New video cards & Computer

Ok I am splurging:
-2 x Inno3D GF 8800GTS cards running in SLI mode off a gigabyte GA- N650SLI-DS4L M/b , 1333MHz FSB motherboard.
-Intel core 2 duo E6850 CPU, 3.0GHz FSB 1333MHz, 4 MB L2 Cache
-4 X Corsair PRO 2GB (2x XMS 2 1 GB) PC-6400 DDR 2 (800 MHz) RAM (4
Gig in total)
-2 Samsung 500 GB 'HD501LJ' HDD - SATA II 7200 rpm 16 MB Cache
running in RAID format.

Anything here to worry about? The 8800 GTS cards are my main concern.

Inno isn't a very trustworthy company, I would try and get something from BFG, XFX, or EVGA.
Really SLI isn't all that useful, so I might recommend the BFG 8800 GTX WCOC
Or if you still like the 8800 GTS the G92 based 512MB GTS will give you plenty of power.

Just make sure to get a beefy powersupply (in the area of 800W for the 8800 GTX) and you'll have a solid machine.

Hi,

As GP_38-2 said above, Inno is not a very trustworthy brand, I have not had much to do with them but have heard they are not real good, very budget cards.

Better brands would be Asus, BFG, XFX or MSi, bit more expensive but a lot better quality.

Instead of spending the money on two 8800GTS cards, just put the money into one 8800GTX or 8800Ultra, when you sit down and do the numbers it will be about the same amount of money spent.

...go here...

8) Unless you have the $ for a 8800 Ultra...

The GeForce 8800 GT(new) card is for you...with better and cooler performance than the 8800 GTS...

You can get a 400 watt power supply for about $60.00, I got a 1000wt power supply thinking of two cards, but only have one PCIe slot! So much for overpower and capability.

With your config, you should be able to use two of whatever, however my single 8800 GT card rules!

TRS2006, runs like a TV!

Thanks for the feedback. Power supply is no worry , I am getting a Zalman 850W ZM850-HP with dual heatpipe & 140mm Fan.
I am interested in GP_38-2 's comments regarding the use of SLI mode as not being useful. Is this a consensus view? If so I might opt for the 8800GTX or Ultra. The general view on the Inno3D brand is interesting too!

Hi,

I did a search on that motherboard to find more information about it, like does it support PCI Express 2.0, what I found is that in fact running SLi mode will only let the two PCI Express slots run at 8x respectively.

When running normal (1 card), only the first PCIE x 16 slot is available and can run at up to x16.

Might be worth considering another motherboard.

bolivar said:

Thanks for the feedback. Power supply is no worry , I am getting a Zalman 850W ZM850-HP with dual heatpipe & 140mm Fan.
I am interested in GP_38-2 's comments regarding the use of SLI mode as not being useful. Is this a consensus view? If so I might opt for the 8800GTX or Ultra. The general view on the Inno3D brand is interesting too!

Click to expand...

I would go with the view that SLI is not useful for Trainz. I'd wait a week or two for the 45 nm Intel cpus, and there is a new nVidia card expected based on the 8800GT chip that has a little more memory.

Cheerio John

Hi John,

*Off Topic*

Some reading for you:

http://translate.google.com/transla...9,news-309.html&langpair=zh|en&hl=de&ie=UTF-8

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQzOSwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

*End Off Topic*

I think you may mean the 8800GS, that's the only new 8800 card I know of that's coming.

backyard said:

8) Unless you have the $ for a 8800 Ultra...
The GeForce 8800 GT(new) card is for you...with better and cooler performance than the 8800 GTS...
You can get a 400 watt power supply for about $60.00, I got a 1000wt power supply thinking of two cards, but only have one PCIe slot! So much for overpower and capability.
With your config, you should be able to use two of whatever, however my single 8800 GT card rules!
TRS2006, runs like a TV!

Click to expand...

Initially, instead of nVidia developing a new 9800 series (though they now have announced a 9600 GT) they instead started simply improving the 8800 series. First was the 8800 GT, which upon release, was indeed as fast if not faster than the first release G80 core 8800 GTS 640MB and 320MB. Later Nvidia changed the 8800 GTS with an unlocked 112 shader processors (which was faster than the original 8800 GTS). However, with the GT being more powerful than it's big brother, the 8800 GTS, nVidia has released a NEW version of the 8800 GTS (based off of a new G92 core and sporting 512MB VRAM). Unlike the previous G80 based 8800 GTS, the new GTS has lower power requirements BUT is still more powerful (in fact it rivals the 8800 GTX).
So in short the 8800 GT does have less power than the 8800 GTS 512MB. Here's some links with the new variants.
8800 GTS (G92) 512MB vs 8800 GT
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=548&card2=544
8800 GTS (112) (G80) vs 8800 GT
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=545&card2=544
8800 GTS (96) (G80) vs 8800 GT
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=475&card2=544

Really when you check out the stats, the 8800 Ultra is nothing more than a rather expensive, overclocked 8800 GTX (and in the area of $700 - $800 USD)
It's actually much cheaper to buy certain factory overclocked 8800 GTX's.
Just as a comparison
BFG 8800 Ultra 768MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143107
BFG 8800 GTX 768MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143093
BFG 8800 GTS 512MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143119
In comparing the specs there is almost no difference in GPU or memory speed (a few mhz but nothing substantial, or that would give a huge increase in speed, and certainly not $200 USD worth of speed). And just between the 3 listed, it looks like the 8800 GTS 512MB (G92) could give the 8800 Ultra a run for it's money.

EDIT: Doh! I should appologize, I didn't even consider the fact you might be on a budget, sorry if I came across as pushing some of these cards. The 8800 GT is a fine card, plenty of power, even for Trainz. But again Trainz won't take advantage of SLI. The twin card setup MIGHT (note MIGHT) retain higher frame rates but there is a very low chance of that.

...I forgot to mention...

8) Yes, the new 9800 is the next development of GeForce cards.

And, the 8800 GTS, and GTX, are being upgraded.

But the need for the 8800 Ultra is now all hype...unless you place two, and can utilize the SLI technology, with a SLI compatible motherboard(and now I find is not compatible with TRS!).

But for a low budget, high powered upgrade for TRS, the 8800 GT 512MB, is a good card to consider.

Thanks, backyard. I am intrigued by your statement "SLI compatible motherboard is not compatible with TRS". When did this happen?
To Gp_38-2, thanks and no I don't have a problem with you espousing the merits of a certain card. I appreciate all opinions expressed, especially if you have had experience with a particular card. You could end up saving me money!

Even TRS is not SLi compatible, it will still run fine, my brother had 2 7600GT's in SLi and TRS2006 ran quite well, probably not as good as my 8800GTS but still ran very smooth.

With the release of the 9800 series cards this will push the 8800 GTX and Ultra down in price and a 'affordable' range, that is what I am waiting for, at the same time my CPU will be updated.

As of now the 9800 series card to be announced is the 9800 GT. From early rumors it's a sort of hybrid that ends up somewhere between the 8800 GS and the 8800 GT in terms of GPU/memory clocks, and other factors.

Aussie: If you have Trainz tuned correctly, and a high memory 7600 a single 7600 GT will perform very well with Trainz. The speeds aren't terribly impressive (when compared to say an 8800 GT), but with 512MB of VRAM it doesn't struggle even with some of the more demanding games out there. I'm fairly certain Trainz isn't doing anything with the SLI, but is relying on the sole power of one 7600 GT. Of course I could be wrong, if you say it's not the 512MB GT, Trainz could very well be getting a boost, but it's still unlikely. Definately an interesting topic........

backyard: The SLI Motherboard is incompatible with Trainz?

I have a question re. Motherboard chipsets, in particular the 680i -nforce SLI. It has been mentioned that when adding 2 video cards onto the first motherboard I was interested in, the speed is cut in half from X16 to X8 for each card. Is this applicable to all these nvidea chipsets? Is there a motherboard chipset that stays at X16 when 2 cards are running?

Hi,

No, not all nVidia chipsets are like this, some will run 2 SLI cards at 16X, usually the higher end motherboards.

Have a look here:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/391/3

This page lists chipsets and what speeds they will do...

Thanks for all your help. I have decided to go with 2X8800GTS 512MB in SLI on an ASUS P5N32-E-SLI nforce 680i. ( This motherboard handles three cards - SLI 2X16 & and another slot for a card X8 speed) As with all new technology, couple of months down the track and prices will have dropped dramatically, but them's the breaks. Cheers.

Forgot to mention , will be going with Leadtek in lieu of Inno3D. You guys were right on the ball re. the unreliability of Inno3D.

bolivar said:

Thanks for all your help. I have decided to go with 2X8800GTS 512MB in SLI on an ASUS P5N32-E-SLI nforce 680i. ( This motherboard handles three cards - SLI 2X16 & and another slot for a card X8 speed) As with all new technology, couple of months down the track and prices will have dropped dramatically, but them's the breaks. Cheers.

Click to expand...

Intel announced 16 new 45 nm cpus today with retail pricing. That's not a couple of months down the road.

Cheerio John

GP_38-2 said:

Aussie: If you have Trainz tuned correctly, and a high memory 7600 a single 7600 GT will perform very well with Trainz. The speeds aren't terribly impressive (when compared to say an 8800 GT), but with 512MB of VRAM it doesn't struggle even with some of the more demanding games out there. I'm fairly certain Trainz isn't doing anything with the SLI, but is relying on the sole power of one 7600 GT. Of course I could be wrong, if you say it's not the 512MB GT, Trainz could very well be getting a boost, but it's still unlikely. Definately an interesting topic........

Click to expand...

Hi GP_38-2,

Just to tell you, brother had 2x 256MB 7600GT's in SLI, seen improvements in game performance, not only in Trainz, but in other games like Dawn of War, Battlefield 2 that he played.

But then, he did upgrade from a single 5700 256MB card...

bolivar said:

Forgot to mention , will be going with Leadtek in lieu of Inno3D. You guys were right on the ball re. the unreliability of Inno3D.

Click to expand...

they're about in the same class.........
BFG, ASUS, XFX, nVidia, MSI are about the only safe companies to go with.

Aussie: Who knows, the only way to really test is to pull one card and check for a lose in performance.