8800GTX or 8800 Ultra

[drakore]

Hi everyone,

Well i can get the BFG OC 8800GTX for $550 + 15% tax then -$30 MIR

So thats about $600 with taxes...

I can also get the EVGA 8800 Ultra for $630 + $9.99 shipping + 7% tax then - $30 MIR

So that is ~$655

I don't know if I am going to get hit with the 8% tax when it comes into the province. Let's assume not for now... last time i got my watercooling stuff I didn't.

So that being said, which should I get. I plan on watercooling the card. How do the 8800GTX's overclock? If they can compare to the Ultra's overclocked then i may as well get the 8800GTX. If the ultra overclocks will be much higher then the ultra would be a better choice.

Any info on peoples Ultra and GTX overclocks would be great.

Thanks

 

[LightningRider]

You in Canada? I saw 8800 Ultra for 589$ CAD on www.ncix.com.

The deal is over now, but they should be posting the new ones sometime today.
Anyway there is barely any gains from the Ultra over the GTX to justify the $100 price difference you see there.

If you can get it for the $589, then I would but otherwise settle for the GTX. Or maybe wait for the 9800GTX in November (supposedly)?

 

[drakore]

The Ultra price i posted is from NCIX... but you must take into account the 30$ MIR is after taxes... so it isn't $589 + tax it is ($610 + tax) - $30 MIR

 

[RussianSensation]

Wow $650 is a lot for a graphics card which was introduced November 2006. I'd get whichever is cheaper since you can overclock to Ultra speeds, or better yet buy an aftermarket cooler and you'll for sure reach higher OCs.

 

[drakore]

Don't forget the prices listed are in CAD. Prices are generally higher here...

Well what i am trying to get as is if i would be able to overclock the GTX to meet the Ultra overclocks.

For sure I can OC the GTX to 630 MHZ, but if it peaks at let's say 650 MHZ, then it would be better to get the Ultra which I should be able to OC to 700 MHZ.

I have a very good water setup so heat won't be to big of a deal.

 

[JustaGeek]

Just wait till November or December for the new GPU's with that kind of money... just save another $100 and get the 9800.

I would not want an "obsolete" $600 VC - however good it might be...

 

[Matt2]

You'd need to edit the BIOS in order to achieve the same shader clock. The GTX will have slower shaders than an Ultra even if the two cards are running the same core clock.

Also, I highly doubt that you'll be able to hit Ultra speeds on the memory if you get a GTX.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: JustaGeek
Just wait till November or December for the new GPU's with that kind of money... just save another $100 and get the 9800.

I would not want an "obsolete" $600 VC - however good it might be...

Well, one option might be EVGA's step-up program. Is that available to Canucks? Of course, you'd need good timing-- since nV's new cards are rumored to arrive in Nov, I wouldn't try this until about October. But you could grab an overpriced EVGA Ultra at that time, knowing your entire purchase price will go into the next gen EVGA card in November (hopefully).

I've never done it, but many others have. My problems with the program are-- the prices on EVGA's website are usually well above those of e-tailers; no cross-shipping, so you're without a GPU for the time it takes them to process it; and without official confirmation that new cards are indeed arriving in Nov, you're gambling a bit.

I guess the main thing I would ask the OP is what games is your XT not playing well on your 19" LCD? My XTX is banging along okay at 16x12, so the only card I would be willing to upgrade to right now is the GTX also, but, like others have pointed out, it's so late in the product cycle that it becomes a bad-buy right now.