Time to Upgrade the Vid Card?

[havik110]

So I built a computer about a year and a 1/2 ago

-EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
-XCLIO GREATPOWER X14S4P4 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE
-Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600
-OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
***EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready*** (This is what I want to change)

So i was wondering at this point should i go out and get another 9800 GTX+ and SLI them or are the 2 Series GTS a big enough jump up or is 1 GTX260 good enough...I dont feel like spending 400 bucks but i want to buy myself a present...

 

[rolli59]

Another GTX+ would be cheapest but a single card upgrade would be minimum GTX260 since GTS250 is only a re branded 9800GTX+ on a smaller die.

 

[havik110]

Another GTX+ would be cheapest but a single card upgrade would be minimum GTX260 since GTS250 is only a re branded 9800GTX+ on a smaller die.

how much of an upgrade is an SLIed 9800GTX+ over a GTX260 (or is the single GTX260 better than the SLIed cards?)

 

[rolli59]

the SLI cards would perform better in games that support SLI
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality/Sum-of-FPS-Benchmarks-Totals,1469.html

 

[obsidian86]

9800gtx+ sli is bout as good as a gtx 280

 

[coozie7]

What is the resolution of your monitor, Havik110?
While I agree that a second 9800 might be the best option, the 512Mb of installed memory on each card will limit the AA/AF you can use if you have a fairly large monitor, in which case a single card with more memory will yeild smoother gameplay, albeit at lower peak framerates.

 

[havik110]

22" Samsung 1900 * 1200

 

[coozie7]

If you use little or no AA then the second 9800 is probably the best option, but if you use, or want to use, 4XAA or more then go for a single card with more memory.
At that resolution a GTX260 is going to be OK but also look for the HD4890, the prices are similar but the '4890 is a far stronger card.
If you want to stick with Nvidia the GTX275 matches the HD4890 at such a high resolution, but it is also the most expensive option.
SILLY POINT: At that resolution and given your CPU, an even better match would be the HD5850, but it's almost impossible to find and at $300-350 US, I suspect a little too expensive.