Which 8800GTS?

[alabama619]

Ok, I am upgrading to a 8800GTS of some sorts, but which one do I go for?

I use a 22" monitor and a resolution of 1680X1050, so naturally you would say the 640MB. However, people like PC Format and PC Zone say the 320MB version overclocks to be better than the 640MB version and is therefore better value for money.
So after we have decided which memory size, were onto the make. Foxconn? EVGA? which one? Not just those 2, there are LOADS. I will be running BF2142, Crysis, games like that.

Cheers!

 

[Heyyou27]

Battlefield 2/2142 will run on pretty much anything, and it's unlikely Crysis is going to run particularly well on either the Geforce 8 series or the Radeon 2900 series under Direct X10. Sure you can overclock the 8800GTS 320MB to be faster than the 640MB, but that card can overclock as well, and it's not like one overclocks higher than the other consistently. This is really a decision you need to make; is it worth the extra money for something you may not notice now? By the time you do notice the lack of memory, the card may not be fast enough for the games in the first place.

 

[tsf]

most companies follow the same nvidia reference card and have pretty much the same performance.
some companies have a few factory overclocked versions of the card, this is where they differ in performance.

another thing is software bundles. some offer great softwares while others dont. so be sure to check 'in the box' stuff.

the Foxconn FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC 8800 gts seems to be the greatest deal out there. get these if they r in stock (rarely!)!

 

[ikjadoon]

Whoever said that the 320MB overclocks higher is just plain wrong. The only thing it could be better at, even possibly, would be memory overclocks because of less chips, less variability, i.e. you'll only run as fast as the slowest memory chip.

Another reason why it might overclock better is because it was released later and may have a later revision of the core which usually overclocks higher.

Battlefield 2/2142 will run on pretty much anything, and it's unlikely Crysis is going to run particularly well on either the Geforce 8 series or the Radeon 2900 series under Direct X10.

Where did you hear that about Crysis? I've heard that it was developed on the 8800GTX or something close to it. Confused.

~Ibrahim~

 

[swifty_morgan]

read this over. Pretty good rub


http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/420/

 

[alabama619]

Nice! Helped alot. All the sites I saw about 8800's said lodas of different things and didnt asnwer my simple question, "Which will run games the best" lol.

The only bit I am worried about though is the bit about the 640MB version being better for crysis :?

 

[ikjadoon]

I don't want to dissuade you, but by Crysis, the 8900 series should be out. Or whatever the G80 refresh is.

The extra memory, AFAIK, is only worthwhile in higher-resolutions. It's not going to boost your FPS or let you get higher AA in lower resolutions versus the 320MB. I think.

~Ibrahim~

 

[red_devil]

I don't want to dissuade you, but by Crysis, the 8900 series should be out. Or whatever the G80 refresh is.

I think u mean the G92 or G90 (who cares?), which supposed to be released Q4 this year.


As for the OP, i suggest getting a cheap card that plays BF2142 well and selling it in a few months and buying whatever suits ur needs of the G90 or R700. From what i see in benchmarks, current gen cards just suck at DX10. the next gen would be much better as Nvidia and ATI get to optimise their architecture according to how developers use the current ones.


Get a 7900GS or X1950Pro, they both play most of today's games.

 

[ikjadoon]

I don't want to dissuade you, but by Crysis, the 8900 series should be out. Or whatever the G80 refresh is.

I think u mean the G92 or G90 (who cares?), which supposed to be released Q4 this year.


As for the OP, i suggest getting a cheap card that plays BF2142 well and selling it in a few months and buying whatever suits ur needs of the G90 or R700. From what i see in benchmarks, current gen cards just suck at DX10. the next gen would be much better as Nvidia and ATI get to optimise their architecture according to how developers use the current ones.


Get a 7900GS or X1950Pro, they both play most of today's games.

Hmm..I care. Thanks for asking. And G80 refresh = G90.

He mentioned that one of the games he'd like to play was Crysis, so I thought I'd throw in that G90 is coming out this fall/winter, so don't go all out on a 8800GTX/Ultra.

Current-gen cards suck at DX10? What DX10 game are you talking about? None have been released. All we have are some beta-coded demos that look nearly identical to their DX9-counterparts. I wouldn't call that DX10 any day.

Otherwise, if you can wait, those card choices are good. Don't go any higher, however, because then you'll get closer to the mainstream DX10 cards.

~Ibrahim~

 

[red_devil]

lol, the reason i said that cuz i don't know which one is the high end and which one is the mainstream, although i think the G92 is definitely the mainstream. , besides, refresh is just optimizing the current architecture, a whole new one is another thing :lol:


I know the DX10 games available now are just ports of DX9 games, they are not true DX10 games as these will take time to arrive, but these ports are he only things we are going to see until the G90 comes up (besides crysis if it doesn't get delayed) but why buy a good card now and be uncertain of it's performance when u can wait and buy a card that is guaranteed to de the job well (Unless he want to brag about being the first to play crysis )

almost all of the games today are DX9, and the 7900GS/X1950Pro should do the job well untill november.


again, these are all thoughts and the OP has the right to decide

 

[ikjadoon]

lol, the reason i said that cuz i don't know which one is the high end and which one is the mainstream, although i think the G92 is definitely the mainstream. , besides, refresh is just optimizing the current architecture, a whole new one is another thing :lol:


I know the DX10 games available now are just ports of DX9 games, they are not true DX10 games as these will take time to arrive, but these ports are he only things we are going to see until the G90 comes up (besides crysis if it doesn't get delayed) but why buy a good card now and be uncertain of it's performance when u can wait and buy a card that is guaranteed to de the job well (Unless he want to brag about being the first to play crysis )

almost all of the games today are DX9, and the 7900GS/X1950Pro should do the job well untill november.


again, these are all thoughts and the OP has the right to decide

Uh, I'm fairly certain the G90 is *not* a brand-new architecture. Yes, they're optimizing and I think there is a die-shrink in there, too. I actually like the idea of getting the X1950 Pro now, not bad of an idea at all. He might have to play at medium-to-high in the mean time, but fall is a few months away.

~Ibrahim~

 

[red_devil]

I didn't mean BRAND NEW architecture, that would cost millions, but i do get ur point. And I think the Die-shrink is to 65nm, but i'm not confident.



- off-topic: What do u use to cool that e6600? that's a very nice overclock.



Mohannad

 

[The_Abyss]

The G92 chip is the brand new architecture. And I doubt it will be out this year.

 

[red_devil]

I highly think they will, Nvidia are following a one year between products approach, and will be releasing there High-end cards every November, then the rest in April, this way seems to work best for them as the High end gives a "Halo" effect to the rest of the product line.

-Besides, they said their new chip would chip out Q4 this year, though i don't have the article's link.

 

[ikjadoon]

I didn't mean BRAND NEW architecture, that would cost millions, but i do get ur point. And I think the Die-shrink is to 65nm, but i'm not confident.



- off-topic: What do u use to cool that e6600? that's a very nice overclock.



Mohannad

Right. I think so, yeah, 65nm sounds right.

I'm fairly certain G90 is the refresh..

~Ibrahim~

P.S. Hehe, I didn't overclock it. It's done by Overdrive PC. They're using a Hyper TX with 92mm fan and four 120's on the Stacker's side. Two exhausts: one on top, one on back.