The Power of GF8800 GTS in SLI vs Current Market Value Priced cards

[rickap2]

I have been enjoying the fun of my two GF8800 GTS 320MB in SLI since 2007. It has only been with my recent wholesale gutting and rebuilding of my PC that I have begun to question their preformance. I have always been an enthusiast of PC gaming and hate the idea of a low-end graphics card being at the heart of my system, but with my cards now being listed at the minimum requirement for many of the new games out there, I have to consider it. As everyone knows the poor economey has limited spending and my spending has hit its limit with the christmas season approaching. Enter my family cats. Long story short here, they were fighting and one ended up falling off my desk and onto the DVI cable hooked to my main card and now the poor guy is toast. EVGA is willing to honor its lifetime warranty on the card, and I will be mailing it to them soon. As I considered the flat price of shipping via USPS vs a value card, I began to wonder: Would a value card (under $50) from todays tech out preform a pair of 8800 GTS running in SLI?

For those who hate walls of text here is the skinny:

Two EVGA GF8800 GTS 320MB running in SLI vs GeForce 210 512MB solo: The winner?

This comes about because for $10 more than typical flat rate shipping for my RMA I could get a new single card...

I typically play WoW, and recent shooters ie Medal of Honor and Call of Duty.

 

[shadow187]

Definitely not. The 8800GTS will beat anything and everything under $175.

 

[beekermartin]

No way a single current $50.00 card is going to beat a paif of 8800GTS in SLI. You would have to spend close to $200.00 for a single card to beat the 8800gts in SLI.

 

[jyjjy]

Are both of you thinking of the thinking of the 8800GTS 512mb perhaps? The 320mb card is significantly weaker. On its own it is about on par with an HD4670 and in SLI I would think it is somewhere in the area of the HD4850/GTS 250 although the lack of memory would probably make it struggle at resolutions higher than 1280x1024 in current games.

@OP: The Geforce 210 is not a gaming card. If you RMA I'd be very surprised if they actually send you a 8800GTS 320mb back as they haven't made that card for years now. I would guess they are going to be sending you a GT 240 most likely or maybe a GT 430 which you won't be able to SLI with the card you still have that works. You may want to try to talk to EVGA and see if instead of giving you a replacement they are willing to give you some sort of credit towards a GTS 450 or a GTX 460. Either would be a nice upgrade and both are also much more power efficient than your SLIed 8800GTSs.

 

[beekermartin]

I was just saying a single current card for less than $50.00 won't perform better than his current sli setup. I don't believe a single GT 240 would perform better than his 8800 GTS's in SLI. I understand the memory issue with higher resolutions. He didn't post his resolution but if he has been happy with the 320mb ram than I assume he is running well below 1080p.

I do agree that two gts 450s in sli would be a nice upgrade for him. I don't know if a single gts450 would be an upgrade but it might be depending on his resolution.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality/compare,1812.html?prod%5B3656%5D=on&prod%5B3605%5D=on&prod%5B3641%5D=on&prod%5B3610%5D=on

here you can see 8800gts 320mb keeping up with a gtx260 in many cases, but you can also see the very low FPS it gets as AA is turned on and resolution is cranked up because it is limited by the amount of memory it has. But basically no, a gt210/220/240 will all get punished by 2 gts320's. A single gts250 is needed to get equal performance in lower resolutions, but the 250 will be better in higher res with AA enabled.

here you can see 320mb sli 8800 vs single 640mb 8800
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality/compare,1812.html?prod%5B3641%5D=on&prod%5B3640%5D=on
A single 640mb beats sli 320 in some things due to more memory. 320mb is just not enough anymore, some games will show this more than others and more so in higher res with AA on.

 

[shadow187]

Are both of you thinking of the thinking of the 8800GTS 512mb perhaps?

Guilty

:lol:

 

[rickap2]

Thank you for the responses everyone, this forum is a gem that a friend referred me to and will now be a first stop location for all things tech!

 

[shadow187]

It's what we do. Hope you continue to enjoy your cards.