GTS card questions

[Northern Lawn]

Are all GTS 512 mb cards the really good ones, the "G92 is manufactured on a 65nm process at TSMC" type?

-I can get a BFG GTS 512mb for $309, or EVGA Geforce 8800GTS Crysis Edition 512MB for $364.

-Or I can get two XFX GeForce 8800 GT 512MB PCI-Express Video Card - Alpha Dog Edition for $179 each.
-Or a (GEFORCE 8800GTX OC2) (RETAIL) 768MB GDDR3 for $459 with $50 rebate.

2nd question, How do these GTS's compare to a GTX or to two GT's?


I just upgraded my computer to a 8400 duo core, Striker II mobo, and 2x1 gig OCZ reaper kit. Now it's only my vid card that is questionable. I do have a 8800GT but it freezes and crashes on most newer games unless I turn down the memory bus to at least 750 mhrz (from 900).

I'm just wondering what would be the sweet spot, price wise, for a new video card.

Thanks for any info.

 

[OmegaShadow]

Better yet, run SLI 9600GT. Way cheaper than the 8800gt set up and it beats the 8800gts 512mb.

 

[Northern Lawn]

Two 9600gt's would cost me close to $500, about $239 each.

Two 8800GT (XFX brand) I can get for $179 each.

One GTS 512mb I can get for $309 EVGA brand.


Basically, I want to beat or come close to the 8800GTX and do it on the cheap if possible. I'm a little leary about buying two XFX brand 8800GT's, and I never read about the GTS 512's before tonight. Push comes to shove, I'll buy a GTX.

 

[ther00kie16]

THat is a huge difference between the 8800gt and the 8800gts (G92). Here in the US, the difference is as little as $40, which justifies getting a GTS. However, $130 is just too much and you can overclock the 8800gt a bit to reach 8800gtx levels, though better than reference (single-slot) cooling may be necessary for that much overclocking.

 

[TC91]

not sure where you are from but in canada, theres a bfg 8800gt oc edition that goes for ~ 149-179 after a 40cad MIR.

 

[Northern Lawn]

Yeah those XFX 8800gt's are on sale at Future Shop, I can find other brands at other stores for a $100 more but I'm not so sure about the brand name of XFX. Not only that, the one 8800GT that I did buy was a Asus EN8800GT and it crashes on me. It crashed on my old set up, X2 3800 Xp and Vista. It still crashes on my new system. That video card is bad, just today it froze with a bunch of red squiggle lines on Halo 2, then it crashed to the blue screen of death on Turok. So I'm a little leary about 8800gt's. Asus is a pretty good name to, do you have an opinion about XFX?

 

[Northern Lawn]

Originally posted by: TC91
not sure where you are from but in canada, theres a bfg 8800gt oc edition that goes for ~ 149-179 after a 40cad MIR.

Yeah, I'm Canadian. Winnipeg here. Where can you get them at that price? I haven't checked INCX yet, hate ordering online.

 

[ther00kie16]

MIR = mail in rebate. Also, why don't you check out the Canadian ncix.com as they have some killer video card deals from time to time. As for the 8800gt crashing, did you update the drivers? Nvidia drivers are a huge headache with Vista.
Also, this 8800gts is much cheaper than the ones you were looking at.

 

[Northern Lawn]

Originally posted by: ther00kie16
MIR = mail in rebate. Also, why don't you check out the Canadian ncix.com as they have some killer video card deals from time to time. As for the 8800gt crashing, did you update the drivers? Nvidia drivers are a huge headache with Vista.
Also, this 8800gts is much cheaper than the ones you were looking at.

Yeah I tried a bunch of different drivers. I was trying to get Crysis to work, LOL. I did manage but only if I turned down the shaders. The other games I had to turn down the memory bus using nTune. It wasn't heat, or drivers.. I even tried XP pro and Vista Ultimate. Now I've even upgraded my Mobo, Cpu and ram for some reason I thought, 'maybe it won't crash now' but it still does.

That's a really nice find at INCX (whatever it's called) I should get two of them LOL. I like that it actually says G92 in the specs. Future Shop didn't mention that at all and these G92 GTS's are much better then the 329 and 640 types if you believe this GTS 512mb

 

[ther00kie16]

Yup, 8800gts 512mb is basically a 9800gtx (best single gpu card) with slightly lower clock speeds. However, new video cards will be coming out in a month so if you are looking to buy, you may want to hold off until then. Also, ncix's prices seems to have risen for both the US and Canadian sites compared to other sites, which is odd since 1 US dollar is pretty much same as 1 Canadian dollar now. So if you can find one, I'd recommend buying from a US site that will ship to Canada as the 8800gts g92 has dropped to around $200 after MIR.