if 3870 and 8800gt cost the same

[thepinkpanther]

i never tried ati but have always liked them...some people say they have slightly better picture! So right now the price difference is no matter to me. If both the 8800gt and the ati 3870 cost the same which 1 should i go for? and why? (fan noise also not an issue)

 

[jsc]

Is your motherboard Crossfire or SLI capable?

 

[Onus]

It will depend a lot on what games you play. At the leading edge, the 8800GT performs better.

 

[blackened144]

Coming from an x1600Pro ATI card I can say that I have not noticed any difference in "picture quality" that most people complain about with Nvidia. My 8800GT looks just as good, if not better than my old ATi card. And I cant compare it to the 3870 personally but from the dozens of reviews Ive read, the 8800GT performs better period. Maybe doesnt win every game, but with AA and AF enabled it wins way more often than not and thats what really matters. Plus with my HR03-GT, I have my 8800GT oc'd to 730/1025, and thats higher than most sites where the 8800GT beats up on all of ATIs offerings. Best $259 Ive spent on my pc in a while.

 

[BustedSony]

i never tried ati but have always liked them...some people say they have slightly better picture! So right now the price difference is no matter to me. If both the 8800gt and the ati 3870 cost the same which 1 should i go for? and why? (fan noise also not an issue)

I'd go for the ATI. Having had both cards in the same system I can say that the picture quality of the 3870 is a bit better and frame rate differences aren't noticeable, particularly at 1920 X 1200 with AA enabled. Plus the ATI is the better multimedia card, it does a better job out of the box on DVDs, Blu-Ray, and AVI playback, and has overlay output to a second monitor, a capability which has been removed from the 8800-series. PLUS, 3870s in crossfire scale better and perform faster than 8800GTs in SLI. The 3870 is also quieter and cooler than the 8800GT without the overheating issues that have been reported for the Nvidia. The 3870 has it all.

 

[night_wolf_in]

ill go with 8800GT

 

[aklass]

With the filters turned on at AA i heard the 3870 beats the 8800gt. But for gaming i say 8800gt and for image quality 3870

 

[aklass]

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/607/5/ hd3870 wins some lose some

 

[rodney_ws]

You sound like an educated buyer, but it is worth mentioning that there is now a 256 MB version of the 8800 GT... so just because you see an 8800 GT at or below the 3870 doesn't always mean it's a good deal. Just something to keep in mind in case an 8800 GT is on your Christmas list.

 

[pauldh]

8800GT 512MB over HD3870 for me. HD3870 over 8800GT 256MB for sure though.

Keep your eye out for bestbuy to get the 3870 in stock. They have the 3850 for $160, and the 3870 will be $215 when it comes in stock.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8636666&st=visiontek&type=product&id=1194053242087
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8636657&productCategoryId=abcat0507002&type=product&tab=2&id=1194053242019

 

[gwolfman]

If you have a crossfire motherboard, get two of the 3870s, if not, get the 8800GT 512MB.

 

[mihirkula]

Strongly agree with gwolfman.

But if you want to consider saving $50, get two 3850s. Crossfire with 3850 is like a beautiful dream. It's a great deal in terms of bang for buck. I suggest you check out this link.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/607/8/

Also make sure you have a good PSU before buying a GPU.

 

[skittle]

and has overlay output to a second monitor, a capability which has been removed from the 8800-series.

Sorry but your sadly mistaken.

 

[quantumsheep]

Word.

 

[OOOwatah]

Personally I use my PC for more than gaming, so the 3870 is going in my machine this holiday season.

 

[cleeve]

Personally I use my PC for more than gaming, so the 3870 is going in my machine this holiday season.

I'm curious as to what you mean by this... how is the 3870 better than the 8800 GT for non-gaming apps?

 

[panzer948]

I'm curious as to what you mean by this... how is the 3870 better than the 8800 GT for non-gaming apps?

Bump. I will also need my computer for HD video editing and Photoshop. So I am very curious about which one of these cards performs better at non-gaming apps.

 

[cleeve]

Well, that's why I asked. In Photoshop or HD video editing, it shouldn't make a lick of difference.

The only place where the 8800 GT might be worse is playing back HD video - like an HD-DVD or Blu-ray - and that's only in Windows XP.
The 8x00 series will ACCELERATE video in XP, but they don't apply image quality enhancements like noise reduction. In Vista, the 8x00 series will apply image quality enhancements to HD video.

Other than that, the 8800 GT should be just as good as the 3870 in non-gaming apps.

 

[Maziar]

8800GT

 

[bildo123]

I would say 8800GT. I bought an aftermarket cooler for it for $17 the AC Accelero S2. I then overclocked it to 700/1950. Runs amazing. Only problem I have to say is the SHSF on the 8800GT is garbage. The 3870 packs a nice punch but not for the $270 gouged price that it is at most places.

 

[thepinkpanther]

GREAT!!! i was hoping for ati to gain some ground over here but looks like 8800gt sounds alot better...i dont like it! whats Nvidias angle?!? how can they make cards like that? they only way ill buy ati next week is if 8800gt is sold out

 

[Pollux]

Already picked the GT at a higher price, so why shouldn't I pick it if they were both at the same price

 

[BustedSony]

"BustedSony wrote :

and has overlay output to a second monitor, a capability which has been removed from the 8800-series."

Sorry but your sadly mistaken.

Heheh, second monitor overlay mirroring most definitely does not exist on the 8800, that's specifically why I replaced it with an HD2400 then 3870..

"Notes from Nvidia Control Panel Help File under full-screen video:

Full-screen video mirroring is not available for GeForce 8 series and later GPUs "

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin...std_adp.php?p_faqid=2011&p_created=1169076830

http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t49636.html

 

[Blackra1n]

I have a CF board and fan noise is an issue for me... but I would rather have a noisy sytem than a fried system... the 3870 also oc's pretty good anyway... HIS Hightech also makes great cards with awesome coolers (36C idle right now on X1950PRO) and they have ATi only it seems

 

[honestjohn_]

If both the 8800gt and the ati 3870 cost the same which 1 should i go for? and why? (fan noise also not an issue)

If cost is not and issue, then the answer is easy. The 8800GT overall is the faster card and I haven't found one review that says the contrary. The HD 3870 is a very, very, close second however and I don't think you would be disappointed with either card. However, I still voted for the 8800GT, and out of my last 8 cards, 6 of them were ATI.