320MB 8800GTS - oh man

When you can get the 640MB for only $44.99 more (that's $344.99) I find it hard to recommend the 320MB.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681...

But then again, if you're playing on a 19" LCD like a lot of people (including me), you won't see a difference between the two in today's games.

Here's a review:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2926

after checking out the review if you plan on gaming higher than 1280x1024 it seems as though it would be worth your while to spend the extra money for the 640mb version

My 19" LCD is native at 1280 x 1024 so I don't think I'll be gaming above that for quite a while.  

Pulled the trigger on the 8800 GTS 320MB.

Beats the stuffing out of my trusty ol' Radeon 9800 Pro!

Very ironic if you look at the model number :wink: . Seriously, even at 1600x1200 in most benchies the original GTS can't pull more than 5 fps ahead. The 640MB isn't worth it at 1024x1280 or below, 1600x1200 would be a judgment call.

yeah but for the price of the cards alone it would be worth it.

Yet the 640mb version being about 50 bucks more. I'd stick with the 640mb. Anti-alaising drains the 320mb too much even at low resolutions - certain games that will take more memory suffer badly. 640 is absolutely worth 50 bucks more. Small bit of monitor futureproof there too.

I just ordered the evga with the rest of my new build.

only $50 bucks less, but I don't have to worry about a mail in rebate, (without a mail-in it's $100 less)
and I only have a 17" 1280x1024 monitor...


if you have a small monitor, (like me) and/or if you're on a tight budget (like me), it's a fantastic value.


but I'd definitely get the evga, just so you have the step-up program available to you.
that way (just before it expires) in 3 months, when you have more money, you can upgrade it cheap.* if you want to.
(or you could SLI it later on)



*speaking of which, any word on when an nvidia better than an 8800gtx will be released?

I got the eVGA 8800GTS (Getting my parts today) and I plan on upgrading to a 8800GTX 3 months down the road, because hopefully by then ATI will have added some competition to the market.

I don't usually play at high resolutions, as I have a 19" Widescreen (1440x900), but if I decide to get a bigger monitor in the future, which I'm sure I will, I want to have a card to handle it already. Plus having a monster card on a medium range resolution isn't a bad thing.

Stoopid reebaits!! Don't even get me started. Yeah, I see the prices after rebate, but you have to wait MONTHS to get one back. Your wallet still feels the full pain right now. Your eyes see lower prices and your wallet sees the higher price. Very insidious marketing.

either way, I'll be very happy with my new card. I won't be ashamed of my rig, now :wink:

Absolutely don't go with Leadtek. I bought the 640MB version last week from Newegg.com. There was a $35 rebate which I sent in. The very next day the system starts hard locking. I work for a PC game developer so I borrowed an EVGA 8800GTS 640MB for a day, took it home and surprise surprise no more lockups. Took the Leadtek to work and it freezes up whatever PC it is put in. So... I contact Leadtek for an RMA via their website. Next day I get a reply in broken english telling me sorry they only handle the warranty from the end of year 1 till the end of year three and during the first year Newegg is responsible. So I contact Newegg who says well since you cut the UPC off the box for the rebate the manufacturer is responsible, thanks have a nice day. So I contact Leadtek and tell them this, same response sorry we don't cover during the first year. Tried calling their support number (which I had to get from Newegg, its nowhere on Leadtek.com) and it rings and rings and rings... nobody picks up and there's no voicemail.

So here I sit with a nice $400 paperweight. I will never buy Leadtek again.

You bought a 8800 GTS now with plans to change it for a 8800 GTX in 3 months? I don't see the logic in this, you'll be losing more money than if you just bought the 8800 GTX now

http://evga.com/stepup/default.asp

basically if you get an evga card, you can put the retail price toward any upgrade and you just pay the difference.

http://evga.com/stepup/default.asp

basically if you get an evga card, you can put the retail price toward any upgrade and you just pay the difference.

But although the street prices on a 8800GTX will go down, the MSRP will be the same, (which is what you pay when you go through step-up) so he'll end up paying the same amount for it in three months. Or more money overall compared to just buying the GTX, all for the priviledge of having GTS performance for 3 months instead of GTX performance. Smart.

but thats 3 months time. figure 6 paychecks.

for a $250 difference thats $50 a paycheck. not too bad.


not all of us have the money up front.  

http://evga.com/stepup/default.asp

basically if you get an evga card, you can put the retail price toward any upgrade and you just pay the difference.

For example if you had bought an EVGA 7950GT a month or two ago and decided you really needed to "step-up" to a 8800GTX, you could do the stepup program but you would pay the difference between what you paid for the 7950GT (-minus any rebate) and the retail cost of the 8800GTX which is still at $619.99 http://www.evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=768-P2-N83...
whereas the actual street price is $539.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681... a difference of $80.

So while the street price of the GTX may drop when the R600 comes out, if it's beating it in sales, the price you'd pay for the step-up program will remain the same. So he bought the GTS just to pay the extra shipping charges to "stepup", and to pay an additional $80, and to have less performance for a few months.

Note: if you step-up to something new right when it comes out, the MSRP and street prices are usually the same, so you don't lose out in that scenario.

Also, you might not know this, but all the other companies have a step-up program too, although it's kept pretty hush-hush. whisper it's called Ebay.