SLI upgrade path

[MrPink]

Right now I have one 8800gtx, and it has served me just fine in the few months that i have had it (with the exception of Crysis and Supreme Commander). And as a part of my upgrades before starting college, probably the last hurah before i get swamped in debt, I think I want to buy another 8800gtx for SLI. A friend of mine has an alienware with SLI 8800gtxs (e6850 processor, 2 gigs ddr2 800) and nothing gets choppy or unplayable. Know that I am not doing this so that I can play crysis maxed out, but I think that two 8800gtxs will provide better long term performance than one new card.

At least, the price is right...when the flagship gt200 cards come out I expect that they will be priced in the 500$ to 600$ price range right? Now, even if they provide the same performance as SLI 8800gtxs, I'm still spending five or six hundred dollars when i could get the same performance from spending 300$ on another 8800gtx. Also, I figure that by the time two 8800gtxs can't handle new games coming out (1 or 2 years? is that optimistic?), the price of the flagship gt200 cars should have dropped enough so that I can buy two of those.

Does this upgrade path make sense? Going SLI with older cards to match the performance of newer, more expensive cards, then upgrading after the older cards can't keep up. By that time, I've gotten ahead of the price curb so that the then new hardware is already beginning to move over for even newer, more expensive parts....

any comments, or suggestions?

[SCHUMI-4-EVA]

I don't know about Crysis...but for Supreme Commander the bottleneck was definitely the CPU...so rather get a new CPU than another graphics card.

[PCXL-Fan]

to be able to get the most out of 2 cards and properly feed data fast enough to 2x 8800gtx will take a faster processor than the one you currently have.

SLI usually only sees noticeable improvements on games with graphics over 1900x 1200 with high levels of AA and AF enabled. Crysis is an exception of course. You will see fps improvements below 1900 x 1200

[Cheesus]

You'll probably be better off getting a new CPU and motherboard. E7200 is all the rage

[MrPink]

Originally Posted by SCHUMI-4-EVA

I don't know about Crysis...but for Supreme Commander the bottleneck was definitely the CPU...so rather get a new CPU than another graphics card.

Originally Posted by PCXL-Fan

to be able to get the most out of 2 cards and properly feed data fast enough to 2x 8800gtx will take a faster processor than the one you currently have...

Originally Posted by Cheesus

You'll probably be better off getting a new CPU and motherboard. E7200 is all the rage

yes, a new processor is in my upgrade plans as well. I plan on getting either an x3350 or x3360 (main dif is an 8 and 8.5 multiplier respectively, i think). I'll be spending quite a bit of money...but as i said, the last hurah, so i want to make this thing as future proof as possible. Some of you will probably tell me that I won't be needing a quad core, or that i won't see benefits from many games. Well i jumped onto dual core with my X2 4400+ about 2 years ago, and if Supcom hadn't come out, then i'd have no reason to think i should replace it

I now that SLI can be potentially CPU limited, which is why I wouldn't go SLI without upgrading my proc first. So just assume that I will be getting an X48 or nforce 790i mobo, DDR3, and a Yorkfield quad core. Such a setup couldn't possibly limit SLI 8800gtxs...right?

[Cheesus]

Well the main issue with SLI is that some older games have issues with it. But then again, for older games 1 GTX should be more then plenty.

Personally, the only real flaw I see with getting 2 8800GTXs and wanting to future proof is that in the future, it'll be harder to upgrade.
Imagine you get an 9800GTX now... You'll be able to max out just about every game available with a small overclock. When that isn't enough, then you can just pick up another one, and get yourself right back in the game.

Also, since you're pretty much buying a whole new computer, it'd make sense to leave the 8800GTX where it is, leaving your current pc as a backup or secondary PC (or even selling it).

[MrPink]

Originally Posted by Cheesus

Well the main issue with SLI is that some older games have issues with it. But then again, for older games 1 GTX should be more then plenty.

Personally, the only real flaw I see with getting 2 8800GTXs and wanting to future proof is that in the future, it'll be harder to upgrade.
Imagine you get an 9800GTX now... You'll be able to max out just about every game available with a small overclock. When that isn't enough, then you can just pick up another one, and get yourself right back in the game.

Also, since you're pretty much buying a whole new computer, it'd make sense to leave the 8800GTX where it is, leaving your current pc as a backup or secondary PC (or even selling it).

Yeah, I thought about leaving the gtx in my current pc. Though, i've read that the 9800gtx is barely faster than the 8800gtx. I know it's cheaper, but if i were to get one of those for 300$, why not spend 350$ on another 8800 and get significantly more performance for just 50$ more? See, if I go SLI, which should last at least another year, by that time the 9800gtx will have dropped in price. Also by a year from now, the yet to be released gt200 cards will have dropped in price also, maybe as much as 100 or $150; down from a launch price (i expect) of ~$600.

Or, I guess there is always the option of keeping one gtx until the newer cards (gt200, hd4xxx) have all rolled into the market, been reviewed, and settled into their respective pricing slots.

But as you have said before, i do expect to get the most significant performance boost from the new ram/cpu/mobo purchase. Going from DDR to DDR3 will be fun...