8800GTS 512 or 9800GTX

JorgeM

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Hi guys,

I'm upgrading my current system:
E6600 2.4Ghz (Scythe Mine cooled) => might OC to 3GHz
MSI P965 Neo F
2GB Corsair PC6400
X1950XT 256MB
206BW samsung
520W OCZ Modstream

ok so the thing I want to upgrade is my X1950XT. It's just not good enough at 1680*1050...

I have 3 options....
* I buy a 9800GTX for 219€ Club 3D (don't know howmuch £ that is... i think its a british forum right?)
* I buy a 8800GTS 512MB 92 core for 219€ (XFX XXX edition)
* I wait for the new cards to come

I prefer option 1 because I heard good stories about the 9800, but also of the 8800GTS 512 :heink:

Another problem is: will my system bottleneck the 9800GTX/8800GTS?
I've seen many systems with a E6600+8800GTX so I suppose a 9800GTX would work as well? Concluding that the 9800GTX isn't that much faster than the 8800GTX.

What do you guys think?
The target is to play Crysis at high/very high smoothly!
And is a Club3D a good brand for gfxcards?

Thanks a lot
 

Emperor36

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Jorge, if they're the same price, go with the 9800gtx. But then again the new gt 200's come out next week?

If you want to be high end you need the best.
Also my .2$ they're both the g92 chip so it really doesn't matter right now what you get. eather or is a great choice. :D

I have the BFG 8800GTS (512) OC'd 675/1675/950, and it runs unbelievable.

Your system will not bottleneck at all. If your worried about speed loss go to this site www.tweakguides.com and download the tweak companion, it helped me alot.


Good luck man :sol:
 

dagger

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You system will not bottlneck those cards. It's best to wait for the new cards. Even if you don't buy the new ones, they'll still push price down for old cards once they come out. Nothing to lose.

In theory, at the same price, 9800gtx should be much better than 8800gts. But in reality the 9800 is just pathetic. Nvidia really messed up that one. See benchmark against 8800gts:
http://en.expreview.com/2008/04/03/geforce-9800gtx-review/12/

219 euro for a g92 8800gts is way too expensive though. It's available in the States for just $159.99 after mir:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134037
And we all know the dollar is worthless, and getting more so by the minute. Try to find a better deal, or wait for new cards.

I use 8800gts, and get constant 50-60fps in Crysis at 1280x1024 resolution on high settings. Didn't try very high.
 

Hatman

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Meh, 8800GT < 8800gts and 9800gtx.


U wont notice much improvement with the GTX over the GT really...

And can get 2x 8800GT's for the price of a 9800GTX. That is then 9800GX2 performance!
 

DeafB4Dishonor

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W/e, GTS/GTX=more shaders and the gap widens at higher resolutions
 

doubletake33

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my vote is for option #3: wait for the new cards to hit the shelves over the next 2 weeks just because it's so close now and may possibly save you a regret!
 

dagger

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No. Both 8800gts and 9800gtx use g92 core with 128 stream processors. It's identical.
 

gamecrazychris

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Less than a week if he's gonna get the GTX 280 but thats rediculously expensive in Europe. I'm not sure about the exchange rate but it would be about $750
 

JorgeM

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Thanks for the replies!

Ok so in general, i can conclude that the 9800GTX > 8800GTS? edit: i just watched that benchmarksite Dagger gave me and now I'm not sure either... But ok the 8800 was OC'ed... but still

The 219€ for the 8800GTS is the XFX XXX version (678MHz), indeed the Club3D only costs 160€ (650MHz)
I heard both cards overclock really good, so can I do this without changing the cooler? (dont want to overclock a lot though...)

Is Club3D a good brand?

Anyway, I'll wait until my exams are over (I'm from Belgium), and that's only one week to go. So the cards come out in the week of the 23rd? Then I'll wait! But can anyone confirm that the 9800GTX/8800 will still be produced after those launches?

 

dagger

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The g92 core of 9800gtx runs at 675mhz stock, while the same g92 core of 8800gts runs at 650mhz. 25mhz is a tiny oc. 8800gts can be oced reliably to 750mhz without stability, artifacting or heat problems, some to 800mhz. I keep mine on 780mhz. Get the cheaper card and oc it yourself. Factory oc is the same as do it yourself oc. All of those use the same g92 chip manufacturered by nvidia and the same reference board required by nvidia. There's no difference.

It's unlikely they'll keep 8800gts in production, it's just too cheap, for the same performance as newer product line models. Nvidia has been know to pull products that compete with newer cash cows in the past. But there are existing stock that'll take a while to sell out. So yeah, it's better to wait. The new cards may push down prices of existing cards, if nothing else.
 

JorgeM

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Ok thanks for the advice guys, then i'll get a Club3D 8800GTS 512MB!

So this can run Crysis on high-very high? (resolution 1680*1050)

cheers
 

mothhive

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Well, my 9800 GTX ran it fine with a Q9450 (both stock) at that res and everything on very high, so you should be ok, especially if you OC. I'm not sure if the 9800 GTX OC's better though, but I have mine running 800MHz clock, 1200 MHz memory and 2000MHz shader 24/7 with no problem at all. I'm pretty sure it can go higher as it's running perfectly cool and stable right now, but I've had no reason/time to try it yet. :)

As some others suggested though, I'd hang back for a week or two until the new cards are released. Even if they end up being out of your price range, they should drive down the prices of the 8800s and 9800s.
 

dagger

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Yes, the dual slot stock coolers on both 9800gtx and 8800gts are very good.
 

JorgeM

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Sounds good :)

But I'm also OC'ing my E6600. It's cooled with a Scythe Mine (wanted a Infinity, but didnt fit on my motherboard... :heink: ) . Can I reach easily the 3Ghz? My mobo has a limit of 333Mhz so 3GHz is all i can get...

And do i have to OC stepwise (by 10Mhz a time or so) on both GPU and CPU? Or can i set it automaticly on 3GHz for the CPU and let's say 750Mhz for the CPU?
 

mothhive

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Yeah, I've set it to 65% fan speed and it idles at 41C and about 64C under load (Just played through the first 5 minutes of Crysis to check for you). :D

Setting the fan to 100% makes it sound like somene's vacuuming though. lol
 

JorgeM

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That's about the GPU cooler I assume? :D

Yes the vacuuming sounds familiar lol... the X1950XT also has a included vacuumcleaner lol... i changed it with a VF900 cooler but ah well won't do it this time i think :) The cooler just looks too good :lol:

64° load... lol omg... my x1950xt is doing 48° now... just internet :whistle: Ok it's been a while when I cleaned my case but still :sarcastic:
 

dagger

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The e6600 itself is good for about 3.6ghz, so 3.0 should be fine. What motherboard chipset do you use? It may be fsb bottlenecked. 3.6ghz = 9x400mhz -> 1600 mhz fsb(4x400mhz)

For gpu, just set it on 750mhz. Cpu is more complicated, there are more variables to watch for. Ram, motherboard chipset, temperature can all cause stability problems. You should do it in small steps and bump up voltages as necessary.
 

JorgeM

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I have a MSI P965 Neo-F.. don't know if this is what you're looking for?

I don't think i can change the voltages... maybe the RAM, but not the Vcore i think.

This mobo is not a overclocker... but it was not my intention to do OC so I just bought a cheapo... but now I want lol :(
First i'll see how Crysis runs on just stockspeeds anyway..

 

mothhive

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Yeah, that's about the GPU, sorry, didn't bother closing this thread when running Crysis so I didn't see the other posts. :)

As for OCing, as you said, it's best to up step up gradually than trying to hit an OC you've seen someone else achieve and test it's stability at each point so you don't push your hardware too far. I used a combination of gradual and impatient OCing, so instead of steps, I took strides. :p Anything beyond what I've managed so far will be done with babysteps though, but at the moment I'm very happy with the speed and stability of the CPU and GPU.
 

dagger

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Not being able to change vcore is VERY BAD for overclocking. It's a lot of work, but you may want to consider changing into a new motherboard.
 

JorgeM

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I know... but when i'm upgrading my mobo aswell, I'd better buy a whole new system lol...
If I can't overclock the E6600, well then I'll leave it on that :(

But is it necessary for 3GHz?

edit: i found this screen on google:
http://www.techzine.nl/f/g/49532phpmmPXNC.JPG

+3GHz and voltage 1.213

If I look at mine, i see it switchingbetween 1.200 to 1.300v
 

dagger

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People boast online. That person probably got lucky and received a very low VID cpu. It may even be shopped. Don't expect to replicate those results yourself.

VID is the voltage that the chip is meant to run on at stock speed. It's not necessarily your current vcore. Go into bios and check. It should display the current vcore, even if it doesn't let you change it.

The problem is not so much too low a vcore, but too high. Some boards that don't let you manually change vcore adjusts it automatically, and they always overshoot. High vcore is dangerous and can burn out your chip. Overclock a little and see if it auto adjusts.