8600GT worth it for budget or 7900 GTX?

[darkbluesky]

Hello,

Currently my rig is:

P4 Prescott 3.6 GHz
Asus mobo P5P800
2x512 Mb Corsair DDR PC4400
MSI 5900XT

I'm keeping it for some years now, always waiting for Storm of War:Battle of Britain to be released in order to upgrade it few months later.
I'm waiting for it from several years now. Nobody knows when it will be out, but the best bet is sometime during next year (?), maybe spring, maybe Xmas...

I was thinking in upgrading it last Xmas, but the game was delayed, now it seems to be delayed even more.

At the meantime my rig is getting slower, so I'm thinking on upgrade it now although SOW:BOB is not released. As nobody knows when it will be out I'm afraid of make a major upgrade now, because I wanted to do it few months after its release. So the main idea was to update it now within a budget, and upgrade to the best components when SOW:BOB will be released, months later.

What should I do with my rig?

a. Wait more until release, keeping my venerable rig?
b. Invest in a E6750 + 8600GT XXX + Asus P5KC + 2 Gb DDR2 667? (about 500 €)
c. Invest in a Q6600 + 8800GTS 320 + Asus P5KC + 2 Gb DDR2 667? (about 740 €)
d. Invest less, with slower CPU and GPU?
e. Any other advice?

Actually, at beginning, I wanted to spend around 400 euros, but I don't want to have a rig too cheap that becomes slow in 5 months, because SOW:BOB could be out in 1 year from now too... (I like to play with high settings but normal resolutions, around 1280x800)

In order to complicate even more the decision I am a big fan of stereo 3D (S-3D, i.e. to play the games with shutter glasses to see it in real 3D, like IMAX 3D or similar), but the problem is that nvidia stereo drivers (which are needed) do not work well with the 8800 series yet.
When they are going to release a stable stereo driver? Nobody knows...waiting more of a year now.
So I'm considering also, if I should go for a 7900GTX in eBay (200 €), (which works fine in S-3D) instead of a 8xxx, or maybe it is silly because it will become older quicker...

If you are able to combine all this and get any advice, I will thank you very very much, sure!

[avirox]

for a res of 1280x800 I'd look no further than the 8800GTS 320, but then again you might just want to wait for the next generation of cards and see how they're priced.

[ccxvi]

I'm not really much of a proponent in mini-upgrades, especially if you plan to do a big one in only a matter of months. If it was a year's time than maybe, but if you're on a budget you can wait a few weeks.

I'm expecting GeForce 9 cards by the end of this year. I'd upgrade to one of those when they come out. That'll offer plenty of power for a while.

[Jon]

Having had both an 8600GT and 7900GTX... if its a choice between the two, I would go for the 7900GTX.

But, I already went for option C and don't regret it!

[darkbluesky]

Thanks for your answers,

what do you think of a 7900GT or 7900GTX with a Q6600? Is it worth to spend in a Q6600, or with a E6750 or so is enough?

[john19055]

I would get a 8800GTS and a cheaper Core2 processor and overclock it .but if you are going to choose between a 8600GTS or a 7900GTX then a 7900GTX would be the better choice since the 8600GTS is slower then the 7900GTX.

[darkbluesky]

Finally, I have decided myself. I have got 2 x 7900GTX for 275 € new.

I think they are at good price (are they?), and both, when in SLI, could give more or less the performance of a 8800GTS 320 (not all games support SLI though...) for the same price, and specially, the 7900GTX works fine in stereoscopic 3D, meanwhile the 8800 is still waiting a compatible stereoscopic drivers from nvidia from 1.5 years now...and nobody knows when they will be out. Nvidia has always other priorities (normal drivers for its flagships new series, etc)

Of course 8xxx series have DX10 support, but for me this is not reliable, as IMO the first generation of gpu (middle level, at least) that begins to support a new DXnn, are not able to move correctly the first DXnn games. As happened with the first series of DX9 middle-level gpu's.

Eventually nvidia 9xxx should be out this Xmas, but it seems not too sure (?) and they release (as normally...?) the flagship, so too expensive for me, and once more, what about stereoscopic drivers? Still waiting for th 8xxx series; if I must wait another 1.5 year to play in stereo, is better to stay with the good-old 7900GTX.

Anyway this is my thinking. I hope I will not be too wrong at least... ;-)

Now what I need, is to find a good SLI mobo at good price. But I guess this should be then in the mobo forums. I'll open a new threat there.

Thanks for all.

[joshua7]

Well, you should have sold your 7900gtx and bought a 8800GTS form the price of the two... 7900gtx sli? Not a good idea, 'd say.