The ~$200 battle

[AnitaPeterson]

Originally posted by: InFeXiOn

Originally posted by: Binky
Buy the AMD. They're priced right for the performance, and AMD needs the money!

Buy AMD - preserve competiton!

Wrong thread?...

No, he is correct... AMD bought ATI, and they're hurting now... faced with Intel and nVidia....

 

[Ackmed]

I dont know where this $200 8800GT is that you're talking about.

 

[wanderer27]

Originally posted by: daveybrat
Here you go, it's a link to the newest VGA chart on Tom's hardware. I highlighted your card 7600GS and the ATI 3850 (both in blue on the chart).

You can see there is quite a difference in performance

http://www23.tomshardware.com/...&model2=1061&chart=275

Are those charts correct?

It shows my card beating out an 8800 GT OC on a few of the Microsoft Flight Sims benches

That can't be right . . . .

Add Warhammer to that too . . . .

 

[SickBeast]

I would get the 3850 512mb.

The other games will be affected by the lack of texture memory to the extent that the 3850 will beat them, even the 8800GT 256mb.

 

[Jules]

Originally posted by: spittledip

Originally posted by: ExarKun333

Originally posted by: wanderer27

Originally posted by: spittledip

Originally posted by: wanderer27

Originally posted by: InFeXiOn
My debate is between:

http://www.directcanada.com/pr...SB&manufacture=DIAMOND -- ATI 3850

http://www.directcanada.com/pr...ure=Galaxy%20Techology - Galaxy 8800GT

http://www.directcanada.com/pr...5&manufacture=SAPPHIRE - ATI 3870

From what I've seen, I believe the 8800GT is the faster of the three cards, but it's also more expensive. It all comes down to what you're willing shell out.

I wish ATI (AMD) had come out with faster cards, but that's where we're at. They do seem a bit better on power, not sure on heat/noise.

Can't forget about the dual slot cooling solution the 3870 has. The new 8800GTs have it too, but I am guessing they will sell the old ones first.

Dual slot coolers?

Didn't know about that.

I'm on the fence myself - go with a 8800GT or wait for the 9xxx series.

Not sure I really need it though

I would say get a 3850 if you are on a upgrading budget ($150) or get a 8800GT ($250) if you want to have a faster card, longer. I would guess we will see an even larger price premium on the 98xx series next year when it comes out, and the 8800GT will keep you happy until the prices come down to better levels. Also, it's a nice, elegent single-slot card that is fast, been a while since I have seen that! (BTW, I have a 8800GT in the mail as we speak)

There is nothing elegant about a 95c heater inside your pc.. that is why Nvidia redesigned the stock hsf to be dual slot.

Glad mine never gets above 80c.

 

[InFeXiOn]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
I would get the 3850 512mb.

The other games will be affected by the lack of texture memory to the extent that the 3850 will beat them, even the 8800GT 256mb.

I don't even see a 3850 with 512MB memory on NCIX or DirectCanada.

I'll have to look around. O_O

- Paul

 

[AzN]

Originally posted by: darkxknight
hmmm. best buy is also selling the 3870 for 215. lowest price i've seen. sold out though..

Best buy is cheaper than NewEgg. I rather shop at best buy now.

 

[Xatos]

Hey guys just thought I would let you know I ended up getting an 8800gt 512 for about $260... couldn't resist
thats my story...

 

[InFeXiOn]

Yeah, I ended up caving and ordering the 8800GT for $280 CAD shipped to my door with express shipping, insurance and blah blah.
It was $250+tax/shipping, so it was good.

 

[Denithor]

InFeXiOn:

What does the rest of your rig look like (CPU/RAM especially)? I have found that those components have as much impact on WoW performance as the GPU. With a 7600GT paired with an e6400 and 2GB DDR2 (all stock speeds) I was able to run with all eye candy at max up to 1280x1024 completely smooth (1600x1200 was a little jerky in the cities). Swapping the 7600GT for a stock x1900gt (rev1) allows me to run 1600x1200 totally smooth with all detail set to max.

My buddy used the same model x1900gt in his system (e6300/512MB--don't ask, I didn't build it) and he could only run 1024x768 completely smooth with medium quality settings. We bumped him up to 2GB RAM and overclocked his cpu to 2.33GHz and now he happily plays WoW at 1280x1024 (max resolution of his LCD).

I see that you already have the 8800GT coming and I figure you will probably be happy with it, but if you don't see a dramatic improvement you will have to evaluate the rest of your rig to see if something else is holding you back.

 

[InFeXiOn]

The rest of my rig is as follows:

X2 4200+ @ 2.4ghz (going to OC a bit more when I update my PSU this week)
2GB OCZ DDR500 (I think it's at 250Mhz - I'm new to the whole 'OC scene')

I don't think it's my CPU or RAM holding me back. I play at 1680x1050 and with everything cranked I was starting to notice slowdowns where I'd sit at what seemed like nothing above 30FPS for some reason. I'm assuming it was the video card.

However, the good news is that NCIX works faster than I thought and my video card is here already. Now just time to go and buy the new PSU and case and have my system transferred over by Saturday. Stupid finals on Friday, argh.