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8500GT SLI vs 8600GT

C

clickynext

Platinum Member
I'm looking for an upgrade and can get two 8500GTs or one 8600GT for the same price. Which do you think is better? This will be used for some gaming. But obviously I realize within this budget range, I'll be gaming at low settings on new games.

Which do you think is better?
 
SLI would be pointless with such slow cards. Get the 8600 if you must or wait for the cheaper 8800GT models to come out.
 
By the way, this is an upgrade from an agp 6800nu, so even going up to 8600gt should see some significant improvement, I'd think.
 
Check out this recent review at xbitlabs where they cover quite a number of games and several cards including the 8600GT/GTS, HD2600XT, x1950pro and the 8800GTS-320. They concluded:

We have to acknowledge once again that graphics cards like ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT GDDR4 and Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT/GTS are often unable to deliver high performance in modern games, at least when the gamer doesn?t want to compromise and reduce the level of detail or when he wants to play in resolutions higher than 1280x1024. Our tests show that such cards often turn to be slower than previous-generation solutions such as ATI Radeon X1950 Pro.
Click to expand...

With a budget of $100 I would probably get a 7600gt or try to find something used here in the FS forum.
 
Well since as 2 8500GTs in SLI = 1 8600GT....then....

price of 8600GT & 7600GT are = ....then....

your choice: 7600GT or 8600GT....then....

My opinion: 8600GT FTW :thumbsup:

😀
 
If you currently have a 6800nu, none of the cards that have been mentioned are very significant upgrades.
 
Hmm, does anyone know where in Canada I could get a 7900GS? Our prices for old stuff tends to suck, and stock of old equipment runs down quickly. The lowest price I've found for 7900GS is $200 at ncix.com.

So the general opinion is that the 8600GT is better in performance than the 8500GT SLIs? To clarify, here are the two possible setups I'm thinking, each I can get for just under $300 (non-SLI cheaper by the smallest of margins).

SLI
XFX 680i LT mobo
XFX 8500GT
XFX 8500GT

Non-SLI
Asus P5K-E mobo
XFX 8600GT
 
Originally posted by: clickynext
Hmm, does anyone know where in Canada I could get a 7900GS? Our prices for old stuff tends to suck, and stock of old equipment runs down quickly. The lowest price I've found for 7900GS is $200 at ncix.com.

So the general opinion is that the 8600GT is better in performance than the 8500GT SLIs? To clarify, here are the two possible setups I'm thinking, each I can get for just under $300 (non-SLI cheaper by the smallest of margins).

SLI
XFX 680i LT mobo
XFX 8500GT
XFX 8500GT

Non-SLI
Asus P5K-E mobo
XFX 8600GT
Click to expand...

Gotcha. I didn't see Canada-specific mentioned in your post. Maybe try an X1950 Pro instead? Pretty similar in performance to the 7900 GS.

Are you getting a new mobo too? There's no way you'll be able to get a mobo and new video card for $100. What are your other specs?
 
Originally posted by: InflatableBuddha
Originally posted by: clickynext
Hmm, does anyone know where in Canada I could get a 7900GS? Our prices for old stuff tends to suck, and stock of old equipment runs down quickly. The lowest price I've found for 7900GS is $200 at ncix.com.

So the general opinion is that the 8600GT is better in performance than the 8500GT SLIs? To clarify, here are the two possible setups I'm thinking, each I can get for just under $300 (non-SLI cheaper by the smallest of margins).

SLI
XFX 680i LT mobo
XFX 8500GT
XFX 8500GT

Non-SLI
Asus P5K-E mobo
XFX 8600GT
Click to expand...

Gotcha. I didn't see Canada-specific mentioned in your post. Maybe try an X1950 Pro instead? Pretty similar in performance to the 7900 GS.

Are you getting a new mobo too? There's no way you'll be able to get a mobo and new video card for $100. What are your other specs?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I failed to mention being in Canada, my bad. Thanks for your replies though. X1950Pro seems to be significantly more expensive than 8600GT as well, from the places I've seen, not to mention those cards are pretty rare!

Basically I've got roughly a $300 budget for mobo, vid card, and ram. Generally a good mobo + ram seems to take up about $200, which leaves $100 for the video. But the SLI setup is a special deal from tigerdirect, $180 for the mobo and one 8500GT, and pair on another 8500GT for $60-$70. So basically, I've got $100 to spare for a vid card for a conventional upgrade, but SLI 8500GTs became an option just due to the tigerdirect deal alone.

My other specs are PentiumD 805, 430w PSU, 7200.7 HDD. Here's my general upgrade thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2110934&enterthread=y
 
I see what you mean. If your budget is tightly capped at $100, the 8600GT is the way to go.

If you can spare the extra $50-60, the X1950 Pro I linked to is a huge step up in performance. Just something to consider.

Good luck! 🙂
 
I got the 8600GT, thanks.

Looks like for the money, it's the best, especially since drivers have improved and might still improve. I'll have to see what it can do after I replace my Pentium D with a Core 2.
 
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