Is one gtx 295 enough for what i want?

[lations]

Hi guys, I am about to buy my first desktop and want to know if 1 gtx 295 is enough for what i want to do.
I will have an i7 940 overclocked to 3.6
i will have 12 gb 1600 ram

my plans are to use this for gaming (i would like the games to look very good, but if a second gtx 295 will only improve fairly rarely or not a ton it might not be worth the money)

the total newb question: i am getting a gateway xhd3000 monitor and i want to make sure this graphics card will be enough to support the resolution and such
monitor native resolution is 2560 x 1600

I didnt know if a good resolution requires a ton of graphics card power to run a game at close to that resolution

thanks a lot for any help you guys can give me

 

[Dekasav]

Two GTX 285's in SLI would be a bit more powerful, but I don't know the cost of those. Might as well drop the i7 down to the 920 (it'll overclock just as well) and use that spare cash to grab them instead of a single GTX 295.

 

[chef7734]

Two GTX 285's in SLI would be a bit more powerful, but I don't know the cost of those. Might as well drop the i7 down to the 920 (it'll overclock just as well) and use that spare cash to grab them instead of a single GTX 295.

The drop from 940 to 920 would almost cover the second 285. I paid 800 for my pair of xfx black edition 285. A gtx 295 and i7 940 is around 1050 where 2 285 and a 920 start aroumd 975.00. This would give you better performance than one gtx 295.

 

[lations]

my problem is that i am getting a preconfigured desktop from cyberpower. the only i7s they will overclock are the 940 and the 965, so really it is either stock 920 or 940 at 3.6 for a couple hundred extra. i probably wont be dropping down to the 920, but the money isnt a HUGE concern. i dont want to throw it away, but i would get another 295 if it would be a good difference (they charge 560 for the 2nd).

anyone know if one gtx will still get me 2560 x 1600 resolution (at the very least for blu ray and everything other than games...the monitor upscales to that resolution, but i assume good graphics card is necesssary)

 

[chef7734]

Why not save some money and build it yourself?

 

[sefit]

If you are too scared to build it yourself then grab i7 920 at stock and ask for some good socket 1366 cooler installation and then overclock at 3.6 Ghz. Step by step guides how to do it you can find everywhere…try google it.

But +1 to chef7734…courage + good guide “How to build my own PC”(once again google is your friend) and let’s go…for saved money I am pretty sure you can have 3 SLI GTX 285 (all pre-built PCs are massively overpriced)…

 

[baddad]

Get the second 295.

 

[4745454b]

I'm surprised by these answers. Lets look at some benchies shall we?

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTYyMywzLCwxNjA=

While I don't agree 100% with how they test, this [H]ardocp article should give us a clue about not only performance of the GTX295, but how well quad SLI works. First up is CoD:WaW. Notice that a single GTX295 is able to handle 25x16 just fine, even with a bit of AA. Getting a second GTX295 allows you to bump the SSAA from 2x to 4x, and gets you on average about 33% more FPS.

Next up is Crysis:Warhead. Here a single GTX295 isn't enough. They say it wasn't able to game at 25x16, though I wonder if it could if you disable AA and use gamer settings instead of enthusiast. As they mention at the end of this page however, "This is the only game where we saw an advantage of Quad SLI over single GTX 295 like this," so unless this is your favorite game don't sweat this.

Moving on to Fallout 3, notice the difference quad SLI brings you. Zero. Nothing. The game engine maxed out on a single GTX295, hooking up another gets you nadda.

The same is nearly true with Farcry 2. The quad setup is a bit faster, but the single GTX295 is still playable at 25x16. This is also the case for Fear2. The quad setup is a bit faster, but the single GTX295 can play 25x16 just fine.

Finally is GTA4, which like Crysis is an odd ball case. The more GPUs you have, the lower the performance. With this game you get lower frame rates with quad SLI enabled then you do without.

So whats the deal? With the odd exception here or there, quad SLI is faster, but not really faster enough to make it worth while. A single GTX295 is enough to play most games at 25x16, even with AA/AF enabled. If I were you, I'd build my own. If you insist on buying, then get the overclocked CPU. Quad SLI just isn't worth it right now.

Edited for spelling.

 

[boulard83]

+1 mostly all other post.

* PRE-build system are over-priced (sometimes near twice a self build is ...)

* 2 GTX285 is better vs single GTX295. And 3SLI GTX285 is better vs "QUAD" GTX295.

* Remember a GTX295 only have the SP from the GTX280 (240 stream Processor), the rest of the "two" cards is from the GTX260.

* Also +1 to build it yourself. Its not that hard. 1 years ago i was near to a complet noob in the computer world. Since my first build, after tons of research and other build for me and friends, im no more scared of taking my computer appart and rebuild it just for fun and cleaning

* If you are that scared of building it. You can order you custom build and pay for the build but OC it yourslef ( there is LOTS of OC guides, EZ to follow and youll have fun out of this and your satisfaction is gonna be better ).

Build for you 30" monitor : ( money is not a concern ? )

CPU : -------- I7 920
MOBO : ------ P6T deluxe V2
RAM : -------- 6gb DDR3 1600 ram ( 12gb if your really in the mood )
COOLING : - Good air cooling
GPU : -------- 2x GTX285
PSU : -------- 1000W+ if you plan on futur 3SLI. if not a CORSAIR 850 can do it.
DVD : -------- Any RW-DVD (LG are good and cheap)

HDD : ------- here is another place you you can spend lots of money or not that much.

*Going for RAID-0 SSD ( 2, 3 or 4 x 60gb or more ) is pretty fast but can cost alot. VR (velociraptor) are fast too but for the Price vs SSD i prefer SSD. (+1tb HDD for storage)

*If your really only going to game with this system ill recommand going for 2x 7200rpm 32mb cache ( like WD caviar ) and Raid or no-raid. Gaming dont really need blazing fast HDD, the only place youll see improvement is in game loading ....


Have fun !

Edit : the 1TB with the SSD

 

[lations]

thank you guys so much for all the info. so i guess the consensus is that one gtx 295 would probably be enough, but that 2 285s are better (hard to argue with 4745454b's stats). i am constantly tempted and told to build my own, but with my schedule it would take me a year. i will look into just getting a i7 920 and doing my own overclock to save money, but i have gotten a lot of mixed info about how hard/involved it is and how definite it is that i can successfully do it. And even though money isnt a big concern, i dont know about the 3-4 solid state drives... that just seems like reckless spending.

 

[wh3resmycar]

you can never have too much power. if you can afford 2 295s go ahead

but remember; "With great power comes great electricity (bill)"

 

[boulard83]

-1 wh3resmycar ... tread reviews, youll notice that in about half the games, QUAD GTX295 perform slower vs single GTX295.....

@ lations
For SSD's, as i told, if your going to use this CPU for gaming, surfing, photo, video..... you dont need it. 2 good 7200rpm 32mb cache are fast enough. Even VR are useless. My opinion.

My personal computer have 2x7200 rpm 16mb cache ( WD caviar 250gb) currently NON raid. OS and apps on first drive. Games and others on second. Its running nice and smooth. ( im mostly a gamer .. )

 

[lations]

boulard, so you think i could even go for 2 1TB drives at 7200 and 16mb cashe for lots more capacity and not really be giving much up from raid0 velociraptors? if so, is doing raid 0 with 2 1TB drives just asking for something horrible (i'm guessing i could back those up on a 2TB external HD though).

as a side note guys, i put all the same components in a shopping cart at newegg and the price was 3400, while cyberpower is charging me 3750 (but they are overclocking i7 940 to 3.6 for me and giving 3 yr. warranty...for whatever those things are worth)

 

[boulard83]

3400$ ?????? your buying 2 whole computer ?

This is from Newegg.ca ( i live in canada )

I7 920 : ----------------------------- 359.99$
Asus P6T deluse V2 : ------------- 359.99$
Corsair DDR3 1600 : ------------- 204.49$ x2 = 408.98$
WD 640 7200rpm 32mb : ------- 99.99$ x 2 = 199.98$
EVGA GTX 285 : ------------------- 436.99$ x 2 = 873.98$
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 : ----- 106.49$
Corsair 850TX : ------------------- 174.99$
Antec 1200 case : ---------------- 179.99$

TOTAL : ----------------------------- 2653.89$ + shipping and handling = 3083.84$

I think the same build in USA will end @ 2500$

 

[boulard83]

$2,158.91 from NEWEGG.COM ( usa .. ) the exact same build.

 

[lations]

oh i was just trying to show the price difference was pretty small.
in my price total i included:
vista OS
logitech z-5500 speakers (~300)
sound card
blu ray burner
still had 2x velociraptor and a 1TB hd
fan (not sure if that is what your noctura thing is though)
i7 940 instead of 920

that is configuration i was comparing at...i think this accounts for the difference

 

[boulard83]

If cyberpower offer you similar price for similar system. You can buy from them.

Where do you live ?

 

[lations]

i live in michigan...are you curious because of the shipping cost from cali?

 

[boulard83]

Was to know if you are outside of the USA.

 

[wh3resmycar]

-1 wh3resmycar ... tread reviews, youll notice that in about half the games, QUAD GTX295 perform slower vs single GTX295.....

oh yeah, but once the SLi 295 kicks in, forget everything.

 

[cryvidia1191]

whatever you guys say, but it's true that gtx295 can play most of the games in 2560x1600 resolution but some with lowered details.



thanks.

 

[spathotan]

A single GTX 295 is enough for anybody. A second one will bring "nothing" to the performance table, its purely for benchmarks and epeen.

But if you think an extra 2FPS is worth $500, then sure why not.

 

[boulard83]

SINGLE GTX285 is still ENOUGH. SLI GTX285 best setup.

 

[murillians]

a gtx 295 is powerful enough for like
EVERYTHING!