1xPCIe vs 2xPCI Graphics cards

Ok heres the dilemma... I've just bought a barebones kit with a MSI K9N6SGM-V motherboard.

It has built in GeForce 6100 graphics which isn't ideal (although I'm not an avid gamer)

I'm thinking of upgrading to play some newer games. Should I:

a) Spend a lot on a nice PCIe card, or;
b) Spend a decent amount on a PCI Card, then later get another card of the same type to increase my power.

I do not want to run dual monitors, I want more graphics power.
My board is not SLI ready so I wasn't sure if this was possible.

 

You can't SLI PCI graphics cards, the technology only exists for PCIe, neither should you use SLI even if you did have two PCI express slots.

Get a reasonable PCI express card, but make sure you have a good enough power supply. The PSUs provided in barebones kits are usually too weak to run anything other than integrated graphics.

 

Geez you answer all my threads. I'm soon gonna start PMing you instead.

Thanks, I was looking it up and its very back and forth about using SLI or not... and I couldn't find any info on using dual vid cards without crossfire or SLI.

Well I guess I'm looking for a good GeForce card... any suggestions. The most advanced games I'll likely play are portal, HL2 and battlefield... I don't want top of the line, but I think I'll be committing more cash to by budget than before... Getting a decent HD and PSU 1st, then getting a good vid card next month or so.

Thanks for all the great info up till now sammorris

 

Can't be done, you either use SLI or Crossfire, they're the only two ways of combining two graphics cards to gain performance.
To play Portal and Half Life 2: Episode Two at maximum performance, a card like the the HD4850 will suffice for normal resolutions. If you use 1920x1200 or higher and want to max the game out, however, I'd recommend crossfire.
Bear in mind you won't be able to do this on a standard power supply.

 

Edit... said something and quickly realized it was dumb... nm...

thats a pretty expensive card... $200+ eesh... I was hoping to stay at least as low as $120-$150 max...

a 3450, 3650, 3850 or 3870 wouldn't be good enough?

 

No, you can use either brand, but you need to make sure your PSU is powerful enough.

 

I think you read my question before I realized it was dumb and edited it heh.

 

An HD3870 would be fine, it's what I currently use and is perfectly adequate for most games. It too requires a new PSU though, if you're using a barebone.

 

lol

Some of us are around here more than others... JK

Can't a 4850 be had for around 150? Or are you in Canada?

 

I'm in Canada yes Prices are much higher and theres no newegg for us...

I don't know why they haven't gone to Canada yet, they would rule the market here... the best we have that compares to newegg is tigerdirect...

 

Newegg's prices would be more in Canada as well, due to the taxes.

 

Canadian prices are almost par with American, the u add the 4% duty fee and $5 Canada Post handling fee($8 for priority) and your done... even with that added on newegg prices would be very good for us Canadians...

 

Well hopefully they are.

Anyway, a 4850 would be very good price/performance if you can afford it.

 

If you like mail in rebates:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=30933&vpn=GV-R485-512H-B&manufacture=Gigabyte

and if you don't:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=30487&vpn=4850PE3512&manufacture=Diamond

 

Very nice but these cards are very expensive... I'll try my luck on ebay with them for a while... I'm not planning to buy for another month or so anyways, hopefully the prices drop or there are sales...

Also, since I was looking at 3870's... I did some googling and they don't seem to be much better than the 3850's... in most games there was only about a 3fps difference, and in some cases (very few) the 3850 actually did better by like 1 or >1 fps... and the 3870 is always noticeably more expensive... I was thinking the 3850 was the obvious better deal.

But again, I'm gonna keep my eye open for a better deal on a 4850... would be nice not to have to upgrade for a while.

 

The 3870 and 3850 are indeed not far apart, by price or performance. The 4850 is about twice as fast as either, however.

 

Well I always regretted getting a 3850. I should have gotten that 3870. Oh well.

 

Only if you got the original 256MB version. The 512MB version was a close match.

 

lol

Well that version wasn't available when I got it.

 

Indeed not. The 3850 is still capable of scoring 10,000 in 3dmark though, so it's not THAT bad.