I am looking into a new video card. i was offered 2x Asus 2900XT and a Cooler Master 650w PSU

Prices are
$250 eash for the 2900xt
and $50 for the Coolermaster 650.

what are everyones thoughts?

Do you already have a crossfire setup?

Its a great deal if you have a crossfire ready system. The 2900's in crossfire perform great in gaming.

edit; I see by the motherboard in your sig that its crossfire ready.

I think you'd be better off getting a couple of 3870's at that price (new 3870's can be found for $200) and using them in crossfire. They would perform better for the same price, and since they are directx10 they'd be more "future-proof".

$250 sounds like an awful lot of money for a single 2900XT.

Sticking with ATI you can pick up a 3870 for around $220 and can get a 3870 X2 for under $500.

I'm also not too sure I'd want to try to power 2 2900XTs with a PC&P 650W let alone a coolermaster.

no way is a 2900xt worth $250, maybe $150 considering both the 8800gt and 3870 are much better cards.

Thanks everyone, thats what i told the guy who was offereing them to me. i am ded set against it unless he can offer me a much better price. i.e. 2 2900xt for $250

Okay, heres another option, should i go with 2X 3870 or one 3870X2? uggghhh too many decisions!

I wouldn't pick up a high(er) end card right now with the 48XX series cards just around the bend.

I don't buy any of the "preview" benchmarks we're starting to see (before the Non-Disclosure Clause date is up) but I'm expecting pretty good performance at a decent price.

With any luck we'll know more within a month......

I was thinking the same thing. I read this mornign that the cards are now being shipped to OEM and Retails...So maybe i will hold off and see what happens with the prices then. Maybe i will be able to afford 2X 3870X2.....

i wouldn't worry about getting 2 fast cards, unless your using a big screen with a high resolution like 2560x1536. if you game below 1920x1200 you will not see any adavantage to it. i always say its best to get the fastest single card possible, especially they way crossfire and sli scales.

Geeze, I cant make a decision, i was pretty set on an 8800gt for the longest time. but now am thinking about a 3870x2.. a 3870 would be a good card to go with, i would then have 2 gpu's and also have the ability to go crossfire when i wanted or to save a bit of cash just go with a 3870...

i'd say go with a single 8800gt or 3870, and wait. by the end of this year the 9900(GT200) series will be out and its putting up scores of 25k in 3dmark06 if you trust those benches. honestly the only game that tax's 3870's and 8800gt's is crysis and sli/crossfire has little to no impact on it. there is no logic to multiple fast gpu's with current software unless you are playing at high resolution (1920x1200 or higher) as i said previously.

if you have to have multi gpu's get 2x 3870's rather then the x2. 2 physical cards are a little faster and its cheaper.

Hey Mav . I'm running a 3870 and for the price versus the higher end cards (NVidia's) it does everything I want it to and like previous posts have said if your not taxing the screen res there isn't much sense in spending big bucks . That card will do what you want it to and you can always get another one later .

perfect thanks guys, i appreciate the help!

I'm waiting for the 4870x2 card myself, I feel like a jerk not going from the 2900xt to a 3870 but I wasn't going to be around all that much. The 2900XT's are leafblower units if they use the reference design.

A 3870 or 8800GT will play any game out very well and are not that expensive and as others have said unless you play at very high resolutions thats where sli or crossfire will suit yah,im not a nvidia or ati fan but i do own the 8800gt which plays all the games out with no problems at all and im really impressed with this card,some games get higher fps with 8800gt and some get higher with the 3870 but the difference is not that much and they are both great cards.