GF 8600 GT vs. GF 8800 GTS vs. Radeon 2600 Pro which would you choose?

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Borg20001

Senior member
Jan 9, 2001
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Appreciate any feedback you all can provide.

I'm building a dual-core AMD 5400+ pc with 4Gb RAM and need to choose a decent graphics card that will fit my budget.

I've been considering the following:

Radeon 2600 Pro 256Mb

GeForce 8600 GT 256Mb

GeForce 8800 GTS 320Mb (G80)

I've taken a look at the comparisons of the cards via GPUReview.com but am not sure if I am paying attention to the important stats.

I'd like a decent video card that will hold up to some moderate gaming (Crysis on moderate settings for example).

I'm leaning towards the 8800 though it is only the G80 series and not the G92 of the later versions of the 8800.

I just missed out on the GF 9600GT 512Mb card sale (you snooze you lose) but wanted to get the opinions of the experts out there.

Appreciate any feedback you can provide.
 
error8

error8

Diamond Member
Nov 28, 2007
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8800 GTS is so much faster then those other two. You should really read more about graphic cards, since all these 3 are not even comparable. Also buying the 8800 gts 320 is a big mistake, since its lack of memory will give you a big lack in performance in current games. Buy either the 9600 GT, or the 8800 gt or gts (g92). I really don't understand why are you forced to buy the G80 card because you've missed the sale? What?
 
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Borg20001

Senior member
Jan 9, 2001
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Originally posted by: error8
8800 GTS is so much faster then those other two. You should really read more about graphic cards, since all these 3 are not even comparable. Also buying the 8800 gts 320 is a big mistake, since its lack of memory will give you a big lack in performance in current games. Buy either the 9600 GT, or the 8800 gt or gts (g92). I really don't understand why are you forced to buy the G80 card because you've missed the sale? What?
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Thanks for the feedback. I'm sorry if I was a bit unclear. I'm being driven strictly by budget.

The Radeon 2600 Pro is in there because I was able to pick it up at a local Best Buy for $27.

The 8600GT is on sale for about $40 bucks.

Ideally I was looking at the 9600 GT but missed the rebate validity period (3/31/08) so it went from being $119 AR to $150 plus shipping.

So I found the 8800 GTS (320MB version) on sale for $115 AR.

So you can see, I'm trying to pinch pennies as much as I can to avoid SEW (Spousal Econmic Wrath) - sigh, just call me a Milquetoast....

Oh, if it matters, I'm planning on using Vista either 32 or 64 bit version as the OS.

Thanks for your inputs.
 
Denithor

Denithor

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2004
6,298
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The 8800GTS 320MB is much better than either the 8600GT or the 2600pro.

But it is still going to choke on Crysis (most cards out there do).

A slightly better option would be the EVGA 8800GS that can be had for $125 after MIR. This card is slightly slower than the 9600GT but is better than the 8800GTS 320MB (G92 core with 192-bit memory interface). The 8800GS will run cooler than the G80-based 8800GTS and has a single slot cooler if that makes any difference to you.

Take a look at this benchmark comparing the 8800GS (stock and OC) to an overclocked 8600GTS. Trust me, you don't want the 8600GT/S even for a low price.

EDIT: Note that there is also a non-overclocked version from EVGA that is $10 cheaper after the same rebate. Both should OC to the same point if you are into that sort of thing.

Do you currently have the 2600pro in hand? For $27? If so, you could consider using that for the moment and just keep your eyes out for a stellar deal on a better card. Watch the Hot Deals Forum for deals, that's how I heard about the Palit 9600GT that I am receiving today ($125 after MIR).
 
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v8envy

Platinum Member
Sep 7, 2002
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With your budget I'm guessing you're gaming with low setting at low res - 1280x1024 or lower, no FSAA or filtering, no HDR, low detail textures. Entry level cards like the 8600GT do surprisingly well at low res with eye candy off.

If you are wanting to crank up the texture size and resolution there's no way to avoid getting at least a 9600GT or 8800GS. The entry level cards aren't going to cut it. Crysis on moderate settings is a bit too much to hope for on a $40 video card and a budget CPU. Two of them in SLI aren't going to do it, even though at low res they'd be comprable to an 8800GT in performance. G80 8800 GTS 320 has a prayer, but not much of one.
 
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Borg20001

Senior member
Jan 9, 2001
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Originally posted by: IL2SturmovikPilot
Even if you could run a 8600GT and HD 2600Pro in SLIFire or CrossSLI,the 8800GTS 320MB would still beat them by a good margin,though you should just get this card instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814261002
Click to expand...

Well, I don't think I have the option to run SLI or Crossfire as my mobo only has one pci-e slot.

And the Palit 9600GT was the card that I missed the rebate on so its back to its $150 price, but thanks for the tip.
 
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Borg20001

Senior member
Jan 9, 2001
631
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Originally posted by: v8envy
With your budget I'm guessing you're gaming with low setting at low res - 1280x1024 or lower, no FSAA or filtering, no HDR, low detail textures. Entry level cards like the 8600GT do surprisingly well at low res with eye candy off.

If you are wanting to crank up the texture size and resolution there's no way to avoid getting at least a 9600GT or 8800GS. The entry level cards aren't going to cut it. Crysis on moderate settings is a bit too much to hope for on a $40 video card and a budget CPU. Two of them in SLI aren't going to do it, even though at low res they'd be comprable to an 8800GT in performance. G80 8800 GTS 320 has a prayer, but not much of one.
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You are right about the moderate gaming graphic levels that I use. I ran the Crysis demo on low settings on my old pc with a 7600GT card.

But I would like to run some games at higher settings.

Which do you think would last the longest for the $$ the 8800GS for $125 or the 9600GT for $156?
 
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Borg20001

Senior member
Jan 9, 2001
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Originally posted by: Denithor
Do you currently have the 2600pro in hand? For $27? If so, you could consider using that for the moment and just keep your eyes out for a stellar deal on a better card. Watch the Hot Deals Forum for deals, that's how I heard about the Palit 9600GT that I am receiving today ($125 after MIR).
Click to expand...


Well I do have the 2600Pro in hand, and could use it as a stand in while I wait for a better deal to come along, but at this point, it's like pulling a bandage off a cut. Sometimes its better to pull it off entirely at first and bear the pain instead of doing it incrementally and going through the pain in several stages. From an economic standpoint I feel I should spend the $$ now (without straying too far from my budget) then having to go back later and try to justify spending more for a better card (and be out the initial costs of the stopgap card) if you know what I mean..
 
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IL2SturmovikPilot

Senior member
Jan 31, 2008
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Originally posted by: Borg20001
Originally posted by: IL2SturmovikPilot
Even if you could run a 8600GT and HD 2600Pro in SLIFire or CrossSLI,the 8800GTS 320MB would still beat them by a good margin,though you should just get this card instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814261002
Click to expand...

Well, I don't think I have the option to run SLI or Crossfire as my mobo only has one pci-e slot.

And the Palit 9600GT was the card that I missed the rebate on so its back to its $150 price, but thanks for the tip.
Click to expand...
I know that,i was just giving a example of performance.

 
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Borg20001

Senior member
Jan 9, 2001
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Ok so now I have it narrowed down to 2 choices.

Which do you all think would last the longest for the bux:

The 8800GS for $125 shipped or the 9600GT for $156 shipped?
 
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Borg20001

Senior member
Jan 9, 2001
631
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Originally posted by: Azn
Originally posted by: Borg20001
Originally posted by: happy medium
8800gs 109.00$ after rebate is your best choice.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130332
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Thanks HM,

This is just the non-overclocked version of the 8800GS right?

I suppose it would be cheaper and then I could probably google how to OC the card right?
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This 1 has very good performance too. Check out my review.
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Azn,

Where is your review? Is it one of the ones on Newegg? I did not see any review by Azn there.
 
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Borg20001

Senior member
Jan 9, 2001
631
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Originally posted by: MarcVenice
I'd get this 9600gt: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127333 for 145$.
Click to expand...

Thanks Marc,

I'm leaning towards the card you mentioned but I am worried about a couple of things.

First, will this card fit in the motherboard that I have already bought? Its a Gigabyte GA-MA770-S3 ATX AMD board and I'm worried that this card will be on the long side and extend into the piece labelled "SouthBridget AMD SB600" Here's the link to the mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128327

Second, I have a Dynex case with this 500 Watt PSU:
http://www.dynexproducts.com/p...-cpu-power-supply.aspx

Will this be able to power this video card?

The rest of the system will consist of an AM2 Athlon 64 x 2 dual core 5400+ 2.8gHz, an Artic cooler for the cpu, probably a 500 GB WD SATA HD and 2GB x 2GB (4GB total) DDR2 Ram kit.

I can assemble the pieces but don't know enough about reading the specs to know if there is either a spacing conflict or power deficit with the pieces I'm looking at.

Appreciate any guidance any of you can provide.
 
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MarcVenice

Moderator Emeritus <br>
Apr 2, 2007
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The PSU will be fine, that's for sure. it's not that good of a PSU, but it has plenty of amps on the 12v rails. Don't worry about the southbridge either, it won't be a problem at all.
 
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