Upgrading from my 8800GT

[pyroguy7]

Hello,
I'm having trouble figuring out what would be a good card to upgrade to. I'm not having any problems with my 8800gt, but as my PC is hooked up in the living room with my plasma tv, I want to get a new video card that has HDMI ports on it. Can anyone make a comparable upgrade suggestion? I'm not necessarily looking for more powerful, but I want it to at least be equal.

Here are my relevant hardware specs. Let me know if i'm missing anything:
System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model: M68MT-S2P
Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X6 1055T Processor (6 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM (two 4GB DD3 1333MHz)

 

[zdbc13]

7970 Crossfire is a little bit overkill, don't you think? A 7850 would probably be plenty....

 

[ern88]

7850 or 660 TI

 

[pyroguy7]

Do what I did... upgrade from an 8800 to 7970 crossfire :lol:

Anyways, what's your budget? An easy upgrade would be something like an HD 7770 for ~$100. Would be a little more powerful than the 8800 and most of them should have HDMI out.

If you are happy with the performance of your 8800, you could always just get a DVI-->HDMI adapter or cable for a couple bucks and use that.

The problem is that I already have one of those adapters. And while my tv will support the signal, the natural resolution is only 1024x768. If I set it to anything else, my picture comes out kind of fuzzy, and I've been noticing an associated motion sickness....

Hence why I'm looking for something with HDMI. I don't know if it will eliminate the problem, but I'm hoping.

I'll look into those cards you suggested.

 

[pyroguy7]

Thanks for the other suggestions folks, but I should specify that I'm trying to keep costs around $100....

As far as the 7770 card goes, does it matter that the memory interface is 128-bit instead of the 256-bit that the 8800gt has? I've been worried that I'd loose some performance with a smaller memory interface, but I'm not sure if that's a valid worry.

 

[pyroguy7]

It's possible you took that suggestion far too seriously...

If he's happy with his 8800 currently, he'd be very happy with an HD 7770.

My guess is that the issue with resolution on your TV might have something to do with HDCP. The TV may be limiting the resolution if it doesn't see HDCP compatibility on the other end (which it won't see since you're using a DVI-HDMI adapter, I think).

I was figuring it was something along those lines. Hence the search for an upgrade! It would be really nice to have a clean image for my tvhttp://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/PN43D450A2DXZA) and lessen the eye strain.

 

[pyroguy7]

Nope it doesn't matter - you can't really compare cards that way, at least not across different architectures.

The 7770 will be a solid amount faster than your 8800 in all games/tests/etc. I would guess it will be 50-100% faster depending on the game.

Thanks BigMac70, I was never really sure about that. So 7700 is lookng like like my best bet so far. Right now $130 is still a little hard to swallow(family just asked me to loan them some money, and I'm hurting for a new phone), but at least I have a card I can start checking sales for. And if I can't find one, $130 doesn't sound too bad.

Unless there are any cheaper suggestions?

 

[mohit9206]

yes the 7750 for under $100 is also quite a bit faster than 8800 and a very good choice

 

[zdbc13]

Haha! You're right. And I figured you were being a little ironic, too. Good suggestions.....

 

[pyroguy7]

The 7770 is available for $100 after MIR and there's several other models at $110 after rebate. Don't spend $130 for a 7770.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202011

Don't forget that you can sell your 8800 on ebay as well (or possibly in the deals section of tech forums). If it's in good shape you can easily get $30-40 for it.

oooo that's a pretty good deal. I might bite on that one, although I might still be willing to try a 7750 if they're significantly cheaper. I saw one at $85, but it sounds like $15 isn't going to be worth the performance I could get with the 7770

This leads me into another question though. I know you posted another 7770 card of a different brand. Is there any significant differences between those two brands? I saw the one had HDCP support, but the effective memory clock is slower. Is there anything I should be looking out for or avoiding when it comes to brands?

 

[pyroguy7]

Awesome. It looks like I got at least a target to aim at now. And, I finally came across this site's best value video card articles it makes every month (Dec 2012 had both the 7750 and the 7770 on it, too ). I'll be excited to see what the results look like when I finally upgrade. Hopefully can get some good resolutions out of my tv, and maybe even reduce the amount of eye strain and motion sickness I've been experiencing!

 

[pyroguy7]

I'm thinking about doing this one:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+AMD+Radeon+HD+7770+1GB+GDDR5+PCI+Express+3.0+Graphics+Card/5716954.p?id=1218686513662&skuId=5716954&st=hd%207770&cp=1&lp=1

Not because of the price, but because I have $70 in rewards money waiting for use. I figure I can get them to match newegg's $125 price, then use my $70 and only pay $55 out of pocket

Any objections from anyone?

 

[swifty_morgan]

6670/6650. about the same as the 8800. has HDMI. I have a lesser card for watching movies and occasional gaming. works well with game and has sound so I can use TV speakers.

 

[pyroguy7]

Wow, those are pretty cheap. I don't necessarily need the performance boost so that could work too. I'll poke around at those too.

 

[Guest]

Nvidia 700 series card coming in the Spring (April) I would wait get the latest greatest without spending alot.

 

[blazorthon]

A Radeon 6670 GDDR5 performs similarly to the 8800 GT. The DDR3 version of the Radeon 6670 is inferior. The GDDR5 models are usually too close to the far faster Radeon 7750 in pricing, so unless you find a very good deal on a GDDR5 model and don't mind not having a performance upgrade, don't get a 6670. The Radeon 7750 is usually about the same price as the Radeon 6670 GDDR5 while using less power and having much more performance, so it makes the Radeon 6670 GDDR5 a tough sell when it's not on sale for like $50.

 

[blazorthon]

Nvidia 700 series card coming in the Spring (April) I would wait get the latest greatest without spending alot.

It's unlikely that new low end cards would be out until much later this year. There's no sense in OP waiting for the next generation right now because unlike high end cards, low end cards are usually not around for several months after the high end cards.

 

[swifty_morgan]

A Radeon 6670 GDDR5 performs similarly to the 8800 GT. The DDR3 version of the Radeon 6670 is inferior. The GDDR5 models are usually too close to the far faster Radeon 7750 in pricing, so unless you find a very good deal on a GDDR5 model and don't mind not having a performance upgrade, don't get a 6670. The Radeon 7750 is usually about the same price as the Radeon 6670 GDDR5 while using less power and having much more performance, so it makes the Radeon 6670 GDDR5 a tough sell when it's not on sale for like $50.

inferior to what? we're not comparing bottle rockets to ICBM's.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tomshardware.com%2Freviews%2Fgaming-graphics-card-review%2C3107-7.html&ei=YMbxUKuqNpK30AGG7YGgAw&usg=AFQjCNHtaxO1r4Y_WXJ4bdMFwbxPc_w2Rg&bvm=bv.1357700187,d.dmQ&cad=rja

 

[zdbc13]

I'm thinking about doing this one:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+AMD+Radeon+HD+7770+1GB+GDDR5+PCI+Express+3.0+Graphics+Card/5716954.p?id=1218686513662&skuId=5716954&st=hd%207770&cp=1&lp=1

Not because of the price, but because I have $70 in rewards money waiting for use. I figure I can get them to match newegg's $125 price, then use my $70 and only pay $55 out of pocket

Any objections from anyone?

Best idea I've heard all day.....

 

[blazorthon]

inferior to what? we're not comparing bottle rockets to ICBM's.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tomshardware.com%2Freviews%2Fgaming-graphics-card-review%2C3107-7.html&ei=YMbxUKuqNpK30AGG7YGgAw&usg=AFQjCNHtaxO1r4Y_WXJ4bdMFwbxPc_w2Rg&bvm=bv.1357700187,d.dmQ&cad=rja

Inferior to the 8800 GT. The Radeon 6670 GDDR5 is comparable to the 8800 GT. The Radeon 6670 DDR3 is a lot slower overall than its GDDR5 brother and the 8800 GT.

 

[pyroguy7]

inferior to what? we're not comparing bottle rockets to ICBM's.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tomshardware.com%2Freviews%2Fgaming-graphics-card-review%2C3107-7.html&ei=YMbxUKuqNpK30AGG7YGgAw&usg=AFQjCNHtaxO1r4Y_WXJ4bdMFwbxPc_w2Rg&bvm=bv.1357700187,d.dmQ&cad=rja

Thanks for posting the comparison chart! My search was initially trying to find something just like it!

 

[pyroguy7]

Well, I settled on getting an asus 7770 from best buy. Had them price match newegg and used a certificate. Here's hoping! Thanks for everyone's input!

 

[ern88]

the 7770 will be a huge upgrade for you. Enjoy it man. Great choice!!!!

 

[pyroguy7]

Best answer selected by pyroguy7.