Yet Another 8800GT vs 8000GT thread

[eSky1]

sooo, i went to shop and i saw few models of 8800GT's, i wanted to order:
MSI GF 8800 GTS PCIE 512MB OVERCLOCKED
but than i saw:
PALIT GF 8800 GT PCI-E 512MB HDMI SONIC
MSI GF 8800 GT PCI-E 512MB 2X DVI ZALMAN
i read about them and, i got confused.
is there any differences between them? is MSI OC'ed still best of these?
Comments are welcome as always share your opinion.

 

[Dkcode]

MSI GF 8800 GTS PCIE 512MB OVERCLOCKED - Clocked higher so will offer a slight performance increase.
PALIT GF 8800 GT PCI-E 512MB HDMI SONIC - Contains a HDMI port so you can connect the card to a device with a HDMI connector such as an HDTV.
MSI GF 8800 GT PCI-E 512MB 2X DVI ZALMAN - Uses a much more efficient cooler which will offer much higher thermal dissipation, lower noise and better overclocking potential.

I would personally go for the Zalman option if the price was right but it all depends on what you want. The HDMI option is pretty pointless if your using a PC monitor with a DVI port.

 

[eSky1]

the price of Zalman is a bit bigger than other two.
so i will be able to OC the zalman to meet MSI OC'ed performance + it will have a better cooler?

 

[zorrt]

The MSI overclocked card is a GTS, or is that a typo? Regardless g92 GTS > GT at higher res. So if the GTS is cheaper I'd get the GTS OC over the GT with zalman.

Personally I prefer to keep my $50 and just buy standard edition of videocards and overclock them myself. If I'm not happy with the stock cooling, I'd use my $50 for buy a better cooler for it that I know is better than most non referenced cooler.

But it's safer to buy a factory overclocked card because if it craps out, warranty covers it 100%.

HDMI is only good if you intend on using it. Otherwise forget bout it. If you do decide to connect the PC to a TV, just use coaxial for the sound, unless you really care about the 1 extra cable you could of avoided.

 

[angry hampster]

Originally posted by: zorrt

But it's safer to buy a factory overclocked card because if it craps out, warranty covers it 100%.

I don't understand why people even talk about this. The manufacturer can never prove that you've overclocked the card if you send it in to them after you melt it. This is assuming you stay out of the card's BIOS anyway.

 

[eSky1]

But, does the manual cooler changing is allowed in warranty rules?

 

[Piuc2020]

Originally posted by: angry hampster

Originally posted by: zorrt

But it's safer to buy a factory overclocked card because if it craps out, warranty covers it 100%.

I don't understand why people even talk about this. The manufacturer can never prove that you've overclocked the card if you send it in to them after you melt it. This is assuming you stay out of the card's BIOS anyway.

Exactly, overclocking with RivaTuner is done at a driver-level, so unless you flash your bios (which is pointless for 90% of cases) then warranties that cover overclocking are just a fancy bullet point.