Would it be a good idea to upgrade?

[ibex333]

Well my b-day is coming up, so it might be a good time to upgrade a bit.

I'm thinking to selling my 8800GTS 640mb (still over $100 on ebay) adding another $100-150 and getting a 260GTX either core 192 or 216.

My main reason for upgrading now instead of later is that right now, I can still get quite a bit of money for my card and use that toward a better one which will hopefully last me for another two years like my current one did. If I wait longer, I simply wont be able to sell my old card for a decent price.

On the other hand, I don't really NEED to upgrade since everything I play runs with max settings at 1280x1024...

I know it's ultimately up to me to decide what to do, but I'd like to hear some opinions before I make up my mind.

Do you think it would be wiser to just keep using my 8800GTS and try to get as much mileage out of it as possible? Just how much faster are those 260GTX cards when compared to mine? It might not be worth it to invest $100+ if the performance difference is not very significant.

As a last note, a question... I might be upgrading from my 17 inch ViewSonic VP171b to one of those 22 inch LGs. Provided I'll be gaming at native resolution does that give me more reason to upgrade to a better card? I really have no idea how much faster a video card should be for larger monitors.

Are there any new video cards coming within the next 2-4 months that will be significantly faster than the current ones? Any big price drops coming up?

 

[aclim]

well if you do upgrade your monitor to something like 22" then yes I would definetly get a gtx260.

If you do upgrade, get EVGA or a BFG card that way you have the option to step-up to the refreshes that are comming out in Jan. Thats what I did because I could not play play my games at high settings at my native res at 1920x1200. I plan on stepping up to a gtx285 in Jan.

I went from a 8800gts 640 to my current card in sig. A significant difference, especially at my res.

 

[AzN]

You are itching to upgrade. Addiction like. I used to be like that too. You aren't going to gain all that much except maybe use higher AA or higher FPS with same settings. If that is worth it to you go for it for me that's not worth blowing $150 over when you are still getting smooth frame rates. For such low resolution it's pointless. Upgrading for the future is a dumb idea. There's going to be better cards and older cards will drop to $100. If I were you I would upgrade the monitor first and then maybe look for a graphics upgrade. Even then 8800gts can easily handle 22" monitors.

 

[zerocool84]

Here's a comparison of the charts of the two cards.
http://www.tomshardware.com/ch...D=on&prod%5B2070%5D=on

Just like aclim said, if you do get a bigger monitor then you should definitely do it. It you stay at 12x10 then keep the 8800.

 

[ibex333]

Hmmm... Thanx very much everyone.

Zero, that site you linked me to is quite an eye opener. The difference in all those games is not very big. And even in games where the difference is 20 fps, my card can still run those games at a very acceptable 35-40fps. The only game where there is an obvious slowdown is crysis, but then again the 260 doesn't pull that one well either.

By the way, what happens on the larger monitors if you run games at 12x10? Do you see the game in a square in the middle of the screen and the other parts of the screen become black, or does it try to stretch the low res to the whole screen?

 

[ibex333]

bump - someone please answer my last question

 

[mentalcrisis00]

Originally posted by: ibex333
By the way, what happens on the larger monitors if you run games at 12x10? Do you see the game in a square in the middle of the screen and the other parts of the screen become black, or does it try to stretch the low res to the whole screen?

If you run a high resolution screen at a non native lower res the monitor will stretch the pixels to fit the entire screen.

I've noticed in some games you'll actually get better performance and/or framerates if you keep the monitors standard resolution which for most 22" widescreen displays is 1680x1050.

Wikipedia has a large page dedicated to lcd monitor resolutions and FOV's associated with them. You'll get a better and more in depth explanation than I can provide.

I'm currently using a 22" display and my little 9800gt can run pretty much any game at 1680x1050 16:10 even on the aging system in my sig. I'm pretty sure you'll have nothing to worry about for awhile with the system you're running unless you get a higher res monitor.