New GFX card. [Archive] - Official Fighter Ops Forums

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Pacman

11-27-2007, 12:56

Well it is becoming necessary to update my GFX card.

My old 6800GS is starting to have trouble running the newer games at the settings that I preffer to play.

What is everybody's thoughts on the price/ quality of the better 6800 cards?

Is it worth buying a cheaper 8800 instead?

Thx,

Dirk

Afterburner

11-27-2007, 15:21

Dirk, the 6800 series is way ancient ! Even the 7800 / 7900 series are slow for today's titles. As mentioned above, the 8800GT is your best bet. Its performance is amazing for its price and class. I'm personally waiting for more stock to arrive here in Singapore and then its gona be watercooled and overclocked.... :wink2:

Pacman

11-27-2007, 16:11

How is the 8600 series for price/ quality?
It doesn't have to be the best card, as long as it runs current and new games in a decent manner.

Deckerd

11-27-2007, 18:47

IIRC the 8600 supports fewer shaders so an 8800 may be more forward looking. I have 2 880GTS running in sli mode and i'm very happy with them

BHawthorne

11-27-2007, 19:32

My pick would be either the 8800GTS 320 or the 8800GT 512. Both great mid-level enthusiast cards. I remember hearing reviews that the 8600 series wasn't as peppy as the 7600 series. I don't recall specifics on the location of the review though. Read it about 6 months ago I think.

Stang

11-27-2007, 20:17

Deckerd

11-27-2007, 20:39

Well on paper the 8800 Ultra has a better performance than my GTS SLI setup... So i guess the answer is yes for the gfx. Problem is that your CPU and RAM tighten the pipe

Stang

11-27-2007, 20:55

bflagg

11-27-2007, 22:17

if your OS is 32bit.. 4 gig is useless ... get 3 if you can...

I just got a 8800GTS w640 for 329 @ newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150256)

BHawthorne

11-27-2007, 23:01

Upping the RAM to 4 is easy and cheap enough but I guess its time for a new motherboard and processor...which means new ram too...

Still the question is will ONE 8800 GTX Ultra whip TWO 7800 GTX running SLI mode???

Yes, it will, but as with everything you'll still get bottlenecks at times even with the latest video cards. Then again I'm never happy even with the latest technogadets. :smile:

Pacman

11-28-2007, 05:42

Newegg doesn't send worldwide :(

Afterburner

11-28-2007, 10:34

How is the 8600 series for price/ quality?
It doesn't have to be the best card, as long as it runs current and new games in a decent manner. A 8600 is too weak of a card to sustain frames per second in FPS/SIM genres especially if your resolution is above 1280 x 1024. The 8800GT is a mid-level 3D card with near 8800GTX performance at stock speeds without an expensive price tag (near Ultra perf if overclocked). Like Acedy mentioned, the G92 8800GTS is comin out real soon and after that the 8900 / 9800 series.... :smile:

Afterburner

11-28-2007, 10:41

Still the question is will ONE 8800 GTX Ultra whip TWO 7800 GTX running SLI mode???
I am sure it would, however I wouldn't spend that much money on a card, also the 8900 / 9800 series is comin out within these couple of months. As for CPU / RAM, I suggest Intel's 45nm Penryn C2D processors and no less than 4GB of DDR-2, DDR-3 is simply too expensive and not worth the extra cost in perf... :smile:

Stang

11-28-2007, 20:54

Thanks but I guess with my luck I'd have to change the motherboard to accept the new processor and ram. My system is a Dell XPS and I know they are not too friendly to aftermarket motherboards IIRC

Tejay

Pacman

11-28-2007, 23:25

Yeah, I never do that anymore Stang.
I build my own system. After wards you can upgrade just about anything if needed.

I also usually go for the more expensive Mobo's. Usually you can make them last for 18 - 24 months. And several HW upgrades (GFX card, CPU, ...)

Lawndart

11-29-2007, 00:12

Hey Guys

Just out of curiosity I have Two 7800 GTX 512 Mb each running in SLI mode on a 3.2 Ghz dell (singlecore) with 2 Gb of RAM. If I moved up to a Single 8800 GT or GTX / Ultra, would I see any performance increase over my current SLI setup?

thanks

Tejay

You can't go wrong with the 8800 cards. Several of our team members have them with dual core CPU's and good Mobo's; however, the true bang for the buck compared to the 7-series nVidia cards will come with DX10!!!

I currently have almost the exact same setup as Stang, two 7800GT's in SLI mode on a FX57 (single core) and 2 gigs of RAM. I can't justify the upgrade right now. My first step would be a new MoBo, dual or quad core CPU, then the 8800 - although some may argue. I'll give the software developers some more time to "catch up" with DX10 output, since the software side is behind the hardware development curve at the present (and always is).

The skinny: You will get a (marginal) performance boost (given your system), but it won't be leaps and bounds compared to your current setup. Is it worth the $$$...

Ask the same question again in 6 mo or a year and the answer might be way different, a lot due to DirectX 10 IMHO... Plus, whenever you upgrade your MoBo and CPU, definitely think about your GPU too!

BTW, for any Windows XP users out there, putting 4 gigs of RAM in your box will not yield 4 gigs of available memory as far as your computer sees it. It has to do with the memory allocation and how it works in Windows XP. "Google" upgrading memory to more than 2 Gb and read up before you "waste" money on an additional 2 gigs, only to realize you end up having 2.67 Gb memory that your system actually "sees" thanks to Bill Gates and MS' XP handling of memory. (Happened to me, and the actual number varies depending on the allocation table, but in general anything above 2 Gb with XP is a gamble where going from 3 gigs to 4 gigs could actually DECREASE the available memory your system "sees"). Just be sure to research it! Trust me, you'd wish you did.

Vista can handle large amounts of RAM no probs, although Vista is another can of worms for completely different reasons... I'm patiently waiting for SP1 myself. :wink2:

Sorry for the long OT on memory...

@Stang, I have basically the same setup you have and people all around me are using 8800's - I still can't seem to justify getting one for performance reasons alone, despite hearing nothing but praise for the 8-series nVidia-line.

Hope that helps!

Deckerd

11-29-2007, 05:30

BTW, for any Windows XP users out there, putting 4 gigs of RAM in your box will not yield 4 gigs of available memory as far as your computer sees it. It has to do with the memory allocation and how it works in Windows XP. "Google" upgrading memory to more than 2 Gb and read up before you "waste" money on an additional 2 gigs, only to realize you end up having 2.67 Gb memory that your system actually "sees" thanks to Bill Gates and MS' XP handling of memory. (Happened to me, and the actual number varies depending on the allocation table, but in general anything above 2 Gb with XP is a gamble where going from 3 gigs to 4 gigs could actually DECREASE the available memory your system "sees"). Just be sure to research it! Trust me, you'd wish you did.

Vista can handle large amounts of RAM no probs, although Vista is another can of worms for completely different reasons... I'm patiently waiting for SP1 myself. :wink2:

Sorry for the long OT on memory...

Hope that helps!

Thats not quite correct. XP 32bit will show 3.5 GB but the single chunk allocation maybe far less than 2GB
See this example (http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/win/winmemory.html)
quintessence 64 Bit Systems are the way to go... theoretically

Lawndart

11-29-2007, 14:49

Thats not quite correct. XP 32bit will show 3.5 GB but the single chunk allocation maybe far less than 2GB
See this example (http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/win/winmemory.html)
quintessence 64 Bit Systems are the way to go... theoretically

Ah yes! Thanks for the reference link. Forgot to mention 32- vs. 64bit systems. From my personal experience I upgraded from 2 gigs to 4 gigs and ended up with 2.6Gb memory (WinXP 32bit). I took one module out, so I had 3 gigs remaining in the machine and it gave me 2.8Gb memory... Go figure!

I just wanted to warn, give people running WinXP (32bit) a heads up! Thanks for your clarification Deckerd. :smile:

Pacman

11-29-2007, 15:45

Looks like it'll be an 8800 GT then. At newegg they aren't that pricy.

About time too as artifacting and lock-ups are increasingly happening now.
Good that I have a custom cooler on it, I'm sure it helps the ol' lady stay in line for just a little longer.

Dirk

bflagg

11-29-2007, 19:37

Reason for the 4gig limitation is here (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605) for those inquiring minds...

I just put together a new rig..
Antec P180 case
Intel Core Duo E6750 (2.6ghz)
Asus p5Ke mother board (G33 chipset)
4 gig Geil @1066
Evga 8800GTS w/640meg
WD 250 SATA2 hd

I bought the 64bit version of Vista (ult) so I could see all the 4gigs, but some programs / hardware wan't work with 64bit vista. (itunes / iphone for one....) So I put the 32bit version on it.....

BHawthorne

11-29-2007, 22:30

A 8600 is too weak of a card to sustain frames per second in FPS/SIM genres especially if your resolution is above 1280 x 1024. The 8800GT is a mid-level 3D card with near 8800GTX performance at stock speeds without an expensive price tag (near Ultra perf if overclocked). Like Acedy mentioned, the G92 8800GTS is comin out real soon and after that the 8900 / 9800 series.... :smile:

I really wouldn't consider the 8800GT as just a mid-level card. It's one mean card imho. Definitely not mid-range. Entry level entheusiast yes, but not mid-range.

zehir

12-01-2007, 10:01

So, Which graphics card do you recommend for Fighter Ops?