Upgrade to 8800?

[wanderica]

Hi all,

Sorry if this is more of a general hardware thread, but it applies mostly to graphics. I have about 500 - 700 bucks to spend on upgrading my system. My first impulse is to by the new 8800GTX to replace my 7800GTX, but the more I read, the more I see that it sometimes bottlenecks with less than a C2D. I have a 4400+ that I am very happy with ATM. My question is: Is the performance difference noticeable enough over my 7800GTX to warrant upgrading GPU before my mobo and processor? Or, should I just wait until later on in the year and do it all at once?

Thanks. As usual, I know you all won't let me down.
wanderica

 

[schneiderguy]

What resolution do you run your games at? The 7800gtx should be fine for 1280*1024 and lower for a while, probably until Crysis released

 

[wanderica]

ahh I knew I was leaving something out. I run at 1980 x 1200 on 2405 FPW. I suppose I could live with the lower res for a few months.

 

[schneiderguy]

Originally posted by: wanderica
ahh I knew I was leaving something out. I run at 1980 x 1200 on 2405 FPW. I suppose I could live with the lower res for a few months.

At that resolution a 8800gtx would be a lot faster than your 7800gtx :thumbsup:

 

[wanderica]

Originally posted by: schneiderguy

Originally posted by: wanderica
ahh I knew I was leaving something out. I run at 1980 x 1200 on 2405 FPW. I suppose I could live with the lower res for a few months.

At that resolution a 8800gtx would be a lot faster than your 7800gtx :thumbsup:

Thanks. Thats pretty much what I thought, I was just worried about the bottleneck issue. I suppose if the performance is that much better, then an 8800 GTX first would be the way to go. thanks for the quick reply!

 

[Creig]

I'm not sure how much of an improvement it will be with your 4400+, but the 8800 series definitely shines at the higher resolutions. I think you'll most likely see a noticeable increase in framerates, not to mention the better image quality the 8800 has over the 7000 series.

 

[tuteja1986]

I would wait , Nvidia will do price drop at the end of the month and also release 8800GTS 320MB. Wait till the end of the month.

 

[Captante]

Since I upgraded from an X1900XTX to an 8800GTX & my CPU is an A64 5000+ @ 2.8ghz, I can tell you with certainty that even at 1280x1024 you will see an incredible performance boost in any newer game ... for example my Oblivion performance more then DOUBLED with higher IQ/details.

Also bear in mind that the higher resolution you game at, the less difference your CPU makes, to the point where at 1920x1200 with maxed detail settings my current setup performs close enough to the fastest C2D's (in games) to not matter at much at all according to every reputable benchmark test I've seen.

 

[RaphaF]

Just to confirm what others have already posted... I've recently upgraded my 7800GTX to a 8800GTS (running an AMD X2 4400+) and I've seen large improvements when gaming at 1920x1200 on my Dell 2405. Mostly playing Oblivion and NWN2 though -- not sure about other demanding games.

 

[enz660hp]

"is it worth it?"

yes.

 

[tuteja1986]

Originally posted by: RaphaF

Just to confirm what others have already posted... I've recently upgraded my 7800GTX to a 8800GTS (running an AMD X2 4400+) and I've seen large improvements when gaming at 1920x1200 on my Dell 2405. Mostly playing Oblivion and NWN2 though -- not sure about other demanding games.

Its sad you even have to mention never winter night 2 since that game doesn't even look good and has a 4x higher requirment than NWN 1.

 

[MichaelD]

Though I only game at 1280x1024, I like all the eye candy on Max. I'm considering upgrading from a 7900GTO as well. I've not tried overclocking it; I've not had good results w/other cards in the past. :roll:

I've got plenty of CPU horsepower (C2D @ 3.2GHz) so any additional performance/candy will come from a video upgrade.

Got my eye on a 8800GTS; but I think I'm going to wait until February to see what ATI comes out with. If it drops the price of the 8800GTX by $50 or so, I'll probably get it over a GTS.

 

[mylok]

i have the x2 4400 and a 8800gts. it was a big improvement in Oblivion over my 7900gtx and my ati x1900xtx. 3dmark06 scores showed an improvement as well but not as much as ACTUAL GAMES did. I have a Dell 2001FP and game at 1600x1200 and Oblivion never drops below 30fps and that is MAX settings with HDR and 4xAA enabled (my 1900xtx would drop into the 20's without AA).

I do have my 4400 OC to 2.4Ghz

 

[DVad3r]

I am kind of in the same boat. My system specs

3800 X2 @ 2.15
2 gigs of ram
7800 GTX 256 meg card
Asus SLI Premium mobo

I want to upgrade my card to a 8800 GTS, is it worth it or will my CPU be useless in powering it? Btw I play my games at 1680x1050 on my dell 2005FPW.

 

[zoozilla]

I am torn between having the bleeding edge Direct 3D 10 and just getting a fairly cheap good video card. Right now I have a measly X800 GT, and I'm thinking about the X1950 XT, which sells for $220. Will there be such a flood of new games that I need the newest technology?

 

[Munky]

As you increase the resolution and IQ settings in modern games you become increasingly limited by the video card. Even at 1280x1024 some games are already gpu-limited on my x1900xt, so unless you're running a really old and slow cpu (old P4 for example...), the video card should be the first priority on the upgrade list.

 

[T101]

I used to run a 7800GT with an AMD3500+, and when I built my C2D I got an 8800GTX. But my first Abit AW9D Max motherboard had a bad CMOS circuit, so I had to RMA it. Meanwhile I installed the 8800GTX in my 3500+ system, and whow. I went from barely being able to play some games (such as R6 Las Vegas) to being able to play anything on max setting. So, yes, I would say going from a 7800-series card to a 8800-series gives quite a boost, even if you do not have the fastest CPU. I had 8095 3dmark06 score with my 3500+, and I have 10095 3dmark06 score with my C2D, to give some sort of perspective.