Which card to replace 2x8800GT's

[Daddyjaxx]

I'm looking at replacing these with something newer. The new card needs to give me a much better improvement over what I have for GTA 4 which is the main game I play and sometime Left 4 Dead. If I run GTA 4 just from my GPU resources, everything is on high except for textures. That defaults to medium. If I borrow 512mb of system memory using a command line, everything runs on high @ 1920x1080. I'm pretty sure what I have now is better than a 260. I'm sort of leaning toward a 285 1 GB. I like the 285 2 GB, but for a little over a hundred more I could get a 295. The plan would be run one until they drop in price and then do two or three...for bragging rights. :) I've never had a card that can do 3 way before.

[ekoh]

I would say either a 4870 on ATI's side or a gts 260 on NV side. WHY? Because they are both CHEAP, sub 175 and they will give you a noticeable boost over your 2x 8800s. The other reason is because anything else would be a waste when we are on the verge a new wave of cards coming out (DX11 HD5000s and GTX/X 300 series) What you buy now is going to drop in price here late Q4 or early Q1. I'd be patient considering those 8800GTs are overkill for L4D definately, my bro max's that out without a hitch on a 7900GS and i max out GTA4 without any major issues on my 8800GS, so i can only imagine what those 8800GTS are doing for you.

[nicspits]

I'd go with 2 4870s or 4890s (maybe buy a 4890 now and get 2 or 3 of those when they come down after this next round). But you could get 2 4870s for the same price as a single 285 and just kick the crap out of it in most things.... maybe save some moey and get some newer fun games, lol.

[Daddyjaxx]

It just doesn't look like any single card is that much better than mine at least in 3dmark vantage. The GPU scores aren't that much higher. I don't have my cards oc'd, so I chose the lowest score from each because those most probably aren't oc'd either. 920's @ 4.0GHz for GPU.

260: Worse than mine

285 1 GB:about 20% better

285 2gb: about 10% better

I don't know if the increase justifies the cost of the card and 100+ for a waterblock.

[nicspits]

That's why god invented these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121291

$260, beats the crap out of what you have and 285s, the cooler on there works really really well. (see my sig). Sure there are single cards that beat yours into dust, they just cost $500.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/848/6/
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1434&pageID=5970


Be sure to look at the higher resolutions when you're comparing these cards and look at scores in the games you play or plan on playing, not a general benchmark that simply implies who's drivers are more optimized for it than the others, hence why the nvidia "performance lead" is mostly transparent and paper thin.

[Metallica]

Could even go x2 4890's which are damn cheap also.