7800GT to 3870

[Magusigne]

Will 7800 GT 256 to a 3870 512 DDR4 be worth the 200 dollars?

Gaming on a 24" widescreen.

Or should I just get an 8800GT for 120 more?

 

[zeroburrito]

120 more? what 8800gt costs 320 dollars?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130318

this kills any reason to buy the 3870.

 

[bryanW1995]

I've been talking about this deal for several days. $240 for an 8800gt 512 is awesome, and especially an EVGA! The only reason I see to get a 3870 over that is if you have a crossfire-enabled board that you might crossfire later or if you have heat/noise concerns with the 8800gt stock cooling, AND you can save $20-$30 on a good brand of 3870 (everyone on newegg is good except maybe apollo).

Just looked on newegg, I wouldn't even consider any of their 3870's right now since they're basically the same price as that evga for $240. However, they do have a 3850 512 with the core clocked at 725 for $180 AR. What games do you play?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814241068

 

[zeroburrito]

just get the 8800gt 256 for the same price. faster in every way, even faster than the 3870 on most occasions. yes, even in high res. i do have the 3870 and have no problems with any games. i only play fps games at 1280x1024 though because of refresh rate crap. any other games i play at 1600x1200(my monitor max) just fine. i would have gotten the 8800gt if it was avail when i got this though.

 

[MarcVenice]

On a 24" widescreen 256mb is just pure stupidity. Check the anandtech review of the HD3870, HD3850 512/256mb and the 8800gt 512/256mb. Past 1680*1050 256mb is really going to hurt, hell, at 1680*1050 I'm allready hurting with 320mb of vram. The only way the HD3870 is worth it, is when it costs 10% less then a good brand 8800gt 512mb, because it performs 10% slower then the 8800gt. We're talking pure money per frame here, so I'd get a 200-210$ HD 3870 over a 240$ 8800gt, if you really don't want to stretch your budget. If you got a little more money to spend, depending on how much of a gamer you are, you could buy either two, because they are both awesome videocards for their price.

 

[zeroburrito]

http://firingsquad.com/hardwar...xxx_review/default.asp

lots of games, lots of resolutions, lots of filters. best review i have seen. 8800gt 256 > 3870. what i was saying really was if you're going to spend 200 on a 3850 512. get the 8800gt 256 instead, but there is even a case as to get the 8800gt 256 instead of the 3870 as well. unless you play oblivion with filters on the 256 is a BEAST. note the 256 version is underclocked compared to the 512 version. the oblivion scores seem to be driver related as the 256 3850 is fine.

if you want money per frame. the 2900pro is the best card on the planet.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Originally posted by: Powernick50
Will 7800 GT 256 to a 3870 512 DDR4 be worth the 200 dollars?

Gaming on a 24" widescreen.

Or should I just get an 8800GT for 120 more?

Better yet, spend a hair more and you could get a MSI 8800GTS 512MB for $269 after rebate, or $279 (AR) for an XFX ....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...800gts+512MB&x=10&y=38

 

[qbfx]

Originally posted by: zeroburrito
http://firingsquad.com/hardwar...xxx_review/default.asp

lots of games, lots of resolutions, lots of filters. best review i have seen. 8800gt 256 > 3870. what i was saying really was if you're going to spend 200 on a 3850 512. get the 8800gt 256 instead, but there is even a case as to get the 8800gt 256 instead of the 3870 as well. unless you play oblivion with filters on the 256 is a BEAST. note the 256 version is underclocked compared to the 512 version. the oblivion scores seem to be driver related as the 256 3850 is fine.

if you want money per frame. the 2900pro is the best card on the planet.

No matter how you look at it, it's dumb to get a 256mb card for 24". I say go for the 3870.

 

[Magusigne]

Well judging by the gap, I'm going to hold off, wait till the 9xxx series gets released.

Pray for a price drop and there we go.

 

[zeroburrito]

are you also looking to buy a phenom qbfx? as i see no reason to buy the 3870 right now. you have to be some sort of amd employee. the difference is more than 10%. in some games its a massive difference.

 

[Narse]

Originally posted by: zeroburrito
are you also looking to buy a phenom qbfx? as i see no reason to buy the 3870 right now. you have to be some sort of amd employee. the difference is more than 10%. in some games its a massive difference.

You also recommended a 256mb card for a 24" display, your straight nuts man.

 

[zeroburrito]

i did not recommend that card for the 24. i recommended it over the 3850 512. i recommend the 8800gt 512. nowhere in my posts do i say get the 8800 256 for your 24. only if you consider getting the 3850 512 for 200. u iz strait blind man

 

[Blacklash]

If you upgrade your graphics more than evey two years try the below 8800GT for 209usd with rebate. It comes with a great cooler on it too.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...34035&Tpk=ecs%2b8800GT

I say two years because that is the length of the warranty. For folks that upgrade often, or around yearly. Lift time warranty isn't needed.

XFX's life time warranty is nice though, if your resell your cards. You can transfer it to your buyer. That build value with folks, particularly if they are the type to keep a card a long time.

If you can afford it, try the 8800GTS 512Mb. Some of those are as low as 269 with rebate on Newegg. A 8800GTS 512Mb will give you higher FPS than the 512Mb GT and an overclocked 8800GT should put up perfectly playable FPS on that monitor. I would not put a 256Mb card on anything higher than 1280x or 1440x myself and expect solid FPS in current demanding titles with filtering active.

 

[v8envy]

http://microcenter.com/single_...tml?product_id=0279319

$219 out the door, EVGA, no rebate 8800GT 512M. There is 0 reason to consider the 3870 unless you're building an HTPC.

I bought the accelero cooler ECS mentioned above yesterday. Two years of warranty is plenty -- either the card will fail long before then or it'll keep on chugging for another year or more.

 

[Magusigne]

Originally posted by: v8envy
http://microcenter.com/single_...tml?product_id=0279319

$219 out the door, EVGA, no rebate 8800GT 512M. There is 0 reason to consider the 3870 unless you're building an HTPC.

I bought the accelero cooler ECS mentioned above yesterday. Two years of warranty is plenty -- either the card will fail long before then or it'll keep on chugging for another year or more.

You know I keep eyeballing that but a single slot cooler just doesn't seem like it would be nearly as good as one of the biggun's...

 

[kmmatney]

Originally posted by: zeroburrito
http://firingsquad.com/hardwar...xxx_review/default.asp

lots of games, lots of resolutions, lots of filters. best review i have seen. 8800gt 256 > 3870. what i was saying really was if you're going to spend 200 on a 3850 512. get the 8800gt 256 instead, but there is even a case as to get the 8800gt 256 instead of the 3870 as well. unless you play oblivion with filters on the 256 is a BEAST. note the 256 version is underclocked compared to the 512 version. the oblivion scores seem to be driver related as the 256 3850 is fine.

if you want money per frame. the 2900pro is the best card on the planet.

Good post. However when I upgraded, even though I knew the 8800GT 256MB was a good card, I could not bring myself to buy a card with only 256MB. My 2.5 year old X800GTO2 already had that. So I went for the 2900 Pro with 512MB, and underclocked the 2D for a silent desktop card, and overclock it like mad for gaming. Another nice thing about the 2900 Pro is that it blows air out the back. The fan does get a bit loud when gaming, but not much louder than my old card.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: Powernick50

Originally posted by: v8envy
http://microcenter.com/single_...tml?product_id=0279319

$219 out the door, EVGA, no rebate 8800GT 512M. There is 0 reason to consider the 3870 unless you're building an HTPC.

I bought the accelero cooler ECS mentioned above yesterday. Two years of warranty is plenty -- either the card will fail long before then or it'll keep on chugging for another year or more.

You know I keep eyeballing that but a single slot cooler just doesn't seem like it would be nearly as good as one of the biggun's...

first of all, that microcenter deal is 225 out the door. That is still a GREAT deal. You are wasting your time if you hope to do much better than that on an evga 8800gt. sure you might get a lower price on an off brand, but that is almost too good to be true. Don't waste time thinking about that, just buy the damn thing.

re zeroburrito: OP clearly stated that he has a 24" widescreen monitor. Why would you act like you weren't taking this into account when recommending a 256mb video card? That is simply idiotic, OP would be a LOT better off with a 3850 512 at 1920x1200, especially with the OC version that I mentioned at $180 shipped. Now, as I just mentioned, OP would have to be crazy to not pay the extra $45 for the evga 8800gt 512.

 

[Midnight Rambler]

$219 out the door, EVGA, no rebate 8800GT 512M. There is 0 reason to consider the 3870 unless you're building an HTPC.

Umm, if you're taking it out the door, it's neither $219 nor $224, there's sales tax to pay.

If you're ordering on-line, the price at $225 shipped for a std. 8800GT is decent but there are actually some equally good/better deals available elsewhere on-line now.

 

[watek]

I've gone from only using ATI to my new 8800GT. Previously used a 3850. Been having constant problems with CCC, yes I know don't need it anyways. My Nvidia experience has been good so far .

 

[exar333]

I upgraded from a 7800GT to a 8800GT. Sold my 7800 for $80 and got the 8800GT for 250. Great purchase IMHO.