Oh no! Another video card related question!!

Hi all, don't really know what forum to put this thread on, but figured, this is a very active forum so hence more opinions on the matter. Now I don't want this to be a "ATI is better then NVidia or vice versa" discussion, so please try and refrain from it. As of right now, I'm using a single Geforce 9800 GTwith 512 mb. It runs fine with all settings set at max. My question is....

What would be the next best upgrade...getting the same exact graphics card and having two in my comp or replacing it with a better single one?

Would really appreciate a opinion or two on this...thanks.

In Nvidia's crazy model numbering scheme, the next generation of cards is the 200 series. And as I understand it, the better cards in a series have the higher number in the decimal position second from the left.

In other words, a 280 would be better than a 260, and, the 280 series replace the 9800's which replaced the 8800's.

Some real gamer PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong.

Where's Chosen when you need him?

They must have gone to the government for help in number their cards.

You'd want to upgrade to a GTX200 series card. The higher the number, the better the card. The GTX260 is the low end of that series, the GTX295 the top end.

There are two different models of GTX260. The original has 192 processing cores, the new one has 216. If you buy a GTX260 make sure you get the 216 core model.

The GTS250 is a step down, and is a renamed 9800GTX+. It's a step up from your 9800GT, but not such a big one that I think it would be worth it.

Yeah, that is all clear as mud - they definitely talked to the government before coming up with the new numbers.

Wow, I haven't had as much fun since Intel changed their processor numbering.

Sorry for making that unclear. My bad.

Higher numbers are better.

GTX is better than GTS.

I tried to keep it simple. But I left out the GTS/GTX part.

Thanks for the responses.....

So from what I gather so far (Please continue on with opinions...the more the better), getting a better single graphics card would be a step up and not worth adding a second one to the card I have now? Also, is there really going to make a big difference between the geforce 9800 GT and the top cards either from NVidia or ATI in say the next 6 months? Thanks again all!!

I'd say, for the average home user, upgrading to a better single card would be the better choice. When you go with dual cards, you have additional concerns like power supply, BIOS support, enough room, heat, airflow, etc... Also there may be a case where buying another of what you already have could be nearly as expensive as just getting a new single card.
That said, I've been running two Nvidia 6800GT series cards for the last few years, so I WILL say that having 2 helps to cut down on the need to upgrade so often (I got to skip the 7000, 8000, AND 9000 series cards). My next upgrade will be a single GTX260 or 280. Mine are OLD cards and only recently have they started to show they're struggling, so there IS merit in running two versus one.

Like Milla said, stick to the GTX and you'll get a true upgrade. The GTS branded cards are mostly the same generation core as what you have already, just renamed and relaunched because of overstock and PR reasons.