said:
I am debating whether it is better to upgrade my 3500+ to an X2 3800+ or should I get another GTX to go SLI? My monitors have a maximum resolution of 1600x1200 and that is what I am gaming on. I do noticed some slowness in FEAR, and COD2 demos. It might get worse in multi-player situations. The wife only allowed one item :(. Which should it be? See current setup in signature.
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Considering where your CPU is clocked at based on your sig, I'd vote for a second 7800GTX. Hands down. That will give you alot more gaming performance than an X2 will for sure.
 
I guess the 2 wives idea is out of the question, so I will have to go with a second GTX. This is my gaming/surfing system.

Thanks you guys...
 
for gaming another gtx...i would wait though...until fear comes out because theyre making it easier to run on the computer...also do you really need one NOW?...wait a bit longer like a month or two and the prices will drop a bit...maybe you can get both? :)
 
don't forget a 2nd waterblock, and ensure SLI compatibility.

I can't believe how many SLI GTX setups I've seen, not overclocked one bit.

Why'd you get the 2nd GTX? Because 1 wasn't fast enough? Why'd don't you overclock your SLI GTX combo? 2 is fast enough? I bet if they offered 3x SLI, most people would be all over it. So for now, even though you have the fastest shit on the planet, you still overclock it, because some punk kid with voltmods on his solo GTX is already pumping out scores close to your twice expensive SLI setup. Plus, since you can't buy a 3rd, or 3rd and 4th card yet, (and you know if the numbers were there, you'd be all over it, you all know who you are) overclocking is the next best, and possibly better, thing.


Also, from what I've heard on COD2, is that it is buggy as hell. The SLI numbers are probably close to where they should be, while the GTX solo numbers are extremely lower than they should be. Rather than, this game has some uber SLI programming that extracts 2x performance from 2 cards, going where no game (and possibly even nvidia in their "best case scenario" test demos) has gone before.
 
I've added the DD Acetal Maze4 water block on to the list already. It will be a snug fit, along with the X-Fi and the Raid controller. COD2 (BestBuy says November 1st), and Quake 4 are all pre-ordered, hey I wanted the T-Shirts :D. I will get FEAR later, they didn't offer the free T-Shirt. The reason I am doing all this now is because I will be hosting a LAN Party soon. I wanted to be sure I have everything working by then.
Damn, Monarch increased the eVGA GTX with BF2 to $500 and OOS. It was $480 earlier. I guess I have to order the other one for $490. No tax and no shipping to CA.
 
Waterboy said:
I've added the DD Acetal Maze4 water block on to the list already. It will be a snug fit, along with the X-Fi and the Raid controller. COD2 (BestBuy says November 1st), and Quake 4 are all pre-ordered, hey I wanted the T-Shirts :D. I will get FEAR later, they didn't offer the free T-Shirt. The reason I am doing all this now is because I will be hosting a LAN Party soon. I wanted to be sure I have everything working by then.
Damn, Monarch increased the eVGA GTX with BF2 to $500 and OOS. It was $480 earlier. I guess I have to order the other one for $490. No tax and no shipping to CA.
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sell your 7800 and buy a X2 and wait for the X1800XT to come out. or XL
 
Redefined said:
sell your 7800 and buy a X2 and wait for the X1800XT to come out. or XL
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This is an example of a bad idea, as computers running without video cards are not monitor compatable for the most part. Please hold your ATIpushing/baiting until the cards actually come out. Unless you want this guy to be waiting until November---Decemberish based on some estimates.

Back on topic, even with some of Nvidia's dual core drivers a second card will massivly overshadow those in game performance, so unless you really need an X2 for other purposes I'd go with another GTX. I wish I had to make these kind of decisions.

:)
 
Well if your playing on anything higher than 16x12 and up, the second 7800 will show a bigger increase than getting a better cpu. Playing at high resolutions requires more video power than cpu power.
 
well i can say im quite happy with my 7800GT and 3800+ X2 @ 2.5
id get the X2 and OC it :D
 
Redefined said:
sell your 7800 and buy a X2 and wait for the X1800XT to come out. or XL
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Sit on your arse waiting much? You seem prepared to do so at a slight whim of hope...
 
I think the X2 would be better, because it generally produces a smoother computing experience.
 
Redefined said:
sell your 7800 and buy a X2 and wait for the X1800XT to come out. or XL
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He wants to use it before he grows old and dies..................
 
Redefined said:
sell your 7800 and buy a X2 and wait for the X1800XT to come out. or XL
Click to expand...

I heard Duke Nukem Forever comes bundled with it. :p

Another vote for the 2nd GTX, but the new nVidia drivers are supposed to take advantage of dual-core so it'll be interesting to see the results.
 
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