7900GTX, or 8800GTS?

aznknife

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Anyways, I got like $150 atm, and was wondering if I should buy a 7900GTX, or a 8800GTS. I am a heavy gamer, and would like to play the new upcoming games, at good settings with decent framerates. ATM I have a MSI 8500GT 512MB.

System Specs Are

Intel P4 2.8 GHz
1GB Ram
320GB, and 80GB 7200RPM Hardrives
MSI Nvidia Geforce 8500GT 512MB ( Sucks Balls )


Anyways yeah, so what should I get. And Yeah I AM going to upgrade pc in December, most likely buy a new one.
 
If you're going to wait until Dec. to buy a new PC, why not wait on the video card?

I have a BFG 7800 & 7900 GTX, they're both right around the same to each other. Not a huge difference. Both are good though.

I would definitely recommend a 8800 card, because I'm sure it's a little better.
 
Definitely get the 8800 if you are getting something now. Personally, I'd hold off and see what comes out in Nov (which is what I am doing).
 
MSI Nvidia Geforce 8500GT 512MB ( Sucks Balls )

LMAO!

That's the card I had, only from PNY. Yes, it sux the biggest d!ck of all time... for gaming that is. For video editing, it was awesome (large memory buffer and H.264 hardware rendering).

But yeah, for gaming...

Bioshock: Medium-low settings, DX9 (I couldn't dare do DX10), and 1024x768 with 4x AF.
Result: 15-20FPS. LOL

Even in Doom 3, going much above 1280x1024 would make it lag (high/ultra settings).

If you are poor, get the card in my sig. If you have $$$, get the 8800 hands down.
 
I have a BFG 7800 & 7900 GTX, they're both right around the same to each other. Not a huge difference. Both are good though.

If you have both you should know how false that statement is. The 7800GTX is not even close to a 7900GTX.

To the OP: Get the 8800GTS..no contest.
 
Just wait, your ram and processor will hold you back and you won't really be blown away by the performance increase.

New pc: one large performance/quality increase > two smaller performance increases.
 
Indeed, that processor is will hold back more powerful GPU's not to mention 2gb of memory would be ideal for gaming. Just wait it out.
 
lmao....get the 8800gts, it will kill the 7900gtx

The 320 card won't exactly kill the 7 series flagship.

Indeed, that processor is will hold back more powerful GPU's not to mention 2gb of memory would be ideal for gaming. Just wait it out.

His processor isn't going to hold anything back. It's one of the most powerful CPU's released for gaming. P4 is as good today as it was 2 years ago. Just think...what's been released since then? Only multi-core nonsense with lower clocks. Multiple cores don't do shit in games. Helllo, nurse...
 
His processor isn't going to hold anything back. It's one of the most powerful CPU's released for gaming. P4 is as good today as it was 2 years ago. Just think...what's been released since then? Only multi-core nonsense with lower clocks. Multiple cores don't do shit in games. Helllo, nurse...
either you are joking or deluded
 
P4 is as good today as it was 2 years ago. Just think...what's been released since then? Only multi-core nonsense with lower clocks. Multiple cores don't do shit in games. Helllo, nurse...

For the most part, multi-cores aren't that much more of an improvement over an equivalent single core cpu at typical GPU bound resolutions. Sure you'd be crazy to not buy a dual core at this point. They're pretty much mandatory if you're running a G80.
However, a P4 2.8ghz is a very old and slow single core processor for gaming. It barely, just barely, meets minimum spec nowadays.

And to the OP, I would wait for November to see the new cards. Right now between the two, if you have the money, the 8800 hands down is a much better GPU than a 7900.
 
Just wait, your ram and processor will hold you back and you won't really be blown away by the performance increase.increases.

Take his advice on this, I threw an 8800GTS into my rig (Mine is running at 630mhz core, 1ghz mem) and I'm only scoring 8900 in 3dmark06...compared to other people on the forums with the same card running at slower speeds but with a Core 2 Duo that are getting somewhere in the range of 11,000-12,000. Older processors just can't keep up with today's graphics power.
 
The 320 card won't exactly kill the 7 series flagship.

His processor isn't going to hold anything back. It's one of the most powerful CPU's released for gaming. P4 is as good today as it was 2 years ago. Just think...what's been released since then? Only multi-core nonsense with lower clocks. Multiple cores don't do shit in games. Helllo, nurse...

either you are joking or deluded


He's deluded into thinking simple. What he's failing to realize is that architecture, not speed alone, will hold the performance crown. He's forgotten that AMD disproved Intel's original marchitecture stating that raw clock cycles will kill anything. Despite AMD lagging today that is why they've been able to compete and best Intel for a few years on their own. Not many AMD chips pre-Core/Core2 and past the original Pentium days has run at the same clock speeds as Intel CPUs yet they've managed to keep up or beat them in many cases.

No friend, that P4 is nowhere near as good as what's available today. A single core on current CPUs will best old school P4s. Start reading reviews and whatnot. You're missing out.
 
I just sold my 7900GTX OC for a 8800GTS 320MB and strictly on a 3dmark06 standpoint it went from 6700 to 10K. Everything else is identical.

I still play most of my games @ 1900x1200, with fewer slowdowns when there is an explosion or fog/smoke.

I also know that the 8800 series is going to have a higher resale value when the new nvidia cards drop the next couple months.

So, it comes down to price. If you can make it less that a $100 upgrade w/ selling your 7900GTX and getting a 8800GTS then I'd do it again.
 
I say 8800 GTS - I had two 7900 GTO's briefly and they were equivelant to a single 8800 GTS. You want to go for the DirectX 10 as it's only a little bit longer before CRYSIS woot
 
The 320 card won't exactly kill the 7 series flagship.



His processor isn't going to hold anything back. It's one of the most powerful CPU's released for gaming. P4 is as good today as it was 2 years ago. Just think...what's been released since then? Only multi-core nonsense with lower clocks. Multiple cores don't do shit in games. Helllo, nurse...

You're not very smart, get out.
 
The 320 card won't exactly kill the 7 series flagship.



His processor isn't going to hold anything back. It's one of the most powerful CPU's released for gaming. P4 is as good today as it was 2 years ago. Just think...what's been released since then? Only multi-core nonsense with lower clocks. Multiple cores don't do shit in games. Helllo, nurse...

Thats like saying my Michelins are no better than what came on the Model T 100 years or so ago.Its time to step away from the quake 1 machine and get some new gear.
 
8800GTS 320 is going to get you higher framerates even when compared to a 7950GTX 512. It's just a much faster card.

New 7900's can be had for just under $200 (last I checked, at least), while the lowest end 8800GTS is going to run you about $100 more.. that $100 is going to make a pretty big difference.

The only issue is your old P4 probably won't be able to keep up with the 8800.

Multiple cores make more of a difference those hanging onto their single cores realize.
 
8800GTS 320 is going to get you higher framerates even when compared to a 7950GTX 512.

JFYI, There is no 7950GTX...the 7900GTX was the last flagship 7 series card. However, there is a GO 7950GTX for laptops. The last model for the 7 series was/is the 7950GT 512 which is about 93% as fast as the 7900GTX.
 
JFYI, There is no 7950GTX...the 7900GTX was the last flagship 7 series card. However, there is a GO 7950GTX for laptops. The last model for the 7 series was/is the 7950GT 512 which is about 93% as fast as the 7900GTX.

I think he meant the 7950GX2. It had 1GB of memory, and IT was the last flagship (high-end at least) card of the series 7. The 7950GX2 is just a revamped 7900GX2 (ran cooler, required less power, was physically smaller), but spec wise it was the exact same card. It is roughly two 7950GT's in SLI with lower clock speeds.

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/geforce_7950_gx2_preview/images/03.jpg

There you go, the top is a 7900GX2 and the bottom is a 7950GX2.


As for the 8800GTS 320 beating it, well...

The 8800GTS loses in memory amount, memory bandwidth, memory bus width, and texture fill rate. However, the 8800GTS uses improved shaders and kills in that area and is also DX10 compatible, which the 7950GX2 isn't (not like that makes a difference in DX9 games).

If I had a choice between the two, I would go for the 7950GX2, unless I wanted DX10.
 
you will probably be disappointed in the 320 due to limited onboard memory.now a days 512 is probably the lest you will want,as games will demand more frame buffer memory.
the card you have at the moment can only offer miserable performance as iq and aa are used for forth-coming games.
 
No friend, that P4 is nowhere near as good as what's available today. A single core on current CPUs will best old school P4s. Start reading reviews and whatnot. You're missing out.

I've never read a review from someone who upgaded from P4 to C2D and noticed a significant difference. For my part, I didn't see one, either in games or in anything else.
 
I've never read a review from someone who upgaded from P4 to C2D and noticed a significant difference. For my part, I didn't see one, either in games or in anything else.

Are you for real!?!?! Um, well, I'll be nice.

In video/picture editing, games, and every other CPU driven app in the world: I would love to see how much of a difference there is between the ancient P4 and the C2D of today. You have got to be fucking joking.

This isn't even worth talking about. That is such a noob statement. Well, I said I would be nice, so here goes!

Question: How does a dual core compare to a single core?
Answer: lol, unless the single core using a P4 netburst architecture is running at around 6-8Ghz, it won't stand a chance with today's C2D's.

Hyper Threading won't save you either. That was cool for it's time (back in '04 to '05) because you could run two threads on a single core CPU. The drawback however was that the CPU was splitting the performance. So a 2.8Ghz P4 w/ HT doing two tasks at once would be like having two 1.4Ghz P4's doing one task each. With dual/quad/multi/many core CPU's, this is no longer an issue.

Not to mention, what video card from today's current pick wouldn't bottleneck on a P4. Hmm, maybe an 8500GT or a HD2400XT? lol

Try running a 8800GTS or above on that thing without bottlenecking on the CPU. No performance increase in games? Oh please.

I went from a 2.26Ghz P4 to a 3700+ A64 (just a single core) and noticed a world of difference. Try about 10-30FPS depending on the game... and that was only a single core. An A46 3700+ wouldn't even hold a candle to today's C2D processors, even if they were operating in single core (well, it would be the lower-end C2D CPU's, but mid-end on up would cream it).

Not to mention, games that are multi-core optimized will run much better than on a single core processor. Try running Crysis on your P4. LMAO

I won't bore you with the details in the different architectures, instructions, caches, etc.

But what I will tell you is that the P4 (along with it's shitty netburst architecture) is dead. If they were so great, very few would have made the upgrade to AMD processors or C2D CPU's. Not to mention the C2D's are remarkable at OCing.

Still don't see a difference. Ok, then take the best P4 in existence, the P4 Extreme Edition 3.73Ghz and compare that (using the same hardware, for the most part) to a C2D, and see your FPS increase like no tomorrow. Heck, in overall gaming, my A64 4000+ single core (939) kicks the P4EE's ass up and down the street, and the 4000+ wouldn't even begin to stand up to the C2D's, especially not in multi-threaded apps.

Wow. Just, wow. Before this turns into a flame(frag)-fest, I would edit your post if I were you.
 
I take it ATI's cards are out? It seems like they hit the sweet spot in terms of DX9 performance vs. value.

But, December? I'd wait -- it's eight short weeks away. Seems like the rumored "8800 GT" would hit the spot.
 
LMAO!

That's the card I had, only from PNY. Yes, it sux the biggest d!ck of all time... for gaming that is. For video editing, it was awesome (large memory buffer and H.264 hardware rendering).

But yeah, for gaming...

Bioshock: Medium-low settings, DX9 (I couldn't dare do DX10), and 1024x768 with 4x AF.
Result: 15-20FPS. LOL

Even in Doom 3, going much above 1280x1024 would make it lag (high/ultra settings).

If you are poor, get the card in my sig. If you have $$$, get the 8800 hands down.


I wonder what your computer must be on? i got a single 7800 GTX and played Bioshock at 1600x1200 with everything maxed except shadows and no AA. i get motion sickness when i get low FPS in games. the fact that i was able to play it for hours on end tells me it was hovering at 20-30 FPS. the specs of machine are below in my sig. i am in the same boat yet i am holding off to see what AMD comes out with along with Nvidias new revision.
if you can hold off a few months longer worst case scenario the new cards are only mildly better, the 8800's will drop in price regardless.
 
The 320 card won't exactly kill the 7 series flagship.



His processor isn't going to hold anything back. It's one of the most powerful CPU's released for gaming. P4 is as good today as it was 2 years ago. Just think...what's been released since then? Only multi-core nonsense with lower clocks. Multiple cores don't do shit in games. Helllo, nurse...

either you are joking or deluded

QFT
 
@ P4 Supporter, thanks for supporting my CPU :D. But its old heh. Anyways I am going to go with a Nvidia Geforce 8800GTS 320MB, my monitors resolution is perfect for that. And in 2 weeks I am going to build a whole new rig,

Specs so far are going to

EVGA 680i
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6 Ghz
2GB DD2-800 Ram
Nvidia Geforce 8800GTS 320MB
1x 150GB Raptor, 1x 320GB Seagate
Either Clear Case, Or Antec 900.
 
8800GTS 320 is going to get you higher framerates even when compared to a 7950GTX 512. It's just a much faster card.

New 7900's can be had for just under $200 (last I checked, at least), while the lowest end 8800GTS is going to run you about $100 more.. that $100 is going to make a pretty big difference.

The only issue is your old P4 probably won't be able to keep up with the 8800.

Multiple cores make more of a difference those hanging onto their single cores realize.

Where do you see 7900s for sale? I'm talking a reputable store, not used cards with no warranty on ebay. I've been trying to find a card that will hold me over till the next refresh.
 
If you have both you should know how false that statement is. The 7800GTX is not even close to a 7900GTX.

To the OP: Get the 8800GTS..no contest.


uh, there is not much of a diff in these cards. 10% at the most. Would you tell someone to buy a 7900GTX if they had a 7800GTX?
 
uh, there is not much of a diff in these cards. 10% at the most. Would you tell someone to buy a 7900GTX if they had a 7800GTX?

even stock 7900GT 256MB will slightly beat stock 7800GTX 256MB, imo 7900GTX would make much difference with 7800GTX (both stock and both 256MB vram).
 
The 8800 GTS killed my 7800GT (Flashed to GTX speeds) SLI setup. There was absolutely no comparison. You can read off all the specs you want, the bottom line is that once I swapped out the cards and installed the drivers, IQ went through the roof, as well as consistency (and that was at stock speeds too!)

Now, with regards to the thought that your P4 is comparable to current games.. No. I don't have the time to give you all the rationale to prove that your wrong, but thats like saying the 6800 series is comparable to the 8800 series. Listen to the facts that have been given to you.
 
my p4 @ 3.6 bottlenecks very bad. changing my overclock from 3, to 3.3 to 3.6 i notice pretty good gains in framerates in most games.

in games like ArmA, BF2 and BF2142 i get the same frame rates @800x600(or whatever lowest the game allows) lowest details as i do at 1280x1024 max details+4xAA/16xAF with an x1950 pro, with barely lower frame rates at 1600x1200!

and a flag ship 7 series is better than an x1950 pro, if you have the CPU to back it.
 
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