7800 GS vs. 7600 GT?

[Motorpreacher]

My Geforce 6800 GT died. BFG is replacing it under warranty, but they don't have any more 6800's.

My Dell Dimension 8300 is only rated to 305W, so the power supply limits my options to a 7600 GT (AGP) or I think I can upgrade my power supply to 410W (Silencer S41D2) and then use a 7800 GS. (Not sure what I'm going to bump my head on doing this....)

Is the performance of the 7800GS going to be that much better if I spend the cash on the power supply upgrade?

System details:
Pentium P4 3.0MHZ
1Gb RAM
AGP slots
Game: City of Heroes, WoW

 

[shadowthor]

The 7800GS is definitely better than the 7600GT. You can't play Mass Effect on the 7600GT but you can on the 7800GS, so I would go with the 7800GS if they are sending a replacement.

 

[DeafB4Dishonor]

You dont need a new power supply for the 7800Gs either

 

[Ryun]

I agree that the 7800GS is better, but...

You can't play Mass Effect on the 7600GT...

What? I could play the Crysis demo just fine with a 7600GT @1280x1024 (obviously on lower settings, I think it was medium-high) so there's no reason why it would not be able to run Mass Effect.

 

[cleeve]

The 7800GS is definitely better than the 7600GT.

Nope, you have been misinformed sir.

Both the 7800 GS and 7600 GT perform almost exactly identically, as far as performance. Either might have a couple percent advantage depending on the game, but they're as close as you can get.

(edit: there are 7800 GS overclocked edition cards that might be faster, but at stock clocks they are incredibly close to the 7600 GT)

Regardless: either should be able to handle Mass Effect, might have to lower the details for either tho.

 

[aylafan]

You dont need a new power supply for the 7800Gs either

I agree. I don't think you need a new powersupply for the 7800GS. I'm running a Dell Dimension E520 with a HD 3850 on the standard 305W powersupply for about a year. I haven't had any crashes or BSODs while playing games. but if you want to be on the safe side. you can always upgrade the powersupply.

Unless the 7800GS uses more power than my HD 3850..

 

[Noya]

I think your Dell PSU would be fine unless it's really old.

I used a Compaq 250w 18a 3-year old PSU with my 7600GT (and Opteron 165, 4 RAM dimms, 2 HDDs, 2 optical) for like 3 months and it was okay. On second thought, I'm amazed my PC didn't fry lol.

 

[doomsdaydave11]

Nope, you have been misinformed sir.

Both the 7800 GS and 7600 GT perform almost exactly identically, as far as performance. Either might have a couple percent advantage depending on the game, but they're as close as you can get.

(edit: there are 7800 GS overclocked edition cards that might be faster, but at stock clocks they are incredibly close to the 7600 GT)

Regardless: either should be able to handle Mass Effect, might have to lower the details for either tho.

Yep, just like the old 7800GTX performs like my 7900GS. I didn't really get what the green team was thinking then.... and then again I don't know what they're smoking now.

I would get a 7600GT just because it has a G71 chip instead of the 7800GS's G70 chip.

Why wouldn't a 7600GT handle Mass Effect? 800x600 noAA low settings will get very smooth FPS. You could probably run it at 1024x768 medium 2xAA (does ME even have AA?) 4xAF without too much trouble.

 

[Nik_I]

the two cards are almost exactly the same in terms of performance. although, the 7600 uses less power (i ran mine just fine on the 250W psu that came with my old dell) and the 7600 is also a considerably smaller card than the 7800. those last two could be important.

 

[Motorpreacher]

Okay.... so the 7800 GS might not outperform the 7600 GT to justify the added cost of a $65 PSU upgrade.

Anybody know if the motherboard can handle the upgrade from 305W to 410W anyway? Dell said "305 is the max", but I think just because they didn't have anything to sell me. Obviously I can buy PSU's that have more wattage.

Barring mechanical interferences, what should I watch out for if I have to upgrade the PSU ....just in case I can't get the 7600 GT? (I already have the 7800 GS in hand).

 

[Nik_I]

Okay.... so the 7800 GS might not outperform the 7600 GT to justify the added cost of a $65 PSU upgrade.

Anybody know if the motherboard can handle the upgrade from 305W to 410W anyway? Dell said "305 is the max", but I think just because they didn't have anything to sell me. Obviously I can buy PSU's that have more wattage.

Barring mechanical interferences, what should I watch out for if I have to upgrade the PSU ....just in case I can't get the 7600 GT? (I already have the 7800 GS in hand).

if you do need to buy one after, make sure you buy a good brand. google the PSU tier list and try and find one from tier 1 or 2. also make sure the +12V rail has at least 18A on it. (the 7600GT doesn't need all that much power). but you should be ok. from what i've seen and heard, dell under-rates their power supplies quite alot. the one in my dell is supposed to be only 250W and 17A on the +12V rail, but it can power the 7600 no problem.

 

[runswindows95]

PSU Tier list:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

 

[marvelous211]

Although 7600gt is close 7800gs has the advantage with 256bit bus.

They perform similar but I think 7800gs usually edges out 7600gt especially in higher resolutions or AA.

7800gs
Shader Operations: 6000 MOperations/sec
Pixel Fill Rate: 3000 MPixels/sec
Texture Fill Rate: 6000 MTexels/sec
Vertex Operations: 562.5 MVertices/sec
Memory Bandwidth: 38.4 GB/sec

7600gt
Shader Operations: 6720 MOperations/sec
Pixel Fill Rate: 4480 MPixels/sec
Texture Fill Rate: 6720 MTexels/sec
Vertex Operations: 700 MVertices/sec
Memory Bandwidth: 22.4 GB/sec

 

[swifty_morgan]

The 939 is NOT dead. It's not a core 2 duo or an Intel quad core but it is still very useful.

In an answer to your question............. without a doubt, your video card followed by memory. One gig won't cut it.

If you live in the states, newegg has an nvidia 8800gt 64o card for $200. It also comes with a rebate bringing the price down to $170. It has more memory interface than the 8800gt's and it also plays games like crysis much better because of it.

 

[cleeve]

Although 7600gt is close 7800gs has the advantage with 256bit bus.

Yeah, the 7800 GS is the better choice for overclocking because the bus doubles the bandwidth you get for every MHz compared to the 7600 GT.

But I recall older benches where the 7600 GT would pull ahead where it was a shader-heavy title...

 

[Motorpreacher]

I know the 7800 GS doesn' t work with my 305W PSU from Dell.... I get no video output at all upon power up.

I've gotten a 7300 GT working in my Dell and it's rated for 350W, but BFG says that their 7800 GS needs 400W. That must be too much of a gap to bridge.

18A on the +12V rail? Sounds like 20A shouldn't be a problem.
Yes?

 

[aylafan]

I know the 7800 GS doesn' t work with my 305W PSU from Dell.... I get no video output at all upon power up.

I've gotten a 7300 GT working in my Dell and it's rated for 350W, but BFG says that their 7800 GS needs 400W. That must be too much of a gap to bridge.

18A on the +12V rail? Sounds like 20A shouldn't be a problem.
Yes?

did you plug in the extra power adapter? your videocard won't output without it. i think the 7800GS requires the adapter while the 7600GT doesn't.

here is what the 6-pin PCIe power connector looks like:
http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-130-035-04.jpg
and the power cable you need to use:
http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-130-035-06.jpg

 

[flyin15sec]

I know the 7800 GS doesn' t work with my 305W PSU from Dell.... I get no video output at all upon power up.

I've gotten a 7300 GT working in my Dell and it's rated for 350W, but BFG says that their 7800 GS needs 400W. That must be too much of a gap to bridge.

18A on the +12V rail? Sounds like 20A shouldn't be a problem.
Yes?

AGREE. I had a 7800GS and it blew out a 300W(worked fine with 9600Pro) after 1 month of normal usage. Went to a 400W and did not have any problems.

 

[aylafan]

AGREE. I had a 7800GS and it blew out a 300W(worked fine with 9600Pro) after 1 month of normal usage. Went to a 400W and did not have any problems.

was it a Dell powersupply or some generic powersupply? there is a difference in quality.

i'm just curious. because my dell 305w powersupply has been working fine with a hd 3850 for about a year now. no random crashes or BSODs so far.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Heh...

I had a 7800GS with a 3 month old Antec SmartPower 450 watt PSU that would consistently crash in City of Heroes. Upgraded that to a new Antec 500 watt PSU and never got the same crash again.

I would definite recommend the 7600GT over the 7800GS. Perhaps slightly better performance out of the 7800GS, but a cooler system (smaller card, less heat, better air flow) and more stable system with the 7600GT.

Oh... and that Antec 450 is now in the system I'm writing the post from (and has been for a couple years). I've never had any problems with it in this 24/7 rig.

-Wolf sends

Oh... and Swifty? S/He's got an AGP graphics slot.