View Full Version : Best CostVSPerformance 8800GT Card?
Guys, really want an 8800GT, but I;m worried that if I go for te cheapest one on Aria, it may not be that great..
Have a look here (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/PCI-E/nVIDIA+GeForce+8+Series/?x=12&p_order=price_desc&p=cF9wcm9kdWN0c1BlclBhZ2U9MTAwJnBfc3R5bGU9bGlzdCY= ). wich is the Series 8 nVidia GeFroce Cards sorted from highest price o lowest and tell me what you think is the best value / performance 512MB card on the list...
Compare:
[b]Asus GeFoce 8800GS 384MB DDR3 PCI-E (http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/Asus+GeForce+8800GS+384MB+DDR3+PCI-E+?productId=30168)
VS
Asus GeForce 8800GT 512MB PCI-E (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/PCI-E/nVIDIA+GeForce+8+Series/Asus+Extreme+8800GT+512MB+PCI-E+?productId=29150)
What's the DDR3 all about in the first one?
PeterStoba
26-02-08, 19:50
The GT is better! and it also had GDDR3
Cheers, gonna stik with the GT. Good enough for Crysis?
As above, the GeForce 8800GT is the superior card.
I suppose it really depends what games you play and what resolution. The 8800GT is a fair amount faster thanks to the higher clock speeds and the 256bit memory interface (vs the 192bit on the GS) but it's also roughly £60 more expensive than the cheapest 8800GS.
If budget isn't really an issue and you play late release games in resolutions upwards of 1280x1024, I'd probably try and sway you towards the 8800GT but if you only play lighter games, then the GS is a definite option. Also, once you're looking at the £90-110 bracket, you must not ignore the Radeon HD 3850's and 3870's as well as the new GeForce 9600GT.
The 9600GT may have 48 less stream processors but in games that aren't majorly shader intensive (most), it seems to hold up very close to the 8800GT anyway. You may find that the 9600GT is better for the games you play than an 8800GS. It could be the other way round in others.
The Radeon HD 3850's and 3870's are also very good performers. They perform similar to the 9600GT but they do have some differentiating features such as sound over HDMI that the GeForce 8800 and 9600 cards don't have. Again, depends if that's useful to you.
I hate to be sitting on a fence here telling you all this which may not mean much but whichever is best value for money for yourself really depends on your needs in particular. :)
Honestly right - I don't play any games atm. But I want my PC future-proofed where possibly, you know?
Absolutely. However, be wise when considering to what extent you want to "future proof". I suppose there isn't such a thing and maybe you shouldn't go overboard on things you won't use much. My reasoning behind this is because all these components are depreciating assets and it simply makes sense to be able to make the most of powerful components like these as soon as possible. If you can't, you're losing out on the value.
The GeForce 9600GT or Radeon HD 3850 512mb could be considered as a good compromise between the 8800GS and the 8800GT. Really depends on how flexible your budget is.
Cheers, gonna stik with the GT. Good enough for Crysis?
yes the GT is good in crysis
i get 30-40 fps @ 1680x1050 noAA all high ( shaders med)
Absolutely. However, be wise when considering to what extent you want to "future proof". I suppose there isn't such a thing and maybe you shouldn't go overboard on things you won't use much. My reasoning behind this is because all these components are depreciating assets and it simply makes sense to be able to make the most of powerful components like these as soon as possible. If you can't, you're losing out on the value.
The GeForce 9600GT or Radeon HD 3850 512mb could be considered as a good compromise between the 8800GS and the 8800GT. Really depends on how flexible your budget is.
my budget was £550, but ive blown it - mostly coz of the gfx card lol. 8800GT Asus, great price, but killer on my budget..
everyone has told me that the 3850 won't play Crysis so that sucks as if I were to ever play a game, it'd be that (and AoE 3)..
It will play crysis, my lowly X1950 plays it on med with ok FPS, and the 3850 is smilar to more powerful. Consider it as it will lower ur budget on a system that isnt really going to be used for much gaming. If you then do decided youve got a hunger for gaming, with the new crossfire drivers by ati, you could add a 3870 to the 3850 and get at least 1.5x increase on games.
I found this (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Biostar/GeForce_9600_GT) which puts the new nVidia 9600 somewhere in the middle of today's GFX card market..
However, when looking at that chart, the actul specifications are WORSE than the 3850 and 3870's... Can anyone explain that?
bobingabout
27-02-08, 11:23
the 9600GT is a replacement for the 8800GT, the 8800GTX is more powerful than the 9600GT. the 9800GTX will be far more powerful
Really, i thought the 9600GT had nothing on the 8800GT.. Aria's sold out anyways. They only have a generic 9600 in stock.
i think you mean the 9600gt is a replacement for the 8600gt not the 8800gt. why make a card less powerful than it's predecessor..
Technically, the 9600GT doesn't have less shaders than the HD 38xx's. The HD 3850 and 3870 have 64 shading units but can do up to 5 processes simultaneously per shader, labelling it as (64*5) 320 shaders in the specs.
The 9600GT's high shader clock allows it to keep ahead and also, the fact that not all games are shader intensive, the 9600GT only lacks in having 4 less ROPs than the 8800GT, which basically means it can still hold up quite well.
Generally when comparing graphics cards from one manufacturer's product line to the product line of another manufacturer, theres a bit more to the specs on paper so be wary of that.
So, not only do I have to consider the GFX card specs, but also the manufacturer? So a card from one manu. may better/worse than the exact same specced card from a different manu. ?
The 9600 is about £30 cheaper than a cheap 8800GT so perhaps he 8800 might just be worth it..
Pretty much. My point is, just because a HD 3800 series card has 320 stream processors on paper doesn't make it five times quicker than a GeForce 9600GT or about 3 times quicker than the 8800GT.
With the 8800GT prices dipping slightly and the 9600GT prices still a bit higher than they should be (in my opinion), I'd probably agree that it makes sense to go for the 8800GT. Simply go for the cheapest 8800GT 512mb you can find.
Aria has the XFX for £149
http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/XFX+GeForce+8800GT+Alpha+Dog+512MB+PCI-E+?productId=30446
Pretty much. My point is, just because a HD 3800 series card has 320 stream processors on paper doesn't make it five times quicker than a GeForce 9600GT or about 3 times quicker than the 8800GT.
With the 8800GT prices dipping slightly and the 9600GT prices still a bit higher than they should be (in my opinion), I'd probably agree that it makes sense to go for the 8800GT. Simply go for the cheapest 8800GT 512mb you can find.
Aria has the XFX for £149
http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/XFX+GeForce+8800GT+Alpha+Dog+512MB+PCI-E+?productId=30446
Do you think that card is any good? ?
Really, any 8800GT you buy would be nigh on identical apart from the included software, colour or perhaps cooler. The more expensive ones have slightly higher clock speeds but generally, they're all 600MHz core and 1800MHz memory. My advice would be to go for the cheapest one available.
Cheers Mul, I decided to go with the XFX Alpha Dog Extreme Edition XXX which was £3 more... It's got a 670MHz clock speed. Item code# 30433
And Mul. (and co.), if and wen possible, please have a quick look at my new proposed system here (http://forums.aria.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4374) and let me know what you think..
infinite thanks!
Most Nvidia cards you can peel the sticker off and find the same Nvidia reference sticker underneath LOL
Cheers.
I also forgot to ask whats the difference, in terms, for example, of playing a game like Crysis with an 8800GT 512MB compared with an 8800GT 256MB (or thereabouts)??
In terms of performance..
PeterStoba
28-02-08, 15:36
In the two cars you mentioned they perform the same, well near enough, with no anti aliasing, with it on the 256 is worse
In games like Crysis, you're probably starting to push it with a 256mb graphics card. It's definitely worth the extra money to get a 512mb 8800GT.
wonderlust
28-02-08, 18:08
This is where things get a little difficult, I am on the understanding that the 9600Gt 512Mb beats out the 256Mb in most things with AA etc on, where as the 8800Gt 512Mb rules everything else
And last question - What's GDDR3 mean on a GFX card?
PeterStoba
28-02-08, 18:46
DDR3 ram for the graphics card, all new graphics cards have it
Basically, yeah. All graphics cards have some dedicated memory that will hold the game textures etc for quick access. Aside the density of memory, there's also the type of memory. GDDR2 is used on the entry level cards now, whereas GDDR3 is on the lower mainstream through to higher end cards with a few cards on the market using GDDR4 (doesn't really help much, partially due to it's loose latencies and the fact that the cards that have them have fairly narrow memory interfaces anyway).
GDDR3 is the most commonly used form of memory on graphics cards.
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