Looking to buy a(two) 8800(s), which one(s)?

[TheSource123]

I am looking to upgrade my video card(s) to the shiny new 8800's from Nvidia. Current PC config: 2x 6600GT's 1x  AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ processor 2GB of RAM WinVista Home Premium (lol) What do you think would be best for me to upgrade to for the best possible cost:performance ratio? I was told my CPU would bottleneck the most expensive cards, not allowing them to run @ their full potential. I generally think that the big expensive shiny ones don't usually give that much performance in comparison to their 100-200 price difference, but I don't know w/ the new 8800's, so what do you think would be best for me? Also note: I have room for more RAM and will probably get 4GB sooner or later. 1 8800GTS 2 8800GTS or 1 8800GTX 2 8800GTX ? , Thanks EDIT: I forgot to mention I use a (nowadays) small monitor of 1280x1024, and I do not planning on getting a bigger one anytime soon.

[Leinna]

I agree with the CPU bottlenecking but I don' think thats a key problem, personally id say to go with a single BFG 8800 GTX or GTX OC2 Edition.  You could actually buy a BFG 8800 GTX and flash the OC2 edition on the card and save yourself 100 dollars, that is what I did with my original 8800 GTX that i bought in November.  I got almost 20% increase in FPS by doing the flash. The thing with the 8800 cards is that require a huge PSU if you run two cards.  If you run two cards you will need at least 1000 Watts, since the cards require 2 sources of PCI-X power adapters for one card.  One 8800 GTX required nearly 400 Watts. Nvidia is about to release the 8800 Ultra, so you could consider this card but rumors are the card may start around 800 dollars.  Once again you are able to flash an 8800 GTX to an Ultra card for the shader over-clock.  (See guru3d.com or mvktech.net for information on flashing) The problem I have with two 8800 GTS is the memory count on the cards.  One GTX/Ultra will have more memory then both GTS cards combined. Personally the most hurtful configuration about your machine is Vista..You are loosing 10-20% preformance by using Vista right now over XP.

[TheSource123]

Yah I'm prolly switching back to XP once I install the card. I'll see if my PSU can support one of the GTX's, AFAIK I only have 450 Watts EDIT: Here is a link to my PSU (obtained through Alienware's customer service thingy). <a href="http://www.frozencpu.com/products/3203/psu-151/PC_Power_and_Cooling_Turbo-Cool_510_SLI_510W_ATX-Deluxe_Sleeved_Power_Supply_Native_24-pin_w_20-pin_adapter.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.frozencpu.com/products/3...in_adapter.html</a> How would I do w/ that? I've pretty much given up on SLI until I get a new PSU, but could that handle a single GTX w/ no problems?

[Leinna]

That PSU should work just fine as long as you do not have more then 2 hard drives in your machine.  If you do you might be pushing your performance but I think you should be okay. Just make sure that your PSU has 2 PCI-X connectors on the unit else you will have to buy an adapter which are ~$10 which i would assume you have since you are running SLI.

[TheSource123]

Thanks for the help <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Tebos]

<p>PC Power & Cooling is the De Facto industry leader in computer base power supplies. They were the first OEM to manufacture power supplies for the desktop computer back in the 80's. The 510w unit maybe on the cusp in being able to supply enough power to a hungry video, hard drive and cpu "taxed" system when playing EQ II or Vanguard. With that processor, I see you running at High Quality to VHQ reliably and with half-way decent FPS. Let us know how it goes. I own the 610w version of their power supplies and everything runs great.</p><p>Good luck </p>