Its been many hours, and I STILL cant make up my mind!

[bildo123]

Im going to do a completely new build from the ground up. Right now im running a 3400+,1.5gigs ddr2700,and a 9800 pro....ya, It is time. Im going to do the magical 3.0Ghz OC'd e2160 deal with 2 gigs of Patriot mem(PDC22G6400LLK) and a nice Gigabyte board(GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L), then it eventually came down to the final decision....the video card. I've been reading articles for almost 2-3+ hours and I still cannot make up my mind. Im either set on buying a 1950 pro 512mb for what I see $155, or should I get a 8600GTS for about $130...I read a review that someone just replaced it from there 1950 pro...Hmm should I go for the 8600GTS, price looks amazing, I read from others that the drivers are getting better, and its very comparable to the 1950pro... Im lost, im leaning towards the 8600GTS though...Another thing to what are you opnions on 256 vs 512 memory sizes? I read benchmarks/articles that completely contridict everything, the longer I researched the worse it got, Also lets say I do get a 8600GTS, wont DX10 performence be medium at best? But I figure might as well have the DX10 support if it performs close to the same, maybe slightly less than a 1950 pro..I dunno im confused...

 

[chookman]

Wait and see what the 8800GT does to the pricing on the 8800series you might find that the 8800GTS will come down/up in price and youll find buying one of those will only be a little more than the 8600 which is not a good gaming card.

 

[nukchebi0]

Agreed.

 

[tlmck]

I definitely would not buy a 9800 pro as it is outdated tech. Still OK if needed as a replacement on an old system, but way overpriced at $150.

 

[maswift]

Unless you're set on a DX10 card, I'd go for the X1950, which performs better right now and is a very popular choice.

If you're still not sure, I'd probably wait and see what happens when the new card comes out, which is what I'm probably going to do myself.

 

[lunyone]

Wait a couple of weeks for the 8800gt's to come out. Then you'll hopefully be able to make a better and more informed decision. If you can wait until later in Nov. you could possibly see the AMD's newer versions come out. Then you'd have both parties involved in a price war. Not that prices will change too much, but you'll have the newer and cooler GPU's available.
Could you post your eventual system specs? I'm really interested in what PSU you have selected for your build.

 

[systemlord]

Stay away from the 8600 series and wait for the 8800GT or get the 8800GTS.

 

[hFIKz]

I agree with chookman.

Just wait and see what the 8800gt does with the pricing and then you can decide which card you want to get.

 

[justinmcg67]

It comes out next Monday...wait. You won't be disappointed.

 

[bildo123]

First I apologize for putting in '9800 Pro 512MB' for the new card to get, I meant 1950 Pro

But This will be my entire build, remember though I put money before performence, Also im at most running 1280x1024 because of my LCD monitor.But this is it.

PSU: Thermaltake W0100RU 500W
MEM: 2G(2x1gb) ddr2800 (4-4-4-12)
CPU:Intel e2180 (gonna try to OC it to 3.2~3.4 )
Mobo:Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
V-Card: I was gonna lay the judgement on the MSI NX8600GTS OC, and then OC it some more when I got it...But since this '8800gt' might make the money market sway a little bit, In meantime though I'm very confident I will get everything with the exception of the V-card

The MSI 8600GTS is $130 AR
The Sapphire 1950 PRO 512Mb is $155
BTW all this (without V-card and after rebates)

$295.30 Shipped
I already have a case/DVD-RW and a Raptor 74 HDD so as I said I like to get a bang for my buck and reuse what I can, including my 7 year old case

Also please, applause, criticism, tips, notes, opinions are all welcome.

 

[lunyone]

Just remember that the mobo only has 1 EIDE port, so if you have 3 PATA drives, you won't be able to hook them all up. Just letting you know that before you buy.

 

[bildo123]

Just remember that the mobo only has 1 EIDE port, so if you have 3 PATA drives, you won't be able to hook them all up. Just letting you know that before you buy.

Ah close one, but my Raptor is on SATA, I just use my other HDD and DVD/RW on the same channel, most of the hardcore stuff/games are gonna be on the raptor anyways. Thanks for watchin out though.

 

[bildo123]

Im actually looking even more into this, with the '8800gt' into the mix. From some benchmarks (in Japanese)I see it performs better than a 8800gts but less than a 8800gtx, problem is the slower 8800gts is at the Least from what I saw $250 dollars after a rebate, now lets say when 8800gt releases, how much will the price drop on the gts? or for that matter will it even effect the 8600gts, or make it even worth considering? Im guessing at Most the 8800gts will be maybe $200 after some deal when the GT comes out, even still I really didnt plan on spending $200 on the video card...

Opinions anyone?

 

[aevm]

I read somewhere that the 8800 gt will cost $250. Just rumor of course. If it's true, and the 8800 gt really beats the 8800 gts, then the 8800 gt will be much better value than anything else on the market IMO.

 

[james_8970]

This is where the rumors don't make any sense, why would Nvidia release a card that performs better then the GTS at a lower price. They wouldn't and won't because it'd be hurting themselves, because they would be competiting with themselves.
If they do, do this, Nvidia has lost it.
James

 

[mactronix]

I may have missed it but i haven't seen an OS listed yet. Are you putting Vista on the PC ? otherwise it wont run DX10 anyway.
You may already know this but you would be amazed at the number of threads that get to about 1/2 pages and then some one mentions which version of vista will be used and then its all ...Oh Crap i only have XP!
Just thought i would mention it.
Mactronix

 

[aevm]

This is where the rumors don't make any sense, why would Nvidia release a card that performs better then the GTS at a lower price. They wouldn't and won't because it'd be hurting themselves, because they would be competiting with themselves.
If they do, do this, Nvidia has lost it.
James

Well, it depends. If the die-shrink allows nVidia to make the 8800 GT at a lower cost than the 8800 GTS, then they can sell it for less than the 8800 GTS while maintaining the same profit. If they raise the price too much they lower the number of sales, and that's bad for them. What they really want is to maximize the (number of sales)*(profit per sale). Also, if this can push ATI into bankruptcy or drastically increase nVidia's market share, that's also good for nVidia, even if short-term profits are lower. Look, I'm not saying it makes sense, but it might.

 

[james_8970]

-Firstly, Nvidia would not want ATI to go into bancruptcy for the same reasons Intel wouldn't want AMD to.
-Secondly, even if it's cheaper to produce, Nvidia will still want to sell the GTS's. Therefor if the GT is cheaper and performs better then the GTS, there is no market for the GTS.
So no, it doesn't make sense.
James

 

[bildo123]

I guess I will have to fall victim with M$'s muhahah no vista no dx10 evil plan . So I will be running Vista with this new build, and I assure you I'm probbobly going to be spending more time disabling useless features than building this thing. But, with everything said, Im still leaning towards the schweet MSI NX8600GTS OC, that heatsink is amazing, read from many although its already OC'd it can still be OC some more, and for $130. I have never spent over $200 on a V-card, and frankly, I really never want to fall into that. After all im trying to make a $80 cpu do the work of a ~$200 cpu. I really cant concieve how people can spend half a thousand dollars on a video card. So bottom,line should I be the cheap-o that I am and just shove my 8600gts, or wait and see if this 8800gt messes around with prices, I really dont think even after release that any 88xx series will be under 200, in that case I will go with the 8600GTS, afterall im only doing 1280x1024, I can live without AA/AF if I need to,but at 1280 I think a 8600 can handle it, if I can then good enough. Also im doing this new build mostly for Hellgate:London, but I have a few other games Im willing to buy now that I could run it with most settings close to maxxed.If it hovers above 24FPS min, then I'll be fine. After all I've been playing pretty intense slideshows for awhile now with my 9800pro

 

[aevm]

Sorry man, but Hellgate:London recommends 8800 series cards for DX10.
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pr...angid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10094685&catid=11127

I've got the card for it ($750, including taxes), but I probably won't even buy the game after all.
http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/34926/Hellgate-London-Includes-Adware

 

[mactronix]

I understand where you are coming from and the answer to your question is yes definatly wait and see what happens to the prices after the 8800gt is released.
I have seen a couple of previews and specs and if they are right then the new cards will come inside your price range any way and should (again only going on info seen)so no gaurantees be better than the 8600.
Mactronix

 

[bildo123]

Well It looks like I'll do just that. I ordered everything with the exception of the video card.Afterall that 500W Thermaltake for $35 AR is a steal, got scared if it was gonna go away. Now I'll just have to sit, wait, and watch the show. But this post is still far from over, at least until the end of the month, then I'll let you guys know what card I got and what kind of frames im gonna be pushing out.

 

[Hatman]

-Firstly, Nvidia would not want ATI to go into bancruptcy for the same reasons Intel wouldn't want AMD to.
-Secondly, even if it's cheaper to produce, Nvidia will still want to sell the GTS's. Therefor if the GT is cheaper and performs better then the GTS, there is no market for the GTS.
So no, it doesn't make sense.
James

Which is why they are going to scrap the 8800gts and as far as I know, start producing it with just 640mb and up its SP's from 96 to 112.

Even then its performance for shading wont equal the theoretical performance for shaders with 8800gt, but thats about all the GT would win in if those specs were true.

 

[james_8970]

I'm talking about current GPU's, who knows what the future will bring. For all we know Nvidia might plan on burning all the GT's (ATI may have caused the fire) or change the name to fool around with your head.
Basically I basing my information on what is currently on the market, not on the future. It sounds likely that Nvidia will scrap the lower 8800GTS, only time will tell.....
James

 

[Hatman]

No, they are scrapping the 8800gts. 8800gt is very close in performance at a MUCH cheaper cost, and its low power needs along with single slot appeal to the buyer.

"You can get that 8800gt, OR you can get this, it doesn't perform as well, it gets extremely hot and needs lots of space and power, oh and it costs more and we get less profit because ATI is guna kick our butts with their 55nm low cost cards!"

I don't think so.

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(rite there goes my 3posting days off of doing absolutly nothing just chilling, back to exercise tomorrow so no more excessive posts by me! )