Upgrading from 8800gt

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dixieland

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Jan 31, 2009
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Lookin to upgrade from my 8800gt to a faster card in the $150 range. Nvidia. Thoughts?
 
It is possible to find a GTX 260 core 216 for that price, but they are usually $180ish. If $150 is your limit, an ATI HD 5770 is a good deal.
 
I'm coming from an 8800GT, and I think the next reasonable step up is gonna be the 5770.
 
if directx 11 compatibilty isnt a necessity at this point, go with a 4890. If you buy Nvidia right now you are getting less performance for more money and that makes no sense.
 
save your money

Now is a terrible time to upgrade videocards because of the limited choices and increased prices. 5770 would be a decent upgrade but I don't think its worth $159. You will be able to find it on sale in the $100~120 range (or maybe even less) in six months.
 
You choices are: GTS250 HD4870 and HD5770. I would go with the HD 5770.
 
Yeah I would recommend the 5770 as well unless you have no desire for DirectX11, Eyefinity or lower heat/power requirements than you can pick up a used ATI 4890 which is significantly faster than the 5770.
 
I'd recommend a 216 or even 285 if you can somehow get your hands on one. The difference between my 8800 and 285 was night and day.

Everyone is recommending the hi-end ATI's and judging by the benchmarks they'd appear to be correct. But in my experience it just doesn't ring true that nVidia is falling behind since everytime I read a complaint about low framerates in current *games* the person is using an ATI.

Search a few threads here and there and make what you will of my observation.
I don't sense that my 285 is long in the tooth in any way whatsoever :\
 
like mope54 said, gtx 285 is probably a good idea. i went from 8800 to 9800gtx to gtx 275 and i can totally tell the difference. i run everything at high, but i'd imagine a gtx 285 will last longer in the long run.
 
mope54 said:
I'd recommend a 216 or even 285 if you can somehow get your hands on one. The difference between my 8800 and 285 was night and day.

Everyone is recommending the hi-end ATI's and judging by the benchmarks they'd appear to be correct. But in my experience it just doesn't ring true that nVidia is falling behind since everytime I read a complaint about low framerates in current *games* the person is using an ATI.

Search a few threads here and there and make what you will of my observation.
I don't sense that my 285 is long in the tooth in any way whatsoever :\
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GTX 285 is certainly a bit faster than HD5770. It has always been overpriced though performancewise and is not in the pricerange discussed. The better priced HD5850 leaves the GTX 285 in the dust.

For the notion that Nvidia is faster in "reality" and "Games". That's just nonsense of course. And getting this from the ratio of "problemposts" for new systems during a time when the Nvidiaproducts more or less are not bought by anyone is going nowhere.

My Ati and Nvidiacards have usually been performing well within reason comparing with reviewresults from sites as [H].

All that said, GTX 285 is a great card and have always been a good alternative for those who don't bother with price/performance issues.
 
As someone who's also wanting to upgrade from an 8800GT, I'm waiting until ATI drops prices to compete with nVidia's upcoming offerings to decide.

Also, it doesn't seem like a 5770 would be much of an upgrade, seeing as how it gets comparable performance in most of the benches I've seen. Maybe the 5830 will fill the gap nicely.
 
A 5770 would be your best choice right now, but I'd wait until Nvidia quits dragging their feet and starts releasing new gfx cards so ATI is forced to lower their prices. This isn't the best time to upgrade, I'd just wait, especially if you really want Nvidia. It would make almost no sense to get an Nvidia gfx card right now unless you find one really cheap used. Both Nvidia and ATI are over-priced right now, but ATI is a little better value.
 
5770 would be a crappy upgrade

It gets a decent amount better in benchmarks but you would barely notice it in real life
 
If you're aiming for a fermi-based Nvidia card for under $200, I wouldn't bet on it. At least, not on launch day. Expect Fermi to launch in the $400-500+ range, and then maybe 2-3 months after we should see mainstream cards. Top of the line cards are always released first.
 
No, I haven't used both. I'm just going by benchmarks.

Are you seeing different results from benchmarks? It looks like a decent upgrade in benchmarks but doesn't seem like it would translate into a very noticeable upgrade in real life (this is my main point, that it looks like it would be just barely noticeable). I suppose if you had a particular game that was gettings low in the mid 20s and it jumps to the low 30s that would be OK, but nothing to get very excited over.

Considering that the cards is still selling for $159 or so, I think it is a poor upgrade. Big part of that though is the current state of the videocard market. Nvidia has nothing new in the mid and high end so ATi can keep their prices high. Also, a 8800GT is still a decent card so it isn't like he is coming from a totally unusable card to one the becomes usable.
 
I actually have not even looked at benchmarks but I have used both cards. At least in MW and MW2 at 1920x1200 there is a difference. Particularly in thick smoke situations where I had to disable soft shadows on a 9800GT (same as a 8800GT) to keep the FPS from dropping to the low 20's.

Average FPS may not be a HUGE difference, but minimum fps was significantly improved.

EDIT: I mean I had to disable soft smoke edges, not shadows...
 
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just looked over some reviews again with the 9800GT vs the 5770 and its showing better than what I thought I remembered.

Sorry, it does look like a good upgrade if he is OK with the price.
 
needmorecarnitine said:
5770 would be a crappy upgrade

It gets a decent amount better in benchmarks but you would barely notice it in real life
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Hmm, I care to disagree. A decent amount better in benchmarks almost always result in an improvement noticeable in real life but you did already apologize :) which says a lot. Most people won't admit when they are wrong and I'm never wrong :D.

Ex. If you running all medium settings and getting 60 fps on card a versus running all medium on card b at 75fps, you probably won't notice much more smoothness as you already running near close/past your monitors max refresh rate. However, on card b you can probably turn the details to 'all high' rather than 'all medium' and still get 60fps. I'm not sure how one could consider going from medium to high detail settings something you will barely notice in real life.

Even if your not at the fps cap and your comparing a decent amount better on all high settings where card a runs at 30 fps and card b guys at 40fps, you'd notice the added smoothness. Same goes for 25 to 30, 40 to 50 or 50 to 65.
 
mistachewey said:
what problems?

i'm running 64 ultimate, wondering what i need to look out for
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I just upgraded from my 8800GT on Win7 64 to a 5850, and I've had no problems. I would recommend the 5770 no problem.

PS. Eyefinity is awesome.
 
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