8800GS worth it for me?

T

TopGun

Gawd
Joined
Jan 22, 2005
Messages
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I killed my xfx 8600gt xxx two weeks back and have been looking for a replacement, I
really don't want anything loud so the Evga 8800gs was appealing to me because it actually changed fan speed unlike the xfx. I have a 19" Dell CRT max res of 1600x1200. At most I'd be playing at 1280x1024 and if I get a lcd in the future 1440x900 or whatever it is. I'm pretty sure that my power supply (EarthWatts 380w) will handle it since it only draws a few watts more than the 8600.

I just want a card that will run games well at 1280x1024 or 1440x900 and that's affordable.
The 8800GS seems perfect for me but I was wondering what you guys thought before I pulled the trigger.

This is the card I was looking at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130332

Also do you think it would fit in my case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129032

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edit: Appears someone has an 8800gts in it so the power supply is strong enough and it will fit :D
 
8800GS is a great card for your res. you will be happy.
 
8800GS will be great. I bought the 8800GTS 512 a week before the 8800GS and 9600gt showed up on newegg and i wish i had waited for them. It's such a good deal for $100-130

If you care about noise (like me)...there are a lot of complaints about the XFX 8800gs being noisy. The EVGA version with the larger cooler is better and more quiet. Your other option would be to put on an aftermarket cooler like the AC accelero s1.

Also, you might want to consider the 9600GT for only ~20 bucks more. You'll get a small bit more performance. Not really critical one way or the other though.


Edit: Though that power supply *might* be ok. I'd upgrade it as system will probably around the PSU's limit. Get a 500-550W and you'll be good to go :)
 
Its free shipping too (that saves about $7). Beyond that it has a $30 rebate.

It has a very slight power advantage over the 8800GTS (the old one) but it's ram is significantly slower.

If you have more money, go for the 9600GT. (as it is under $150)
 
Maybe I should just save and get an 8800GT and a power supply, probably more rewarding in the end eh?
What powersupply and 8800GT would you guys recommend?

Thanks
-TopGun
 
Corsair PSU. I'm going to say the 450w one can handle it.
VX450 is fine, but if you want modular go with the HX520.
:D

The 380w EarthWatts is an amazing PSU though...
 
You can't beat that EVGA 8800GS card for the price. A 9600GT is probably fine but isn't available for $109 to your door AR (was a tougher call when they were both $129).

Anything faster will be bottlenecked by your system. I know first-hand. Only reason I got the GTS is for a planned upgrade to C2D.

Good Luck
 
Staypuft said:
You can't beat that EVGA 8800GS card for the price. A 9600GT is probably fine but isn't available for $109 to your door AR (was a tougher call when they were both $129).

Anything faster will be bottlenecked by your system. I know first-hand. Only reason I got the GTS is for a planned upgrade to C2D.

Good Luck
Click to expand...

$26 more for the XFX 9600GT is more than worth it. Its better in every way over the 8800GS.
 
TopGun said:
Maybe I should just save and get an 8800GT and a power supply, probably more rewarding in the end eh?
What powersupply and 8800GT would you guys recommend?

Thanks
-TopGun
Click to expand...
the 8800gs and 8800gt use with in 10watts of each other which is well over TWICE the power draw of your 8600gt. Im just pointing that out because you seem to think the 8800gs only uses about the same power as the 8600gt. still you should be ok with either of them since you have fairly basic setup so dont worry about your power supply. I personally would get the 9600gt if I were you since it does use less power than the 8800gs and 8800gt and runs cooler.
 
kllrnohj said:
$26 more for the XFX 9600GT is more than worth it. Its better in every way over the 8800GS.
Click to expand...

Subject we could debate forever. Both are bottlenecked by his system and he'll score similarly at his desired resolution.

"I just want a card that will run games well at 1280x1024 or 1440x900 and that's affordable." = 8800GS @ $109
 
Staypuft said:
Subject we could debate forever. The OP will not see any of the performance gains as seen in benchmarks using higher end setups. An Athlon X2 is already bottlenecking the lowly 8800GS. A 'faster' 9600GT will cost $26 more for better looks.

"I just want a card that will run games well at 1280x1024 or 1440x900 and that's affordable." = 8800GS @ $109
Click to expand...
at 1280 and above with highest game settings most of the bottleneck is gone in almost every game. also he currently has a monitor that can do 1600 so he might actually enjoy the 9600gt more in the long run.
 
I got a 8800gs and it is great. I am maxed in every game I play at 1440x900 I play cod4 and frontline mainly and those games runs great on my system. Thou if you can try and overclock your processor so your cpu won't be bottlenecking you video card.
 
If you want super silence pick up a arctic cooling S1, zip tie a 120mm fan on there, and for $25 you got a silent video card.
 
I would get the 8800GTS 512MB with the G92 chip in it already for future proofing :) seeing that 9series is not much of any improvement
 
cannondale06 said:
...also he currently has a monitor that can do 1600 ...
Click to expand...

A 9600GT will do just as poorly as the GS at 1600. In that case you want to move up into GT, GTS territory. Now is a great time to buy. Shelves are being cleared for the 9x series. Check out [H]ot deals > here
 
I guess I'm gonna go with the 8800GS, I really want to spend as little money as possible since I have
to buy a car relatively soon. Couldn't I just use the step-up program down the road if I ran into some cash anyways?

Do you guys think the GS would run cod4 maxed out at 1280x1024?
 
Yes it will. No doubt. It should also be able to run at 1600x1200 but without AA just fine.
 
Staypuft said:
A 9600GT will do just as poorly as the GS at 1600. In that case you want to move up into GT, GTS territory. Now is a great time to buy. Shelves are being cleared for the 9x series. Check out [H]ot deals > here
Click to expand...

The 9600GT can play COD4 @ 1920x1200 @ max, no AA (as per hard review) - 1600x1200 will be a piece of cake. Likewise, it also did UT3 @ 1920x1200.

1600x1200 is totally playable on a single 9600GT
 
I'm just going to get the Evga 8800GS I guess, hopefully I won't need a new power suppy and I can spend the money in
other places. I think with anything higher I would have bottlenecking, and my system craves another 2gb stick so I can
finally have dual-channel.
 
kllrnohj said:
The 9600GT can play COD4 @ 1920x1200 @ max, no AA (as per hard review) - 1600x1200 will be a piece of cake. Likewise, it also did UT3 @ 1920x1200.

1600x1200 is totally playable on a single 9600GT
Click to expand...

[H] used Intel Core 2 Duo X6800 2.93 GHz processor vs the Athlon X2 in OP's sig. 9600GT is a better card to an extent he won't see...
 
Staypuft said:
[H] used Intel Core 2 Duo X6800 2.93 GHz processor vs the Athlon X2 in OP's sig. 9600GT is a better card to an extent he won't see...
Click to expand...
he mostly would at 1280 and absolutely would at 1600. also the extra 128mb on the 9600gt would pay off in some current games and especially upcoming ones as well. overall the 9600gt is more powerful, quieter, and consumes less watts than the 8800gs. its just a question of whether or not the price difference is worth it to the op.
 
With the price of the 8800GS and the 9600GT being nearly the same, the 9600GT is the better buy no question as above.
 
As I said in my previous post I am maxed in cod4 at 1440x900 which is very similar to 1280x1024. So yeah every game (besides crysis) I am running maxed out.
 
Looks good, ordered it a couple hours ago and looking forward to it.
Now I really want a lcd and another 2gb stick :p
 
Staypuft said:
Subject we could debate forever. Both are bottlenecked by his system and he'll score similarly at his desired resolution.

"I just want a card that will run games well at 1280x1024 or 1440x900 and that's affordable." = 8800GS @ $109
Click to expand...
Yeah. The 8800GS has more shaders/texture units (despite the core and shader clock deficit still gives a 25% advantage), and the 9600GT has more memory bandwidth/ROPs. It's not cut and dried as kllrnohj tries to paint it. I see mixed results in head to head timedemo benchmarking, sometimes the 9600GT is faster and sometimes the 8800GS is faster.

I have the noisy XFX model and I'm happy with the performance (and noise after I replaced the fan). I only have a 1680x1050 LCD, but it's a good match.
 
It seems the 8800gs has more head room for overclocking. Is the 9600gt as good with ocing?
 
lillimon04 said:
It seems the 8800gs has more head room for overclocking. Is the 9600gt as good with ocing?
Click to expand...
As good, no. With normal stock cooling I see in reviews the 9600GT core typically gets to around 730-750MHz. The 8800GS core starts out lower and typically hits around 700-720MHz under the same conditions (stock cooler, no volt mods). The 8800GS at stock speed has a ~25% shader lead over the 9600GT and that lead just widens when overclocking.

The memory overclocking is pretty much a wash since both use 1ns GDDR3, and the 9600GT retains the memory bandwidth lead easily due to the wider memory interface.
 
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