What card should I get? Nvidia 8800ultra?

[shompa]

Hello all gurus.
I waited for the ATI release of R600 and sold my old SLI 7900GTX setup before its release.
I now have no graphic card in my PC.
Have been looking for a replacement card for some time now, but it is so hard to choose. I will post the swedish prices, so you know what I have to choose between pricewise.
My rig is a Dell XPS 700 Core2 extreme 3ghz@3.6ghz with a Gefen Dual link DVI switch connected to a AppleCinemaDisplay 2560x1600. The Dell is SLI capable.

Nvidia 8800GTS 640meg SLI 950 dollar
Nvidia 8800GTX noname 695 dollar
Nvidia 8800GTX namebrand 725 dollar
Nvidia 8800GTX overclocked 626mhz 795dollar
Nvidia 8800Ultra 950 dollar

The problem: A nonamecard is 695 dollar. Only 30 dollar more for a name brand like Asus.
Then it is only 50 dollar more to get a overclocked modell that is 10-15% faster.
From there it is only a bit over 100 dollar to get the Ultra version. The Ultra version has the respinned A3 sillicon that is highly overclockable. 650+mhz. At least 10-15% faster then the OC GTX card.

I have not find any site that has compare an Ultra with 640meg SLI.

What do you think? I really need som help to deside. (I am not an Nvidia Fanboy. Really sad that they failed to release the 2900XTX)

 

[prozac26]

8800Ultra is a total waste of money. It gives a minimal performance increase over a 8800GTX.

Go for a 8800GTX, it's your best bet.

 

[Farhang]

As Zac said, the best would be a single Namebrand(eVGA, BFG, XFX, ...) 8800GTX.
What's wrong with Zac's avatar?

 

[prozac26]

What's wrong with Zac's avatar?

Nothing. Why?

 

[No1sFanboy]

I agree with prozac that the ultra just doesn't up the performance enough to justify the price.

I have not pushed my Asus 8800gtx to failure but I've started using it overclocked for games. I have ran it at 630 core 1000 memory and completed 3dmark06 with the same temps as stock speed.

You're native resolution 2560 * 1600 on some games and maybe future titles is a lot for any card to fill. You could always add another gtx in the future. If you go with sli'd gts's then you're upgrade path is closed without having to dump both cards.

 

[Farhang]

Cause it shows someone else's avatar! (a man that smoking!)
I saw on a page that three people have this avatar! :x

 

[prozac26]

I heard it's a Ninja Appreciation Week.

So.... Meh.

:lol:

 

[Farhang]

Wow, didn't know that!
so i`m gonna change my awesome Piece of Mind avatar to ninja's too.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Just in addition to Prozac's statement, get the quality GTX (IMO get and eVGA if you can for the similar price, for all it's benefits) and then manually OC it yourself. Buying an overclocked card makes little sense unless they improve the RAM modules used or have truely exotic hardware cooling or something. The OC benefit from the Ultra just isn't worth the premium IMO. The OC you can get from the GTX is healthy and will get you a long way towards value for that dollar.

A single OC'ed GTX gives you alot of power, and also opens the door for future SLi option, whereas the GTS in SLi will give you the most up-front power in the applications that support SLI, it's also expensive and the end of that upgrade line with nowhere further to go (Other than selling both cards).

Saving $225 by getting the GTX allows you to save for to possible futures;

- Adding a second GTX.
- or selling the GTX and replacing it with a more performant future card with that extra money at a point when you need it.

The GTX is able to currently handle the Cinema display prety easily in most games, and will often give you the headroom for things like adding AA to the picture. The unknown is what happens in future titles like Crysis, where you may want the added power, but I doubt that the ultra's going to give you much more than the GTX in that respect, so better to save your extra cash for now, and then if anything sell, and upgrade later when you know your options better.

 

[shompa]

Thanx GreatGrapeApe
A really informative answer. (and thanks to all other also. Really kind of you all to help me)

The 8800GTX cards for sale here in Sweden are:
Gainward Bliss
Sparkle
Inno3D
Gigabyte
Asus
Leadtech
then there are OC versions

What brand do you like?
Gigabyte, Asus?

/kind regards

Just in addition to Prozac's statement, get the quality GTX (IMO get and eVGA if you can for the similar price, for all it's benefits) and then manually OC it yourself. Buying an overclocked card makes little sense unless they improve the RAM modules used or have truely exotic hardware cooling or something. The OC benefit from the Ultra just isn't worth the premium IMO. The OC you can get from the GTX is healthy and will get you a long way towards value for that dollar.

A single OC'ed GTX gives you alot of power, and also opens the door for future SLi option, whereas the GTS in SLi will give you the most up-front power in the applications that support SLI, it's also expensive and the end of that upgrade line with nowhere further to go (Other than selling both cards).

Saving $225 by getting the GTX allows you to save for to possible futures;

- Adding a second GTX.
- or selling the GTX and replacing it with a more performant future card with that extra money at a point when you need it.

The GTX is able to currently handle the Cinema display prety easily in most games, and will often give you the headroom for things like adding AA to the picture. The unknown is what happens in future titles like Crysis, where you may want the added power, but I doubt that the ultra's going to give you much more than the GTX in that respect, so better to save your extra cash for now, and then if anything sell, and upgrade later when you know your options better.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

My favourtie nV MFR has always been Gainward, I find them to be the best for innovations and have solid quality. They always impress me with every review of theirs I read. I usually recommend eVGA in N.Am since there is no Gainward here, and eVGA does has some nice customer support benefits, but with out the eVGA option, I would say Gainward is your best bet IMO.

Next on the list for me would be Gigabyte, good quality, good customer support experiences for me and most of my friends.

After that I'd put ASUS as my next favourite, I like them better for nV than ATi/AMD because their past in ATi/AMD has some blemishes.

Anywhoo, see what other people think, especially those who currently own a GTX from one of those makers, they can likely give you good insight into what they like/dislike.

 

[Artmic]

Hmmm, if you can wait, then wait for the 9800 card, otherwise get the 8800GTX, but not the Ultra, just a waste of money to get that 5% extra power out of it. (Unless you can get a card for the price of a GTX somewhere).