I just reinstalled Steam. Yes my bad? I hate it. But anyhow, I had two problems, one with the new game Skyrim, and Counter strike. Both would freeze up after about 5 to 10 min of playing. Counter strike would often lock up before you could start. So this is what I did. I turn off SLI on the dual 240 gts. Now they play fine.
My question is this, What would be a set of good all around cards to run. The 240's have done well, untill now.
I hate fuckin steam...

More details about my computer


Component Details Subscore Base score
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 975 @ 3.33GHz 7.6 5.9
Determined by lowest subscore

Memory (RAM) 9.00 GB 7.6
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240 7.4
Gaming graphics 4095 MB Total available graphics memory 7.4
Primary hard disk 420GB Free (588GB Total) 5.9
Windows 7 Home Premium

System
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manufacturer Alienware
Model Aurora
Total amount of system memory 9.00 GB RAM
System type 64-bit operating system
Number of processor cores 4

Storage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total size of hard disk(s) 588 GB
Disk partition (C:) 420 GB Free (588 GB Total)
Media drive (E:) CD/DVD
Media drive (F:) CD/DVD

Graphics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Display adapter type NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240
Total available graphics memory 4095 MB
Dedicated graphics memory 1024 MB
Dedicated system memory 0 MB
Shared system memory 3071 MB
Display adapter driver version 8.17.12.8562
Primary monitor resolution 1680x1050
DirectX version DirectX 10

Heard reports of counter strike source not working with CFX/SLI after the later updates but with the other games who knows. Alieware sold you a computer with a pair of 240's? Dell should be ashamed. The cards are equivalent of the 8800 GT's best I remember. I tried playing BF3 with myne and it definitely needed a pair to run medium well. Single 460 (not the SE) 560, 560 Ti or a 6950 (All will do BF3 High in 1080P very well) should do you better than the pair of 240's if your on a real budget but if you have the money we should talk about going further.

We really need to know the budget. AMD 7970 is obviously king of the single card hill for the moment but its serious cash and well for some of us its uh amd.... GTX 580 is where its at on our end but bang for buck the 570 gets the job done. Sadly the rest of us are playing that waiting game with the new Nvidia's.

If your trying to out do the 240's and avoid any problems a single card would be recommended. Do not even start to think about buying 550 Ti's for SLI, youd really be screwing yourself the cards are literally half a 560 non TI and a pair costs as much as a Single 560 TI.

I would really like to stick to Duals, I would say as far as cash flow... Depends, not really an option. Thats why they make Credit cards... ;)

Originally Posted by Runyan69

I would really like to stick to Duals, I would say as far as cash flow... Depends, not really an option. Thats why they make Credit cards... ;)

Well break out the credit card than because I think anyone in their right mind will tell you how retarted a pair of 550 Ti's is so

Heres an idea of what a pair of anything decent will cost you.
460 non se - ~$300
GTX 560 - $340+
GTX 560 Ti - $420+
GTX 570 - $660+
GTX 580 - $900+
6870 - $330+
6950 - $480+
6970 - $620+
7970 - $1100+
Anything under these cards its probably not worth pairing unless you already have one.

Meanwhile you could spend as little as 200 and get better performance than you currently should be getting. Looks and bragging rights versus getting performance is something you should consider. A pair of 560 Ti's when they work right are pretty awesome but a pair of 550 Ti's if you go cheap like whats in the machine would suck balls and be beat by single cards.

Dont forget that microstutter tends to be worse and actually noticible on low end cards compared to high end ones. In the testing I have seen 6970's and 580's paired have less deviation in average frametime than 6870's and 560's.

What about the 570s...? A pair of those, remember speak as if I only can turn a comp on... LMFAO!!!

I have one of them. Wouldnt mind a second one and for the games that have issues with SLI having to turn it off wouldnt be too regretable. I know several people here have dual 580s plenty happy in bf3. But atleast 2 that had 460 or 560TIs in sli having issues with bf3 specifically.

People will be up in a few hours to chime in. If you want to spend it why not but i think balls sixer supra and others can tell you saving a few bucks and only doing a single 580 shouldn't be all that regretable.

Power Supply is going to be of concern as well with the upgrade. My system with both my overclocks is pulling 350 watts from the wall. If the machine has atleast a 550 watt psu you might be okay for dual 570s but a bit higher is normally prefered.

900 watt power supply. Let me get my specs together.

Manufacturer Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 975 @ 3.33GHz
Clock Speed 3.4GHz
L2 Cache Size 1024

BIOS Version A11
BIOS Date 10-28-09
Windows Version Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

Processor
Manufacturer Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 975 @ 3.33GHz
Clock Speed 3.4GHz
L2 Cache Size 1024

Processor
Clock Speed 3.4GHz

Memory
Available Memory 73.40 %
Page File Size 9205.1Mb
Available Page File 98.19 %
Virtual Memory 18412.Mb
Available Virtual Memory 85.37 %
Memory Slot 1 [DIMM0] 2048Mb
Memory Slot 2 [DIMM1] 1024Mb
Memory Slot 3 [DIMM2] 2048Mb
Memory Slot 4 [DIMM3] 1024Mb
Memory Slot 5 [DIMM4] 2048Mb
Memory Slot 6 [DIMM5] 1024Mb

Memory
Computer Model Aurora
BIOS Vendor Alienware
BIOS Version A11
BIOS Date 10-28-09
Windows Version Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

Processor
Manufacturer Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 975 @ 3.33GHz
Clock Speed 3.4GHz
L2 Cache Size 1024

Processor
Clock Speed 3.4GHz

Memory
Available Memory 73.40 %
Page File Size 9205.1Mb
Available Page File 98.19 %
Virtual Memory 18412.Mb
Available Virtual Memory 85.37 %
Memory Slot 1 [DIMM0] 2048Mb
Memory Slot 2 [DIMM1] 1024Mb
Memory Slot 3 [DIMM2] 2048Mb
Memory Slot 4 [DIMM3] 1024Mb
Memory Slot 5 [DIMM4] 2048Mb
Memory Slot 6 [DIMM5] 1024Mb

Memory
Memory Slot 1 [DIMM0] 2048Mb
Memory Slot 2 [DIMM1] 1024Mb
Memory Slot 3 [DIMM2] 2048Mb
Memory Slot 4 [DIMM3] 1024Mb
Memory Slot 5 [DIMM4] 2048Mb
Memory Slot 6 [DIMM5] 1024Mb

Hardware
Type Description
DVD/CD-ROM Drives PLDS DVD+-RW DH-24AAS ATA Device
PLDS DVDRWBD DH-6E2S ATA Device
Disk Drives WDC WD6400AAKS-75A7B2 ATA Device 596.1Gb
Generic- Compact Flash USB Device
Generic- MS/MS-Pro USB Device
Generic- SD/MMC USB Device
Generic- SM/xD Picture USB Device
Display Adapters NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240 1024Mb
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240 1024Mb
IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers Intel(R) ICH10 Family 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller - 3A22
ATA Channel 0
ATA Channel 1
ATA Channel 2
ATA Channel 3
ATA Channel 4
ATA Channel 5

Originally Posted by Runyan69

900 watt power supply. Let me get my specs together.

Good good also just noticed your monitors res only being 1680x1050 which is good though, less gpu power needed.

I run two 560 Ti's in SLI and at 1680x1050 and have zero issues running at that resolution. I've played BF3, Skyrim, Batman:Arkham City, Dead Island, and RAGE at the highest settings.