GeForce 9800GTX+ vs GeForce GTX 260

[Pheryllt]

This is a simple question.

Which card is better? GTX 260 or 9800 GTX+.

I'm going to be using Dual-SLI with these cards. So I will be buying two.

I want to be able to play Crysis....im high if possible.

I know the 9800 GTX+ can do Tri-SLI, which would make it better if I choose to Upgrade, but if the GTX 260 can out perform the 9800 GTX+ in Dual then I will go with that.

If anybody knows the comparison of these 2 cards, I would appreciate your comment.

 

[LinkedKube]

Just to clear some things up. In which I know you didnt do purposely or may not know. SLI= two nvidia based cards...dual sli would be 4 cards. As I see it or normally reffered to quad SLI "Aghhem, anyway on to your question. The 260 reminds me of the old 8800 gts vs gtx/ultra situation. When the 8800 gts was "sli'd," it would perform better than the 8800 gtx in some benchmarks. With that being said, get two 260's for sli. Go to town, have fun.

 

[Pheryllt]

After reading some I was also leaning toward the GTX 260, but i'm no expert in the field so your comment is very reassuring

Also, I apologize for using the wrong wording "Dual/Triple-SLI". I think what I meant was "Two-Way & Three-Way SLI". I'm I right?

With that being said, Since the 9800 GTX+ is Three-Way SLI compatible. Is it possible to out perform the 260 in Two-way SLI? Or would it just be more efficient and cheaper to have the 260's at the cost of a small drop in FPS?

 

[nickc]

Just get a GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI , and don't worry about the SLI. (and I posted the 1GB version but the 512 MB would do nicely.

 

[LinkedKube]

Just get a GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI , and don't worry about the SLI. (and I posted the 1GB version but the 512 MB would do nicely.

I didnt recommend the 280 1GB version only because he mentioned the 98gtx and the 260, with that being said its clear that he has some kind of budget in mind

If he does consider the 280 though he may as well get the 4870 2Gb version which outperforms the 280 in many benchmarks, mostly games and software that require higher memory bandwidth.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Three 9800GTX+ cards in three-way SLI will likely not have any performance improvement over two of the same cards in "vanilla" SLI. Two GTX 260s will obviously be much faster.

@supersmashbrada, he says he can buy two GTX 260s, which means he can easily afford the HD 4870 X2, which would cost about the same.

@Pheryllt, the HD 4870 X2 will be the best choice, since it's the fastest card on the market right now. Be warned though, that it doesn't scale too well in games with weak Crossfire support, so you might want to go with a single GTX 280, which is the next best card in the current hierarchy.

 

[EXCellR8]

How big of a monitor you got Pheryllt? I'd say if you got anything smaller than 20" than you are wasting your money on any of the cards that have been mentioned. You don't need all of that power, even for Crysis, if you have a smaller monitor. If you have a 22" widescreen than it's a different story of course but for the most part anything along the lines of an 8800/9800GT (or two if you want to SLI) would be just fine. Seriously, you are just throwing money away on power you don't need!! Yea, big graphics cards are sweet, but that counts for nothing when you can have the same performance at a cheaper price. I will lol if you are running a 19" monitor and are considering a GTX series or 4800 series video card.

 

[LinkedKube]

When I think of a 8/9 series gtx card or a high end ati card in his case, it lease room for hardware upgrading, pertaining to a monitor at least. Although in my opinion most people buy monitors depending on their desk space. Honestly I dont see the point of buying anything lower than a 98 gtx/260 or 4870 card at this point, especially while the market is so competitive.

 

[Pheryllt]

I have a 22'' Viewsonic, and 2 19" Acers. I will be trying to setup all three on the one computer.

I am buying the computer piece by piece and am going to put it together, and the graphics card is going to be the last item I buy.

I want the most support for gaming also, since my computers main purpose is to game. So I think I will go with nVidia SLI, rather than ATI CrossFire.

Also, I can't afford the GTX 280 atm. So I will be buying a 260, then the other on the next paycheck XD.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Crossfire offers better multi-monitor support than SLI. So if you're looking to use all those monitors, two HD 4870s will be a better buy.