3850 512, 3870 512 or 8800GT 512 for cod 4 at 1600 x 1050?

[crisium]

I've never had FPS displayed in mutliplayer, but I never experienced slowdown. So I'd imagine it's always at least 30fps. Singeplayer, on some of the foggy British missions I have seen the framerate drop to the upper teens, but this is not the norm. Usually I have no problem being above 30.

 

[bozack]

Originally posted by: Crisium
I've never had FPS displayed in mutliplayer, but I never experienced slowdown. So I'd imagine it's always at least 30fps. Singeplayer, on some of the foggy British missions I have seen the framerate drop to the upper teens, but this is not the norm. Usually I have no problem being above 30.

Thanks, I will have to give it some thought, who knows by the time I decide I might just be able to buy an 8800gt for what I am looking to spend.

 

[kmmatney]

If you don't need AA, then a 3850 should be fine. If you want AA then the 8800GT is the way to go. I'd go for a 512MB version, to get more consistent performance. Persoanlly, I'm fine without AA, so I've been eyeing a 3850...

 

[brencat]

Originally posted by: bozack
So this is my goal as cheaply as possible, to play COD 4 and nothing else at that resolution with some detail turned on and so it looks good. My current card gets killed and looks like crap. If I go 8800 I will have to wait a while as finding one for under 250 is a problem it seems. Thoughts suggested.

As others have said, 8800gt 512 or 3850 512. My brother is in a similar boat -- trying to play COD4 on a 2.5yr old P4 3.4 and 6800GT like you and it crawls with everything turned to low at 1024 x 768. Was over his place the other day watching him play and felt bad...27 fps avg with 11 fps at the low end on the board "Crash."

My suggestion is that if you are okay with $210 but not $250, I'd skip going out for 2 weekends and save for the better card. After all, there's lots of great games...chances are in 6 mos you'll wish you had the 8800gt. I never used to bother with AA either, but now that I've finally got a capable rig and seen COD4 at max everything, I'll never go back.

 

[Mucker]

I use a 3870 512 and 8800GT 512 on similiar setups and the 8800 is smoother for me on 1680 x 1050. Image quality is a non-issue, both are great. The 3870 really gets hammered in scenes where ground fog is present. I actually drop the resolution down to 1280 x 900 on the 3870 to get smoother play (personal preference). Both good cards, but if it was my money, 8800 GT 512 hands down.

 

[mcv]

Originally posted by: munky
The 8800gt 256mb is a gamble, because while in some games it's almost as fast as a 512mb 8800gt, in other games it takes a huge performance hit from memory shortage.

As I understand, it's even worse than that. The 8800 GT 256 is intrinsically slower than the 8800 GT 512. It's not just the memory, it really is different, and the similar name is misleading. As I understand it, a 8800 GT 512 beats the hell out of a 3870 with 512 MB, whereas a 256MB 3850 is better than a 8800 GT 256.

 

[crisium]

Considering a 512mb 3850 is the same or even cheaper than a 256mb 8800GT, it's almost impossible to recommend the latter. Most games are well beyond 256 memory usage, although iirc we have yet to quite hit 512 (sorry 640 and 768 ppl, but you're still only future proof)

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Crisium
Considering a 512mb 3850 is the same or even cheaper than a 256mb 8800GT, it's almost impossible to recommend the latter. Most games are well beyond 256 memory usage, although iirc we have yet to quite hit 512 (sorry 640 and 768 ppl, but you're still only future proof)

except for this guy in Crysis. I'm sure he uses more than 512mb of memory.

"Hi."

"I get 20-25 fps in the jungle at 2560x1600, 0xAA, with the Very High on the cheap config from tweakguides.com. Highest fps? naaaaaa, but I'm not running 1280x1024 "

"Here, have a look for yourself. In that same spot where I was getting 25 fps, now I get 28. patch and new drivers ftw."

 

[bozack]

Thanks all,

Well I think I do want to play the game with AA on so guess the 8800gt it is.

 

[crisium]

I play the game fine with 4xAA and 16xAF at 1360x768 (no longer have access to 1080 monitor). 512mb 3850 is $185-$200. Is it worth the extra $50-$65 for the 8800gt? Maybe, but you will be able to play the game with AA on the 3850. I'm not sure where you're getting this impression that it can't do AA. You get more performance for more money, but don't worry you still get performance...