8800 Ultra just died.... need thoughts

S

Sedriss

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 18, 2004
Messages
393
Hey guys.... Well my 8800 Ultra just decided to take a dump on me. And.... well, me being the dumbass that I am, I forgot to register my card with Evga. And it has been well over a year since I purchased it. So any warranty right now is out of the question ( I emailed one of the RMA guys at Evga to see if there was any luck of getting help but im not counting on it).


Soooo right now, im just running on a single 7800GT at the moment.

I need your guys help right now in choosing a new card. I dont want to spend $800 dollars again like i did on that Ultra, but im thinking to myself that I do want this next card to last. I want something comparable to my Ultra.

Im usually gaming at 1920*1200 and was hoping to keep that. I figured that if I went Evga again, I WOULD register the damn card within the 30 days. But the question is, Nvidia or ATI? I have a SLi board, but more than likely will not be doing SLi.

Ive been out of the loop for a little bit as well with all the new hardware coming out. Was hoping everyone would be able to give me some thoughts and ideas on where to go in this situation.

I miss my Ultra :(

thanks guys

- Seddy
 
The recommendation really depends on your budget. Also, since you have an SLI board, you may want to stick with nvidia in case you decide you want to go with an SLI setup again. You can get a GTX280 for slightly above $300 now, which is a pretty good bargain, if you want to stick with nvidia. Otherwise, on the ATi side, you can save about $30-40 compared to the GTX280 by going with the Radeon HD4850 X2, which will outperform the GTX280 (not to mention cards priced up to $150 more) in any game that uses Crossfire.
 
Well, start with your budget, and then people can help you better from there. I can give you a bunch of stats and a list of what is better in certain situations, but none of that will matter unless you have a set maximum price. I will say that if there is no limit, two GTX 280s or even 3. But odds are, there is a limit =D
 
Yes, definitely specify your budget. You say you want something comparable to the Ultra, well my $150 HD4850 is slightly better then the Ultra but I would assume you are looking for something a little more on the high end since you bought the Ultra back then. BTW, there is no such thing as a $800 GPU now, nVidia and ATi got busted for insane prices.
 
I think evga will take care of you even if you didn't register the card by the deadline.
 
Sedriss, Do you have the original reciept from when you purchased the card?

Granted, you did not register, but I don't think EVGA would just leave you hanging if you can prove that you spent $800 on that card.
 
need thoughts
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Heres one from Jack Handey.
Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words - "mank" and "ind". What do these words mean ? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
 
my 8800gtx vanilla died on me and i went with a gtx260 core 216 55nm....huge improvement for me. i run 2304x1440 if i can and it seems like this card can do it with any game ive thrown at it so far w/AA and AF.

u can get one for around $200 w/rebate off newegg right now.
 
Gonna keep an eye on this thread. I have a similar problem, but Not able to work on it yet.
 
hey guys.... sorry it took so long to get back to you. power went out here....

Well im looking and hoping to spend under $300 is possible. IF i could keep my Ultra i would do so. I didnt want to spend high dollar again for a gc (just cant put those Benjamin's out there like that lol).


So yea, $300 or less would be optional.... $325 at the most. Thanks guys.
 
$300 (actually $290) will land you a Radeon HD4850 X2, which will outperform the $325 GTX280 in many instances. If you'd prefer to stay with nvidia and possibly go SLI in the future, then the GTX280 should be your target, otherwise the 4850 X2 is the best option within your budget.
 
As everyone else has said. The 4850x2 is on sale right now @ newegg for $275. You can find a GTX280 between $300-$325 but from all the reviews I've read the x2 out paces the 280 and it's also anywhere from $25-$50 cheaper and it also uses less power. :D

Best of luck.
 
Well, i'd postpone gaming for a minute and wait cause powercolor has the 4870x2 for 375 right now. So month or two who knows what ur money will get u.
 
I have an 8800 GTX and in September bought an EVGA GTX 260 "FTW" (the original version oc'd to 666 mhz). I have a 22 inch monitor and the CPU is an X2 6400+. With that CPU I noticed just a modest increase in FPS and in CPU intensive areas of games almost no increase at all. Point is, I wouldn't go higher than a GTX 260 (216) or HD 4870 1GB. I'm thinking what the CPU in your sig must be is an E6850 (not E8650) and either one of those would be a good match. While your CPU is a little stronger and you game at a higher res I don't think you'd net much benefit going higher than those two (plus they fit your budget).

MSI always seems to have the best deal on the GTX 260:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127409
 
Jeffredo said:
I have an 8800 GTX and in September bought an EVGA GTX 260 "FTW" (the original version oc'd to 666 mhz). I have a 22 inch monitor and the CPU is an X2 6400+. With that CPU I noticed just a modest increase in FPS and in CPU intensive areas of games almost no increase at all. Point is, I wouldn't go higher than a GTX 260 (216) or HD 4870 1GB. I'm thinking what the CPU in your sig must be is an E6850 (not E8650) and either one of those would be a good match. While your CPU is a little stronger and you game at a higher res I don't think you'd net much benefit going higher than those two (plus they fit your budget).

MSI always seems to have the best deal on the GTX 260:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127409
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There is no way he would be even close to CPU limited with an E6850 gaming at 1920x1200. I second the recommendation of the 4850x2, it's a great price right now.
 
Armatoste said:
Does the 4850X2 have microstuttering issues like past dual gpu cards?
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None that I've personally noticed. Granted, I usually play slightly older games (Team Fortress 2, Ys III and VI) but newer games I've gone through (GTA4, Far Cry 2) are just fine. Well, GTA4 has performance issues wholly unrelated to microstuttering, but the point is that I'm getting consistent FPS rates in GTA4 without it "feeling" slower. Generally, the 4850 X2 is very close in all respects to the 4870 X2, so I would say if you feel the 4870 X2 has unbearable microstuttering, you won't be happy with the 4850 X2.

However, if you're very sensitive to microstuttering, you're not really looking at a dual GPU card or a Crossfire/SLI setup in the first place.
 
If you are looking for a great card at a lower price, the Evga GTX260(55nm) FTW card is a safe bet. It performs close to a stock GTX280 and draws less overall power.
 
CamaroZ28 said:
There is no way he would be even close to CPU limited with an E6850 gaming at 1920x1200. I second the recommendation of the 4850x2, it's a great price right now.
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Sapphire is the only company that makes those - ATI doesn't officially support it and as usual there are reports of driver problems with a set up like that. There's no way I would choose that over an HD 4870 1GB - and especially pay more for it.
 
Jeffredo said:
Sapphire is the only company that makes those - ATI doesn't officially support it and as usual there are reports of driver problems with a set up like that.
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False. ATi officially supports the 4850 X2. You can go to ATi's site right now and grab Catalyst 9.1 drivers that work with the card, with rolled-up support coming with the Cat 9.2s.

Can we stop posting erroneous/old information about the 4850 X2, please? This is the second time in as many days I've seen this.
 
Until every partner starts making 4850 X2's, you're going to continue hearing smack about it.
The fact that Sapphire is the only company making the cards just makes the situation worse. Everyone hates Sapphire.

So you're just going to have to accept the fact that the 4850 X2 isn't mainstream.
 
UtopiA said:
So you're just going to have to accept the fact that the 4850 X2 isn't mainstream.
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Where did I mention the 4850 X2 being "mainstream?" The issue isn't the card's "mainstream" status, the issue is that false information is continuing to percolate.
 
Terpfen said:
Where did I mention the 4850 X2 being "mainstream?" The issue isn't the card's "mainstream" status, the issue is that false information is continuing to percolate.
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Because the more people that are unfamiliar with the card, the more false information that will continue to percolate.
 
UtopiA said:
Because the more people that are unfamiliar with the card, the more false information that will continue to percolate.
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Then don't take exception with me when I correct the false information.
 
Terpfen said:
False. ATi officially supports the 4850 X2. You can go to ATi's site right now and grab Catalyst 9.1 drivers that work with the card, with rolled-up support coming with the Cat 9.2s.

Can we stop posting erroneous/old information about the 4850 X2, please? This is the second time in as many days I've seen this.
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Sorry, beings it was out for about three months with no support and it just started happening on January 29th you can forgive me (since I'm not a owner of such a card and have no need to worry about it), not realizing they implemented it.

Peruse the user reviews for the card at Newegg. Check only the cons from the ones that say "The user purchased this item from Newegg". There's enough smoke even discounting the past driver issues to make one wonder. Again, I personally don't think it would be worth a 60-70 dollar premium over a solid card like the HD 4870 1GB (which can oftentimes match or pass a GTX 280).
 
Jeffredo said:
Peruse the user reviews for the card at Newegg.
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Why? They're uninformative to the point of utter uselessness. In contrast, I actually own the 4850 X2, and I can safely say that most of the negative perceptions of the card are based on outdated information.
 
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