So, I am finally going to upgrade from my $600 flagship to something with DX 11 etc...  The card still plays Crysis 2 at extreme with great frames, but I don't want to miss out on the DX 11 gfx patch they are doing to unlock Maximum game etc.  Also I plan on getting Rage and Skyrim which I assume will require as much or more power than Crysis 2 now that we have gfx cards out that can destroy Crysis 1 and 2 at 2560x1600 on full bore.  So my question is, what would be a good upgrade.  I am looking at the 560 ti, but its memory bandwidth is the same as my current card, though its DX 11 and has 1gb of usable frame buffer, though it is also short 1 GPU than my current card, so I'm not sure it's worth the upgrade or not.  I then thought maybe I could SLI 2 of them, but my board is still the nForce 680i SE SLI board, which is not PCI Express 2.0 and is running the Core 2 Duo e6850 4mb cache overclocked from 3.0ghz to 3.7ghz, and has 4 gb DDR2-800 Kingston HyperX at 4-4-4-12.  So what choices do I have for graphics card upgrades without having to overhaul what I have, and still maintain compatibility issue free since this platform is technically a PCI Express 1.0 platform, though this 9800 GX2 is PCIE 2.0 and I have no problems with compatibility or performance issues.  Thanks in advanced for any advice you can give.

GTX560Ti: 256bit GDDR5 bus: 384 shaders.
 
9800GX2 : dual 256bit GDDR3 bus: dual 128 shaders
 
GDDR5, clock for clock, is twice as fast as GDDR3. GDDR3 is dual pumped. GDDR5 is quad pumped.
 
As for the shaders... 256<384
 
As for actual performance, the 9800GX2 sits below the GTX460 768. The GTX560 Ti sits around the GTX470. Yes, the GTX560 Ti will be a significant upgrade, depending on the rest of your system (in particular, the CPU).
 
For specs:
 
GTX560Ti memory bandwidth:
128.27 GB/s
 
9800GX2 memory bandwidth:
2x 64.0 GB/s (effective is 64GB/s, since the second framebuffer in SLI is merely mirrored)
 
 
GTX560 GFLOPS:
1263
 
9800GX2 GFLOPS:
2x 576 
 
not to mention, the GTX560Ti has siginificantly better texture filter units, frontend (GPU instruction setup), and idles at extremely low tempuratures and outputs less heat in any way, vs your old 9800GX2.
 
In addition, the 9800GX2 is memory limited by it's 512MB memory (effective memory, since the other 512MB is mirrored in SLI), and the (relatively) less capable SLI scaling of the old G92 cards.
 
IMO, get the GTX560 Ti, and overclock it to even further distance itself from the slower 9800GX2. Or, go all out and get the next single GPU flagship, the mammoth GTX580 (PSU MUST be up to the task, along with a decent CPU) or the GTX590 (same warning as GTX580). GTX580 is 500usd from eVGA, draws about 40W more than your old 9800GX2, yet is faster in every way imagineable. The GTX590 is two downclocked (like your 9800GX2) GTX580 units

As ablearcher mentioned, be sure your PSU can handle the upgrade that you plan, or consider upgrading it at the same time.
 
I would add that with your setup, you should not overlook the GTX 460 2Win.
http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=02G-P3-1387-AR

I would not upgrade to a DX11 card for Crysis 2.  If you look carefully the information about a DX11 patch is rumor and was never confirmed by Crytek.  I suspect that they will enable features, but not full DX11 support.  I do agree that 2 x 560s or 2 x 570s would be fantasic.  Just don't want you to be disappointed.  Crytek has not even released a patch or addressed some sound issues with 5.1/7.1 for the game and their first patch will be for multiplayer issues.  Check out this program to make the game look better:http://www.wasdie.blogspot.com/.  He made a program to enable some of the advanced graphics options that are clearly and inexplicably missing from the PC retail game right now.

Grab a GTX 580....or if you got the funds.... a GTX 590.

Oh btw, I know its hard to believe but my last build in 2008 I also added a cooler master 1,000 watt PSU with support for quad SLI, so I'm not worried about power, since at that time, that was insane even for quad 9800 gx2's lol but I figured I'd mention that isn't a problem.  I really am trying to control myself and not put down cash on the 590, but will if I have to, since it would future proof me at least another 5 years or until Crysis 3 LOL

thesynergy

Oh btw, I know its hard to believe but my last build in 2008 I also added a cooler master 1,000 watt PSU with support for quad SLI, so I'm not worried about power, since at that time, that was insane even for quad 9800 gx2's lol but I figured I'd mention that isn't a problem.  I really am trying to control myself and not put down cash on the 590, but will if I have to, since it would future proof me at least another 5 years or until Crysis 3 LOL

yeah, almost every 1000W I am aware of is actually a decent unit, reguardless of brand. You'll be fine for everything but dual GTX590 or tri GTX580,
 
As for the CPU, I'm gonna touch on that again. You still should be fine. However, I would recommend upgrading the CPU before the end of the year, reguardless of what GPU you get. I'd recommend waiting for AMD's Bulldozer to arrive in June, before making a decision, and if you may hold out longer, the rumoured LGA2011 CPUs from Intel near the end of the year.

If you have the money go with the 590 if not go with the 580 heck even that gtx 570 is a great card.
 
I have the 580gtx and I love it plays everything very well I had a 9800 gx2 like you and upgraded to this it's way faster.
 
The 570 is the real bang for the buck to be honest but I liked how the 580 had more ram and more power to run more filters.
 
Good luck on your next card :)

Found an FAQ for you about pci-e 1.0 and 2.0 - http://www.evga.com/support/faq/?f=58778

Oh just read the updates after that last post, Nite, buddy, the 7950 was the first dual gpu attempt ^_^ but yes, Crysis 1 would give wierd flickering issues when running full bore 64 bit.  The flickering though would only occur on the sprites of trees in the background, which was stilll damn annoying, other than that, its running Crysis 2 at full bore 1920x1080 at Extreme better than Crysis 1 lol I know its a 512mb cacheable memory though 1024mb shared, its still holding its own full bore on the craziest gfx game known to man on the PC.  No idea how, I thought I'd have some gfx lag by now, but not at all, at least not yet in the campaign, if they show what I'm seeing graphically in a jungle later on, I think my gfx card will definitely be hit hard, but I just have a feeling its all in the city hehe

Thanks rjbelans, that was my main concern, just wanted to make sure it would work compatiblity wise, and would  be even better once I upgrade my CPU like you said.  Thanks alot bro, wish I had another beer for you haha

Already understood, though I hope others find this thread to be learned by the great ablearcher hehehehehe.  I do honestly already understand the limit of the 512mb on my card, even though 1024mb total.  The 32bit to 64 bit for gfx cards is new to me though, I've never heard it explained this way, but you are amazing and I will trust you hehe.  Anyways, you ablearcher do not think upgrading will be a problem even with my PCIE 1.0 platform....

oops, I edited out a mistake.

Nice, I dont' expect doulbe the ram, just double the performance which is probably even more a mistake, though a few threads that I read, state that 560 ti x2 is better than 580 alone.   Thtats amazing, though I have PCIE 1.0 so SLI might not be as good, though I'd assume 1 card that is 2.0 is not going to make a difference if using it at 1.0 hehe

If you had a budget of $1000 I would just go with the GTX 570 and upgrade the MB to SB and grab a 2500K. And you would still have room to get 8 Gig of memory as well. That would give you the option of SLI later. Unless you were gaming over 1920x1200. then you would want the GTX 580