8800 GTS 512 or 8800 GTX?

[neubspeed]

I have an 8800 GT now but its just not enough power to run games fluidly at 1900x1200 with a little bit of AA and such. Not to mention its ridiculously loud and hot.

Right now, I can get the GTS 512 or a GTX for basically the same price so thats not an issue. My concern is that I've heard the GTX doesn't do hardware decoding of HD video and that there's a significant difference in watching HD content without it. I watch a tonne of movies on my computer so this is really important.

Anyways, heat, power, and HD video wise, what is the best route for me to take?

I wouldn't be opposed to 8800 GT SLI either if it wasn't for the heat/power issue. I'm not even talking about in my case, I just don't want my room up 4 degrees after playing a game. Advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Silus]

I have an 8800 GT now but its just not enough power to run games fluidly at 1900x1200 with a little bit of AA and such. Not to mention its ridiculously loud and hot.

Right now, I can get the GTS 512 or a GTX for basically the same price so thats not an issue. My concern is that I've heard the GTX doesn't do hardware decoding of HD video and that there's a significant difference in watching HD content without it. I watch a tonne of movies on my computer so this is really important.

Anyways, heat, power, and HD video wise, what is the best route for me to take?

I wouldn't be opposed to 8800 GT SLI either if it wasn't for the heat/power issue. I'm not even talking about in my case, I just don't want my room up 4 degrees after playing a game. Advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Well, if you take in consideration hardware video decoding, then the 8800 GTX is definitely out.
It would provide the best gaming experience at that resolution, but it really does not have hardware video decoding capabilities. So I can only recommend the new GTS 512, which offers consistent performance to a GTX, up to 1600x1200 and has hardware video decoding. At 1920x1200, it will not provide a better gaming experience than a 8800 GTX though, especially with AA.