7900GTX to 8800GTX. Wait or upgrade?

[jim1976]

7900GTX and X1900XTX are both very good gpus.
I actually owned 7800gtx256 and I moved to a X1900XTX last year.
The truth is though that none of these cards is even comparable to 8800GTX. The performance leap is enormous. You have to use a 8800GTX to realise its power..
Best 600$ I've spent for a long time, and for someone who debated whether it worths the extra 250$-300$ the answer is by all means yes...
Though if you didn't upgrade thus far to one (I have my 8800gtx from day1) it would be wiser to wait for R600 now..
Anyway whatever you do, that is whether you go for a 8800gtx or a R600 soon, NOW it's the best time to upgrade in terms of performance difference with previous generation cards. It happens very few times in gpu history to realise that much difference in performance with previosu gen cards. All the other D3D10 cards that will come will be the usual "refresh" models with "mediocre"or just "good" performance increases..

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Coldkilla
Did a google for: Orthos SP2001. Nothing came up.

How can I check that that my memory is running in dual-channel?
Is there another name for speedstep in BIOs? I dont see it in mine.
-- Warnings saying Intel TAT: Invalid Processor. (I was wondering why you suggested an Intel application for AMD setup

So I still need: Something for temperatures. Something for PC Stress testing as well.

Look at John's thread here: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=1901991&enterthread=y

run all of those tests and you may get a better indication of what is going on (it helped me).

I also ran loops of 3Dmark to see if I was stable and compared to other people's numbers to help confirm everything was working as it should be.

Good luck!

KT

 

[ccho]

1024x768 and you're only getting 20fps with a 7900gtx??? I've never played this game before, but looking at the requirements, I think the source of the problem is probably due to some other failing component in your system (if not the video card itself).

 

[shroud72]

If you have the money and enjoy playing games then by all means go ahead. I bought a new system that I will be assembling this weekend to include an 8800GTX. I decided that for me it would be a better investment to spend $600 now instead of $300 now and $300 or so later to play the games that I want without having to sacrifice speed or quality at high resolutions.

 

[Coldkilla]

Again my system stats:
=================================
AMD 4200+ X2 Dual Core. 2.20GHz
7900GTX Nvidia GFX Card 512MB.
2047MB Geil Ram
300GB HDD Space. 100GB used, 200GB open.
O/S: Vista Business. 32-bit.
Rating (Windows Experience Index): 4.5
=================================
TEST RESULTS:
Stress Prime 2004 Dual Core Results
CPU-Z Statistics
Prime 95's Results

After running these tests, nothing failed I guess. Memtest86 ran fine as well. No errors. Virus detect no serious errors/spyware/malware. All checked out with 3 different programs. (Spyware Doctor, Adaware Pro, AVG-Anti Virus).

=================================
PC Pit Stop's Scan came back with this information.

When I click on the flag for my video card, PCPitstop has this to say:
7900GTX is going at: 112.3 megapixels per second - Significantly LOWER than average speed.
=================================
Window's PC scoring system: Stats. So its my RAM now? According to PC pitstop it was my video card. According to gaming: Low frames per second on games that don't require the use of all 2GB's of RAM.. I don't know whats wrong!

edit: time for a new thread? I think this is getting off from thread title.

 

[KeithTalent]

Did you run 3Dmark as well? I'd be interested to see how your scores compares to others in the ORB, particularly as it is framerates that you are having a problem with.

KT

 

[Coldkilla]

I'll check it out. I created a thread with this problem. This thread was about upgrading. Thx all for your support. Please head over to my PC problem thread to continue this discussion:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...?catid=27&threadid=2003298&STARTPAGE=1

Ill download 3dm06 free trial.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Coldkilla
I'll check it out. I created a thread with this problem. This thread was about upgrading. Thx all for your support. Please head over to my PC problem thread to continue this discussion:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...?catid=27&threadid=2003298&STARTPAGE=1

3DMark03? (Is that the free one?)

Do 05. They are all free for the basic version: http://www.futuremark.com/download/3dmark05/

 

[ebeattie]

In october of 2006, I plopped $500 down for TWO 7900 GTO's and put them both in an SLI configuration. I was happy as a peach...untill SLI decided it didnt want to work on my DFI Lan Party board (Ive since gotten an ASUS A8N32 Deluxe to replace my DFI).
I since decided that while in theory SLI kicks ass, I wanted to have ONE card that i know will kick ass. So I Stepped up one of the cards to an 8800GTX, and traded the other card for an FX-60. So for ~$800, I got a bad ass CPU in the FX-60 (thanks MJVyxyn) and one HELL of a video card in the 8800GTX.

The point of this story is that if you have a video card that still has value on the market, YOU MUST USE THAT VALUE before it becomes nothing! Will it still have the same value in the summer as it does now, perhaps. but you gotta figure out what your willing to pay for the difference of a new card.

Im glad I did get my card now. And while there will be a better card on the market in a few months, Im glad that my 8800GTX will provide me better longevity than my two 7900 GTO's would have.

 

[Coldkilla]

Hopefully I'll make that 250$ more with my few ebay auctions. Then I'll consider it. Otherwise, this "R600" seems promising. What would someone like me that only knows a little about video cards, do in looking at how much better this R600 will be than the 8800GTX?

I've been a 10+ year Nvidia user, and am skeptically about moving to the newly acquired AMD ATI.

 

[Coldkilla]

Any updates on the R600? How iconic is this supposed to be? I hear a lot about.. but am lost as to what they are talking about.