8800 Ultra - Worth $200 still, right?

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CHAoS_NiNJA

[H]ard|Gawd
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May 26, 2005
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So it looks like TigerDirect has the 8800 Ultra for $200, and while its a bit more then a 4850, thats still a lot of power for cheap. I have an SLi motherboard so I'm really looking at it, but how does it stack up against the 4850 or 9 series cards?
 
Its a decent price, but the 4870 is dropping near that price and is a better card.
 
Well keep in mind I'm running an SLi mobo and am really interested in going multi-GPU in the near future, and I'm on a pretty tight budget. If the Ultras at 200 (and hopefully lower *crosses fingers*) and the 4870 is at 250, I'll likely get the Ultra as thay 50 can be used in other places (like my car).

For the budget, the 4850 would seem to be the choice...but I'm kind of vain with my PC and like to see huge graphics cards with big heatsinks, plus like I said, multi-GPU. EDIT: When I talk about huge heatsinks, I'm referring to rear-exhaust, should have said that in the beginning.
 
The 4850 almost beats it. nVidia had to field a seriously overclocked 9800 GTX to beat it.

The 8800 Ultra might have an advantage due to its wider memory bus and larger memory capacity, but in raw compute power the 4850 just destroys it.
 
i would say its worth 150-160$ but considering i just sold my 4850 shipped for 155$, it would be wiser to get a used 4850 IMO.
 
it depends, my 8800GTX is OCed and comes close to the 4850 (a little better in a few) in most games but some games the 4850 just beats it to death.
 
Here are a couple pluses in 4850 favor

1.Smaller, STOCK is single slot

2.Less power

3.Can be run passive cooling (IE 0 Noise)

4. Latest TECH, DX 10.2, HDMI, BLuray support, 5.1 audio/vid output
 
I sold mine on Ebay for $205 last week, so yes, it's still doable.
 
I got my 4850 this past weekend and last night i tested out with the free game Grid. holy crap! It's fast!
 
4850 for a smaller, maybe slightly faster card with video decoding and single slot cooling.
 
dook43 said:
I loled
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You know you love it.

Koslov said:
Might as well get a 4870 at that price
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If you can find me a 4870 for 200 bucks (no rebate crap), then I'll buy it.

SixtyWattMan said:
4850 for a smaller, maybe slightly faster card with video decoding and single slot cooling.
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Please read the thread. I've alrady mentioned I perfer bigger cards for visual effect...lame, I know, but its my taste.

And no one seems to take in mind SLi...

I really should have taken to mind I was just going to be told to get a 4850, I've heard so much about the card its made me sick. X.x
 
how about dual slot 4870? You still get your "visual effect" to impress teh ladies and a faster card
 
The 9800GTX+ can be found for $180 at Newegg.
Therefore, I would not pay more than $180 for the 8800 Ultra.
 
You say you have an sli mobo, it would prob be more wise to get 2 8800gt's and sli them, btw they are as low as 120 isr AR. Unless you are playing at a resolution above 1680X1050 you should be fine in anything including crysis, unless you want to crank up the detail level to redorkulous. That being said I upgraded from an 8800gt to a 4850 to play at 1920X1200... and that card makes huge improvements there. Again you have an sli board, so you could always get a 2nd 8800gt and be coasting along if you need the cheap horsepower.
Just my 2cents tho...
The 8800gtx is a beast, but is power hungry (and hot) from what I remember as well.
 
CHAoS_NiNJA said:
You know you love it.



If you can find me a 4870 for 200 bucks (no rebate crap), then I'll buy it.



Please read the thread. I've alrady mentioned I perfer bigger cards for visual effect...lame, I know, but its my taste.

And no one seems to take in mind SLi...

I really should have taken to mind I was just going to be told to get a 4850, I've heard so much about the card its made me sick. X.x
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If your going to SLI then I would not even bother with the 8800 ultra. 200 dollars for a 2 year old card when the GTX260 has been seen for 229 makes no sense. the only reason anyone should buy this is if they already had an ultra and wanted to SLI it. According to you sig you have a 7800GTX. and 400 (cost of two ultras) bucks will buy you a GTX280
 
CHAoS_NiNJA said:
You know you love it.



If you can find me a 4870 for 200 bucks (no rebate crap), then I'll buy it.



Please read the thread. I've alrady mentioned I perfer bigger cards for visual effect...lame, I know, but its my taste.

And no one seems to take in mind SLi...

I really should have taken to mind I was just going to be told to get a 4850, I've heard so much about the card its made me sick. X.x
Click to expand...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161235
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186016

Now your card will be huge, and faster with better temps. 4850+S1 for about $210. Or you could save up a bit more and get a GTX260 and SLI down the road. The choice is yours.
 
CHAoS_NiNJA said:
Yeah, I'll just pull another 80-100 bucks out of my butt. :p
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Where are you going to get the other $200 for the other half of that SLI setup you want? :p

I would recommend avoiding the 8800Ultra. It was overpriced when it was released, and nothing has changed in that regards. The 8800 series had a good run, but its time is over, let it go.

If you really want SLI (which I wouldn't really recommend for you either, but hey, its your money), get a 9800GTX+
 
Thanks for the replies, looks like my dreams are crushed. When I say "big coolers" I'm referring to rear-exhaust heatsinks, which I probably should have said from the beginning. My bad.

I suppose I'll just have to go for the 9800GTX+ if I wanna SLi, or the 4850 route and hope a rear-exhaust model or aftermarket heatsink comes out soon.
 
if you have an SLI board the GTX260 is not a bad card at all. and you can always SLI another one and still have a damn nice performance machine. The 9800GTX isn't worth it + or not. If you can swing it the GTX280 is pretty attractive right now at less then 400. and it leaves you a nice upgrade path. Nvidia price cuts have really put them back in the running. If they bring the GTX280 down to around 350 I may bite on it before a 4870X@
 
CHAoS_NiNJA said:
I have an SLi motherboard so I'm really looking at it,
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CHAoS_NiNJA said:
Well keep in mind I'm running an SLi mobo and am really interested in going multi-GPU in the near future, and I'm on a pretty tight budget.
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If you don't game at on a 24" monitor or at 1920x1200, then SLI is useless for you. Also, assuming that your sig is still correct, that Hiper 580W will not be enough for any kind of multi-GPU setup. In fact, that Hiper 580W PSU doesn't have enough power for the 8800Ultra. According to eVGA, a system with the 8800Ultra requires at least 34A on the +12V rail. That Hiper 580W only has 30A on the +12V rail.
 
If you want a dual slot cooler that fits the HD4850, is relatively cheap, and quiet to boot then check out the Akasa Vortexx Neo:

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/akvoneocoblv.html

Like what Danny said, what resolution you play on will determine what the best approach may be. A single HD4850 is no slouch as it can hang with the bigger guys. Believe me, I came from an Nvidia SLI board (Nforce 4 chipset though) and had a dual slot ATI X1950XT so I know the kind of mentality that you're coming from. The reality for me was that sticking with a single card (as opposed to a dual card configuration) was just the better solution for my wallet and power consumption in the long run. I thought at first that I was going to hate the single slot card too, but it really isn't that bad. The fan fix solution for the HD4850 can be tailored to your liking in terms of cooling/quietness. And the prices for these cards are low enough that you would still have a good chunk of change left over to get the above aftermarket cooler should you decide that stock is not sufficient. It may be true that the HD4850 runs hot, but then again the 8800 Ultra is no ice box either. ;)
 
Damn, both the Vortexx and IceQ look great...except, is there any way to disable the blue lights on them? Well, I'm sure its possible, but I wonder if its easy.
 
the 8800Ultra is a kick ass card
I just sold mine for $200
it will likely OC well, and will outrun any 98xx card, and it IS BIG!!!!!
if I hadn't got a sweet deal on a gtx260 I would have kept the Ultra
it is able to run any game (exc. Crysis) fine
 
Im' wondering if he's actually joking about the rear exhaust.
I don't think he has a window in his case... And why would his "taste" matter? it's not like he looks at the video card.

OP can you please give us some insight into your odd taste?
 
$200 for a 8800ULTRA???? WTF that is considered stolen!!!!

Where abouts???

In my country Aus they still sell it for $800!!!!!

I want one!
 
CharlieHarper said:
Im' wondering if he's actually joking about the rear exhaust.
I don't think he has a window in his case... And why would his "taste" matter? it's not like he looks at the video card.

OP can you please give us some insight into your odd taste?
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No, I'm not joking. Rear exhaust removes all the hot air from the case where as, say, the 4850 heatsink just recycles it. And yes, I have a window, both in this case and my upcoming one. I've always had windows and I like my machine to look good. Why is that so strange?

Matthew Kane said:
$200 for a 8800ULTRA???? WTF that is considered stolen!!!!

Where abouts???

In my country Aus they still sell it for $800!!!!!

I want one!
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I saw it on as an ad on the [H] frontpage.
 
lmfao

check prices on the next highest scale before biting the "bargin"(no i wont read the entire thread to find out people have said this already)

last week i purchased a 9800gtx+ for 200 bucks that wasnt on sale
 
when i bought my MSI 8800 Ultra OC Edition last year from newegg. I paid 600 for it.
How do times change...:(
 
The T-man said:
the 8800Ultra is a kick ass card
I just sold mine for $200
it will likely OC well, and will outrun any 98xx card, and it IS BIG!!!!!
if I hadn't got a sweet deal on a gtx260 I would have kept the Ultra
it is able to run any game (exc. Crysis) fine
Click to expand...

my ultra is the msi version that is OCed and i play Crysis on High just fine, I would try Very High but it wont let me :(
Spec's of PC in Sig:D
 
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