Do I "NEED" a 8800GT from a 7800GT?

The 7800GT is a very strong card,contrary to what some would say.I suspect you should be able to play HL2 at max settings.I own two 7800GT's,bothe are from EVGA and they are great cards especialy in an SLI configuration.I would only upgrade if you need to or really want to.But hey,if you got the money,go for it.It never hurts having a better video card.Goodluck.The 8800GT would be a solid step-up from the 7800GT,and it would allow you to play the newest games that are out.

Dahak

M2N32-SLI DELUXE WE
X2 5600+ STOCK (2.8GHZ)
2X1GIG DDR2 800 IN DUAL CHANNEL
TOUGHPOWER 850WATT PSU
EVGA 7950 GX2 550/1400
SMILIDON RAIDMAX GAMING CASE
ACER 22IN WS LCD 1680X1050
250GIG HD/320GIG HD
G5 GAMING MOUSE
WIN XP MCE SP2

I already run Half-Life 2 at 1920x1200 on high at 2x AA and 8x AF and it runs fine for me. My processor is only an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ too.

Based on the demo, Crysis in DX9 still looks pretty good. With a hack, you can enable DX10 features in XP. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/?p=522

hmmm i would get the 8800gt as the 7800gtx isnt really good card. i have the x1950 pro which is better than the 7800xt as games strugle ie crysis. even though i have an e6850 so if you want to play games for teh presnt i would get the 8800gt its cheap also.

Hi, my 8800 has just arrived replacing my 7800GT which I have had for some time.

Ran 3DMark06 before and after swapping the cards

7800GT: 3983
8800GT: 11617

Fair improvement I'd say though I'm not sure if I should be getting worried about the GPU temps as they reached 90C by the end of the test. :s

Stoo

hl2 isn't very video demanding, go to 8800GT when you want to play crysis

Smart move!

You never need to upgrade. We could all still be running the ATi 7XXX series cards. But then how would we run Crysis?

I believe you already answered your own question. No you don't .....

If you are content with what you have then wait. Computer parts are never a good investment. Very similar to buying a car they always depreciate in value as time passes. And as time goes on newer more powerful components come out for the same price. I suspect after the 8800GT and AMD launch really gets rolling this month that you will see a substantial drop in price on directx 10 cards.

So like I said if your living happy there is no harm in waiting.

THANKS! you guys made up my mind. The card has served me well for almost 2 years. Thanks for all the insight

Sorry yes I'm going to wait until the next gen hi end.

I'd upgrade. I've been a 7800GT owner since Oct of 2005 and until this summer my card has handled every game at max settings. I started seeing the grey hairs show on my card when i started beta'ing Tabula Rasa. My card couldnt run that game at max settings. It was the first time EVER in two years i had to dumb down my settings. Then there came BioShock. Again, my card couldnt handle the game at max settings. I had to play around with dumbing down texture and shadow details. Also beta'ed MOH: Airbourne which struggled a bit also. BTW my gamer rig is clean, i only have games installed on it and photo editing software. I only turn this rig on when using any of those programs so it isn't cluttered with garbage like adware lurking in the shadows. Then came a lil game that blew my card's brain's out. You all know it.... C-R-Y-(yes i did cry)-S-I-S. Now in my card's defence my 7800GT handles the SP game with straight medium settings @ 1600 x 1200 with no AA very well. The cutscenes is where it got a bit choppy and sluggish but gameplay wise it handled the game great. My card also can chew up the COD4 demo as well at max settings with no issues. UT3 eta runs GREAT without not one bottle necking glitch. But ya know a 7800GT card is only 256MB big and i think the bottle necking is happening there cause as more and more games are putting in DX10 features in games and asking for higher gpu memory, a 256 card, 2 years old for that matter, are slowly going to start getting phased out. With the 8800GT's being as cheap as they are i'd buy one. The EVGA 8800GT SSC is about $300 bucks and that is the top of the line card in that model. I bet you paid more for your 7800GT back in '05 so if were you i'd upgrade.

my new 8800GT is considerably faster than my ATI x1900GT. Games do look a lot better with all the options on high as opposed to medium.

I was in the same boat as you, I took the plunge and went from an EVGA 7800GT to a EVGA 8800GT , 3dmark06 went from 4096 to 11851

And COH in DX10 is amazing

It's all personal choice but in my opinion, you did answer your own question in the opening post.

You don't need to upgrade if you are getting a good experience from the game you are playing.

Personally, I am upgrading (got an 8800gt on order) to replace my 7800gtx as multiplayer Call of Duty 4 is a bit choppy. Ok, so I can play on lower settings but then it's like a different game. Also winning 1vs1 close quarter battles is more of a lottery with lower fps.

** to the person who played the CoD4 demo at max with a 7800gt with no probs - sorry but I find that hard to comprehend - even my card was struggling at the end (bog) scene! Plus, I only play @ 1680x1050 and not 1600x1200 as you are supposedly using. Type in the console /cg_drawfps 1 and let us all know your average fps is please to back up that statement **

Back to the original poster, upgrade as and when the games you play are not satisfying you. Let the graphics card manufacturers flog their kit to the benchmark lovers instead. If everyone did that, the prices may drop ( not gonna hold my breath though )

Don't spend money needlessly. If your current card is fine, then wait until YOU decide that it is just not doing it anymore. After all, GPU's will only get better, and prices will only get better too.

I see several posts like "oh do it! I upgraded and my new card is so much faster" well duh, no one will argue that an 8800 series card is going to smack the pants off of a 7800 series card. Seriously, some of you guys sound like car salesman. The lady with 4 kids needs a $20,000 minivan, and you all take her straight to the $60,000 Porshe and proclaim "buy this one because it is so much faster!"

But if you don't need it, you don't need it. Wait until you decide you do, and then get the best you can for the money you have to spend.

Wait until you actually need a better graphic card or starts to play Crysis on full settings.

Truth be known I heard all the hoopla about bioshock only running on high end cards, i have a x2 5600, 2gig memory , and a 7600gt, and it ran great only slowed down once or twice on the demo. I havent been happier with a card since by beloved 9600xt, the 7600gt plays all my emulated games and even newer mame games, so im cool for now, I want to concentrate on more memory 4gb, and quad core, more so than the video card it will be the last on my upgrade list. Btw, I know this isnt the thread for it, but is there a fix to allow 4gb to run on xp pro with sp2, Im also getting another hard drive and installing vista 64 home premium on my next upgrade. But back to the op, I would definanately wait, we geeks are to quick to whip out a charge card and worry about the logic of the upgrade later.

Well I think its the games I'm playing. Currently hooked on TF2 I love it. and its not graphic intensive. I don't have AA turned on. For HL2 its always so dark I don't even notice the details when I'm playing...

But I will be upgrading after Christmas either SLI 8800GT/Crossfire 3870 or depending on the news of the next gen card. I also switched to a smaller 21 inch down to 1680.

Side note: I used the money I saved on a trip to Thailand. hahaha