8800gts vs 3870

[WarhammerTX]

Well guys Ive got a 8800gts 320meg and Iam thinking of getting a 3870 to replace it with will this give me a performance boost at all. From what Ive been reading it should. What do you guys think.

 

[Syntax Error]

It should give a healthy performance boost, especially on larger resolutions.

 

[WarhammerTX]

Thats what I was thinking too the funny thing about the whole thing is I bought the gts when they first hit the market and what I payed for it I could buy 2 3870 cards

 

[JPB]

I would say go for it as well. Once you get the 3870, you can then sell off the GTS and get a lot of your money back.

 

[Denithor]

Better yet, get the MSI 8800GT for $185 after MIR or best deal around, MSI 8800GTS 512MB + Witcher for $220 after MIR.

These cards will blow past the 3870 for about the same price (8800GT) to slightly higher cost (8800GTS).

 

[dino26]

hmmm. I dont think it is prudent to make that upgrade myself. The 3870 isnt going to give you a large performance increase at all (i do own 2 and like them). As for the GT ...that also will not be a huge performance increase. You might want to consider waiting for ati/nvidia's next releases to drop prices all around too.

 

[schneiderguy]

Originally posted by: dino26
hmmm. I dont think it is prudent to make that upgrade myself. The 3870 isnt going to give you a large performance increase at all (i do own 2 and like them). As for the GT ...that also will not be a huge performance increase. You might want to consider waiting for ati/nvidia's next releases to drop prices all around too.

Games that fill up the 320mb of vram on the 8800gts will greatly benefit from the 3870 or 8800gt with 512mb of vram

 

[will889]

Originally posted by: schneiderguy

Originally posted by: dino26
hmmm. I dont think it is prudent to make that upgrade myself. The 3870 isnt going to give you a large performance increase at all (i do own 2 and like them). As for the GT ...that also will not be a huge performance increase. You might want to consider waiting for ati/nvidia's next releases to drop prices all around too.

Games that fill up the 320mb of vram on the 8800gts will greatly benefit from the 3870 or 8800gt with 512mb of vram

Exactly, especially with a typical 16*10 widescreen resolution. If OP was gaming @ 1024*768 it might not be much of a difference worth noting, but even @ 12*10 the 3870 with 512MB will give a higher FPS average with more eye candy in most situations.

 

[OmegaShadow]

I think that you should wait at least 3 to 4 months before buying a new graphic card, so that when all the new cards get released hopefully the GT and GTS will drop in prices .


I understand how you feel though, I brought the 3850 a month before ati announced price drops -_-.

But I think both the 8800gts 320mb and 3850 are really good cards and that unless your playing crysis you don't really need an upgrade at the moment. The highest requirement game I play is COD4 and the graphics are still amazing with a 3850 lol.

I did think of getting the galaxy 8800GT at ncix for $159 after MIR but I resisted because when I look at it, I don't play anything more demanding than COD4, and I don't play many games right now because exams are comming up soon in april so for it is it better to upgrade during summer time.

 

[idiotekniQues]

im in the same boat. i have the upgrade itch but since all i am really playin right now is 2142 since COD4 has become goofy - i really dont need any additonal horsepower.

so i must resist the urge to sell my card and upgrade, and let prices fall!

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: will889

Originally posted by: schneiderguy

Originally posted by: dino26
hmmm. I dont think it is prudent to make that upgrade myself. The 3870 isnt going to give you a large performance increase at all (i do own 2 and like them). As for the GT ...that also will not be a huge performance increase. You might want to consider waiting for ati/nvidia's next releases to drop prices all around too.

Games that fill up the 320mb of vram on the 8800gts will greatly benefit from the 3870 or 8800gt with 512mb of vram

Exactly, especially with a typical 16*10 widescreen resolution. If OP was gaming @ 1024*768 it might not be much of a difference worth noting, but even @ 12*10 the 3870 with 512MB will give a higher FPS average with more eye candy in most situations.

In Theory yes. But have you guys actually checked benchmarks?

Since 3870 is barely faster than HD2900XT and we know that 8800GTS 640mb was at least as good as 2900XT, the only time you should expect 8800GTS 320mb to lose to HD 3870 is when it runs out of frame buffer (which will happen beyond 1600x1200).

In reality, "upgrading" to 3870 from 8800GTS 320 is hardly worth the asking price. 3870 will NOT give much better playability at 12*10 than 8800GTS 320. In fact, 3870 isnt even good enough to provide better playability at 16*12 and it loses to 8800GTS 320 in some cases. If you were discussing 8800GTS 512, then that'd be different.

Benchmarks:
Performance Summary

Average Framerates in games:
1280x1024 4AA/16AF
HD 3870 = 51.3 (+2%)
8800GTS 320 = 50.2

1600x1200 no AA/noAF
HD 3870 = 55.7 (+7%)
8800GTS 320 = 52.2

1600x1200 4AA/16AF
HD 3870 = 40.6 (+16%)
8800GTS 320 = 35.1
*Both cards are getting pretty slow at this point regardless, this is borderline playbility

1920x1440 0AA/0AF
HD 3870 = 43.4 (+9%)
8800GTS 320 = 39.8

1920x1440 4AA/16AF
HD 3870 = 30.2
8800GTS 320 = not enough frame buffer

======================================================
======================================================

More benchmarks (January 25, 2008):
Battlefield 2142 1920x1440 4AA/16AF
8800GT 512 = 66.2
8800GTS 320 = 52.4
HD 3870 = 46.3

Bioshock DX10 1600x1200 16AF
8800GT 512 = 63.7
8800GTS 320 = 50.7
HD 3870 = 49.2

Call of Juarez dX10 1600x1200 4AA/16AF
8800GT 512 = 7.9
8800GTS 320 = 4.9
HD 3870 = 14.8
But for all purposes, this benchmark is irrelevant since even 8800GTX 768 cant provide above 25fps at 1024x768!

COD4 1600x1200 4AA/16AF
8800GT 512 = 34.2
8800GTS 320 = 22.8
HD 3870 = 27.2
ATI wins here, but would you say it's worth upgrading to?

Crysis DX 10 1600x1200 16AF
8800GT 512 = 10.8
8800GTS 320 = 9.3
HD 3870 = 8.3
Who cares????

ET: QW 1600x1200 4AA/16AF
8800GT 512 = 39.6
8800GTS 320 = 45.5
HD 3870 = 39.6

FEAR Perseus Mandate 1600x1200 4AA/16AF
8800GT 512 = 62
8800GTS 320 = 55
HD 3870 = 50
*although at 1920x1440 ATI's card outperforms 8800GTS 320 by getting 41 frames to NV's 34

HL2: EP2 1600x1200 4AA/16AF
8800GT 512 = 46.9
8800GTS 320 = 40.3
HD 3870 = 35.8

STALKER 1600x1200 HDR + 16AF
8800GT 512 = 41.5
8800GTS 320 = 33.2
HD3870 = 22.4

Lost Planet: EC DX10 1600x1200 4AA/16AF
8800GT 512 = 16.5
8800GTS 320 = 12.6
HD 3870 = 13.2
Who cares???

Tomb Raider: Lergend 1600x1200 4AA/16AF
8800GT 512 = 52.1
8800GTS 320 = 43.1
HD 3870 = 37.2

Hellgate: London DX10 1600x1200 4AA/16AF
8800GT 512 = 20.8
8800GTS 320 = 14.2
HD 3870 = 20.8

Gothic 3 1600x1200 16AF
8800GT 512 = 41.4
8800GTS 320 = 32.8
HD 3870 = 25.5

Based on this, I would personally wait for ATI's next card (or GT200 from NV). Otherwise you are just wasting $$$.

I say you overclock your processor and your videocard and you'll get another 10-15% boost which should hold you over until next gen of cards.

 

[Munky]

Ask yourself are there any games right now where your gts-320 really struggles because of insufficient memory? There are some games like Stalker and Crysis where the 320mb gts really suffers at 1600x1200 compared to cards like the 8800gt and the 3870. But in other games it's not that far behind to make the upgrade worthwhile.

 

[biostud]

wait

 

[fire400]

Originally posted by: biostud
wait

I second hand this.

If you didn't have an 8800, I would agree for you to go with the Radeon 3870 upgrade.