advice needed!

[paulxcook]

Hi guys. Let's do one of those hypotheticals that aren't really hypothetical.

Let's say I could buy a 7800 GT new from Newegg for a certain price, but I could also buy a 3-month-old 7800 GTX from a seemingly-reputable trader for ~$80 more.

Would it be worth the extra $80 to have the GTX? It is not a 512mb version, just 256.

 

[Elfear]

What res do you play at? If 1280x1024 and below I doubt you'd see much difference. Resolutions above that will show a wider gap between the two but it's not that big. Personally, I'd go for the 7800GT and oc the stink out of it. You could oc the 7800GTX too, but IMO it's not worth the extra $$.

 

[paulxcook]

Originally posted by: Elfear
What res do you play at? If 1280x1024 and below I doubt you'd see much difference.

My monitor really only does 1280x1024, but I'm happy at that resolution.

This will be the last graphics card I buy before AM2, so I want to be set for a while.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: paulxcook

My monitor really only does 1280x1024, but I'm happy at that resolution.

This will be the last graphics card I buy before AM2, so I want to be set for a while.

AM2 will be out this summer so you wouldn't have to wait that long.

 

[paulxcook]

So does everyone agree with Elfear?

 

[Allio]

eVGA's 7800GT performs about the same as a stock GTX anyway.

 

[MTDEW]

I agree, get the GT.

After getting a 7800GT , i felt like i wasted my money on my 7800GTX because by the time the 7800GT wont be able to play the latest games, neither will the 7800GTX!

GET the 7800GT.

 

[orangat]

Originally posted by: Allio
eVGA's 7800GT performs about the same as a stock GTX anyway.

No it does not. Its still a 20pipe card vs 24 for the gtx. And evga had to downclock the core after the embarrassing geometry clock fiasco.

 

[Keysplayr]

Isn't the AM2 platform due this summer? You have quite a bit of time before that, so, I would say 7800GT. Powerful card in its own right.

 

[paulxcook]

Is it really coming out this summer? I thought it'd be 2007. Well... crap. I guess I'll get the GT, maybe another for SLI if necessary later down the road.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: paulxcook
Is it really coming out this summer? I thought it'd be 2007. Well... crap. I guess I'll get the GT, maybe get them in SLI if necessary later down the road.

JUNE 6th supposedly. Linkage

 

[Golgatha]

I bought a 7800GTX awhile back and "downgraded" to a 7800GT because I am going back to school this year and don't have much time for gaming. As far as I can tell, I really am not missing out on anything. I can still run all my games at very high quality settings without any slowdowns. I pocketed about $140 in the downgrade process a well. IMO the 7800GTX isn't worth the price premium.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: paulxcook

Originally posted by: Elfear
What res do you play at? If 1280x1024 and below I doubt you'd see much difference.

My monitor really only does 1280x1024, but I'm happy at that resolution.

Here are some benchmarks showing the comparison with and without AA:

BF2 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......53
GTX....63 19% increase

B&W2 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......26
GTX....30 15% increase

DOD:Source 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......59
GTX....63 7% increase

Doom3 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......65
GTX....74 14% increase

FEAR 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......29
GTX....34 17% increase

SC:CT 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......39
GTX....47 20% increase

Q4 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......65
GTX....75 15% increase

As you can see, there is *some* difference (avg 15% faster) at that resolution... whether it is enough to you, for the games you play, is up to you to decide.

 

[firewolfsm]

you have to remember that that is a GT @400/1000, the eVGA 470/1100 performs within 5% most of the time

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel

Here are some benchmarks showing the comparison with and without AA:

BF2 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......53
GTX....63 19% increase

B&W2 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......26
GTX....30 15% increase

DOD:Source 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......59
GTX....63 7% increase

Doom3 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......65
GTX....74 14% increase

FEAR 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......29
GTX....34 17% increase

SC:CT 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......39
GTX....47 20% increase

Q4 1280x1024 4xAA
GT......65
GTX....75 15% increase

As you can see, there is *some* difference (avg 15% faster) at that resolution... whether it is enough to you, for the games you play, is up to you to decide.

I guess it depends on which 7800GT and which 7800GTX are in question. At stock clocks I stand corrected.

 

[paulxcook]

Wow deadseasquirrel (clever name), thanks for the research.

The increases are significant, I'll give you that. However, I plan on getting a waterblock for whichever card I buy so I can OC it a bunch, I wonder if the numbers would be closer at max overclock for both cards? But then I guess "max overclock" will vary greatly.

 

[Sunrise089]

Originally posted by: orangat

Originally posted by: Allio
eVGA's 7800GT performs about the same as a stock GTX anyway.

No it does not. Its still a 20pipe card vs 24 for the gtx. And evga had to downclock the core after the embarrassing geometry clock fiasco.

This isn't so true. If you look at a lot of benches you will see pretty close performance. As in normally at the very least the 7800GT and the 256megGTX are closer than the 256GTX and 512GTX. But all of those figures involve stock GTs. eVGA cards are overclocked almost 20% on the core, and that's warrentied and whatnot. I would not be surprised at all if a 7800GT at 470/1100 performed as well as a GTX.

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

If you can oc your GT to 500/1200 and above you should get performance equal or above that of a stock GTX since the fill rate would then be similar but the GT will have the tighter mem timings . . .

 

[Elfear]

From my experience, neither the 7800GT nor the 7800GTX oc all that well. Your waterblock will help keep temps down a bit but, doing so for me only gave me an extra 20Mhz or so on the core and nothing on the memory. The 7800 series suffers from a lack of easy voltage adjustments.

 

[Tom]

percent-wise those benchmarks are one thing, but if those are actual frame rates, I don't see any of the examples where you go from unplayable to playable ?

 

[kmmatney]

I'd like to see the same benchmarks above for the X800XL, to see the improvement going to a 7800GT.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: Tom
percent-wise those benchmarks are one thing, but if those are actual frame rates, I don't see any of the examples where you go from unplayable to playable ?

:thumbsup: Yup. And that's really all I care about. I, personally, don't see enough of a difference to make me think the extra cost is worth it... not in those games, at that resolution. But the OP felt it was I suppose, so that's all that matters. And, really, I guess there are other factors to consider, such as resale value, etc. Maybe that GTX will hold better value over the next 5 months until the OP moves to AM2. [shrug] Beats me.

Originally posted by: kmmatney
I'd like to see the same benchmarks above for the X800XL, to see the improvement going to a 7800GT.

I haven't seen too many that used the x800XL in benchmarks anymore. Just x1800XL. IMO, looking at benchmarks is the worst time to think about upgrading. Too easy to make a snap decision. It's probably better to wait until you cannot play something you want to play at the settings you want to play at, and then buy the best bang-for-your-buck at that time.

 

[AntiStatic]

Originally posted by: firewolfsm
you have to remember that that is a GT @400/1000, the eVGA 470/1100 performs within 5% most of the time

my eVGA 7800GTX runs @ 470/1200 stock and 500/1300 artifact free. at 500/1300 the GT is gonna get smoked.

 

[paulxcook]

Yes, but I can pick up the 7800 GT for ~$250 after MIR, so my decision is pretty much made. Thanks for all the advice, folks. Once I get the card I can do a quick comparision of some benches between the my old X800 XL and my new 7800 GT, if anyone wants to see such.