[limeman]

First off, I love my 7600 GT. I play Company of Heroes maxed out execept for one item is High and not ultra. I would love an upgrade to prepare myself for playing Crysis, MOH Airborne, World in Conflict, etc. I'm not the type of player that maxs out the resolution. I normally play at 1400x900. I don't necessarily need all my games maxed out on the graphics settings.

Will I see a generous performance boost with two 7600 GT's in SLI? Will it compare to a 8800 GTS (meaning is the 8800 going to be 3x faster building off a price to performance ratio? I can get a 7600 GT for $100 and an 8800 GTS for $275. If the performance is good for sli, I think I'd be better off going SLI for 6-9 months and then getting an 8800 since the price will likely be a lot lower.

What is your thought Geeks?

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SLI does not deliver a 100% performance boost. It gives about 10-40% performance boost, depending on the application. It is definitely not cost effective for you to go SLI. And besides, you would be robbing yourself of the ability to play DirectX 10 games (the only NVIDIA cards that support DirectX 10 are the 8 series cards).

So, basically, here's what I'd do:

If you are really dying for an upgrade right now, I'd go with the 8800GTS 640mb edition. 320mb just isn't going to be enough for the newest games. However, if you can wait a bit (say, till November), you could get the new 9 series cards. The 9800 is rumored to have twice the power of a 8800, while being smaller, cooler, and cheaper (due to it being built on a 65nm process).

Or, if you go with EVGA you can get the best of both worlds, due to their step-up program. It allows you to return a card purchased within the last 90 days and put the cost of it towards a new card. So, you could get the 8800GTS now and then get a super cheap 9800 in November.

[stettybet0]

SLI does not deliver a 100% performance boost. It gives about 10-40% performance boost, depending on the application. It is definitely not cost effective for you to go SLI. And besides, you would be robbing yourself of the ability to play DirectX 10 games (the only NVIDIA cards that support DirectX 10 are the 8 series cards).

So, basically, here's what I'd do:

If you are really dying for an upgrade right now, I'd go with the 8800GTS 640mb edition. 320mb just isn't going to be enough for the newest games. However, if you can wait a bit (say, till November), you could get the new 9 series cards. The 9800 is rumored to have twice the power of a 8800, while being smaller, cooler, and cheaper (due to it being built on a 65nm process).

Or, if you go with EVGA you can get the best of both worlds, due to their step-up program. It allows you to return a card purchased within the last 90 days and put the cost of it towards a new card. So, you could get the 8800GTS now and then get a super cheap 9800 in November.

[Troy]

I agree with stettybet0's comments here. EVGA also is an excellent manufacturer, you can be assured of a good product buying from them.

I was just going to also point out that Crysis is going to be very heavy on the system, so definitely don't bother SLI'ing your 7600GT. While it was a good card in it's time, it just isn't enough for the more demanding games of tomorrow...

[jackflash1991]

SLI is overrated.
I don't think anyone knows what is really going on with Nvidia's new chip that is coming out. I heard that they were just going to make it a 8700 because of the gap between the 8600 and 8800. Also I think it is kinda early to come out with a new series of cards, not even giving the 8 series a chance. I am hopping it really is 2x the performance of the 8800 but IDK. Again you could be right.

PS: They just pushed back the demo release of Crysis from tomorrow to 10/26. I am sooooo pissed. I was so pumped for it.

[warriorscot]

If you are stuck waiting for crysis demo give ET quake wars a shot, its pretty dam good.

I would maybe wait till the last moment then get the 8600 then use the step up, graphics cards are often delayed for one of a hundred reasons so don't bet on accurate release dates, to be honest i would just keep hold of the cash and the 7600 and get something in the next release block.