8800GTX or 3870X2 for FSX?

[Mermaid Man]

" none the less P35 does not support PCie2.0 the last time i checked."

It's no big deal.

[NickN]

" none the less P35 does not support PCie2.0 the last time i checked."

It's no big deal.

Absolutely, no big deal for now

but P35 does not have -full- support for CrossfireX either. that requires 2 x16 lanes for the cert and p35 ain't got it

And you can not run 2 of those cards in ANYTHING other than the AMD chipset board designed for quad core firing.

A single card will run fine on both P35 and x38 but the x38 is better designed internally for that use, AND, the PCIe 2.0 SPEC also supplies MORE POWER to the card design from the 2.0 PORT than 1.1

That means a performance DIFFERENCE because the card is powered correctly for the higher functions

its NOT all about bandwidth, its about correct supply of power the 2.0 port enables for higher functions

Now when drivers mature and they get the dual core firing locked down I would not want to be on a P35 without 2.0 support

your cutting off part of the cards nutz on anything less

[NickN]

A little marketing lesson

1. SLI and Crossfire(X) is ALL about the driver, not the game.. Phil Taylor already blogged on the subject with FSX. FSX supports SLi and Crossfire(X). Games such as Crysis that release patches are not about ENABLING the feature, its about FIXING a screw-up on their part and they way they get around that is call it a

[richardd43]

And you can not run 2 of those cards in ANYTHING other than the AMD chipset board designed for quad core firing.

Ok, now for my question. I have the correct board designed for CrossfireX but I am still limited to the AMD processor.

Would a person be better off with the P-38 and a faster Intel chipset and a tradeoff with the Graphics boards or would it be better to go for the gusto with the graphics boards and keep the AMD chipset?

I am seriously thinking about adding the 3870X2 in with the 2 3870s I already have.

[NickN]

And you can not run 2 of those cards in ANYTHING other than the AMD chipset board designed for quad core firing.

Ok, now for my question. I have the correct board designed for CrossfireX but I am still limited to the AMD processor.

Would a person be better off with the P-38 and a faster Intel chipset and a tradeoff with the Graphics boards or would it be better to go for the gusto with the graphics boards and keep the AMD chipset?

I am seriously thinking about adding the 3870X2 in with the 2 3870s I already have.

Now we are getting down to the meat and potatoes

You probably wont like my answer

FSX is all processor bound. The 2 cards you have in CrossX are better off mated to a processor and memory bus that will deliver the goods. Therefore you would be better off on x38 mated to a decent Intel quad.

The system you have right now is the right one, but, it still lacks the processor and complete chipset for the R700 variant which will hand off the GPU/CPU calls. ATI/AMD slowed production on that and are holding it till mid summer/end of the year.

Now once that gets released the ballgame may change but right now you are processor locked and you can throw as many video card cores at FSX as you want and its not going to get you much more than what you have now

Here is the kicker

Everything is about to shift again so come June-July what you buy now is going right down the drain.

If I was going to make the shift and did not want to wait I would grab a good x38 board, fill it with a Q6600, and decent DDR2 memory for clocking, with the thought that I will probably be dumping it at the end of the year for a full change again, including the cards

[richardd43]

LOL... Did not mind the reply at all. The system I have right now is more than enough for what I use it for. I have slowed down on gaming and the Sims for right now.

This fall I hope to get back into it and am hopeing the new goodies will be out by then.

I think the biggest problem most of us face (besides the money) is the decision to buy at the end of the cycle and get the better prices and mature drivers or the new stuff with untried drivers and higher prices.

[NickN]

Yea,.. wait for Nellie

Your probably going to have to go with DDR3 for Intel Nellie but unlike most upgrades since Core2 Quad, it will actually be worth the fight with the wife and sleeping on the sofa for that one


LOL

[Mazza]

This what i think....


ATi RULES!!!  



ATi for life for me!!!

Mainly because i got a x1650 pro 512Mb in a agp slot

[Slotback]

Hmmm. Offtopic, but I wonder how Skulltrail with run fsx.

Think about it, dual QX9650s overclocked to like 4.4ghz.  :o No blurries at 10 000 knots?

[NickN]

Skulltrail is BS for FSX

Until the next gen cards, chipsets and motherboard that hand off CPU instructions are released, a platform like skulltrail is a waste of money as a specific FSX tower purchase

[Flying Mouse]

This is not a bad board for the HD3870X2

[Wii]

I say get the 9800 GX2. Better than both ATI's new and nvidia's old.

[MWISimmer]

...it will actually be worth the fight with the wife and sleeping on the sofa for that one

Oh no...not again... but this time it looks like it will be the shed for a week or so  :P  ;)

[NickN]

...it will actually be worth the fight with the wife and sleeping on the sofa for that one

Oh no...not again... but this time it looks like it will be the shed for a week or so

[NickN]

I say get the 9800 GX2. Better than both ATI's new and nvidia's old.

9800Gx2

solve

9800 = repackaged 8800

2 x the same old crap = the same old crap x 2

The same old crap x2 = 9800Gx2

Just so you kids know..  you wont be seeing anything new and imporved before May-June and even then they are going to spoon-feed you  LOL

between now and then its the SOS, different number