8800gts 640mb vs 2900xt?

goldenboy

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Ok so i have checked out these cards in detail and they seem pretty close in terms of out of the box performance.
I am ready to buy one of them and was just wandering if anyone has anything to add in regards to these products.
I am gaming on a 22"widescreen at 1600*1050 and will probably be adding my own cooling to the card and overclocking it fairly agressively. Bare in mind that where I live the 2900 retails for the equivelent of about 25$ less than the 8800.Thanks
 

vonwombat

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The 2900XT was quite bad at the beginning, but with the latest drivers it comes close to a GTX in some tests. At least the reviews tell that. There's no clear winner between the two though, and it's mainly a matter of personal preference. The 2900 also runs very hot and takes up a lot of power. Also we don't know how each card will behave under DX10. I'd go with the 8800, the 2900 seems a bit too uncertain, good performance in some games, but quite bad in others.
One more thing. I see you got an 7900GT, which is quite a good card and will hold up a few more months. You could wait until november and get the new Nvidia cards that are coming out then, they will be much better than current ones.
 
I would go with the 8800 as you plan to o/c they are supposed to be capable of getting quite close to gtx standard.
As has been said the 2900 is a bit of an uncertanty as of yet the drivers are getting better with every relaese but i worry about the heat and power (a lot) issues i keep reading about.
Worth bearing in mind if you are posting from n/america that xfx offer a double life time gaurantee that covers o/cing as well.
Also if thats not an option then the evga step up program may be worth concidering i dont know if any of the ati partners run anything similar?
Mactronix
 

goldenboy

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Im actually posting from South Africa,so that sucks.But thanks guys,Im actually currently leaning toward the 2900,but im uncertain.the power and heat issues dont really concern me unless the they will affect its overclocking potential.I have considered holding out but my 7900 just is not performing at 1600*1050 and im anticipating bioshock.ill probably pwn it off in 6months and get a new high end card.
 


Agreed. I'd keep the 7900 GT until November, even if it means lowering the resolution or settings. Bioshock may be delayed like Age of Conan :cry:
 

Hatman

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When people say "heat and power issues" it doesnt mean itll brake mate.

It means it uses a fair bit and gets quite hot, but it doesnt get unusually hot, it gets as hot as a Ultra or some GTX's.

Does use quite a bit of power though.


The 2900xt has much mroe "potential" then the 8800gts 640mb. With teh new beta drivers out it's AA is MUCH MUCH better, and those are beta's and the future updates will still help it even more, until it probably does rival a GTX I expect.

Go with the 2900xt. Either card performs brilliantly, I expect like with DX9 the 2900xt will start off quite bad with DX10, but in the end it'll reach the same level of performance as a GTS.

edit: jsut saw u put that you have a 7900GT, id keep that until the new ATI/NVIDIA cards come out. if anything it'll knock GTX's way down in price. Personally im not guna upgrade til the dual ATI R670 comes out.
 

vonwombat

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Bioshock is gold, and will come out in 9 days. But his card should kill the game under DX9, and since there won't be major differences in quality between DX9 and DX10 in Bioshock, he may as well stick with it.

 

spuddyt

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so thats your choice according to the forum, between the 2 options you put forward they choose.... (drum roll) NEITHER! lol (thats not meant to be offensive btw, I don't think anyone should take it amiss)
 

San Pedro

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Wait till bioshock comes out (since as someone said its only 9 days away) and see how your current card plays it or look up benchies to see how the 8800s and 2900s perform.
 

DuncanMcCloud

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Im in SA, got an lg 22 inch and an evga 8800gts 640. Im pretty happy with it. My card cost me about R3800 (i imported it from the usa....rather get it locally now...customs zapped me....)
 

goldenboy

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yea i think im gona wait until bioshock is released and find out which card plays it best.thanks san pedro.oh and duncan mccloud,there is a shop in randburg which sells pc stuff at ridiculously good prices.they selling the 8800gts640 for around R3700 and the 2900 for about R3400.they also sell cpus,ram etc at amazing prices,pm me if you want details,dont think advertising is allowed on here
 
I'm sure you are allowed to post the store's URL. Most threads here contain URLs to newegg for example, and newegg is not paying us to do that. Too bad, in fact... They should at least have coupons for THG members :)
 

SEALBoy

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I would say go with the 2900XT. The only problem with it is that it will fall a bit behind the 8800GTS when you crank up AA, but otherwise it should be slightly faster.

The bigger reason that you should go for the 2900XT is that it will scale better than the 8800GTS in DX10.
 

GeoMan

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Personally I'm waiting till there are a couple DX10 games out, and the next set of nVidia cards. Right now the memory allocation problem with the 8800 chips would scare me away from buying one, and the new drivers on the 2900 really make it kick ***.

So personally I'd wait, but if forced I'd get the 2900XT

P.S. where in RSA you from goldenboy, I'm sitting in a very wintery CT.

P.P.S goldenboy and DuncanMcCloud, check out take.2.co.za and bluesting.co.za, they're generally pretty good
 

Cpt_wuggles

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agreed. :lol:
 

Cpt_wuggles

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agreed. :lol:
 

GeoMan

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nope, it's a double post, I'm getting to see the violent carnage of many little stick men to. Don't worry spud, it's not just you.
 
To the OP, Id wait as well for the game to come out. But actually the 2900 is the better card, and from what Ive seen posted, its 300 R cheaper, then there you have it. There are few games where the 8800 will outperform the 2900, and any benches that are out are useless until you factor in the latest drivers, where the 2900 recieves a signicant boost, and may 2 more releases where youll see this kind of increase. To me, a 2900 is cheaper than a 8800GTS,get the 2900, its a no brainer
 

Dahak

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Eithewr card works well for games.There are no real discernable differences between them except for slightly higher frame rates from the 2900.ATI has always had a slight edge for detail over NVIDIA,but all in all,both cards work very well for the money,and I believe it comes down to simple preference.The 8800GTX on the other hand,beats the pants of the 2900 hands down.So I would recommend the GTX.However,you only want the difference between the GTS version of the 8800 and the 2900 version from ATI.Bothe are fairly evenly matched as far as performance goes,so hence,the personal prefernce I spoke of earlier.Goodluck.

Dahak

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At this point I would suggest the 2900 as its the only new GPU said to be DX10.1 compatible. Vista is set to make DX10.1 for SP1 so I guess its a little more future proof.
 

wingless

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The 2900 is not DX10.1 compatible because it simply doesn't have Shader Model 4.1. Actually no card made actually supports all the DX10.1 features. However you do not have to ditch your DX10 card when 10.1 comes out.

Heres a link explaining it all:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20070815123340.html

The 2900XT offers a badass feature if you plan on overclocking though. You can change the voltages with ATI Tool 0.27 Beta!!! It has several voltage controls the core, memory, and memory output buffers. It overclocks like a charm because the cooler has a 25 watt fan that can flow any CFM you would reasonably need.