8800GTS 640mb -or- 7950GT X2 in SLi

[danielackerman]

I have 2 7950GTs in SLi. They are evga superclocked cards. Ive an offer for $360 for the pair with which I planned to buy a plain jane evga 8800GTS 640mb card. Ive not found benchies with my cards in sli but plenty with plain 7900GTXs in sli, so I use those benchies for mine when comparing my sli cards to a plain 8800GTS 640.

Toms hardware vga charts show the 8800GTS 640 just bearly edgeing out the 7900GTX SLi on every benchmark. anand has the 7900GTX SLi beating an 8800GTS 640 by a pretty good margin in the nov 8th 8800 review??

Heres the deal. I DO NOT want to lose a single frame per second from what Ive got now, if anything I would like a couple more. I cant soon afford a second 8800 GTS 640 for sli anytime soon, not to mention my 550W psu would need to be replaced for that kinda sli anyways.

Im not all that concerned with DX10. Im not all that concerned with getting a whole lot more fps. I just dont want to move backwards in performance. My buddy wants my cards 4 his new rig and has 360 cash for me right now. And I dont know whether to tell him to buy an 8800GTS 640 or take the $$$ and get one of my own.

So can anyone say with all cirtainty which is a better performing setup. An 8800GTS 640mb card or my current 7950 GTs in SLi.

p.s. anyone know where a credible bench is that shows specifically a 7950GT SLI vs. an 8800GTS 640??? post if so pleez

 

[DefRef]

I'd be interested, too. I've got 7900GTs and some of the 8800GTS deals are getting impressive.

 

[danielackerman]

FYI I play games at a res of 1600 x 1200. Ive a FX-57 with 2 gigs of ram and always use 4xAA and 8xAF..

for what its worth

 

[swtethan]

ill tell you what, run 3dmark06 and check out my score

 

[Shortass]

I would do it just to get the DX10 compatibility, reduced heat and power. It's not often you can upgrade to the next gen for free, which is essentially what you'll be able to do.

 

[Munky]

Look at these benches.

In some games the 8800gts is even with dual 7900gtx's or faster where SLi does not work well, but for the most part it is slower. No games use DX10 yet, so it's only a checkmark feature so far. In terms of overall performance, the gts is a downgrade.

 

[danielackerman]

I appreciate that but, I would rather wait on DX10, next gen games, and saved wattage if I thought I would lose precious frames per second. This is not an intended upgrade, but an opportunity. Will I gain fps and performance with an 8800 GTS 640 card or lose fps when compared to my 2 evga superclocked 7950GTs in sli? with all the goodies on, 16x12 res and AA/AF turned on.

 

[danielackerman]

thanks for the benchies munky, those seem to be inline with anads benches. Actually, most all benchies for the 8800's are about the same from place to place, its just that toms hardware guides vga charts have the 7900GTX SLi cards under performing quite a bit compared to alot of others benchies of 7900GTXs in SLi.

 

[lavaheadache]

Originally posted by: danielackerman
I appreciate that but, I would rather wait on DX10, next gen games, and saved wattage if I thought I would lose precious frames per second. This is not an intended upgrade, but an opportunity. Will I gain fps and performance with an 8800 GTS 640 card or lose fps when compared to my 2 evga superclocked 7950GTs in sli? with all the goodies on, 16x12 res and AA/AF turned on.

Saved wattage, you trying to save money on the ole' electric bill? I'm sure there are more effective ways than being particular about video cards, lol

 

[secretanchitman]

8800GTS.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Hard to say, because in an IQ comparison G80 wins hands down. Performance is with 7950GT SLi. But more or less, SLi has more limitations, e.g need profiles, doesnt always provide "double" the performance, takes up quite a space, probably create more heat and consume more power.

The 8800GTS is more in the 7950GX2/X1950XTX ball park. But i think it would be better to stick with your setup.

 

[danielackerman]

I arreciate the feedback secretanchitman, but do you have a reason why you think the 8800GTS will be an equal or better performer than my current setup????

Im really leaning towards the 8800GTS but hard facts are facts none the less. Does anyone think toms hardware is undercutting the 7900GTXs performance in SLi or is it that hes just being the only voice of reality of thier performance. Ive always trusted anands and toms benchies over all others, but in this case they are quite different. anand has both cards doing better than tom has them doing, but anand has the 7900GTXs in sli doing much much better than tom does!!???

 

[Cookie Monster]

Toms VGA charts are screwed up. Actually i havent read their site for quite a long time now. (due to negative reasons toward toms)

But, from reviewer to reviewer, the benches/numbers will be different. Different time demos are used, different settings, different setups etc. Its kind of expected.

Why not just go and buy a 8800GTX and get it over and done with

 

[danielackerman]

for what it matters, the games I play are counterstrike source, battlefield 2 and 2142, Warhammer Mark of Chaos, Quake 4 and Command & Conquer 3

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

I would go for the 8800GTS... while you might eventually lose a few fps in a few games, it will be faster in others, plus, I bet the 8800 will age much better, which means a year down the road youll be enjoying a hefty performance increase over 2x7950GT ... AND on top of that the IQ is FAAAAAR superior to the 7950, you have those new AA modes that barely tax the card, and of course, its DX10 ready

So, plenty of reasons in my opinion

 

[danielackerman]

I cant afford another $220+ for an 8800GTX. If Im gonna take advantage of the deal Ive got till Friday to make up my mind. I suppose I could stretch another $80 to get the BFG 8800GTS 640 they oc'd up to 580 core and 1800 mem. anand has evga's 8800GTS with 580 core and 1800 mem doing really really well on his benchies.(the bfg card on that bench is actually thier 550 core 1700 mem card btw)

Assuming BFG's 580 core, 1800 mem GTS will parallel evga's I could swing $80 if that card is truly better than my current setup.

 

[Captante]

8800GTX will be faster in every DX9 benchmark by a good margin.

GTS will be slightly slower in some DX9 & slightly faster in other at default clockspeeds, however if you get a decent overclock out of your card it should win out in all of them ... add in DX10 support, lower power consumption, better compatibilty + image quality & I'd say its a slam-dunk to go for the GTS.

 

[Gstanfor]

The IQ will definitely be better if you go the G80 route. G71 SLI is definitely strong, but you can't count on that strength holding up for too much longer as newer more demanding titles become available.

If it were me I'd sell your current setup to your mate, at $50 to what you get and grab something like this

It should be roughly equal with what you already have overall, and will get better over time in comparison.

 

[danielackerman]

Originally posted by: Gstanfor
The IQ will definitely be better if you go the G80 route. G71 SLI is definitely strong, but you can't count on that strength holding up for too much longer as newer more demanding titles become available.

If it were me I'd sell your current setup to your mate, at $50 to what you get and grab something like this

It should be roughly equal with what you already have overall, and will get better over time in comparison.

its settled then. I think your absolutely right gstanfor. so since this question does not appear to be precisly appropriate for the hot deals section, I'll ask it here and now.

Where is the best deal on an EVGA 8800GTS 640Mb SUPERCLOCKED. newegg has if for 410 but theres got to be a better deal out there.

 

[PingSpike]

I just find SLI to be generally a hassle myself, and would lean towards the single card solution.

Also, hasn't default IQ greatly improved with the 8800 series?

 

[danielackerman]

Originally posted by: swtethan
ill tell you what, run 3dmark06 and check out my score

any word on that swtethan??

 

[mercanucaribe]

What exactly is image quality?

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
What exactly is image quality?

What you see on your monitor??

 

[swtethan]

Originally posted by: danielackerman

Originally posted by: swtethan
ill tell you what, run 3dmark06 and check out my score

any word on that swtethan??

its in my sig, 10,100

btw.... thats overclocked 610 core/2000 mem

I can get it to 630 and be stable with load @65c

 

[alaricljs]

Look closer at newegg... There's a $30 rebate there too so that makes it $380.