Which Video Card to Keep?

[vaga13ond]

I went a little crazy after getting my Dell order delayed and eventually canceled and tried to buy a bunch of 8800 GT's. I ended up getting two shipped on the same day. I'm trying to figure out which one would be better for my money in the long run. I'm not a absolutely serious gamer but I would like the card to be able to handle most of the games I throw at it on a 20-22" WS monitor @ resident resolution that I'll buy once I sort this out. System basics will be e2140 cpu OC and upgraded to a Penryn once the prices drop with 2 gigs of ram (or more) with XP.

Here's the 8800's that I got.

XFX Alpha Dog 8800 GT w/ 512mb of RAM with Company of Heros Cost: $254 after tax
http://www.buy.com/prod/XFX-Ge...loc/101/206216680.html

Pny 8800 GTS w/ 512mb of RAM Cost: $332 after tax but possible $20 rebate (ordered it 1 day before the rebate maybe I can get the order date changed)
(no link frys removed it)

I believe both are the G92 chipset. I like the XFX double lifetime modder friendly warranty vs PNy's 3 year (?) warranty but other than that is there any reason to go with the XFX especially if I can get the rebate to fly on the Fry's card? Honestly wasn't too hot about the GTS price but I've been waiting on a video card for my computer build since Nov so jumped on anything. Any input would be appreciated since I've been out of this Vid Card game so long. I lose $6 with the pny if I return it (+ shipping back I assume) but honestly it seems to me the XFX is the better deal? Or is the GTS worth the extra cost and I can give the 8800 GT to my brother.

On another note (I've skimmed the LCD thread) anyone recommend a monitor for mild fps gameplay but yet still have 8 bit colors? I'm still somewhat confused as to why everyone hates TN monitors but everything else liek TFT is better. But that's a question for another day. 🙂

 

[iluv2fly]

I never manage to get a hold of a 8800GT (G92) so I bought a 8800GTS (G92) instead.

I had fun playing with it and made some comparisons. The GTS is suppose to be little faster with its 128 shader processors instead of 112. Cording to the reviews that I have read its not much of a difference.

But there are other differences. 3 phase power, better cooling and I think Nvidia has modified the voltage on the card. My overclock results are almost identical to 8800GT cards that has been Volt moded.

I modified my GTS speed to match the Vanilla GT. Here are some comparisons:


Intel E4300 @ 3300mhz

EVGA 8800GTS Max OC @811/1949/2002 = 12133 3dmark06

EVGA 8800GTS Default @670/1674/1944 = 11603 3dmark06

EVGA 8800GT Default @600/1500/1800 = 11052 3dmark06


I also ran the same tests at

E4300 default speed 1800mhz.

EVGA 8800GTS Max OC @811/1949/2002 = 7788 3dmark06

EVGA 8800GTS Default @670/1674/1944 = 7610 3dmark06

EVGA 8800GT Default @600/1500/1800 = 7531 3dmark06



- As you can see there is not much difference from the slowest clocked 8800GT to a maxed out 8800GTS.

- The CPU speed makes a huge difference.

- If you are planning on buying a 8800GT volt mod and swap the fan, then you might be better of buying a 8800GTS card to begin with.

- If you are not going to vmod or swap out the heatsink then the cheapest 8800GT card will do great. Lots of performance small price tag 🙂

 

[zeroburrito]

first off, don't use 3dmark to test the speed of your card. horrible benchmark. use games.

 

[Cheex]

Originally posted by: zeroburrito
first off, don't use 3dmark to test the speed of your card. horrible benchmark. use games.

Moot point but I will second this.

 

[vaga13ond]

Then if I shouldn't rely on those benchmarks (no offense iluv2fly) bottom line becomes if it's worth it to return either. I keep hearing bad things about Pny but this card has a 3 year warranty + 2 years if I register online with them just no OCing which doesn't seem to be too bad sicne I don't mess with vid card OCing too much.

 

[PCTC2]

@ iluv2fly

you can't really modify your GTS to perform like a GT because it has 26 more stream processors than the GT....

 

[iluv2fly]

Originally posted by: PCTC2
@ iluv2fly

you can't really modify your GTS to perform like a GT because it has 26 more stream processors than the GT....

That is true!

But what I can gather from reading different reviews, it seems like the extra shaders on the GTS (G92) vs GT (G92) do not make a big difference on the end results.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Well I can only speak from experience in my own home but my oldest has a g80 8800gts ssc and my youngest has a 8800gt oc and I've got the 8800gts 512. Both of the newer cards look so much better than the original gts plus we get better framerates in demanding games like crysis. My oldest had to turn his settings way down to keep crysis playable where we didn't. I also played timeshift and the graphics were at maximum settings and I play at 1280x1024 on a 24" lg lcd monitor. I buy evga cards for the lifetime waranty plus the 90 day step up program. I've had xfx cards before and they've got the double lifetime warranty. As a matter of fact one of my xfx cards, the 6800gt just croaked so I'm about to send it in for repairs.