Wifes PC needs an upgrade, I'm debating...
 

The PC is a 3800x2 @ 2.4ghz, 2gb RAM, 7800gt, 17" LCD @ 1280x1024.

She's starting to game a little and the 7800gt is showing it's age. Even WoW is getting it's ass kicked running around with around 30fps or less in the starter zones and cities.

I was debating on just getting a 9800gt for her or to give her my 4850 with me upgrading to a GTX260. With the $100 I spend extra on the GTX, I could give her the 4850 that's worth about $150. The big question is will I see much of a difference? I run 1680x1050 BTW, rig in sig.

Re: Wifes PC needs an upgrade, I'm debating...
 

I got my card a week ago and did not see much fps gain from my 8800gt (same resolution as you). So I'm thinking my cpu is a bit of a bottleneck here.

However with FSAA that's when I saw the big difference, before I could play most games just fine on max settings @ 1680x1050 but usually with no AA, now AA is no problem at all.

I also OCed the cpu a bit more from 3.2 to 3.36 (can't seem to go higher then that, I think my ram is crapping out). That also helped up the fps a bit.

For reference, I get ~11600 Vantage points with the evga 260 216c SC and the core duo @ 3.36Ghz

Re: Wifes PC needs an upgrade, I'm debating...
 

Its probably a CPU bottleneck if its most noticeable in areas with lots of people running around.

Re: Wifes PC needs an upgrade, I'm debating...
 

The new shadow system has almost doubled the demand on the GPU it seems. Supposedly anything older than an 8 series struggles with WoW 3.0.

I've seen quite a bit of negative on the 9800gt with heat issues and what not. I think I'd rather go for the 260 for myself and pass the 4850 down at this point. I always like to run AA and think the extra horsepower and VRAM will help a lot.

Is there any new NV card coming down the pipe soon?

Re: Wifes PC needs an upgrade, I'm debating...
 

not 100% but there might be a new 55nm GTX cards out in a month or so.

then again if you grab EVGA, you will be able to step up.

GTX260 would go nicelly with your quad, might even fix your Aero issues.

Re: Wifes PC needs an upgrade, I'm debating...
 

Dunno about WoW and G200, check out this thread. I never played WoW so I don't know. In all other things it's a real performer I think :)

Re: Wifes PC needs an upgrade, I'm debating...
 

WoW is kicking ass on my 4850, but I could always use some more power. :D It's the 7800gt that's struggling.

As far as the step-up goes, I thought there were only certain SKUs allowed to step-up.
http://www.evga.com/stepup/

This is a problem because I was going to grab a deal on the old 260 SSC.

Re: Wifes PC needs an upgrade, I'm debating...
 

that list shows what you can step up to, not from.

Re: Wifes PC needs an upgrade, I'm debating...
 

ORLY? That's good news, it wasn't very clear to me when I read it.

Now the choice is to wait or get one and step-up.

Re: Wifes PC needs an upgrade, I'm debating...
 

Damn, the prices are already coming down. I bought my 260 for $254 (before mail in rebate) last month and the 260-216 is only $15 more now straight from eVGA.

Re: Wifes PC needs an upgrade, I'm debating...
 

There does appear to be a 55nm GPU refresh coming from NV soon. Best guesses are that there will be no noticeable performance/price change as the primary reason seems to be to just increase yields per die. (NV is in a real cash crunch right now, especially with their laptop chips failing everywhere)

I just upgraded from a 8800GTX to a EVGA baseline 260-216.
now I run everything at 1900x1200 high quality with AA. Before I need to dial setting/resolution down to keep the frame rate reasonable and not have the card overheat.

Skip the 9800 series.

2.4gz CPU is a little low for the current A-list titles.

Go Google for specific card reviews that match up may of the titles you/she are interested in.

Re: Wifes PC needs an upgrade, I'm debating...
 

Wolf, you didn't read my OP.

The 2.4ghz system has a 7800gt which I was considering a 9800gt for.

My rig is a 3.36ghz quad (sig) which has a 4850 which I am considering a 260 or 280 for. The 4850 would then go in the 2.4ghz system.