I currently have 2 nvidia gefore 8600 gt graphics cards and I want to upgrade. Newer games are not able to perform at high end, such as Empire total war. Im looking to spend somewhere around $350. Just wondering what others would recommend I'm kinda out of the loop on what to look for in newer graphic cards. Also wondering if you would recommend 1 great one, or 2 lower ones for SLI. My system is a 2.4 ghz quad core w/ 3gb ram, liquid cooled, 600W power supply running Vista.
It depends what brand that 600W Power supply is. Today's high end graphics cards use more power than two 8600GTs on their own. If you have a good unit like Corsair, Seasonic, Antec etc. then you'll be fine, but if it's a crappy unit, you'll need to add a new power supply to your budget as well.
One powerful card is always better than two slower ones in SLI or Crossfire. The only real reason to use more than one card is if a faster one doesn't exist!
Thankyou for that info. My power supply is a COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RP600PCAR 600W Power Supply I know it has rcvd good ratings but I dont know if its considered a good name brand.
What do you think of the GeForce GTX 280? It states it needs a 575w power supply so I know I would need a power supply also. But even the HD 4870 needs 500w supply so isn't that getting close to my power supplies limits?
The GTX280 is very overpriced for what it is. The HD4870 is a better buy as it isn't too much slower and costs a lot less. You can use as low as a 450W PSU for either, but it has to be a good brand like Corsair. A Coolermaster 600 would probably fare alright, but no guarantees. It would certainly get noisy.
