Where to from 8800 GTS 512?

[jgbishop]

I have a BFG Tech 8800 GTS 512 that appears to have died tonight (either it or my mobo; I'll probably replace both in the coming days). Having not looked at GPUs in a million years, I'm out of touch with today's market. I have a few questions, but before those, here's my current setup specs:

ABit IP35 Pro LGA 775
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (Wolfdale) 3.0 GHz, with a Zalman CNPS7000C-Cu Cooler
4-GB G. Skill 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) SDRAM
BFG Tech GeForce 8800 GTS (G92) 512 MB (ForceWare 257.21)
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA
Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620W Power Supply
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

1. What are some recommended 'modern' GPUs to replace the 8800 GTS? I'm most familiar with Nvidia cards, but I'm open to whatever. I'm willing to pay maybe $250 or $300.

2. I assume today's cards are way more power-hungry than the 8800 GTS. Is this true? If so, will my 620W power supply handle a new card?

3. How have video cards changed temperature-wise since the 8800 GTS days? Do they run cooler? Hotter? About the same?

Any help you can provide to this out-of-touch geek would be greatly appreciated.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

I have a Radeon 5850 1GB that I bought back in January when it was ~$330, it retails for $290 on Newegg today. It was the gold standard for price/performance for quite some time and have been pretty happy with it, gaming at 1920x1080 with some AA to boot in most games.

The GTX 470 does trump it in most games now by varying margins and it is priced only an extra $5 on Newegg right now (I'm comparing an XFX 5850 with an ASUS 470). I think a better question to ask is if a $220 GTX 465 will suit your needs as opposed to a 470.

Your PSU will be fine for any single-GPU configuration you can imagine, including dual-GPU cards. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. And yes, the GTX series does run hot and suck a ton of power but that's just the nature of the beast. I don't want to pull numbers out of my ass but if I'm not mistaken, the 8800GTS would barely draw 100W (GPU-alone) whereas a 470 will alone pull in 200W while under a heavy gaming load. That's one area where the Radeons have the GTX 400-series beat.

Either way, your PSU is fine.

 

[nenforcer]

Unfortunately both ABIT and BFGTech have bitten the dust in this economy the last couple of years. So if either or both of your parts have gone bad you may be out of any sort of warrantly / repair / RMA assistance.

1. The modern day nVidia equivalent is the GTX 460 1GB which supports the latest Direct11 and is built on a 40nm process so it is fairly power efficient. It costs $230. I would not recommend anything above this from nVidia, you would want an ATI Radeon HD 5850which is right around $300.

2. Not necessairy true, modern GPU's are manufactured with a smaller process (40nm) which keeps power similar or sometimes lower than older cards. The exception is the nVidia Geforce GTX 465, 470 and 480 which are hugely power inefficient compared to the similarly performing ATI competition (HD 5850, HD 5870).

3. About the same. They cram more transistors at the smaller manufacturing process so it is fairly close. Some are hotter (GTX 465+) while some may be less with better 3D power shutoff when in 2D desktop mode.

 

[Grooveriding]

At your price point I would go with a 470, it will give you the most power for the amount of money you are looking to spend.

Your power supply is sufficient.

The card will be hotter than your 8800gts 512, great card by the way, I still have one in a pc here. I don't know the particulars of the temperature comparison, I think my 8800gts 512 would get to around 65 under load, the 470 will be about 75 to 80.

It's not a big deal with some half decent airflow in your case, couple fans pulling air in and blowing air out.

 

[MrK6]

OP, what resolution are you playing at? Your power supply is more than enough to handle any single video card out there. Also, I'll throw out there that it's worth a shot to bake your card, since many NVIDIA cards from the "crap solder" era are now dying. It's not like you have anything to lose: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1421792&highlight=holy+crap+worked .

 

[RussianSensation]

Tigerdirect.com has MSI Cyclone GTX460 1GB for $210 - free shipping after applying coupon code FYL5221

MSI 5850 $270 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Tpk=msi%205850

GTX470 can also be found for $270-280, sometimes dips to $230-250.GTX460 is the best price/performance and quietest. GTX470 is the loudest, but fastest. 5850 falls right in-between the 2. All 3 are great cards. Once overclocked, GTX460 and 5850 will be about as fast as the 5870 and GTX470 overclocked will be about as fast as the GTX480.

With your CPU, I'd probably spring for the 460 card and put $60 away towards your next upgrade. Newegg also has Palit GTX470 with upgraded cooler for $285.

 

[happy medium]

The gtx 460 has good thermals,low noise, and twice the performance as you old 8800gts 512 for about 220$.

 

[superccs]

I hate to say, because I love to support AMD... but I just bit on the MSI 460 GTX deal after having a 8800GT and HD4850. Its really the best price/performance/effecient product right now at a more convenient price point compared to the $300 HD5850 which owns that price point for the same reason. The $100 difference in price between a 460 and 5850 just doesn't translate into $100 worth of performance. IMO. Especially when you factor in the Physics engine and Cuda capabilities of the Nvidia card.

Good lucks, as a fellow Abit board lover, RIP... mine died 8 months ago : (