I have a pretty decent PC used primarily for gaming and watching high definition video. Recently, my graphics card died and I need help deciding on a new one. I need an Nvidia card that will be able to stand on its own but also work well in a SLI setup because I will be adding another one in a couple of months. Price isn't too much of an issue as long as it stays under 200 per card. The card that I had was an Nvidia 8800GTS 640MB. Here are the rest of my specs. ASUS P5N-E SLI Motherboard Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 4 GB Corsair XMS DDR2 Ram BFG Tech 1000W Power Supply Generic TV Tuner Card Diamond 7.1 HD Sound Card Seagate 750GB Hard Drive Samsung DVD Writer You guys seem to know what you are talking about so any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Like I said I want as much power as I can get for about 400 dollars. Gaming graphics take priority over HD video. Thanks again!
If it has to be Nvidia and under 200$ i'd go for the GTX260 core 216 or forget the sli and go for a Gtx275 for 250$ with that I doubt youll need to sli unless you want Max graphics settings on a huge high res screen. the 260 and 275 are both huge updates over your previous card.
A P5N-E SLI that still works, wow, you've done well... For $380 you could get a 4870X2 which is as fast as two GTX260s in SLI pretty much.
You don't want to go with SLI on that board; it does not support x16/x16 or even x16/x8 sli...only x8/x8 sli. Because of this, you should either shoot for a single good card (4870x2 is a good choice) or save your money for a modern mainboard.
If you do elect to go for a high power card in that board you will probably want to change the northbridge cooling. The P5N-E SLI northbridge typically runs about 65-75ºC (actual heatsink temperature, the chip underneath will likely be hotter). nvidia's thermal sensors are under-calibrated to hide this, so you won't see any alarming temperatures in the BIOS. Adding a card like a 4870 or 4870X2 increased my board's temperature by 10-12ºC which will probably be enough to render your system unstable.
