Will a single 8800 GT perform to next summer.

[loafing_smurf]

Hello

I might need a new motherbord, and its either going to be a EVGA 750i SLI or a Gigabyte P45 which has only 1 PCI-e slot.

I currently own one 8800 GT and I'm wondering if I should be concerned about upgrading by next summer.

Part of making this decision is if my current 8800 GT will comfortably last until next summer? If not, I might buy the EVGA 750i so I can buy a second 8800 GT and SLI.

System

Monitor: 17 inch Samsung

CPU: Intel E 6600
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L (might be broken because of a previous faulty power supply)
Ram: 2 Gig Corsair 800Mhz 5-5-5-18
Video: Nividia 8800 GT
PSU: Tagan TG700-U88 BZ 700W (Quad core ready)


Games I currently play

Call of Duty 4
Mass Effect
Team Fortress 2
Battlefield 2

Games I inted to play when released

Tom Clancy HAWX
Red Alert 3
Battlefield Heros

 

[halister_one]

Depends on what your definition of "perform" is. I'm sure it'll be able to handle any game by then, just not at the highest settings.

 

[dirtmountain]

^ agree. I have a 8800GT in one system and have no interest in upgrading it for some time yet. Not saying that the 4850, 4870, GTX260, 9800GTX aren't better cards, but not worth the money for the upgrade.

 

[halister_one]

I'm currently waiting for my 8800GTS 320MB to die so that lifetime warranty will kick in and hopefully I'll get a 9600GT.

 

[ahslan]

^agree...although I LOVE my 4850, if I had a 8800gt, I wouldn't spend $160 for a new gpu...when buying your 8800gt, were you planning on upgrading soon after??? and halister_one is right...what does "comfortably" and "perform" mean for you? what resolution are you playing on? cuz if its 1280x1024 or something like that, you should be fine...

P.S. the new crysis warhead "apparently" can be played at high settings with an 8800gt (according t crytek)...god knows how true that statement is though...lol...

 

[megamanx00]

Played at high, like a slide show, at 800x600 . Well it will probably run around 35fps at high settings on something like 1280x1024. As long as you're not planning to run that game on Very High, then that card should be fine. I would say go with an SLi board so as soon as you feel that 8800GT can't run your games comfortably, at least at medium settings, you can just use a second one. Really the price of an 8800GT is so cheap now it's a great upgrade to make rather than buying a more expensive video card, so long as you play games where SLi works decently anyway . If your power supply can handle it and you're going to upgrade your MB anyway, then I say go for the SLi board.

Of course as for me I'm upgrading my card when the next cycle comes around. For me the game I spend alot of time on lately is Hellgate London so I'm good ^_^

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

BAsically your single 8800gt will be good for some time. buy the intel based board as it's more stable and don't worry about SLI.

 

[loafing_smurf]

Hello thanks for all of your opinions.

I also added my system specs and games I play on my first comment.

So would it be better to buy the Gigabyte P45 motherbord now and upgrade to a GTX 280 when the price goes down next summer?

Rather than buy a SLI motherbord now and be ready for a second 8800 GT upgrade when needed?...as Megaman said?

Keeping in mind that the 750i chip set ($160) is unstable according to many people.

Although I can get an Asus PN5-E 650i chipset for $140. Which might be more stable but is a generation lower.

Thanks so far.

 

[-Fran-]

www.xfire.com/profile/yukakun

Check the videos. Those were taken on my X1800XL, wich i bet your 8800GT puts to shame.

My point: it still looks "good" on 3 gen previous hardware with 2xMSAA at 1024x768.

If u can live without the full eye candy on games, don't upgrade cause it's not worth it. If u can't, then u must upgrade, as simple as that, lol

If u plan on upgrading, the 4850 is a very good performer indeed.

Esop!

 

[pauldh]

I went straight to SLI 8800GT for a 22" LCD (now a 24" LCD) and will say the difference is huge in some games for an fsaa junkie like myself. But, on a 17" monitor, your 8800GT should be fine.

If you need a new motherboard, I'd consider a second 8800GT if you step up to a higher res monitor. If your mobo is fine, you could always sell the 8800GT and grab a 9800GX2 instead (priced real well in USA anyway).

 

[halister_one]

IMO, dual card solutions aren't worth the money, especially SLI. The motherboards are expensive if you want that full x16 bandwidth for full performance. On top of that, there's always inconsistencies with dual card solutions, sometimes offering less performance than it single card counterpart.

I believe that 750i does x8/x8 when SLI'ed, so already your future is sealed with that motherboard. Unless you're sure your P35 is broken, I'd stick with your current setup. Getting a P45 won't increase your performance notably.

Best option for you is to wait. The future won't get worse - it's bound to come with blazing fast performance that comes cheap. Well, unless global warming or WWIII kills us.

 

[xxcoop42xx]

i would stick with the 8800GT and SLI later on. in most of the benchmarks ive seen posted on these forums, 2x 8800GT's preform better than a GTX280 and HD4870. so it should last, i just bought a pc about 3 weeks ago and got the 2x 9800GT in SLI and i shouldnt need to upgrade them for 2-3 years. and also as the resolution increases, SLI only gets better and faster. so stick with it and get a SLI board.

 

[pauldh]

IMO, dual card solutions aren't worth the money, especially SLI. The motherboards are expensive if you want that full x16 bandwidth for full performance. On top of that, there's always inconsistencies with dual card solutions, sometimes offering less performance than it single card counterpart.

I believe that 750i does x8/x8 when SLI'ed, so already your future is sealed with that motherboard. Unless you're sure your P35 is broken, I'd stick with your current setup. Getting a P45 won't increase your performance notably.

Best option for you is to wait. The future won't get worse - it's bound to come with blazing fast performance that comes cheap. Well, unless global warming or WWIII kills us.

750i performs very well with this level card. Dual GTX280 may be a different story. But look at dual 8800GTS 512MB on the 780i vs 750i and you'll see how well 8x/8x does.
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/evga_nforce_750i_sli_ftw_review/page11.asp

The mobo's are more expensive, I'll give ya that. Most dual PCI-e slot mobos in general are over $100. But at times you could find a MSI P7N SLI platinum for $125AR. That's a pretty loaded mobo for the money. If interested, google some reviews on it as there are quite a few favorable ones.

And honestly, it's now a rare game that SLI doesn't provide a boost in. I won't say it doesn't happen, but if settings are GPU limited, it will usually provide a boost as long as there is an SLI profile for the game. I've been on dual 8800GT since the G92 was released, and often test one vs two cards in the games I enjoy. Honestly, I'm thrilled with the performance/playable settings SLI 8800GT offers. Granted, if my favorite game had no support (and I needed more performance over a single 8800GT), then I would not be too happy.

 

[halister_one]

750i performs very well with this level card. Dual GTX280 may be a different story. But look at dual 8800GTS 512MB on the 780i vs 750i and you'll see how well 8x/8x does.
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/evga_nforce_750i_sli_ftw_review/page11.asp

The mobo's are more expensive, I'll give ya that. Most dual PCI-e slot mobos in general are over $100. But at times you could find a MSI P7N SLI platinum for $125AR. That's a pretty loaded mobo for the money. If interested, google some reviews on it as there are quite a few favorable ones.

And honestly, it's now a rare game that SLI doesn't provide a boost in. I won't say it doesn't happen, but if settings are GPU limited, it will usually provide a boost as long as there is an SLI profile for the game. I've been on dual 8800GT since the G92 was released, and often test one vs two cards in the games I enjoy. Honestly, I'm thrilled with the performance/playable settings SLI 8800GT offers. Granted, if my favorite game had no support (and I needed more performance over a single 8800GT), then I would not be too happy.

Well yeah, what I meant was that getting a 750i will seal the fate of the motherboard because upgrading the video cards to, say GTX 260 SLI'ed in the future, won't allow the full potential, meaning that you're not getting your money's worth. No doubt dual card solutions will be faster than single card solutions, even at x8/x8 bandwidth, but why not go for the full x16 P45 especially since the pricing is similar?

Dual 8800GTs for the 750i is a great choice as of now. I'm sure in the future. perhaps next year, there will be video cards that perform better than the 4870X2 for cheap. I assumed the OP isn't the type to upgrade often, looking at his CPU and RAM, thus the P45 will give him the most for his money down the line. It OCs much higher, performs better, and...it's an Intel.

Looking at it with your POV, I believe going with the 750i and getting another 8800GT is a short term solution, lasting perhaps a year or so. If I was wrong about the OP not upgrading often, this route is probably the best, since the 8800GT can be had for ~$100. I just dislike dial card solutions (SLI especially) and rather buy stuff that lasts its worth.

 

[pauldh]

Yeah, I see your points and agree with you in many ways. But really, he can add any single card to the 750i at 16X as he could to the P45 so neither will outlast the other. And 8x/8x crossfire seems to have a larger performance hit looking at HD4850's so a P45 isn't a desirable crossfire mobo. If it comes down to price, the P45 can be a bit cheaper at $90 and up. Cheapest 750i would be $130 or $110 with rebates. Granted if both could do SLI I too would rather have a P45 chipset. It's a nice one for a cheap 9800GX2 (or HD48x0 series) for anyone starting from scratch that wants a ton of performance for the buck.

I'm excited about X58 and finally running SLI/crossfire on the same Intel system. I just wish NV would open SLI for the X38 also though as it would be more in my budget. For sure I would have bought a DDR2 X38 instead of my 650i had SLI been an option. But I got my mobo and two 8800GT for a lot cheaper than an 8800U or 8800GTX + P35 mobo at the time making it a much better gaming option in my eyes.

If price/performance is the same, I would always recommend a single GPU solution. But lately that's not the case and SLI has put a spanking on single cards the same price at many price points. I wouldn't bother with less than 8800GS/9600GSO SLI, but what will touch them for under $200 besides crossfire HD3850/3870? I won't try to convince you dual GPU is for you(it may not be), but I tell ya I have seen the light and no longer fear owning, recommending, or building an SLI rig to anyone who understands what it can and can't do.

 

[malveaux]

Heya,

It comes down to what resolution and settings you must have your games play at. The 8800gt on a modern system plays Crysis playable at 1680x1050, high settings (shaders on medium). It plays every other game out there pretty much very nicely at high end settings. And it's an old card now. It will not just last until next summer, it will last longer than that. Now, granted, in the next two years, you can expect more things like Crysis to come around, but they're exceptions, not the rule, because a lot of game companies don't want to put something out that is hard to run but rather things that are very scalable, graphics wise, so that they can reach a wider audience. You're going to be fine on your 8800gt for a long time. When the 8800gt drops even lower in price (you can get it for like $105 now), you could easily go SLI later on for cheap, but it's pointless on a 17" monitor if you can't high higher resolutions where SLI shines.

I certainly wouldn't upgrade to anything from the 8800gt. The money isn't worth the performance gain yet. And that says a lot about the 8800gt.

Cheers,

 

[halister_one]

Yeah, I see your points and agree with you in many ways. But really, he can add any single card to the 750i at 16X as he could to the P45 so neither will outlast the other.

True, but like I said, the P45 is better in OCing and has better performance in general. If he goes for a single card solution, I think the P45 is the way to go. Perhaps he would upgrade to a Q9450 and wants to OC it to 4GHz. This would be impossible on the 750i without some major cooling (I think) while the P45 can handle it easily.

Your view point is best performance for the price NOW, while my view point is to secure the future on the basis that there will be more performance for even less. It's all possible that what the 8800GS/9600GSO SLI is today is like what the 7600GT SLI was before. Then comes the 8Series that totally destroyed the meaning of price/performance. Although I may be stretching it a little, history repeats itself. Just take a look at the HD4850, mind blowing performance for an affordable price. Heck, I believe it matches up well against the 8800GS/9600GSO SLI, looking at http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-comparison,2007-30.html and assuming 8800GTS 320MB = 8800GS. Better yet, it's only $150 in newegg. My point is, the future is bound to be better. If you want performance now, I agree SLI/Crossfire will give you amazing performance for an amazing price.

IMHO, I believe the future is most secured on the P45 because of the added performance, better OCing, and perhaps better compatibility that will last the OP longer than going with SLI on the 750i. I'm conservative after all.

 

[pauldh]

True, but like I said, the P45 is better in OCing and has better performance in general. If he goes for a single card solution, I think the P45 is the way to go. Perhaps he would upgrade to a Q9450 and wants to OC it to 4GHz. This would be impossible on the 750i without some major cooling (I think) while the P45 can handle it easily.

Your view point is best performance for the price NOW, while my view point is to secure the future on the basis that there will be more performance for even less. It's all possible that what the 8800GS/9600GSO SLI is today is like what the 7600GT SLI was before. Then comes the 8Series that totally destroyed the meaning of price/performance. Although I may be stretching it a little, history repeats itself. Just take a look at the HD4850, mind blowing performance for an affordable price. Heck, I believe it matches up well against the 8800GS/9600GSO SLI, looking at http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-comparison,2007-30.html and assuming 8800GTS 320MB = 8800GS. Better yet, it's only $150 in newegg. My point is, the future is bound to be better. If you want performance now, I agree SLI/Crossfire will give you amazing performance for an amazing price.

IMHO, I believe the future is most secured on the P45 because of the added performance, better OCing, and perhaps better compatibility that will last the OP longer than going with SLI on the 750i. I'm conservative after all.

Yeah, like I said, I'd rather have a P45, and no doubt Intel boards OC better. But I don't see a P45 as any more futureproof. X38 with 16x/16x crossfire I wouldn't argue against, but the P45...questionable IMO.

(I linked these in another thread) but look how the MSI P7N SLi platinum (has been as low as $125 AR, $145 without) overclocks. No records, but not too shabby either:

3.9GHz Q6600:
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews.php?/cpu_mainboard/msi_p7n_sli_platinum_750i_based_motherboard/5

4.7GHz e8500:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=4&artpage=3492&articID=823

475 MHz fsb is not uncommon:
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?id=2474&cid=6&pg=3

 

[halister_one]

Yeah, like I said, I'd rather have a P45, and no doubt Intel boards OC better. But I don't see a P45 as any more futureproof. X38 with 16x/16x crossfire I wouldn't argue against, but the P45...questionable IMO.

(I linked these in another thread) but look how the MSI P7N SLi platinum (has been as low as $125 AR, $145 without) overclocks. No records, but not too shabby either:

3.9GHz Q6600:
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews.php?/cpu_mainboard/msi_p7n_sli_platinum_750i_based_motherboard/5

4.7GHz e8500:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=4&artpage=3492&articID=823

475 MHz fsb is not uncommon:
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?id=2474&cid=6&pg=3

I see where you're getting at. 475MHz is probably more than enough for the avg OCer, although it's still nice to have a P45 do 600MHz+. But I still don't like the problems that plague the SLI system. You know, multiple monitor support and such.

Not being an SLI or Crossfire owner, I don't have much say against them other than using the experiences that other people tell me. I'd be like an XP user dissing Vista without ever using Vista. I still stand firm in believing that the P45 is a better choice because it performs and overclocks better. Perhaps the OP should get a P45 Crossfire, which costs around $140 at the egg. Then in the future, upgrade to ATI videocards.

I must say, pauldh, you piqued my interest in getting an SLI/Crossfire system for a moment there.

 

[dokk2]

HMMMMM,,I sure hope it will perform next summer i spent enough on it,,,lol.

 

[pauldh]

I see where you're getting at. 475MHz is probably more than enough for the avg OCer, although it's still nice to have a P45 do 600MHz+. But I still don't like the problems that plague the SLI system. You know, multiple monitor support and such.

Not being an SLI or Crossfire owner, I don't have much say against them other than using the experiences that other people tell me. I'd be like an XP user dissing Vista without ever using Vista. I still stand firm in believing that the P45 is a better choice because it performs and overclocks better. Perhaps the OP should get a P45 Crossfire, which costs around $140 at the egg. Then in the future, upgrade to ATI videocards.

I must say, pauldh, you piqued my interest in getting an SLI/Crossfire system for a moment there.

Yeah, you should give it a try when the opportunity comes up. At least be open to it and work up the cost as an option to consider.

I had no interest in SLI or Crossfire in past years, but with better driver support and outstanding price/performance ratio for 8800GS/9600GSO and up cards, I'm all for it now. Nothing against a single card, it''s the better route for most people. I have an HD4850 myself in a spare machine and it's a sweet card for sure. But the pair of 8800GT's are more powerful and have been serving me well in my gaming rig since late last year. I'm hoping to give dual 4850's a try sometime soon (need a mobo though). I so want to run SLI/Crossfire in the same rig though and now want to hold out for X58 in hopes of that. I just wish SLI was opened up on X38 mobos as I'm not to eager to replace all my DDR2.

 

[jerseygamer]

Hello

I might need a new motherbord, and its either going to be a EVGA 750i SLI or a Gigabyte P45 which has only 1 PCI-e slot.

I currently own one 8800 GT and I'm wondering if I should be concerned about upgrading by next summer.

Part of making this decision is if my current 8800 GT will comfortably last until next summer? If not, I might buy the EVGA 750i so I can buy a second 8800 GT and SLI.

System

Monitor: 17 inch Samsung

CPU: Intel E 6600
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L (might be broken because of a previous faulty power supply)
Ram: 2 Gig Corsair 800Mhz 5-5-5-18
Video: Nividia 8800 GT
PSU: Tagan TG700-U88 BZ 700W (Quad core ready)


Games I currently play

Call of Duty 4
Mass Effect
Team Fortress 2
Battlefield 2

Games I inted to play when released

Tom Clancy HAWX
Red Alert 3
Battlefield Heros

Ok here is the deal. The 8800gt is a poor performer in current games. It will never support dx10.1 and its horrible dx10 performance make it a very hot card that does very little now. Its not bad at 1400x900 but at resolutions around 1680x1050 its at its cap and lucky to pull of med-high settings with 30fps if that in most current games.

Another thing you should do is check out the benchmarks. 8800GTs dont sli well. Nvidia chipsets are super duper **** atm. Intel offers you much better performing options. You can go out and buy a 4870 and it will run as well as 2 gts. The thing is there is no sli factor bringing you nothing but trouble and you get good performance in every game not just sli optimised games. SLI is only viable when going for very high resolutions tbh.

Go single GPU and an nice new Intel chipset for your CPU and you will see much better results. Above all things remember the 8800gt is now in a bracket with the 8600 when it released. Its bottom line for gaming performance on current apps.

 

[pauldh]

Ok here is the deal. The 8800gt is a poor performer in current games. It will never support dx10.1 and its horrible dx10 performance make it a very hot card that does very little now. Its not bad at 1400x900 but at resolutions around 1680x1050 its at its cap and lucky to pull of med-high settings with 30fps if that in most current games.

Another thing you should do is check out the benchmarks. 8800GTs dont sli well. Nvidia chipsets are super duper **** atm. Intel offers you much better performing options. You can go out and buy a 4870 and it will run as well as 2 gts. The thing is there is no sli factor bringing you nothing but trouble and you get good performance in every game not just sli optimised games. SLI is only viable when going for very high resolutions tbh.

Go single GPU and an nice new Intel chipset for your CPU and you will see much better results. Above all things remember the 8800gt is now in a bracket with the 8600 when it released. Its bottom line for gaming performance on current apps.

Where are you getting your info from? 8800GT a poor performer, horrible in DX10, and lucky to pull of 30 fps at med/high in most current games? Plus 8800GT 's don't SLI well?

To be honest, you really need to do some research. Start below with one of the games the OP is interested in. Then look at the other games. One 8800GT does well. Two 8800GT in COD4 and Oblivion scales near 100%. Look at the scaling in the other games too. Not to mention look how SLI 8800GT is beating HD4870 and even the GTX280(Crysis, COD4, Oblivion, Assasins Creed, Bioshock). Shoot the GTX280 only outpaces them in Quake Wars.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=14
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=13
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=19


Plus as I showed above while Intel chipsets are better, 750i can do a 470-500 fsb and reach numbers like 3.9GHz on a Q6600 and 4.7GHz on an e8500. Those are far higher than your AVERAGE X38 user is pushing even on these forums. No records, but hardly a reason to pass on the cheap killer performance of 8800GT SLI.

 

[halister_one]

Ok here is the deal. The 8800gt is a poor performer in current games. It will never support dx10.1 and its horrible dx10 performance make it a very hot card that does very little now. Its not bad at 1400x900 but at resolutions around 1680x1050 its at its cap and lucky to pull of med-high settings with 30fps if that in most current games.

Another thing you should do is check out the benchmarks. 8800GTs dont sli well. Nvidia chipsets are super duper **** atm. Intel offers you much better performing options. You can go out and buy a 4870 and it will run as well as 2 gts. The thing is there is no sli factor bringing you nothing but trouble and you get good performance in every game not just sli optimised games. SLI is only viable when going for very high resolutions tbh.

Go single GPU and an nice new Intel chipset for your CPU and you will see much better results. Above all things remember the 8800gt is now in a bracket with the 8600 when it released. Its bottom line for gaming performance on current apps.

Give us links to back up your claim that the 8800GT is a poor performer. Unless you mean poor performer compared to the 4870X2 or something which is just plain stupid. What better performance can you get with $115?

While I agree an Intel chipset is better, Nvidia isn't shabby at all. Just simply, Intel is a little better, translating into a 1-5FPS gain in games.

If the OP followed your advice of dumping the 8800GT and grabing a 4870, you would be wasting money. Back then, the 8800GT costed around $200, while right now the it costs $115 and the 4870 costs $250. In total, you would have spent $450 by getting the 4870 and dumping the 8800GT. Otherwise, you'd only spend $315 with the SLI 8800GT without wasting any money at all. Looking at it this way, it's not too shabby going for SLI, despite the inconsistent performance which drivers will hopefully fix soon. I believe this route offers the best performance for the money as of now.

Of course, if the OP wishes to choose the single card route, the best option right now would be sticking with the 8800GT until next summer or whenever DX11 video cards are out. This should entirely make DX10.1 support useless.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Ok here is the deal. The 8800gt is a poor performer in current games. It will never support dx10.1 and its horrible dx10 performance make it a very hot card that does very little now. Its not bad at 1400x900 but at resolutions around 1680x1050 its at its cap and lucky to pull of med-high settings with 30fps if that in most current games.

Another thing you should do is check out the benchmarks. 8800GTs dont sli well. Nvidia chipsets are super duper **** atm. Intel offers you much better performing options. You can go out and buy a 4870 and it will run as well as 2 gts. The thing is there is no sli factor bringing you nothing but trouble and you get good performance in every game not just sli optimised games. SLI is only viable when going for very high resolutions tbh.

Go single GPU and an nice new Intel chipset for your CPU and you will see much better results. Above all things remember the 8800gt is now in a bracket with the 8600 when it released. Its bottom line for gaming performance on current apps.

Hmmm, why does the term 'knob jockey' spring to mind?