This 9800gtx+ or another card similar price

[exlene]

This 9800gtx+ Newegg's 9800gtx+ was 40$ cheaper a couple says ago and when it was at that price it seemed a no-brainer... Now its at its original price of 209$. Even after the price change it seems a good deal but I'm wondering if its as good of a buy as I'm thinking and if there are better choices out right now.
Note: As I'm not going to be running the top end resolutions (Probably 1280x1024) I would like the price of the card to be about the same or lower if possible

 

[error8]

For some reason that card you linked there has the memory clocked bellow the stock 9800GTX+ specification, at 2 ghz. It should have been at 2.2 ghz, so it's not a smart buy after all.
You can buy one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150325
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127374
the cheapest would be this one from galaxy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814162021

or the ATI equivalent with uber cooling :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161244

 

[exlene]

Thanks for responding with some recommendations. I noticed the lower memory speed as well and attributed it to the fact that it has 1 Gig of memory as opposed to the 512's of your recommendations. That begs the question of whether the half gig memory is enough to outweigh the speed shortfall/price of my 9800 or is it enough of a difference to make it worth it?

 

[error8]

Frankly, I believe that the GPU is not fast enough to really take advantage of that extra memory. So, a 512 mb GTX+ with the memory clocked at 2.2ghz or more might prove faster overall over the 1 gb lower clocked one.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: error8
Frankly, I believe that the GPU is not fast enough to really take advantage of that extra memory. So, a 512 mb GTX+ with the memory clocked at 2.2ghz or more might prove faster overall over the 1 gb lower clocked one.

For general gaming purposes, you are probably right. But there are situations where >512MB would come in useful, e.g. for Qarl's Texture Pack (Oblivion) and similar mods, or running ultra-res/detail in SLI.

Wish my 9800GX2 had >512MB per core

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: betasub

Originally posted by: error8
Frankly, I believe that the GPU is not fast enough to really take advantage of that extra memory. So, a 512 mb GTX+ with the memory clocked at 2.2ghz or more might prove faster overall over the 1 gb lower clocked one.

For general gaming purposes, you are probably right. But there are situations where >512MB would come in useful, e.g. for Qarl's Texture Pack (Oblivion) and similar mods, or running ultra-res/detail in SLI.

Wish my 9800GX2 had >512MB per core

Crysis might also take advantage of the extra memory. But the point is that overall, in the vast majority of games, you'll probably see a bit more performance from those 512 mb clocked higher, then you'd see from the "underclocked" 1 gb version, especially when you are gaming at 1280X1024.

 

[exlene]

K thanks a lot for explaining that reasoning. After further research i found a HD4830 that looks like its pretty decent for its price as well as this 9800GT in the same price range. I realize these are downgrades from my previous possibilities but they appear to be able to run all current games at high settings (disregarding Crisis of course). Any opinions on which of these two to pick or maybe even more alternatives?

 

[error8]

HD4830 and 9800 GT are equal in terms of performance, so it comes down to your personal choice. For your gaming resolution, both of them will provide sufficient performance, so choose whatever you want, or which one you find cheaper.

 

[exlene]

k thanks. the 9800gt is cheaper and comes with CoD4 so ill probably go with that

 

[OCNewbie]

Could get an eVGA GTX 260 for $169 shipped (after live cashback) off ebay from www.ncix.com's Ebay seller. Or get it for $171 after CB from www.mwave.com's ebay seller.

Free copy of Far Cry 2 as well (could possibly sell it for $20-30 on Ebay/CL to offset costs).

 

[djtech2k]

Which of these 2 do u guys think is better:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...82E16814121290&bop=And


I am also considering a GTX260, but I would want the 216 pipe version, which is much more expensive.