Should I step-up 8800GTS 512 to 9800 GTX?

[carquote]

As the title says...I have a evga 8800GTS 512 and am considering stepping up to the 9800GTX. It will only cost me about $40 including shipping both ways. I have read several reviews of the 9800GTX and am unsure if it is worth it to step up. I am having a hard time finding any real advantages but I don't won't to miss my only opportunity to step up since I only have a 28 more days to do so. I am also concerned since the 9800GTX uses 2 6pin PSU connections and my Corsair 620HX only has 2, so I don't see how I could go SLI with these cards if latter on I choose to. If anyone knows of any compelling reasons to step-up or to not do so I would appreciate your input.

 

[laytons]

you'll get 3 frames per second more in crysis, but it looks like quite a bit more fps in everything else. i think i'd take the chance. maybe i'm crazy and don't have good supporting facts.

 

[jay2tall]

$40 + shipping both ways? to me it isnt worth it. You get what? 675MHz vs 650? 2200MHZ ram instead of 1940MHZ?

You can overclock the GTS pretty high. I have mine at 750/1000. I might tweak with the ram a bit. I think the GTX might have the GTS in the ram speed department but really i dont think you will get a huge boost from it. Those benches are stock vs stock anways.

 

[Zenthar]

You get what? 675MHz vs 650? 2200MHZ ram instead of 1940MHZ?

Actually, the EVGA 8800GTS is 670MHz stock so he would mostly get RAM speed. Anyone know how far you can push the 8800GTS RAM alone?

I could have steped-up for 45$ and unless new facts come-up, I will not step-up for so little. The real gain with same driver versions seem to be only 2% on average so you actually get about 1 more FPS in Cysis.

 

[carquote]

My charge for step up would be about $27 including shipping back to me plus about $10 to ship to them for a total of about $37. Zentahr brings up a very good point. All the benchies for the 9800gtx have been with a different and updated driver than what the 8800GTS was running when the comparisons were done. With both running the same driver I would think the performance difference would be less if not the same, but this is just my guess. I am really on the fence. Are there any other improvements over the 8800gts 512 that justify the step-up? Is the general consensus that it's not worth the cost, even if only $37?

 

[jay2tall]

Actually, the EVGA 8800GTS is 670MHz stock so he would mostly get RAM speed. Anyone know how far you can push the 8800GTS RAM alone?

I could have steped-up for 45$ and unless new facts come-up, I will not step-up for so little. The real gain with same driver versions seem to be only 2% on average so you actually get about 1 more FPS in Cysis.

I believe the GTS memory isn't the greatest and you can get a little over 1000MHZ out of the stuff. I've seen 1050 max. The GTX, APPARENTLY, uses Samsung memory and is much better at higher clocks. Hence the 1100MHZ clock on them.

 

[Maziar]

Simple answer : NO the difference isnt noticeable

 

[carquote]

Anyone know how I would even do SLI with 2 9800gtx's since they require 2 6pin connectors each and my PSU,Corsair 620HX, only has 2? And why I am hearing it uses less power when it requires 2 6pin connectors as compared to the 1 on the 8800GTS 512?

 

[Zenthar]

All the benchies for the 9800gtx have been with a different and updated driver than what the 8800GTS was running when the comparisons were done. With both running the same driver I would think the performance difference would be less if not the same, but this is just my guess.

You can check my other thread on the matter and/or go directly to this review. I have no idea how the hell he got his RAM to 1100MHz ...

 

[jay2tall]

Simple answer : NO the difference isnt noticeable

What the heck kinda closed answer is that? Way to ruin the Thread!

 

[yamahazr]

no.i dont think it's worth..you pay extra $$ just for the 9 series name not the performance.

 

[jay2tall]

You can check my other thread on the matter and/or go directly to this review. I have no idea how the hell he got his RAM to 1100MHz ...

VooDoo spells and a chicken foot?

I don't think I'd risk taking it that high when other HIGH CLOCKERS get 1050ish with theirs. And they volt Mod their cards and would pee on them if it would get 1 more MHz out of them.

 

[Maziar]

What the heck kinda closed answer is that? Way to ruin the Thread!

:lol: :lol:

 

[night_wolf_in]

i wouldnt do that. the GTS is just fine. while the 9800GTX is more like overclocked version of the GTS (in my eyes).

 

[spoonboy]

As the title says...I have a evga 8800GTS 512 and am considering stepping up to the 9800GTX. It will only cost me about $40 including shipping both ways. I have read several reviews of the 9800GTX and am unsure if it is worth it to step up. I am having a hard time finding any real advantages but I don't won't to miss my only opportunity to step up since I only have a 28 more days to do so. I am also concerned since the 9800GTX uses 2 6pin PSU connections and my Corsair 620HX only has 2, so I don't see how I could go SLI with these cards if latter on I choose to. If anyone knows of any compelling reasons to step-up or to not do so I would appreciate your input.

Alot (if not all reviews) of the 9800gtx use older drivers for the 8800gts 512mb, which inflates the gtx scores, apparently by quite alot in crysis and cod4, plus if you oc'd just the memory on your gts you would really close the gap on a gtx. If you do step up it seems like the new gtx has good oc abilities, but otherwise it barely seems like it's worth the hassle. Of course come the time you might want to sell your stepped-up-to 9800gtx in the future to buy a new card, you would get more cash from a 9800gtx than a 8800gts 512mb, so your $40 outlay would actually be less in the long run. Of course it all comes down to the time and hassle of it all. By the way, how does it work with the step-up programme? do you have to post off your old card and wait until they recieve it and confirm it works before they dispatch the newer one to you?

Cheers

 

[Zenthar]

By the way, how does it work with the step-up programme? do you have to post off your old card and wait until they recieve it and confirm it works before they dispatch the newer one to you?

Exactly so you could be out of a video card for 1-2 weeks depending on shipping time.

 

[carquote]

Thanks for the links Zenthar, very interesting and informative! So it appears tat using the same drivers and with a light overclock to the same specs as the 9800gtx the 8800gts 512 is actually superior in all but a few tests? How easy is it to get the 8800gts 512 to these clocks? Is it a given that all 8800gts 512's can achieve these clocks?

 

[jay2tall]

Thanks for the links Zenthar, very interesting and informative! So it appears tat using the same drivers and with a light overclock to the same specs as the 9800gtx the 8800gts 512 is actually superior in all but a few tests? How easy is it to get the 8800gts 512 to these clocks? Is it a given that all 8800gts 512's can achieve these clocks?

My XFX GTS clocked to 750/1000 with no effort at all. I'm using Riva Tuner, because it's nice and has a OCD that shows me temp and FPS in games. I tried 800/1000 but had issues and never really had the desire to finely tweak the clocks. Just keep in mind it appears that each brand has a different auto fan setting. Some run hotter than others. Mine seems to stay around 40% fan and 50C at idle. I max out at about 65C with my OC. Some people set the fan profiles in Rivatuner but its a pain. You can bios flash it but i dont want to get to radical for .2 FPS

It's a walk in the park compared to OCing my old x1900xtx

 

[Zenthar]

Thanks for the links Zenthar, very interesting and informative! So it appears tat using the same drivers and with a light overclock to the same specs as the 9800gtx the 8800gts 512 is actually superior in all but a few tests? How easy is it to get the 8800gts 512 to these clocks? Is it a given that all 8800gts 512's can achieve these clocks?

I don't think it is easy to get the 8800GTS's clocks to the same level as the 9800GTX, they probably modded their card and/or used insane cooling. For the GPU itself it will probably be easy, the issue will be the RAM. I've seen people OCing their GTS's RAM up to 1050Mhz at most, but never much more.

The 9800GTX is not the same as the 8800GTS; same GPU, but different manufacturing process (would be like saying a computer is the same as another based on CPU alone). But even if you are 2-3% lower than the 9800GTX it might not be worth the money or the trouble. Make the math here ... 3% of ~30 FPS is ~1FPS which is insignificant and 3% of 100FPS is 3FSP which won't be noticeable ...

 

[jay2tall]

I saw some scattered info on other sites that Some GT and GTS boards have the Samsung memory and OC very well. The norm is some other brand that I forget what it is.

 

[laytons]

do you have any gamer friends. you could brag about having the 9000 series, but that seems to be all you could do. you could buy a game with the $40.

 

[carquote]

I'm still on the fence. Some reviews are saying the 9800 GTX is performing close to the GX2's... I still would love to know how sli works with these cards requiring 2 6 pin connections with a psu that only has 2 6 pins such as my Corsair 620HX. I need to decide soon!

 

[Maximus_Delta]

4 questions to ask yourself:

How much disposable money do I have?
How much does fps matter to me?
How sensitive am I to noise?
How much room is there is my case for it?

I would do it...

$40 isn't a lot of money, fps always matters, don't mind the roar while gaming and it will just fit in the case.

If you can tick all the box's do it, do it now.

 

[jkflipflop98]

Totally not worth it. Wait for the real next gen of vid cards.

 

[jay2tall]

My card Maxes COD4 at 1680X1050 with 60FPS... I don't care about anything else. All other games play just fine.

I rethought things and you know what? I am GLAD they have a 9800GTX now. Because it is the "top dog" and it drove down the price of the 8800GTS 512 down a little bit.

Granted the 9800GTX is $330 which REALLY still is half what the 8800GTX was when it came out. I think if I didnt get the 8800GTS a few months ago and I were to buy a card now, I'd get one just because it probably OCes like a Wild Banshee. But if you are on a budget, there are so many cards under it that perform pretty darn compatibly.