Is a 8800GT 512MB better than 2 x (SLi) 7800GTX's? - Urgent!!

[boole]

Hi I currently run two 7800GTX's (256) in SLi, I can get a Gigabyte 8800GT 512 OC tonight for a good price (£100GBP = $198USD), but only tonight (auction).

Can anyone say if the 8800GT will be better than the two 7800GTX's? I have searched and can only find one benchmark site which has benchmarked both the 7800GTX 256 in SLi and the 8800GT 512, and the 8800GT did outperform the two 7800GTX's in every test, but I am finidng it hard to comapre the two scenarios becuase other sites use different tests and rarely have tested both etc, and use different test beds, ad to that that I am pretty new to the GFX card scene and I really can't work it out in time for tonight.

The new 8800GT's run about £138 ($273) and the GTS about £158($313), so I want to know if it's worth going for this cheapy GT becuase I only need a quick upgrade, I am planning a new system later in the year so this is really for a quick, cheap way to platy Crysis and ASsassins Creed, COD4 etc at better settings with less skip/lag than my current setup qwhich actually isnt very impressive and gets quite laggy on heavy games, I don't run v.high resoloutions, mostly jkust 1024x768 or 1280x1024 if the card can handle it, please let me know ASAP what you guys think, cheers!

George.

 

[dev1se]

GET THE 8800GT.

Jobs a good en.

 

[boole]

Nice one cheers dev1se!

 

[dev1se]

No probs... at the resolution ur using the card will be more than enough, and less power consuming than your 7800s....

 

[boole]

Fantastic, I love how a bit of research and expert opinion can get you gamng at a really affordable price point, I can't wait to see what becomes the best card, whether it's a revised 9800 GX2 or something else, hopefully something will come out which can handle Crysis high settings.

Thanks again, I'm waiting for the auction to finish, sods law t wont go for under £100, just wondering if your still around dev1se, if I don't get it, I have a choice of these two (budget):

1. BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-052-BG - £138

2. Point of View GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-017-PV&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=927 - £158

Is the GTS worth the extra £20?

Thanks. Don't feel obliged to answer this as I should be able to work it out myself, but it's nice to get a second opinion.

 

[dev1se]

I'm in the process of building a new machine at the minute with SLi'd 8800GTS cards... Ive checked enough benchmarks to see that the GTS is around 10% better performing in games than the GT... now translate 10% into price / performance and if you feel an extra £20 is justified then go for it..... the Point of View card is cheap but it looks like a bag of wank.... who the **** wants that ugly critter on their high end graphics card! Ive paid for my first card (Gigabyte model) but waiting for a bargain to crop up for the 2nd GTS... around £150-160 new or under £140 pre-owned will do me nicely.

But yeah the GT is good if you can get it cheaply enough. £130 is a good price for the 512mb model.

 

[ausch30]

The GTS is slightly better than the GT but it has a better cooler and that alone is worth the extra money so I would go with the GTS.

 

[boole]

Interesting AUsch30, I didn't know the cooler was that important if your not gonna overclock, but I am learning.

I don't really understand if the 8800GT uses the G92 core as that OCuK site says the GTS does, do you know if it does? It doesn't say on nvidia.com either, sory for all the Q's, I will stop asking now, I really appreciate the help dev1se and AUsch30, thanks!

 

[dev1se]

The GT is a slightly cut down version of the GTS... Simply put. You'll be able to overclock a 8800GTS to get 8800 Ultra performance.... and not burn a hole in your pc case doing so.

 

[pauldh]

Oh yeah, one 8800GT does beat SLI 7800GTX 256MB. In crysis, with a decent dual core CPU, the 8800GT will provide 100% the performance over a pair of 7800GTX's. Same in UT3. It will also win at COD4. If it wasn't a temp solution I'd ask what a pair of 9600GT 's will cost. Two 9600GT easily beat one 8800GTS 512MB in crysis. You need some CPU power to keep up with it though. I hope you are at least on a dual core CPU????

 

[doomsdaydave11]

Um, forgive my rudeness, but hello? That's what Tom's Hardware's charts are for.
The 8800 GT is better by a longshot.

Single 8800 GT:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=1057&model2=722&chart=318

Dual 7800 GTX's 256MB:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_sli2007.html?modelx=33&model1=813&model2=819&chart=378

 

[geofelt]

@boole: I think the vga cooler is supremely important. The 8800GTS-512 cooler is a dual slot cooler that directs the hot vga air out the back of the case. Other coolers, including oem coolers do a good job of extracting heat from the vga card, but they leave it in the case to recirculate. That increases the work that the cpu cooler and the case fans have to do.

 

[eagles453809]

great deal. go for it. I have a 8800gt and i love it. glad i left my 7800gtx behind

 

[sprucebr1]

The 8800GT is the better card, not by much though. The only thing beating it is the GTX. It is also better than a 9600GT by about 10%. Though I have heard some bad things about the single slot cooler on the GT cards. Personally I would stick a Zalman cooler on my GT (if I had one). Anyway seeing as both cards (GT/GTS) are G92, either one would be fine. One GT will blow away the 7800GTX's in SLI guaranteed.

 

[blacksci]

Anytime you can jump from 2 low end cards to 1 high end card take it.

 

[boole]

I'm in the process of building a new machine at the minute with SLi'd 8800GTS cards... Ive checked enough benchmarks to see that the GTS is around 10% better performing in games than the GT... now translate 10% into price / performance and if you feel an extra £20 is justified then go for it..... the Point of View card is cheap but it looks like a bag of wank.... who the **** wants that ugly critter on their high end graphics card! Ive paid for my first card (Gigabyte model) but waiting for a bargain to crop up for the 2nd GTS... around £150-160 new or under £140 pre-owned will do me nicely.

But yeah the GT is good if you can get it cheaply enough. £130 is a good price for the 512mb model.

@dev1se:
Haha! all those older cards look **** now compared to those lovely modular-bay looking 9800/600/revamped 8800's, I agree I would not want that bogey-man in my unit if I was making a new system, for this old system I don't care what it looks like, just that it can tide me by on newer games until I build a nicer system this year. I agree that the GTS is better if you find a modest (£150-160 new, £140 pre-pwned) pricepoint, that's where I will be looking at, thanks mate.

Oh yeah, one 8800GT does beat SLI 7800GTX 256MB. In crysis, with a decent dual core CPU, the 8800GT will provide 100% the performance over a pair of 7800GTX's. Same in UT3. It will also win at COD4. If it wasn't a temp solution I'd ask what a pair of 9600GT 's will cost. Two 9600GT easily beat one 8800GTS 512MB in crysis. You need some CPU power to keep up with it though. I hope you are at least on a dual core CPU????

@pauldh:
That's fantastic news, but there's bad news; I am only running a two and a half year old system, which has an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+, will this be powerful enough (see full specs below)? I actually got persuaded back then when I built that system by OCUK staff who dissuaded me from going Intel Dual Core, which was my choice when I phoned them up, and I have looked, those CPU's (sock 939) are so obselete now... wow, and just looked again, the Wolfdale 8400 is out, that was what I was thinking for my new system, becuase I don't think Quad Core is worth it yet? (and from what I can see, when it does become worth it, the mobo which supports E8400 should support QXXX), I am not trying to go edge, that cost me £2,000 2.5 years ago, and look where that got me, now I want to intelligently choose the componenets which are in the top performance but mid-low price range, that means I can spend less so I can upgrade more often, hence why this bit of 8800 research comes handy. Thanks.

Um, forgive my rudeness, but hello? That's what Tom's Hardware's charts are for.
The 8800 GT is better by a longshot.

Single 8800 GT:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=1057&model2=722&chart=318

Dual 7800 GTX's 256MB:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_sli2007.html?modelx=33&model1=813&model2=819&chart=378

@doomsdaydave11:
Ah, thanks alot for the links! I didn't know there was any dual charts, must have missed the small 'more charts' box to the top right, thanks for gathering the links for me, If I had seen that, wouldn't of even started this thread lol, although it's become interesting. Thanks alot, and sorry, I did use the Toms Hardware search feature, but for some reason that content doesnt seem to be in results for even 7800gtx or '7800 gtx'. Thanks.

@boole: I think the vga cooler is supremely important. The 8800GTS-512 cooler is a dual slot cooler that directs the hot vga air out the back of the case. Other coolers, including oem coolers do a good job of extracting heat from the vga card, but they leave it in the case to recirculate. That increases the work that the cpu cooler and the case fans have to do.

@geofelt:
Ah ok, so internal temperature would be better with the GTS or dual slot cooler, what about possibility for SLi though, does the dual-slotness not affect that (I see new mobo's have three PCI-E slots for TRi-SLi)? Thanks.

great deal. go for it. I have a 8800gt and i love it. glad i left my 7800gtx behind

@eagles453809:
Yeah it's seeming the only thing to do now is upgrade, probably the GTS (£20+) if my CPU is powerful enough, I can't wait to bin those 7800GTX's, there at that annoying performance ponit for new games now, just not quite good enough. Thanks

Anytime you can jump from 2 low end cards to 1 high end card take it.

@blacksci:
Thanks for the advice, it is heeded, and £150 for a high end card, can't be a bad time for gaming right now, I spent about £600 on those 7800GTX's a while back!!!

Thanks all for your input, I wonder if I should build a new system sooner than I thought, as mine is well-old now, perhaps I will cost it up first then check to see whether I can afford it, as credit in UK is supposedly doomed, please let me know about the CPU if it's good enough, as there's no point getting a temporary GFX fix if my CPU will bottleneck it.

My current system:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
Asus A8N-SLi (nforce4)
4GB Corsair XMS3200 DDR1
2 x NVidia 7800 (256MB) GTX SLi
SATA-II Storage (250 SYS & 500GB DATA)
Akasa Eclipse-62 Aluminum Case
Tagan TG530-U15 530W PSU
Razer Copperhead Mouse

 

[blacksci]

youll see a diffrence, and some of your stuff will be able to be carried over into a new comp, harddrive, case, mouse, and im assuming powersupply.

 

[boole]

True, I am thinking more now of just building a new system now, but either way it'll almost definatley be the 8800GTS (G92 512MB), either dual or single, not sure yet.

Thanks alot, I may have to post in the system build forum becuase I'm having a hard time working out which motherboard to get, there is so many!

 

[liswara]

8800GTS is the best choice and I don't think that your current cpu will bottleneck it, however if you replace it with say E8400, you'll gain more fps though.

And just FYI, better make sure that your Asus A8N-SLI will compatible with your new 8800GTS as its PCI-E is V2.0. Some peoples have issues with that even with newer mobo chipset but some don't.