What would make a sensible upgrade

Mr cairo · Sep 14, 2007, 02:54 PM

my spec as it stands

FX60
2x XFX 7800 gt in SLi mode
2 GiG corsair 3200xms ram
audigy 2 soundcard
180 gig sata drive

would it make more sense to dump the 2 GFX cards and get a Single 8800 or add an extra GiG of ram to give me 3 Gig

basically want to play the recent games like Bioshock MOH airborne etc

thanks

Vista Ultimate 32bit BTW

**temeteus82** · Sep 14, 2007, 03:11 PM

Hmm... get that 8800 and 2x2Gb of RAM. So you can still have DualChannel mode and lower latency's.

Matth · Sep 14, 2007, 05:07 PM

Maybe better to hold fire, until the DX10.1 situation is sorted out

Mr cairo · Sep 14, 2007, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by temeteus82

Hmm... get that 8800 and 2x2Gb of RAM. So you can still have DualChannel mode and lower latency's.

as i said though the choice is either dump the 2 GFX cards and get a Single 8800 or add an extra GiG of ram to give me 3 Gig

i cant do a new card and new ram

Zelig · Sep 14, 2007, 09:06 PM

If you just add another stick of 1GB, the ram will drop to single channel, which will slow your performance down significantly in situations where less than 2GB of ram are in use.

You need to add matched pairs to be able to stay in dual channel mode. And depending on your motherboard/chipset, you may need to put in the exact same sticks as you currently have for compatibility.

Which 8800 card are you looking at? The 8800 GTS 320MB looks to be similar in performance to your 7800GTX SLI setup. And what resolution do you game at?

Mr cairo · Sep 15, 2007, 11:35 AM

i was thinking of a matched pair of 512 sticks to make an extra gig i didnt consider 2 gig as i am on vista 32 bit and understood that it only recognised 3 gig

if ihad an 8800 it would proably be this one BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

so extra 2 gig matched to go with the corsair i have or the 8800 ?

Sep 14, 2007, 02:54 PM	#1
Mr cairo F0rum For Humans Only Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Slightly to the left Posts: 1,763 Rep Power: 87 System Specs	What would make a sensible upgrade my spec as it stands FX60 2x XFX 7800 gt in SLi mode 2 GiG corsair 3200xms ram audigy 2 soundcard 180 gig sata drive would it make more sense to dump the 2 GFX cards and get a Single 8800 or add an extra GiG of ram to give me 3 Gig basically want to play the recent games like Bioshock MOH airborne etc thanks Vista Ultimate 32bit BTW __________________

Sep 14, 2007, 05:07 PM	#3
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,410 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	Maybe better to hold fire, until the DX10.1 situation is sorted out __________________ Mary had a little lamb, Her father shot it dead Now Mary takes her lamb to school, Between two crusts of bread

Sep 14, 2007, 09:06 PM	#5
Zelig HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 3,187 Rep Power: 69 System Specs	If you just add another stick of 1GB, the ram will drop to single channel, which will slow your performance down significantly in situations where less than 2GB of ram are in use. You need to add matched pairs to be able to stay in dual channel mode. And depending on your motherboard/chipset, you may need to put in the exact same sticks as you currently have for compatibility. Which 8800 card are you looking at? The 8800 GTS 320MB looks to be similar in performance to your 7800GTX SLI setup. And what resolution do you game at? __________________ --

Sep 15, 2007, 11:35 AM	Thread Starter #6
Mr cairo F0rum For Humans Only Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Slightly to the left Posts: 1,763 Rep Power: 87 System Specs	i was thinking of a matched pair of 512 sticks to make an extra gig i didnt consider 2 gig as i am on vista 32 bit and understood that it only recognised 3 gig if ihad an 8800 it would proably be this one BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail so extra 2 gig matched to go with the corsair i have or the 8800 ? __________________