Hey guys, I'll be buy a new computer this weekend and was all set to buy an 8800GS when i saw on deal on the egg that makes an 8800GT 256 the exact same price!

So which one should i get? I will be using xp and gaming at 1280*1024.

Here's the links:

8800GS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150275

8800GT 256
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150279


- note that the 8800GT is factory overclocked. Also, i will not be doing any overclocking of my own.

Thanks for all the help!

It's a $20 difference. The 256MB 8800GT would lead most games without fsaa, probably similar at 12x10 high aa though as the 256MB GT starts to struggle. I just hate the 256MB GT as it tanks so far below the 512MB GT and even the HD3850.

Better than both IMO is the evga 8800GS superclock.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130333

It's is clocked much higher than the XFX (650 core/1900 mem vs 580 core/1400 mem). And it's cheaper than the 256MB GT. This card trades blows with the 9600GT depending on fsaa level or not. It's a bargain for $105.

Anyway, my vote for that price range is a 9600GT or the evga 8800GS SC.

Between those two, I would go for the 8800GS because it has extra RAM. That will help more than the faster speeds of the 8800GT in any game that is gonna push these cards to the limit.

The GS has a bit more ram, true, but also remember that it has 192-bit memory interface vs. the GT's 256-bit.

Good morning,

I would say they about the same either way. The GT has more power enabled (pipelines, shaders,etc), but it has less memory, so at 1280x1024 you might be better off with the GS.

Depending on what games you want to play, more memory can be a bigger factor than the power of the GPU. Check the ratings for both cards on Toms video list and see which fares better for the games you are or want to play.

It sounds like you want to keep your build on the inexpensive side, so either of these cards is great. If you don't mind spending ~$60 more, go with a 8800GT with 512. You may find yourself wishing you had spent a little more in the long run. For $190 ($160 with rebate) you can get an EVGA 8800GT 512mb board that can run all games ('cept crysis) in high settings at high resolutions.

Hope that helps.

Showing off the weakness of the 256MB GT ...check each game :
http://en.expreview.com/2007/12/30 [...] %bc%9f/13/

Check out how well a 575/1700 clocked GS does here: Now factor in the evga is 650/1900 -
http://en.expreview.com/2008/04/02 [...] up/?page=9
http://en.expreview.com/2008/04/02 [...] p/?page=13

Thanks for all the quick replies guys. (bored at work are we?) Anyway I think i'll be sticking with the GS. This build is actually going to be my parent's comp, but i'm sticking in a decent GFX card so i can game when i'm home from school for the summer.

And for $5 i've decided to go ahead and get the EVGA superclocked version. EVGA is by far my favorite Nvidia board maker and for $5 why not get a few more frames?

Good call on the GS. the GT w/256mb is very locking in alot of areas for some reason. 256 just doesnt cut it on those cards. The GS is an awesome card.

Beg, Borrow or Charge the extra $50.00 and get the 8800GT.
Like this one for $165.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127329

B/c mike rowe said so, son!

Another bonus of the evga 8800GS, the fan is variable speed and super quiet. The XFX is a constant 100% and fairly loud. I made a harness and plugged my XFX into a zalman fanmate to run it in the 7-8 volts range and quiet it down. Had the evga been out earlier I would never had bought the XFX. Too good a deal so I ended up with both.

Oh, make sure you can fit a 9 inch card in the case. The XFX is 8.5 inches inside the case + the PCI-power cable, the evga is 9 inches + power cable, which is the same as a reference HD3850. Not an uncommon length, but something to check into anyway.

The case is going to be the antec one used in the $500 gamer article ( i forget the exact model number) so no problems there.

But here's something to keep your brains off of work.

My personal gaming PC is currently running an EVGA 8800GTS 320 clocked @ 590/1840. (I built last summer when the 320 was the price/perf king)

Would the 8800GS @ 650/1900 outperform my old 320? Should I do the old switcheroo when my GS arrives?

The 8800gs will outperform g80 8800gts, but by a very small margin. It's just not enough to justify upgrading.
http://en.expreview.com/2008/04/02 [...] up/?page=8

For a cheap upgrade that still produce noticable improvement over g80 8800gts, get a g92 8800gts instead, $169.99 after MIR.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814134037

It's about the same as a 8800gtx/9800gtx at stock and approach 8800ultra level performance when overclocked.
http://en.expreview.com/2008/04/02 [...] p/?page=11
http://en.expreview.com/2008/04/03 [...] review/12/

Yeah, agree with Dagger. The evga 8800GS is a step up, but not very big. why not buy the $170 GTS G92 for you and give their system your 320MB GTS?

I guess my last post was a little vague. I will be buying the EVGA 8800GS superclocked.

I know the G92 GTS is better than both, but i'm not going to put any of my money into the card and I can't justify making my parents pay for a graphics card that powerful. I'm happy with my PC's performace right now and if i do upgrade this year i'll be waiting until X-mas when *hopefully* some new cards will be out.

The question was should i put the 8800GTS 320 in my parents system and the 8800GS in mine?

"Superclocked" is just factory overclocking. It's the same as do-it-yourself overclocking. Don't pay for it if a stock model cost less.

If your g80 8800gts will be in your parent's machine and not wasted, then getting an almost identical performing 8800gs is fine. Keep in mind, even while overclocked, the gs won't give you any noticable performance gain over your old card, and will run hotter due to small single slot cooler.

Think of it as basically buying your parent a card, as opposed to upgrading your own rig. Look at the benchmark I linked, the 8800gs is only slightly faster than g80 8800gts 320mb overall, and slightly below at some resolutions.

I wasn't suggesting you make them pay for it, charge them for an 8800GS or 320MB GTS. You pay the difference.

As an owner of both the 320MB GTS and the evga GS, IMO it almost doesn't matter which you keep. I think the evga GS definatly edges out the 320MB from my testing so far, but they are fairly close. The evga 8800GS doesn't run hot and isn't loud, but neither does the 320MB GTS. It gives you a rear venting cooler which is nice. No question I'd buy the slightly cheaper 8800GS, but given the option to keep either, not really sure which I'd keep. probably the evga GS. If they are mailing in the rebate, may as well give them the GS.

I know that I could oc the card myself, but to me it's worth the $5 to have EVGA do it and save me the hassle since i've never oc-ed a GFX card before. Also i think i'll just keep the GTS 320 in my rig and put the GS in my parents since the performance is almost identical.

Like i said before, I don't want to spend an extra $50 to get a getter card. I'd rather save my money and upgrade when the GTS 320 doesn't cut it anymore. I don't really upgrade all that often.

Went from TNT2 -> FX 5200 -> 8800 GTS lol

I never understood the 8800 GT 256...seems like a waste of card money... I'd go for the GS, it has hugh OC potential, check out one of the reviews in this forums
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ew-benches

Id get the 8800GS or if you can pony up the rest ECS has a pretty cheap 8800GTS/512 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814134037
Yeah stay away from the XFX 8800GS the eGVA is much better and clocked higher