Is this a good vid card?

[ddasilva]

Hi Everyone,

I was going to buy a 8800GT for $249CAD when I found this card:

BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC nVidia GeForce 8800GTS Chipset (550MHz) Shader Clock (1300MHz) 640MB (1.6GHz) PCI-Express Graphic Card 96 Stream Processor Shader Model 4.0 2x Dual-Link DVI-I HDTV TV-Out Support HDCP DirectX 10 SLI-Ready Built for Windows Vista

http://canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=012547&cid=999.243.390

Do you think it is a good buy or am I safer to go with the 8800GT seen here?
http://canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=016647&cid=999.243.390


Thanks,
D

 

[lostandwandering]

The G92 8800GT is a better card IMO. You may want to try and find one with an improved dual slot cooler since the GT runs a little warm. This would also be a good option: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3510472&CatId=1826

 

[ddasilva]

fantastic advice! thank you.
The card I referenced above is 640MB but the one you reffered me to is 512MB ... could you please advise why you chose a card with less ram?

Is the 8800GTS a worse performing card compared to the 8800GT?

 

[lostandwandering]

The G92 architecture is superior to the G80 used in the 640mb version. Yes, the 8800GT is a superior card to the GTS 640. The GTS 512mb is a better card than both the 640 and the GT. Sorry should have posted a link supporting that.

GT vs GTS 640 (both in blue):
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=707&model2=1057&chart=318

review of GT vs GTS 512:
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1237/2/page_2_test_system_setup_and_3dmark05/index.html

 

[4745454b]

Why do we use the slower clocked C2Ds instead of the faster clocked 9xx Pentium series? You CAN NOT look at only one part of a device and decide how it would perform. Just because X has more of Z then Y does, doesn't mean its going to perform better.

Why has the meghertz myth only been broken for CPUs? Why do people think that because X video card has more memory, it must be faster? Or X CPU has more L2 cache, it must be faster? Why do people believe that the raptor is faster just because it spins at 10,000RPMs? Or that its slower because it uses SATA instead of SATA300/SATA2? It seems that most people have figured out that CPU frequency isn't everything, but it also seems to stop there. Folks, the same reasons apply to everything else. Sure, the 8800GT has less ram. But for the card you linked, it also has more shaders, allowing it to do more work.[/rant]

 

[ddasilva]

Thank you for your thoughts. I am very surprised to see the new GTS is not as good as its predessor the GT. Could someone advise why the GTS is not a great performer like the GT?

 

[lostandwandering]

I see whats going on here. You got your cards mixed up. The 8800GTS 640mb is the original GTS. The 8800GT and GTS 512mb are newer cards that use a new core (G92 compared to G80) and also have more stream processors. As 4745454b stated, memory isn't everything any more than clock speeds are.

The new performance scheme looks like this:
8800GTS 320 (G80)< 8800GTS 640(G80)< 8800GT 512(G92) < 8800GTS 512 (G92)

 

[ddasilva]

Thanks for clarifying. The 8800GTS 512mb is a better card stock compared to the 8800GT 512mb, however, the 800GT is better performing than the GTS.

Could you please advise why someone would rather go to the 8800GTS over the 8800GT?

 

[Kari]

it's faster... lol

and those old cards (8800GTS 320/640) are being phased out, not sure if they are even making them anymore

 

[mtyermom]

Thanks for clarifying. The 8800GTS 512mb is a better card stock compared to the 8800GT 512mb, however, the 800GT is better performing than the GTS.

Could you please advise why someone would rather go to the 8800GTS over the 8800GT?

You're still confusing the OLD 8800GTS 640MB with the NEW 8800GTS 512MB.

The 8800GTS 640MB has the OLD core (G80)

The 8800GTS 512MB has the NEW core (G92)


The NEW 8800GTS 512MB will outperform the NEW 8800GT 512MB, which in turn will outperform the OLD 8800GTS 640MB.

Hope this clarifies things.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

The 8800GTS 320 and 640 came first, aka g80, then came the 8800GT 512 and then the 8800GTS512 aka g92. The g80 (8800GTS 320/640) are older, and inferior products. Its confusing, blame nVidia for that

 

[EXT64]

Wow, nVidia really needs to revise their naming scheme. If the site lists specs, make sure it says G92 or 65nm to ensure it is the faster card.

Ram in video cards is second to the chip. Card makers love to put lots of ram in bad cards just to try to make them look better.

 

[ddasilva]

Thanks for your post everyone. I was originally going to purchase a 8800GT, however, it sounds like a 8800GTS is the way to go. Is there another card I should consider?

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Only the GTX or the ATI 3870x2 is better, as long as were talking 8800GTS 512 G92

 

[ddasilva]

Yes- we are talking about the GTS 512 G92.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

I think youll like it alot, just remember to make sure your power supply is good enough, and watch those temps

 

[ddasilva]

Lost- thank you for referring me to the following card:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3510472&CatId=1826

The two retailers I've seen is selling the 8800GT for more than the above 8800GTS. Is it safe to assume the card in the link above is G92?

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Your link doesnt work

 

[ddasilva]

Fixed. Thanks for advising me

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Great card , good price

 

[homerdog]

Thanks for your post everyone. I was originally going to purchase a 8800GT, however, it sounds like a 8800GTS is the way to go. Is there another card I should consider?

I hope you're talking about the 512MB 8800GTS. You make it sound like you are going to buy the 640MB GTS that you listed in the OP, which as many have pointed out here would be a mistake.

 

[ddasilva]

Homer- I am referring this card...
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3510472&CatId=1826

 

[lostandwandering]

Yes, that is a G92 version from a good company. Only reason I linked it

 

[ddasilva]

Lost- excellent card...

I cannot find the same card for under $300. I wonder why Tigerdirect is the only retailer with this deal

 

[lostandwandering]

Newegg.com has it as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143119