8800GTS G92 or GTX260?

[Waylay00]

I'm in a dilemma right now. I need a new graphics card, and I was going to go with the G92 8800GTS 512MB. However, with all the talk of the GTX260, I'm not sure what I should do.

How much longer will the 8800GTS be available?

I'm thinking about going ahead and grabbing a GTS and using the eVGA Step Up program later on.

What would you do?

 

[BassBomb]

Step up would not be a good idea since you are still limited to GT260 and 280 anways so why not buy that outright.

I would wait and see how the AMD two cards perform before making a decision.

8800GTS will probably no longer be produced by nVidia within the next few months, but easily available from retailers for low prices. Don't expect the prices to go lower with supply only getting smaller

 

[Warren21]

I could be wrong, but I believe the step up program only applies if you buy a card now and something better comes up after. Since the 260/280 are already out, would the program not apply?

(I have never owned an eVGA card, this is just my understanding of the program).

 

[WT]

No, the Step Up is not tied to any card that hasn't come out .. you can step up (or down) to any card that they have listed and available at the time. That's probably the way I will go, with a 9800GTX card and then wait three months to snag the 260. I'm a bit surprised that the retail on the 260 is $399, as I was expecting it to be $450, but I'm sure gouging will probably fix that right up at release this week !

 

[RussianSensation]

I would wait for HD4850 to see how much faster it is compared to $120 8800GT. If 4850 is 50% faster than I would certainly spend $200 for 4850.

Also, you are upgrading that rig in your sig for one of these cards right?

 

[Cheesetogo]

Originally posted by: WT
No, the Step Up is not tied to any card that hasn't come out .. you can step up (or down) to any card that they have listed and available at the time. That's probably the way I will go, with a 9800GTX card and then wait three months to snag the 260. I'm a bit surprised that the retail on the 260 is $399, as I was expecting it to be $450, but I'm sure gouging will probably fix that right up at release this week !

Unless they've changed things, it's not possible to step down, only up. I tried doing that about 2.5 years ago.

 

[WT]

Cheese, you are probably right on that account. I am going by my last sep up in which I was given a list of cards that I could choose from on the eVGA site, and anything less than my card was shown as a negative with the dollar amount, but I never actually selected one to try it out. It wouldn't make any sense financially for eVGA to be paying you money back for a card you are entering into their system as well.

My eyes are hurting from reading so many GTX200 threads and posts tonight. I'm going to bed and hopefully won't spend 45 minutes lying there thinking out my upgrade plans like I did last night.

 

[Waylay00]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
Step up would not be a good idea since you are still limited to GT260 and 280 anways so why not buy that outright.

Well,

a) the GTX isn't for sale anywhere yet for list price (AFAIK), and I need a card immediately
b) I can't afford a GTX yet (only in about a month). I can afford an 8800 GTS though.

Originally posted by: RussianSensationAlso, you are upgrading that rig in your sig for one of these cards right?

Not immediately, but yes, a core system upgrade (CPU/Mobo/RAM) is in the future.

 

[Sylvanas]

Wait for ATI's 4xxx launch which will be happening in a matter of days before making a decision.

 

[Waylay00]

Thanks, I'll do that.

Also, how much will my 3700+ be a bottleneck for, say an 8800GTS, in something like Armed Assault at 1650x1080?

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: Waylay00
Thanks, I'll do that.

Also, how much will my 3700+ be a bottleneck for, say an 8800GTS, in something like Armed Assault at 1650x1080?

You really have to change that cpu. It's a single core and it will choke your card really, really bad. That's a good chip for a 7800 gt but for any of the 8xxx card series it's a serious bottleneck.
I wonder why are you even thinking of getting a 260 GTX monster on that single core socket 939 platform.

 

[biostud]

here's a review of a single core CPU with an 3850.

http://www.tomshardware.com/re...agp-3850-agp,1939.html

 

[angry hampster]

Originally posted by: biostud
here's a review of a single core CPU with an 3850.

http://www.tomshardware.com/re...agp-3850-agp,1939.html

That's with AGP as well. a PCI-E 3850 would likely be quite a bit faster.

 

[Ike0069]

Man I remember when you were building the "Waylayer". Was about the same time I last upgraded my rig.

Anyways, I'm in the same boat as you.... still on a 939 single core. For around $300 you can get an E7200/P35 MB/4GB RAM. IMO that would be a much better way to spend $300 .

I also agree that you should wait until the 4850/70 come out and everything is benched before making a decision on which card to get.

 

[mhouck]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
Step up would not be a good idea since you are still limited to GT260 and 280 anways so why not buy that outright.

I would wait and see how the AMD two cards perform before making a decision.

8800GTS will probably no longer be produced by nVidia within the next few months, but easily available from retailers for low prices. Don't expect the prices to go lower with supply only getting smaller

+1

 

[Waylay00]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: Waylay00
Thanks, I'll do that.

Also, how much will my 3700+ be a bottleneck for, say an 8800GTS, in something like Armed Assault at 1650x1080?

You really have to change that cpu. It's a single core and it will choke your card really, really bad. That's a good chip for a 7800 gt but for any of the 8xxx card series it's a serious bottleneck.
I wonder why are you even thinking of getting a 260 GTX monster on that single core socket 939 platform.

Well, as I said, a core system upgrade is in the near future (within the next four months or sometime in the fall).

However, I'm wondering what's really limiting my performance in Armed Assault the most. It seems to be the GPU rather than a CPU. That's why I'm thinking about getting a new GPU now (even it is bottlenecked by the 3700+) and at least be able to play ArmA on good settings at my resolution. The CPU/RAM/Mobo will follow in a few months.

Originally posted by: Ike0069
Man I remember when you were building the "Waylayer". Was about the same time I last upgraded my rig.

Anyways, I'm in the same boat as you.... still on a 939 single core. For around $300 you can get an E7200/P35 MB/4GB RAM. IMO that would be a much better way to spend $300 .

I also agree that you should wait until the 4850/70 come out and everything is benched before making a decision on which card to get.

Time flies, doesn't it? Seems like yesterday I POSTed on this build.

I'll definitely wait until the 4850/70s come out before I make a move.

Anyways, I guess my main issue is wanting to play ArmA at high settings. True, I could get a new core system upgrade (CPU/mobo/RAM) right now, but I'm afraid the 7800GT will keep me limited to the performance I'm seeing right now with my current system. If I were to do this plan (core system upgrade), I won't be able to afford a new GPU until after school starts. I really don't play as much during the school year.

Basically, I want to know what will give me the biggest performance boost with $300 right now in games like ArmA.

 

[Waylay00]

Also, this article seems to suggest that I should upgrade GPU first:

http://www.tomshardware.com/re...u-upgrade,1928-20.html

 

[Mwing]

Say I got my 8800GT for $190, when the 9800GTX+ comes out with MSRP of $229, and the current 8800GT MSRP on evga website being $259, how does the step up work?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Waylay00
Basically, I want to know what will give me the biggest performance boost with $300 right now in games like ArmA.

Overclocking your 3700 to 2.8+ Ghz, along with an 8800GTS would give you the most performance, most likely. It all depends, though, on how CPU-bound that game happens to be, along with what resolution and settings you use.