$150-$200 upgrade from 8800 Ultra?

I

IceDogg

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Aug 20, 2004
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Well, my video card decided to suddenly die tonight. I've had this eVGA 8800 Ultra for two years now, had to RMA once. I've had the RMA in my system now for over a year, but died tonight. I'm going to fulfil the RMA, but I'm looking to buy a "placeholder" card.

Since this is my only PCI-E system, it's my only PCI-E video card I have. I learned my lesson a while ago and bought an extra set of DDR2 ram. Basically looking to do the same with my video card.

Here's my system:

Q6600
Asus P5K Deluxe
eVGA 8800 Ultra
4gb Ballistix DDR2-1000
Corsair 620HX
Samsung 23" LCD (2048 x 1152)

Any recommendations for a $150-$200 video card that can handle most games at 2048x1152 at above average settings? I'm partial to NVIDIA, but I'll bite on a ATI card that's too hard to resist. I'm pretty sure I won't be getting a 8800 Ultra back from eVGA, since it was a limited production card anyways, so there's a chance I might be buying the same card I'm asking for for recommendations here.
 
I'm 50/50 if I should wait or just buy a backup card. The wait sucks, but ya.
 
eggrolls said:
If they don't have any 8800 Ultras, I'm guessing they might send you a GTS 250 1GB or a GTX 260. I would just wait and see what they send back, but if you really want something new:

4870 for $155:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150436

4890 for $200:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150438
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Don't they send something equivalent down the line? Like if he got the top of the line video card in that generation wouldnt he get a GTX280 or something like that? Thats what I heard at least.
 
For around $200 your choices are 4890, GTX 275, GTX 260, 4870, 5770.
I would mention the 5850 if you're willing to spend a bit more for nearly top next gen performance. But it will cost closer to $300 because of shortages. It used to retail for $259.
 
TechBoy said:
Don't they send something equivalent down the line? Like if he got the top of the line video card in that generation wouldnt he get a GTX280 or something like that? Thats what I heard at least.
Click to expand...

Equivalent or better in terms of performance, not in value at the time you bought it. If a video company tried to do the latter, they'd go bankrupt. He's just going to keep it for a backup card anyway so it hardly matters. Mixing drivers is also not a problem if he's just keeping one for backup.

For the OP: The GTX 275 and 4890 compete directly on performance; on newegg, the GTX 275 starts at $240 (good brands like the EVGA start at $265) and the XFX 4890 is $200 (there are cheaper 4890s but the extra for XFX is worth it).

The GTX 260, 4870 1GB and 5770 all compete together; the GTX 260 starts at $170, the XFX 4870 1GB is $155 and the the XFX 5770 is $170, and the recent HardOCP 5770 review showed us the 5770 is definitely the way to go here.

It's not a very good time to buy an Nvidia card, and won't be until spring, so it's the 4890 vs the 5770; the dilemma here is that the 4890 is the faster card, but the 5770 does DX11 while the 4890 does not. The way out of that dilemma is to spend more on the 5850, which is suffering from serious supply problems.
 
I'd get GTX 260 or 275 that way if they give you GTS 250 - you will have nice PhysX setup without driver headaches.

As for Ati vs Nvidia:
275>4890>=260>=4870 (after OC)

also as you can see in HardOCP review all of them are faster than 5770.

I don't understand how Kyle can say that 5770 is better choice - that card is barely good enough for 1920x1200 gaming so Eyefinity is out of question in any modern game, DX11 support is cool but by the time we see plenty of DX 11 games 5770 is going to be low end, so in the end you get less power draw from a lower performing card.
 
IceDogg said:
Well, my video card decided to suddenly die tonight. I've had this eVGA 8800 Ultra for two years now, had to RMA once. .........I'm partial to NVIDIA, but I'll bite on a ATI card that's too hard to resist.
Click to expand...


?? baffles me... top of the line $500-600 card(? - was about 300gbp+ around then iirc) dies twice in 2 years, to me that is pretty poor showing from the green side, brand loyalty pfft...:rolleyes:

my 8800gtx died on me after 18months (uk 1yr warrenties :( - 6600gt is still going strong in backup rig mind) - which was pretty crap . With res of 1920*1200 it was a toss up between 4890/70 (higher res seemed a bit too much for the 5770 - and OOS 5850's), went for the 4890 in the end for the extra umpph at little extra cost.

Good for you that you get the eVGA RMA though, hopefully that turns out well.
 
D0n2k said:
?? baffles me... top of the line $500-600 card(? - was about 300gbp+ around then iirc) dies twice in 2 years, to me that is pretty poor showing from the green side, brand loyalty pfft...:rolleyes:

my 8800gtx died on me after 18months (uk 1yr warrenties :( - 6600gt is still going strong in backup rig mind) - which was pretty crap . With res of 1920*1200 it was a toss up between 4890/70 (higher res seemed a bit too much for the 5770 - and OOS 5850's), went for the 4890 in the end for the extra umpph at little extra cost.

Good for you that you get the eVGA RMA though, hopefully that turns out well.
Click to expand...

RMA just got accepted today, gonna ship it out today / tomorrow at the latest. I've had my RAM die twice as well. It's weird, all my temps / rails are fine. I know the Corsair 620HX isn't "overkill" but adequate. Think I've just had bad luck with RAM/GPU.
 
Leaning towards getting a "cheaper" $50-$100 filler card instead. Game at 1280x1024 decently. I can get the following in store today.

XFX 4650 1gb = $50
PNY 9800 GT 1gb = $50
PNY 9800GTX+ 512mb= $90

What would you get? The double life time warranty from XFX is tempting...but so is the 9800GTX+ for that price.
 
vjcsmoke said:
For around $200 your choices are 4890, GTX 275, GTX 260, 4870, 5770.
I would mention the 5850 if you're willing to spend a bit more for nearly top next gen performance. But it will cost closer to $300 because of shortages. It used to retail for $259.
Click to expand...

Can you speculate when the price will come down from $310 to $259? I could wait a couple months.
 
Hulk said:
Can you speculate when the price will come down from $310 to $259? I could wait a couple months.
Click to expand...

TSMC expect to get their manufacturing issues resolved by the end of the year - if that holds true, better availability should follow shortly after that and theoretically drive prices back down to MSRP
 
TechBoy said:
Don't they send something equivalent down the line? Like if he got the top of the line video card in that generation wouldnt he get a GTX280 or something like that? Thats what I heard at least.
Click to expand...

If they did that then people would be getting free upgrades all over the place.

No, it's equivalent performance, not equivalent MSRP value.

In a way, it's equivalent fair-market-value of the card as it stands today, not at the time of purchase. I would estimate he likely gets a 9800GTX+ or a GTX 260 if he's lucky.
 
Syntax Error said:
If they did that then people would be getting free upgrades all over the place.

No, it's equivalent performance, not equivalent MSRP value.

In a way, it's equivalent fair-market-value of the card as it stands today, not at the time of purchase. I would estimate he likely gets a 9800GTX+ or a GTX 260 if he's lucky.
Click to expand...

Just bought the 9800GTX+ for $90. Good backup / insurance plan imo. Maybe I'll get lucky and get another one back to SLI :p I'm pleased, didn't wanna buy something better, but cheap and similar you know.
 
You should fold with that 9800 GTX+, it would net you about 5k ppd on F@H. They didn't tell you what they were sending you for the RMA?
 
flogge said:
You should fold with that 9800 GTX+, it would net you about 5k ppd on F@H. They didn't tell you what they were sending you for the RMA?
Click to expand...

They gave me the typical "similar performance card that we have available" line. I highly doubt they have any 8800 Ultras left. Might get lucky and get a 9800GTX+ back and be able to SLI them :)
 
IceDogg said:
They gave me the typical "similar performance card that we have available" line. I highly doubt they have any 8800 Ultras left. Might get lucky and get a 9800GTX+ back and be able to SLI them :)
Click to expand...

Why would you want that?

Even a GTX 260 would still be better then 9800GTX SLI.
 
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