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[Glitch]

Hey guys just want to get some advice. It's time to replace my ageing 7900gtx because it's really starting to lag behind right now. I was waiting for the prices of the 8800gtx to drop but then the 8800gt and the 8800gts came out and look now 9000 series is out!. Right now I'm confused as to what to buy. I'm looking for what card will give me the biggest framerate incease from my 7900gtx. My maximum is $300usd. I'm gaming at 1680x1050 so I don't need a card that will only give me huge benefits at 1900x1200 and up. I'm just looking for the most frames at 1680x1050 with the most eye candy turned on.

Current specs:

E6750
2 gb mushkin ddr800
550w ultra X2 with 17A and 18A on the 12v rails (kinda low I know)
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L

Right now I'm split between the 8800gt/8800gts(G92)/9800gtx. Which 1 is better for me? Is there really that much of a performance gap between them?. There's also the 9600gt which is dirt cheap shoud I get that and wait for the next gen? And is the 8800gtx a competitor as prices have fallen?

Oh yeah I play games like UT3, Assassin's Creed, Crysis and Bioshock

[Dave303]

I have one of the 1st gen 8800gts (G80 core) cards and I would say it a nice jump from my 7900 series.

You specs are the same as mine but I went with DDR3

system OC'ed 3.4ghz

1st the G92 is the newest core for nVidia so the 9800GTX or 8800GTS (G92) will have the new core. Those two would be ones I would pick from, the 9600GT would be the newer core but low end and I dont thing you would be happy with it IMHO.

Go for a known brand name like Evga, XFX, ASUS, BFG

[Melancholinpolly]

I've got an 320mb version of the EVGA 8800GTS (they're having a retarded sale on them on newegg for like 120 bucks or some nonsense) and it's a great card. I can play crysis on medium settings and it looks amazing. The only thing i would say is that after some digging I found that only one version of the 8800GTS has a G92 core and that's the 512mb version. From what I've seen theres the 256,320,512,610mb version and the only G92 one is the 8800GTS. Just thought I'd throw that in there before you accidentaly got a GTS and it's not quite what you expected. the reviews i've seen coming in on the 9600GT and the 9800GT are really good. if the 320mb GTS wasn't on sale I would have gone for the 9600GT.

Here's a link to the card if you're curious

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130082

[Glitch]

Hey Thanx Dave for the input, I was kinda leaning to the 8800gts. So I'm guessing the 9600gt is out if the question. How about SLI are a pair of 9600gt's in SLI worth it?(would have to get a Sli board though)

BTW I only buy Evga !! (fanboy)

[Glitch]

I looking at this card currently on the egg. I'm comparing it side by side with the 8800gts and the specs are almost identical just a slight differences in frequencies. Is there really a justification for the extra 50bucks?. BTW does anyone know if any of these card supports the "auto underclocking technology" or whatever they're calling it when the card is running in 2d mode?.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130339

[urgannagru]

good to see another evga fan  theyre awesome, my new favorite as a matter of fact. i just wish they made some amd mobos.

i run dual 8600s in sli and run crysis on medium just fine at 1280x1024 (though obviously that might change at a higher res, i have no clue). i never tried to max it out cause it was pretty enough on just that.

one 800 is going to be better than one 600, but two 600s might be close enough

personally i would go with an sli board anyways, because you never know, and you dont have to run in sli but might want more monitors.

BTW, UT3 should run buttery smooth on just about everything, its made to be able to run on low end systems. i ran it fine on medium settings with only 1 8600 before i had sli.

[Glitch]

good to see another evga fan  theyre awesome, my new favorite as a matter of fact. i just wish they made some amd mobos.

i run dual 8600s in sli and run crysis on medium just fine at 1280x1024 (though obviously that might change at a higher res, i have no clue). i never tried to max it out cause it was pretty enough on just that.

one 800 is going to be better than one 600, but two 600s might be close enough

personally i would go with an sli board anyways, because you never know, and you dont have to run in sli but might want more monitors.

BTW, UT3 should run buttery smooth on just about everything, its made to be able to run on low end systems. i ran it fine on medium settings with only 1 8600 before i had sli.

Is SLI really feasible? When I bought my 7900gtx. I said to myself I'll by high now and later down the line get another card when prices drop but guess what they never did and poof! they disappeared. They just disappeared as soon as the g80's came out and so I've been waiting for these to drop and look now the G92's are out. So I wanna take the plunge right now.

Btw urgannagru could you or anyone recommend a good SLI board

[bliq]

Is SLI really feasible? When I bought my 7900gtx. I said to myself I'll by high now and later down the line get another card when prices drop but guess what they never did and poof! they disappeared. They just disappeared as soon as the g80's came out and so I've been waiting for these to drop and look now the G92's are out. So I wanna take the plunge right now.

Btw urgannagru could you or anyone recommend a good SLI board

Lots of people plan this but never get to buy the other card.  In the end, it's usually better to just buy 1 superfast card.  I always meant to buy a second X1900XT but I ended up picking up an 8800GTX instead.  Dont forget that the second card means more powerful PSU required (850W for two 8800GTXs), and it will be noisier and warmer.

One thing to remember is that the G92 chip behind the 8800GT/GTS, and the 9800GTX was technically a step down from the 8800GTX's chip.  But it looks like the 9800GTX is at least on par with the 8800GTX and it costs $330.  With a budget of $300, I'd probably try to stretch for a 9800GTX.  Otherwise, I may go for a 8800GTX again, since they're now under $300 supposedly.

Check out Toms Hardware for reviews and comparisons of these cards.  The 9600GT is fantastic for $150-160, but not in the same league as the GTXs.

[urgannagru]

if you're going for a high end card like an 8800 or 9800 most people just end up replacing it. if you're cheap like me and only had one 8600 which was only $150 to begin with and the price dropped on the exact same one 6 months later to $80 then yeah, i ended up buying a second one, but most people don't.

as for the second card requiring a stronger psu, thats only true if it is a card that requires a PSU connection. if it just runs off of the motherboard's pci power (like the 8600s) then its not a problem. casefans should be more than capable of dealing with the excess heat. heck, my sli setup is passively cooled with only casefans.

(i believe all of the high end cards require extra power, so if you plan on using SLI for things like the 7900s, 8800s and 9800s then you would need an appropriate PSU).

another thing about SLI is that it does take up some space in the case, so make sure you have it if you plan on going that route.

[Dave303]

Is SLI really feasible? When I bought my 7900gtx. I said to myself I'll by high now and later down the line get another card when prices drop but guess what they never did and poof! they disappeared. They just disappeared as soon as the g80's came out and so I've been waiting for these to drop and look now the G92's are out. So I wanna take the plunge right now.

Btw urgannagru could you or anyone recommend a good SLI board

well I would have to say if you are a Evga Fan then get one of the Evga boards, the 780 are ddr2, 790 if you have DDR3 or plan on the jump.

I did sli with teh 6600gt when SLI was 1st released and seen some improvments but at that time games were not using it as much as they are now. Only other SLI rig I played with in the last 2 months as a XPS laptop, I should know how 2 Evga 9800GTX's do on Evga 790 ultra board in the next few weeks as I am finishing up on that build now (some review items are going into it so its just not put together and run with it).