Zotac 8800GTS 320MB G80 $88 Shipped

[Waffles87]

Just found this on another forum, figured it was worth mentioning. http://fxvideocards.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-8800-GTS-320MB-ZT-88SE320-FSP-GDDR3-PCI-Express-x16-SLI-ZOTAC-Video-Card-p-16285.html

Would this card with a 2.8GHz Pentium D HT Processor & 1.5GB ram play CoD4 at 1280x1024 smoothly with all eyecandy and AA+AF turned off?

 

[marvelous211]

Not bad. You should be able to play with AA and AF on with this card.

 

[blacksci]

Possibly, but understand your cpu is gonna be the bottleneck here, what are you using right now for your video card ? You might be better served upgrading your cpu and not your gpu.

 

[pauldh]

Great no rebate price.

$175 in SLI would be good until higher res / fsaa mem limit kicks in.

 

[Waffles87]

I am currently using a 8500GT 256MB. I just want to play smoothly at 1280x1024, but if a processor upgrade is the way to go with this, I have a 775 Socket.

 

[pauldh]

A P4 2.8 is pretty low for COD4. If it can handle it, this card could play 12x10 4x/16x.

 

[Waffles87]

If my spending limit was $115, would this be the best deal right now, or would the $104.99 AR 8800GS 384MB?

 

[blacksci]

I would really suggest you get a proccessor upgrade first. Your using a cpu almost as old as my p4, I think you would be better served going this route. then think about upgrading your gpu after that.

 

[Waffles87]

Is a C2D that would be worth getting available for around $100? I know I could search, but should I consider ordering and waiting for the processor upgrade? I am not sure if this good of a deal will come around anytime soon.

 

[marvelous211]

This card should be about same give or take. Usually the 8800gs does have a slight edge though but nothing that's going to make a big difference other than Crysis. 8800gs performs 25% faster than that card in Crysis however.

Pentium D is okay since it's a dual core. It should bottleneck but you can still get away with it. If you can overclock your CPU would be even better with that card.

 

[robertito]

If you could scrape up $160 you could get an E2180 and the GTS 320mb, that would definately run CoD4 at 12x10.

 

[Waffles87]

It's not Dual Core, it's Hyper-Threading, which I guess is like a half dual-core. Does that change anything?

 

[Waffles87]

Is an E2180 worth getting by itself? I am on a budget, only 15, no job, and I lose my only source of income in like a week. Is it time to plead to mom and dad? xD

 

[marvelous211]

It's not Dual Core, it's Hyper-Threading, which I guess is like a half dual-core. Does that change anything?

Pentium D are in fact DUAL CORES!!!

 

[Waffles87]

All of them?

 

[Waffles87]

Dell XPS DXP051
Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz 2.79GHz, 1.50GB of RAM

 

[marvelous211]

Is your computer prebuilt like Dell or something?

there's pentium 4 which is single core then there's pentium D which are dual cores. If it's pentium D it is dual core.

Your motherboard has to be compatible in order for you to upgrade your processor to the new core 2 duo. 2160 are crap if it's not overclocked. If your mobo is compatible with older core 2 duo you might want to upgrade your processor to the older E6600 or something.

 

[blacksci]

You would be better served upgrading your cpu, and then upgrade the gpu later, your pentium d is going to be a huge bottleneck. Overclocked or not, its old, and it isnt going to keep up, bottom line.

 

[Waffles87]

Ok, should I just look for the cheapest E2180 I can find and get the 8800GTS? I am using a prebuilt 2005 Dell XPS 400. Sorry for asking so many questions, I am just not too upgrade-savvy, and was excited when I saw this deal.

 

[blacksci]

Hell that would be the best case scenario, then if that dell mobo will let you, oc the hell out of it.

 

[Waffles87]

What would be the best-case? Do you mean my processor is in fact dual core, and I should just OC it and get the card?

 

[marvelous211]

You would be better served upgrading your cpu, and then upgrade the gpu later, your pentium d is going to be a huge bottleneck. Overclocked or not, its old, and it isnt going to keep up, bottom line.

It's old but it's not that old. If it's a single core it will hinder his performance where it would be better for him to get a new system but since it's dual core it can easily play newer games just lower frame rates.

A pentium D @ 2.8 ghz would be something like AMD 1.6ghz dual core.

 

[pauldh]

If your power supply is up tot he task, I would buy the card before it is out of stock. You won't beat it for that price and no rebates. Install it and play the game, and if need be (and possible in your system), OC the CPU.

What's your power supply? How many amps on the 12v rail(s)?

 

[Waffles87]

I have a Dell 375W PSU, but it has 2 12v rails for a total of around 34A. Will that cut it?

 

[pauldh]

Yes, that will be totally fine.

Not sure if that dell will make for easy overclocking. But since it's dual core, I would grab that card before they are gone. Seriously, it's the best under $100 no rebate card I have seen. I have an evga 320MB GTS myself, although mine cost about $270 back in the day.