[MYRM1D0N]

I'm planning to buy an EVGA GeForce 8600 GTS. And right now, I dont have a good motherboard at all (only 1 PCIe slot), but am planning to replace that with maybe the nforce 680i, but im planning to that later. Well. I was wondering if when I do get that new motherboard, can I run SLI with that video card and a XFX GeForce 8600 GT, instead of having to buy another GTS.

[Macmac508]

No, the two cards have to be the same - 8600GT & 8600GT or both GTSs

I think i am correct in saying you are 99% certain to get a bigger performance boost with a single 8800GT or an 9600GT rather than SLi-ing two 8600GTs.

[Carbon]

Don't even bother. You seem to be under the assumption you need SLI to have a good rig, which is completely false. Just buy a 9600GT or 8800GT.

[MYRM1D0N]

ic. How about PCI express and PCI express 2.0. Whats the difference between the two? From what I know my mobo is PCI express because i have a 8400 gs in there. But i would like to have better performance than from what im getting with the 8400 gs. Im asking because i think the 8800GT and the geforce 9 series are pci e 2.0 from what i know

[Carbon]

Don't worry about it - it's difficult to saturate the PCIE x16 bus as it is, and there's little performance benefit in a 2.0 mobo.

The real benefit is if you put one of the above cards in..though almost anything beats a 8400gs :p

[MYRM1D0N]

hehe, thats why im looking to upgrade. But i dont play some of those "top tier" games like crysis and unreal. I just play some WoW and my bro also plays on my pc and he plays a lot of medieval 2 and Civ. So thats why i was aiming for something around the 8600 gt. Ive been looking on ebay for one and am hoping to spend no more than $60 one one including shipping/handling. Im on a tight budget for spending on my pc. so im hoping to get a xfx 8600 gt and buy a separate cooling fan for so i can overclock it quite a bit or get 8600 gt xxx which is factory overclocked since it comes with a zalman cooling fan

[Carbon]

Well, yeah, you can do that. At $60 it's not that bad of a deal. It's just that price/performance wise the 9600GT is a better deal.

Is WoW not playing well on a 8400? That's surprising.

[MYRM1D0N]

No, the whole deal is I have 2 computers. One in my room and one thats a "family" computer. I want to have the family computer "better" than the one in my room, because thats the one thats gets used the most. (aka my brother plays the hell out of it. He plays a lot more pc games than me. Like civ and medieval.) I currently have a 8400 GS in the family computer and he is able to run civ on high with no prob with the 8400 GS but only on medium settings with medieval, but im planning on replacing that with a 8600gt and putting the 8400 GS in my room. I already have WoW installed on my computer in my room. So its easier and way more convenient just to play WoW in my room. I havent tried the 8400 gs on wow yet. But i think it'll be pretty solid on that game. BTW: how much does the 9600 GT go for?

[Carbon]

You can get a 9600GT or a 8800GT for about $130.

[MYRM1D0N]

hhmmmm... $130 that seems like a very good price range. however i dont know if im willing to put that much into a graphics card right about now. but it from what you're saying, it seems like a very big jump from the 8600 gt to the 8800 gt or 9600 gt. would you recommend that i wait till they get cheaper? and if so how long do you think that could take?

[Macmac508]

I don't imagine they'll get massive price cuts in the near future as they those cards are the just about the top in the tier of "high-end but not stupidly priced." Having said that you might be able to get a bargain if you're looking on eBay.

Another option may be looking at the ATI 3850, it will be a big performance boost over the 8600GT and I'm not sure about the US but its significantly cheaper than the 8800GT/9600GT here in the UK (about $60 cheaper equivalent).

My advice look at These ATIs 3850 and the two Nvidias - 9600GT 8800GT

[Carbon]

Yeah, Mac's got it. It is a huge jump. If you want similar performance for cheaper, the 3850 is a great option.