Upgrading my Nvidia 7950 GX2

[Psimon]

Yet another "should I buy this thread".

My system specs
ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium - Intel E6600 2.4 Ghz C2D
2GB Corsair DDR2 XMS2 Extreme
eVGA Nvidia 7950GX2-1GB
Seagate 320GBx2 Barracuda's (RAID0)
700w ToughPower PSU
Creative X-FI XtremeGamer
Logitech G15 Keyboard + Z550 5.1 Speakers
CM Stacker 830 w/Aquagate R80 CPU Liquid Cooling


The two pieces of advice I've read on this forums I kinda took to heart (their intent, not literally):

"Don't upgrade until your card is three generations behind"

"Don't upgrade until you notice your performance is beginning to suffer"

I don't know if the 9800 coming out qualifies as the 3rd gen over my card. Still, while I've been very happy with the 7950 for the last two years, I'm just beginning to notice performance issues with some of the latest games, notably Crysis and Supreme Commander (surprisingly, or not, it ran Bioshock like a champ)

I searched the board but the latest 7950 post is ancient. *sniff* Am I that far behind?

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I'm looking hard at the 8800 GTS as a replacement.

BFG Tech's
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143119

XFX's
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150261

By the time I could afford to purchase a second 7950 GX2 (for SLI) the suckers were off the market! So I'm hoping the advent of the next gen of Nvidia cards will step on the 8800 GTS's price . . . and in the near future I can purchase another go to SLI.

Thanks for any help, guys. Suggestions for other versions/manufacturers is great.

As far as NewEgg goes, they haven't done me wrong yet, doubtful I'd consider a competitor.

 

[Psimon]

This post in another thread is darn tempting too (thanks Emp)

If SLI is in your possibilities and on your future you might actually want to consider these 8800GT at $215 a piece ($195 AR), since clocks are about as high as the ones on that GTS that you pointed out, only drawback is that it has 12 less shaders, but if you take the plunge now and buy two of these, you'll have SLI with already aftermarket cooling installed, so it seems like a better deal to me all around.

MSI NX8800GT 512M OC GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329