Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hello, right now I have a pair of GeForce 8800 GTX cards on an EVGA 790i motherboard, with 4 Gb of ram, running on Vista 32-bits.

I am considering replacing the videocards with something more recent/powerful. First of all, I am experiencing technical difficulties with my system and specific programs, most notably in IL-2, where selecting any mode of antialiasing in nHancer will have the game crash (always) after some variable length of time. Also in that same sim, I have some jerkiness problem in a specific circumstance, which I detailed in another post tonight. In Oblivion, the frame rate is borderline acceptable and can go down the toilet in a fight outside in a forest in no time.

In fact, after researching online about crashes related to the file nvlddmkm.sys, there seems to exist a distinct (but unproven) case of bad relationships between 8800 series cards and Vista.

I'm also concerned with the notion of installing even more (AFAIK) graphically demanding software, namely DCS Black Shark and Flight Simulator X.

So, on the Nvidia front, is there any non-astronomically-expensive yet much-better-than-my-current-cards solution anybody could recommend?

I read some comments online to the fact that a pair of GTX 260/216 was currently the best SLI solution "for the money". Would anybody know how much more powerful those would be compared with my 8800s? i.e., only 10% more, or like 200%?

Actually, is there a maybe-not-at-the-very-top-of-the-line single card that would do a better job than my current cards? SLI, I thought at the time, was a good idea for a TH2Go system, simply for its capacity to push the humongous number of pixels on screen, but maybe the GPU technologies have evolved to the point that SLI is no more so needed for a 3840 x 1024 resolution?

So many questions, sorry. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

FT

I was running a single gtx260-216 and noticed some slight lag with 5040x1050, I added a second card and it is much better in SLI pushing those pixels. I think two gtx260-216 is a good choice "for the money", and a single gtx285 or two in SLI would also be a great solution, but more expensive. I could be wrong but I thought I read here that ppl were having issues with the gtx295, drivers and TH2Go.

Check online comparisions, such as Toms Hardware, etc...but I think either a single gtx285 (with potential for a second down the road as you have 790i) or dual (tri) gtx260-216s SLI would serve you well.

Hello, right now I have a pair of GeForce 8800 GTX cards on an EVGA 790i motherboard, with 4 Gb of ram, running on Vista 32-bits.

I am considering replacing the videocards with something more recent/powerful. First of all, I am experiencing technical difficulties with my system and specific programs, most notably in IL-2, where selecting any mode of antialiasing in nHancer will have the game crash (always) after some variable length of time. Also in that same sim, I have some jerkiness problem in a specific circumstance, which I detailed in another post tonight. In Oblivion, the frame rate is borderline acceptable and can go down the toilet in a fight outside in a forest in no time.

In fact, after researching online about crashes related to the file nvlddmkm.sys, there seems to exist a distinct (but unproven) case of bad relationships between 8800 series cards and Vista.

I'm also concerned with the notion of installing even more (AFAIK) graphically demanding software, namely DCS Black Shark and Flight Simulator X.

So, on the Nvidia front, is there any non-astronomically-expensive yet much-better-than-my-current-cards solution anybody could recommend?

I read some comments online to the fact that a pair of GTX 260/216 was currently the best SLI solution "for the money". Would anybody know how much more powerful those would be compared with my 8800s? i.e., only 10% more, or like 200%?

Actually, is there a maybe-not-at-the-very-top-of-the-line single card that would do a better job than my current cards? SLI, I thought at the time, was a good idea for a TH2Go system, simply for its capacity to push the humongous number of pixels on screen, but maybe the GPU technologies have evolved to the point that SLI is no more so needed for a 3840 x 1024 resolution?

So many questions, sorry. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

FT

I beleave I can help ya with this one...But first I would need a complete list of your system spec's.

Bios ver.?
Chipset driver ver?
what CPU are you running and at what speed?
Are you running your 8800GTX's at stock settings?
Video card drivers?
Are you using the Nvida SLI enhancement Patch?
Cpu cooler?
Case?
Memory speeds and timmings
PSU?

For example...If you are useing a Q6600 at stock speed of 2.4ghz. your problem is that CPU is bottlenecking your 2 cards..Thus "LAG" So don't blame the cards. Those 2 games listed above are CPU hogs!
The 8800GTX's are still power houses. Also you could get a third 8800 GTX and run Tri SLI and still beat out 2 285GTX's in SLI.???

My system (below) all the games I play 60 FPS or better at 3840x1024. When more games come out that support Qcore, I will be upgrading to the Q9650 because that chip will do 4.2-4.4ghz on air and changing from the e8400 @4.0 to the Q9650 @4.0ghz. I wont loose any speed between the two when playing duel core supported games.

If you are running your setup @ 3840x1024 then the latest drivers should work v.185.50 (I think) however if your trying for 5040x1050 then you will need to look for the latest drivers that worked for that rez.(v.182.xx I think)

Also when you install and uninstall nvida drivers. You will need a program called "Driver sweeper" I beleave that this "nvlddmkm.sys" is because you didnt install or uninstall the drivers correctly.

Crashing issues...Last week when I was playing Battlestations Pacifc Demo(very cool game by the way). My system started crashing half way thru the game. I down clocked my memory form 1150mhz to 1066mhz and no more crashing since. However a simple bump in memory voltage could help you to stablize your system crashes!


anyway...send your spec's and I or we will try to help you.

unclebobo, thanks much for your answer. :)

Could you tell me in what games you were experiencing that "slight lag"?

I have to figure out if there are any significant differences between the stupendously numerous incarnations of the 260 I can see online...


Sir Drip, thanks for your answer. CPU is Core2 Duo E6850 at 3.0GHz.

Tri-SLI is a no-go for me, as there is stuff already where that 3rd card would go.


FT

Mhhhhh

ncix.com, my usual provider of computer goodness, has an Evga GTX 260 Core 216 on sale for 226.99 $CAD instead of 379.99 $CAD

Wonder if that's a good deal...


lol



FT

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/Call-of-Duty-4-v1.6,745.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/benchmarks,30.html

Food for though.

Thanks.

FT

Hey, was playing Fallout 3 at 5040x1050 and didn't have any problems playing the game, but occassionally when moving quickly around the screen fighting, etc... the graphics seemed to 'jump'. Once I added the second card, I could spin 360 degrees all day without any graphics skipping, etc.. more GPUs does a faster job and can keep up to the quickest movements in game. It made everything much smoother.

Like I said, it was barely noticable, but once I added the second card, it became apparent my frames per sec went up adding the second card.

1920x1200 on highest settings can push the limits of some cards, and that is only 2.3M pixels, 5040x1050 is 5.3M pixels so I still think SLI is a good way to share the load.