Hi all,

I need a bit of help.

I had to rma most of my SLI box due to various reasons. They cannot replace the items because they are discontinued. They are giving me the $$ instead.

What I have left is the following:

1 x Intel Quad core Processor
1k PSU
1 x 8800 GTX OC - (The other one fried)
4 x 2GB OCZ pc2 6400 SLI ready ram
Sound Blaster card
2 x 160gb drives

So basically starting from scratch.
I had a 680i mobo. Not sure if I want that or is there better.
Will I lost my DATA on my drives if I go to a different model mobo?

Here is what I need:

SLI mobo
1 x 8800gtx to complete my sli setup. Or should I sell the 8800gtx and get a new mobo with 3 cards in SLI?


Looking to make the right choices here that will last for a good 1-2 years.

Thanks in advance.
Cepolly

these parts should last you a long time

Processor - Q9550
its 2.83Ghz of quad core C2D FURY!!!

Mobo - Intel P45 derivative
SLI is nice but Crossfire is better with a pair of...

GPU - HD4850
Ditch the 8800GTX for a HD4850 or two. its faster in every respect of the game at its current price point.

also, you wont lose your data with a new install of vista but you will with xp. vista will create a folder of all your old stuff during the installing process. xp wont (to my knowledge)

---

or you can wait till Core i7 which is the new CPU architecture from Intel thats replacing C2D. CPU, Mobo, and Ram will run you about $900 but its the latest and greatest coming down the pipe within 6 weeks. its a native 4 core design with hyper threading thats shaping up to be a BEAST

Thanks.

I would really like to use SLI and my QUad processor that I have.

Do you think that crossfire is much better?

Anyone else have thoughts?

Thanks.

Another question...

How is Vista ultimate? I used it for 1 year and it was nothing but bad. Constant problems.

I downgraded to xp 64 and all was good again.

Is what you have all Vista certified?
How does it work with games and such?

I just don't want to take the plunge again and get burned.

when vista first launched, nvidia drivers where horrendous. they contributed something like 19% of all vista failures but at this point, those issues have pretty much been resolved. you'll still lose some FPS but its really no big deal.

when it comes to dual GPU setups, SLI and Crossfice have there merrits but the reason why CF is hot topic right now is because the HD4000 class GPUs have the best performance/dollar ratio on the block in every segment. unless you can get a 8800GTX for no more than $120, dont go for a second one since they're a waste at that pont

FingerMeElmo87 said:

yeah i know what you mean. there were a string of drivers one right after the other. i gave up when the steady stream stopped for about 3 months.

i'll keep that in mind on the cf vs the sli.

do you have any other reviews handy that show cf as better?

to put it simply, there really isnt much of a difference between the two except one uses ATI GPUs and the other uses NVIDIA GPUs. if a game supports dual GPUs you'll see a some what equal performance boost using either unless the game engine in question doesnt play nice with the drivers. for example, even though a HD4850 decimates a 9600GT in just about every single game, the 9600GT lays the smack down on the HD4850 in Flight Simulator X because the drivers for ATI cards dont play nice with FSX. like i said the main reason CF is hot is because the HD4000 class GPUs pretty much reign supreme in almost every price category making them the go-to GPU.

Even though there is hardly, or no difference (in most cases) at all with the 4850 vs the 8800gtx I would recommend whatever is cheaper and easier for you to replace or buy. If you don't want to go through all the hassle then try to find a 8800gtx cheap which I think is very hard now.

Or! One alternative you could get for $280 and an excellent performer is the 9800GX2 which is very well priced now since it doesn't have a high demand and is the second best single card solution next to the 4870X2. The 9800GX2 beats even the GTX 280, so you might want to look into that one.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2....html?prod[2116]=on&prod[2078]=on

4850 Pwns the 8800GTX in like 80% of the benches and the only ones it loses in are ones where the ATI drivers historically never fared well in the first place