8800GTS 320 or 640?

[sacoops]

Hi everyone. I have a 22 inch monitor at a res of 1680x1050. If i wanted to play up to date games at max settings at that resolution would the 320mb version cut the mustard or would i be better off with the 640?

Also what PSU would i need to have and could you recommend a couple which will work well with it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[homerdog]

At that res it's a toss up, especially with the new cards supposedly coming in November. If you're planning on keeping it for a while I'd go ahead and spend the extra for the 640MB. If you think you might upgrade again within a year i.e. eVGA's Step Up program, I'd say that the 320MB will be fine.

It's difficult to make a PSU recommendation without knowing the rest of your specs, but if you're not planning on using SLI or anything crazy like that these models should be sufficient:

Corsair 450w: This is truly a great PSU. Don't be mislead my the low 450W rating, this baby has more than enough juice to handle any system with a single GPU, even the HD2900.

Fortron 450W: Not as strong as the Corsair, but significantly cheaper.

Be sure to check out other sites, I just linked to Newegg for convenience, but you can probably find these cheaper elsewhere.

 

[Maziar]

8800GTS 640

 

[kcrush]

You play games? 8800 GTS 640.

Current and future games will eat up as much ram on the video card as you got so give it a lot.

If you plan on upgrading your system, start with a 600w or better power supply.

But as homerdog says it kinda depends on what your specs are. I am presuming the computer is fairly modern. The 450w powersupply would fuel it nicely but it doesn't leave room for future upgrades that maybe power hungry. If you upgrade from the GTS to the Ultra or the GTX then the 450w won't do.

 

[Badarthur]

Alot of us bought the 320 Evga 8800GTS and are doing fine. I play fear MOH-Airborn and a few other 's when the games auto detect to high I go in and set everything beck to medium and eveything look's grate. The middle road isint really a good option as you dont have any more processor to run the extra ram and that aint such a good idea.

I dont have a 640 so I cant compare the 2 togeather but alot of us OC'ers and Gamer's are running 22in Viewsonic's at your res 1680X1050 and it look's grate. I bought a Antec 2 550 duall rail Psu and am doing ok on that one to. As I have a Opty-170 set to 2.8 from 2.0 and that take's a solid psu without the juce you would just burn it up. Dont cheap out on the Power supply it will cost you. BA

 

[sacoops]

Ok so it sounds like the 640 is my option if i want to play on max settings. Which cards are coming out in November? Is it just Nvidia that are releasing new ones?

 

[cleeve]

at 1680x1050 I don't know if there's a game out there the 8800 GTS 320 can't handle. Even could probably handle 4xAA at that res.

The 640MB card might be more futureproof, but that's mostly a guess. The 640MB card's strangth is beyond the 1600x1200 resolution.

 

[fletch420]

the 640 is a grat card.
enjoy it
cheers

 

[ryanthesav]

get the

 

[ryanthesav]

64

 

[ryanthesav]

0!

 

[nickr336]

Also, consider Factory Overclocked models. 320MB OC would perform better than regular 640MB. There is no game out there that would benefit from the extra 320MB of memory. We will see if Crysis can benefit from it on September 25 when the demo comes out. My advice is get EVGA 320MB OC. With the step-up program, you will be able to upgrade within 90 days. So, if say in 3 months from now, the price of 640MB drops $100, you will be able to upgrade from 320MB to 640MB for free.

 

[Maziar]

wrong about there is no game that would benefit from extra 320

GRAW1-GRAW2-DOOM3 , need 512MB to run @ ULTRA

 

[Ananan]

Also, consider Factory Overclocked models. 320MB OC would perform better than regular 640MB. There is no game out there that would benefit from the extra 320MB of memory. We will see if Crysis can benefit from it on September 25 when the demo comes out. My advice is get EVGA 320MB OC. With the step-up program, you will be able to upgrade within 90 days. So, if say in 3 months from now, the price of 640MB drops $100, you will be able to upgrade from 320MB to 640MB for free.

I'm not so sure the step up works like that. When I bought my 320 from Evga I checked it out out of curiosity and the step up price was a flat fee independent of market prices.

I think it was $100 to upgrade to 640 and $200 to upgrade to GTX.

But with a monitor maxing at 1680x1050 there is nothing I need the 640 for.

 

[nickr336]

Maybe I am missing something. Here is what the evga website says:

Anytime within the first 90 days after your original date of purchase you can step up your video card to a new card graphics card from our website at http://evga.com/products/ of greater value. You are required to pay the difference between your original invoice price, less any applicable rebates, and the price of the new card, plus any applicable tax and shipping.

So, say 3 months from now, you go to
http://evga.com/products/ and find 640MB card and it's $100 cheaper than it is now, you basically get a free upgrade. I paid $300 for my 320MB card. 640MB is currently at $400.

 

[sacoops]

Is that available to UK residents as well? Also what new cards will be coming out this year and how will they compare to the 8800GTX ultra?

 

[nickr336]

Here is what the EVGA website says:

The EVGA Step-up™ Program is limited to residents of the Continental US, Canada and Europe only.

I guess it is available in the UK.

 

[cleeve]

GRAW1-GRAW2-DOOM3 , need 512MB to run @ ULTRA

Ultra is a texture resolution thing, not a monitor resolution thing.

The 640 will be able to use higher texture sets without a penalty, but the 320 will still be able to handle a high resolution with the HIGH detail texture set.

In the future this might be a bigger deal than it is today, but for the next year and some a 320MB card is certainly sufficient. By the time 512MB it's absolutely needed, it'll be time to upgrade again anyway.

 

[Ananan]

Maybe I am missing something. Here is what the evga website says:

Anytime within the first 90 days after your original date of purchase you can step up your video card to a new card graphics card from our website at http://evga.com/products/ of greater value. You are required to pay the difference between your original invoice price, less any applicable rebates, and the price of the new card, plus any applicable tax and shipping.

So, say 3 months from now, you go to
http://evga.com/products/ and find 640MB card and it's $100 cheaper than it is now, you basically get a free upgrade. I paid $300 for my 320MB card. 640MB is currently at $400.

Yeah - but you have to pay their price. Not just a newegg price you found.

I just checked again. I was wrong about the GTX. Their price is listed at $600, not $500. You can find a GTX for around $480 on Newegg.

There won't be any free cards coming from Evga.

 

[spuddyt]

its still a company... what do you expect?

 

[Ananan]

I guess I'm still mad at them for trying to bilk me out of $50 to step up from a 7600 GT KO to a different 7600 GT.

And then not responding to any of my e-mails looking for some sort of explanation.

I will give them this - they're much more clear about what card you're stepping up to now.