Choosing an 8800GTS (brand selection)

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DanSan

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 11, 2005
Messages
350
Im pretty much ready to pull the trigger and after realizing my bfg 7600gt is getting its assed kicked by CnC:3 and Supreme Commander im going to be buying an 8800GTS 640mb version. Ive been silently observing threads on this forum for months and been reading reviews and what not and im looking at prices on newegg:

BFG Tech BFGR88640GTSOC2E GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 - Retail:
$439.99 (eventually $410 after rebate)

or

EVGA 640-P2-N827-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 KO - Retail:
$469.99 (eventually $440 after rebate)

the specs are exactly the same, why would i want to pay 30 more bucks? besides a step-up program which wont be used cuz im not going to waste the extra 100 bucks on a GTX
 
You can get the evga 8800gts 640mb regular card for $340 after MIR at Clubit. Then just oc it yourself.
 
The EVGA has the KO cooler which is not worth $30 extra, so there's no good reason to get the EVGA, especially since their customer service is a joke.
 
Um the evga is the KO version the equivalent version would be EVGA 380$ after rebate to the BFG's 410$. and you could just go non KO evga for 360$
 
How do you OC these cards? Is it through a program that has to be running whenever Windows is running?
 
ive never OC'd a video card and i rather not try.. so im going for one i wont have to do that
 
I've never OC a card either. I know with eVGA you won't void your warranty if you overclock, but those factory overclocked cards also come with bigger heatsinks. I would buy a factory overclocked card.
 
you can get this EVGA, which is the same clockspeed for $379 after MIR.

the BFG is certainly a good card as well, but the higher price isn't really justified as they are the same cards. both companies offer lifetime warranties, so go with the lower cost (EVGA) as it's the better value between the two IMO.

no need to waste your money on the KO version which doesn't offer much other than aesthetics.

IsLNdbOi said:
I've never OC a card either. I know with eVGA you won't void your warranty if you overclock, but those factory overclocked cards also come with bigger heatsinks. I would buy a factory overclocked card.
Click to expand...

the factory overclocked cards do not come with "bigger" heatsinks.

even evga's ACS3 heatsink is the same one with just a different "cage" and an additional slab of metal deemed a "heatspreader" on the back of the pcb. it's basically gimmick/marketing and not much more.
 
Yes, do what most others have said and get the cheaper, non-factory overclocked EVGA card.
 
How do you overclock these new cards? If it has to be through an app. that has to run when you're in Windows then I'll skip that and get a factory overclocked card. Or do you do it through the video card's BIOS?
 
I've just installed my EVGA 8800GTS ACS3 640mb

evgaincasezv1.jpg


Its doubled the performance in NFS Carbon over my old 7950gt 512mb
 
IsLNdbOi said:
How do you overclock these new cards? If it has to be through an app. that has to run when you're in Windows then I'll skip that and get a factory overclocked card. Or do you do it through the video card's BIOS?
Click to expand...

there are several apps to do it in WinXP (rivatuner, ati tool, nvidia's own control panel, etc.).

afaik with vista you need to do it in the bios (which is how mine is overclocked).
 
It all boils down to the warranty. BFG's warranty is better, evga is just as long in theory, but if you donot register within 30 days you only get 1 year warranty.

XFX is the best because it is life long, and transferable, by far the best warranty of all manufacturers. For some reason you cannot find XFX 640mg version, I got mine off the forums.
 
you can use ntune or Ati Tool to OC in XP (but you have to launch Ati Tool when you get into Windows, and load the OC profile), or you can use nibitor to set the OC into BIOS for XP/Vista. Make sure you have a stable OC, and are careful if you use nibitor. accidentally entering incorrect overclock information will cause dead card syndrome.
 
IsLNdbOi said:
How do you overclock these new cards? If it has to be through an app. that has to run when you're in Windows then I'll skip that and get a factory overclocked card. Or do you do it through the video card's BIOS?
Click to expand...


I overclocked mine using evga's own bios flash (floppy disk maker) utility and just using nibitor to save the KO ACS3 timings to the bios file that utility uses (renaming it)...so I'm always overclocked. Of course I tested this, and to tell the truth, the temps aren't much higher than they are at stock, maybe 2C higher, and I'm running 1450 shaders!

Anyway, bios overclocking is sort of nerve wracking at first, but doing it the way Im' doing it is pretty straight forward and easily done.
 
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