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Trouble choosing between 8800GTs

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Hello all,

I'm a bit stumped on which graphics card to choose. Before I buy, I'm going to wait for the new ones to come out and the prices to drop a bit, so I'm not really price comparing right now. I'm just debating between 2 8800GTs.

1st runs at 720Mhz core and 2000Mhz memory with 512mb ram.
2nd runs at 600Mhz core and 1800Mhz memory with 1gig ram.

I'm planning on putting two of these in SLI, but my main question is what will I see the highest performace from? The first has one of the fastest core speeds out there, but half the ram of the other. I tend to play games like Oblivion, and might be getting into other games that use huge textures.

What version would be better? Will I benifit more from having more storage space for textures or a highly overclocked core? I know I could over clock the 1gig by myself, but I'm not sure I could get it a whole 120Mhz faster. Any advice would be appreciated.

Edit: You can see the cards I'm looking at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+50001402+106791921+1067932704&StoreType=7&CompareItemList=N82E16814130335%2cN82E16814130351&bop=And .

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i second the 512mb card with higher clock, the 8800GT is not a powerful enough card to take advantage of the 1GB of video memory. the only thing that memory helps with is to play at higher resolutions. but at those resolutions (1920x1200 and up) the 8800GT hits it limit and won't be able to take full advantage.

1GB with lower clock. The reason is, it's just far too easy to overclock gpu. You do it through software, set the clock rate and go. Nothing like cpu overclocking. The g92 cores are identical, and will both oc to 700mhz easily enough.

At those prices, neither of them are good deals. You should get a g92 8800gts for $159.99 after mir. It uses 128 stream processors instead of 112, higher binned g92 chip, performs better at stock, overclocks better (at least 750mhz, usually 780-800mhz), cheaper, and comes with 3 year warranty.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
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Honestly, if using one card, the 512MB with higher clocks gets my vote. Since you are talking two with SLI, I do think the potential GPU power is there to play at settings where more than 512MB vram is needed. I'd like to see 512MB SLI vs 1GB SLI. Priced the same I would buy two 1GB models. But I wouldn't spend alot more for them. Rather grab two 8800GTS 512MB instead then IMO.

I have a hunch that at 1680x1050, all high, and 4xaa I am running out of vram in crysis with dual 512MB 8800GT. In some levels, Framerates would be fine and then it would get choppy. It did much better with 2xaa.

I wasn't really going to buy them at that price, but rather wait for the new cards and hope for a drop. The reason I was considering these is the higher clockspeeds than the GTS, which seem to do more good than a couple extra pixel pipelines. By the way, my moniter tops out at 1680X1050, so that's the highest resolution I would be running at anyways.

TheKingBoar said:
I wasn't really going to buy them at that price, but rather wait for the new cards and hope for a drop. The reason I was considering these is the higher clockspeeds than the GTS, which seem to do more good than a couple extra pixel pipelines. By the way, my moniter tops out at 1680X1050, so that's the highest resolution I would be running at anyways.

Factory oc is meaningless, because it's exactly the same as do-it-yourself oc. The gts use higher binned chips, and has higher oc ceiling than gt. It can reach 800mhz while still remaining stable, gt can't.

TheKingBoar said:
Is ECS a good brand to buy? I haven't really heard of them. I've used BFG in the past, but was considering switching to EVGA for this build off their clock speeds.

Brands don't matter. They use the same g92 chip brought from Nvidia factories on the same reference boards. It's a matter of pasting on different stickers. Besides, 3 year warranty should be enough.

TheKingBoar said:
Alright, I think you've convinced me. What wattage does my powersupply need to handle 2 in SLI?

That depends on other components, like cpu and hdds. For typical setups, 600watt with decent 12v rail ratings should be ample headroom.

Figuring a E8400, Q6600, Q9300 or possibly a Q9450 if the prices drop on that a little bit. Figuring two or 3 Seagate hard drives, 500gb to 1tb, so whatever they use. I've been looking at a 800watt tagan power supply.

TheKingBoar said:
Figuring a E8400, Q6600, Q9300 or possibly a Q9450 if the prices drop on that a little bit. Figuring two or 3 Seagate hard drives, 500gb to 1tb, so whatever they use. I've been looking at a 800watt tagan power supply.

It should still be fine. An oced q6600 plus 3 hdds might be pushing it, but it should still run fine, just with smaller headroom. You do not need 800watt psu.

dagger said:
It should still be fine. An oced q6600 plus 3 hdds might be pushing it, but it should still run fine, just with smaller headroom. You do not need 800watt psu.


I know 800 might be a bit much, but I'd like to possibly put new graphics cards in later without buying a new power supply too. Are ABS Tagan's any good? I like the cables, but are they long enough for a case with the power supply on the bottom?

TheKingBoar said:
I know 800 might be a bit much, but I'd like to possibly put new graphics cards in later without buying a new power supply too. Are ABS Tagan's any good? I like the cables, but are they long enough for a case with the power supply on the bottom?

Feel free to get it. It won't do any harm. I use a 850watt psu because it was on sale at the time ($99.99). :p 

Not sure about the maker, there are too many brands to keep track of. I assume you're talking about this one. The buyer feedback reviews on newegg looks good, so it should be fine. Not sure about cable length.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
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