9600gt or 9800gt

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Bman123

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My buddy is about to get high speed internet for the first time ever so now he wants to play games online with his pc.
Basically the same system as mine
64x2 4400+ am2
vista 32bit
250gig hd
1280x720,1024x768 resolution

He will be playing cod4,bioshock,orangebox,time shift and some other games I can't remember what else.I know he is cpu limited but he doesn't have the cash for a cpu upgrade so he is trying to make his rig last as long as possible the cheapest way possible.

How much of a difference is there between a 9600gt and a 9800gt at a low res like this?
He wants to have stable framerate and above 40 at least.I dont think he cares alot about AA/AF he just wants to play games online.With 4xaa 16af I think he will still get good framrates but if he turns down the AA will he see a increase in his Frames per second?

Please help me out so he can get his card ordered today.Wants to stay under $130 new,preferably from a company with a lifetime warranty since he is a little paranoid
 
ok, you asked for something under $130 and with lifetime warranty. even without the rebate, there is your answer.
 
I totally understand that but my buddy just got jipped on a MIR from S&W and that is a huge company so I cant really blame him for being leary about the MIr
How big of a difference is there gonna be from a 9600gt to a 9800gt?
 
Why didn't you try to steer him into a 4850 like yours? I know you said he does like the MIR but if he could tough it out he could get one for that price. The 4670 [you didn't mention] is a cheap solution and decent at 1280 if he's not cranking the AA up all the way. Otherwise you get into a jam considering for just $30 more you can get something better. 4670 is what it is. $30 more gets you a 9800GT which is a step up, another $30 gets you the 4850. I'd recommend he gets the 4850. How long is he going to be at that res anyway?
 
he has no plan to up the resolution

I tried to get him to get a hd4850 but he doesn't have the cash now.He just got a ovi so he is short on cash anyways.
What is the difference in FPS with the 9600gt and 9800gt
 
on new egg I found a dual slot 9600 gt by evga for $105 W/free shipping and a $20 MIR that would bring the total cost to $85
Xfx 9800gt is $129 with FS and a $20 MIR so it would be $109

I just dont wanna steer him wrong.I dont have a clue of what the 9600gt can do.I had a 8800gt before and it was a good card so I am sure the 9800gt is good
 
well the 9600gt is only a bit gimped compared to the 9800gt/8800gt (same thing). so for 1280x720, it should be okay. but when you post a price, i tend to find the best thing you can get for that price. the 9800gt would have a little more room to breath with new and upcoming titles, but i don't think you could go wrong with either of them.
 
The 9800GT is exactly like the 8800GT except that it uses a little bit less power, outputs less heat and has support for Hybridpower (don't worry about this). So in others words: 9800GT = 8800GT.
 
Bman123 said:
on new egg I found a dual slot 9600 gt by evga for $105 W/free shipping and a $20 MIR that would bring the total cost to $85
Xfx 9800gt is $129 with FS and a $20 MIR so it would be $109

I just dont wanna steer him wrong.I dont have a clue of what the 9600gt can do.I had a 8800gt before and it was a good card so I am sure the 9800gt is good
Click to expand...

Well considering the 9800GT is the 8800GT and he has a hard ceiling budget wise the 9800GT for $100 looks like his best option. It will excel at his low res
 
He wont mess with the rebate.He said he will just buy a card and install it.
 
what is the cheapest 9800gtx available now w/o rebate?
I can probably get him to buy one if it is gonna be a good enough difference in his Framerate from the 9800gt
 
Bman123 said:
what is the cheapest 9800gtx available now w/o rebate?
I can probably get him to buy one if it is gonna be a good enough difference in his Framerate from the 9800gt
Click to expand...

More than $130 I think. I wanna remember [without looking] there was a [H]otDeal for maybe $129 last month but that might have had a rebate. Plus now you're back to the 4850 pricepoint you said he could not go to
 
I didn't know if there was anything for a little more without a MIR for the 9800gtx
 
Its too bad he has to order today I don't see a good deal for him but between now and Black Friday you know there will be a killer deal in his price range
 
I have no clue about black friday deals.I have never bought any pc stuff on black friday.
Is there alot of good deals on BF for video cards
 
Bman123 said:
I have no clue about black friday deals.I have never bought any pc stuff on black friday.
Is there alot of good deals on BF for video cards
Click to expand...

Yeah there's always something somewhere for someone. Which gpus it will be is hard to say. There are various links to the BF deals now but I haven't cruised them enough to know what is on sale where.
 
see with his res and cpu I dont know how big of a improvement he will get from the different video cards.

He only wants a nvidia card since he dis likes the ati drivers.He has been reading some stuff lately and has probably heard of the ati framerate problems with the FR dropping alot.

How big of a increase in performance would he see if he had say $200?
He could then get a 9800gtx+.How would the 9800gtx+ compare to the 9800gt with his rig
 
will the difference be enough to justify purchasing a 9800gtx or a 9800gtx+ with his rig?
I dont know about the performance increase of the 9800gtx from a 9800gt
 
Danny Bui said:
The 9800GT is roughly 10% faster than the 9600GT.
Click to expand...
it likely wont be any faster at low res and especially with a pokey 4400 X2.


Bman123 said:
will the difference be enough to justify purchasing a 9800gtx or a 9800gtx+ with his rig?
I dont know about the performance increase of the 9800gtx from a 9800gt
Click to expand...
I see no point in putting anything faster than a 9600gt in that system and even then that cpu will be holding his sytem back in some games. I can post tons of benchmarks showing you just how bad the faster 5000 X2 was even holding back the mid range 4670. he has an slower cpu so theres not much point in a 9800gt.
 
I wonder what kind of framerate he will get in cod4 with his rig?
Is it just his cpu or is it his res that will hold the card back?What if he went to 1680x1050 then would it be worth it to get a faster card since more of the load would get put on the gpu instead of the cpu?
 
I've got a 9600GT and play all my games at native rez of 1680 x 1050. It's a great card IMO.

Plays COD4, TF3, Grid all fine at native rez.
 
Bman123 said:
see with his res and cpu I dont know how big of a improvement he will get from the different video cards.

He only wants a nvidia card since he dis likes the ati drivers.He has been reading some stuff lately and has probably heard of the ati framerate problems with the FR dropping alot.

How big of a increase in performance would he see if he had say $200?
He could then get a 9800gtx+.How would the 9800gtx+ compare to the 9800gt with his rig
Click to expand...

if he had $200 he might as well spend $250 and get a 22inch lcd and 9800gt. since at the resolution he is running now with that cpu he has, a 9800gtx would be a waste. if you keep changing the price range, everything changes. also with a $200 budget for just a gpu, gtx260 would be a much better option than a 9800gtx...
 
ok so lets say the res goes up to 1680x1050
Then the video card would need to be better correct?But if the res goes up and with a better video card wont his framerate drop alot going from 1280x720 to 1680x1050
 
Bman123 said:
I wonder what kind of framerate he will get in cod4 with his rig?
Is it just his cpu or is it his res that will hold the card back?What if he went to 1680x1050 then would it be worth it to get a faster card since more of the load would get put on the gpu instead of the cpu?
Click to expand...
well I dont know about cod 4 because I dont play it. the whole res debate is sort of joke. the fact is that if your cpu isnt strong enough to keep the video card fed at low res than all that means is that you wont lose more fps by turning it up. thats sort of a useless arguement if you are getting good framrates to begin with.

you dont play game with just a video card like I have been saying the cpu is still very important. a slow shitty cpu can not be made up for by sticking in a high end video card. hopefully you understand just how weak the slower X2 cpus really are.



heres a few benchmarks I have ran today.


Far Cry 2

1024x768 dx9 very high no AA
5000 X2... Q9300
avg 26 fps... 45 fps
high 44 fps... 56 fps
low 16 fps... 28 fps

1280x1024 dx9 very high no AA 4x AF
5000 X2... Q9300
avg 22 fps... 38 fps
high 38 fps... 47 fps
low 14 fps... 20 fps

thats a 75% increase at 1280x1024 just going from 5000 X2 to Q9300 cpu. yes FC 2 is optimized for quad cores but a faster core 2 duo like an E8500 or 8600 will still be even faster than my slower clocked Q9300.



Crysis

1024x768 dx10 all high no AA
5000 X2...Q9300
25.8 fps...32.3 fps

thats a 29% increase on high settings. yes its at 1024x768 but thats a res he is playing at. remember his cpu is even slower.
 
I know about the x2 cpus since I have one in my rig.

He is just trying to play games at a reasonable framerate for now.
I am sure once the i7 comes down in price to where it is reasonable he will do a new build.
I think he is seeing it like this.He can get a video card for about $100,with that video card he can play cod4 until the next call of duty is released.Not cod waw but cod5.He likes cod4 and will play that game online until the next one comes out.

By that time i7 should be reasonably priced and he can start his new build.I just dont want the guy to get a 9600gt and not get a enjoyable gameplay experience with it.
 
Bman123 said:
I know about the x2 cpus since I have one in my rig.

He is just trying to play games at a reasonable framerate for now.
I am sure once the i7 comes down in price to where it is reasonable he will do a new build.
I think he is seeing it like this.He can get a video card for about $100,with that video card he can play cod4 until the next call of duty is released.Not cod waw but cod5.He likes cod4 and will play that game online until the next one comes out.

By that time i7 should be reasonably priced and he can start his new build.I just dont want the guy to get a 9600gt and not get a enjoyable gameplay experience with it.
Click to expand...
and I am saying the 9800gt offers very little over the 9600gt at lower res even if you do have good cpu to take adavatage of it. with his 4400 a 9600gt would be a better match. yes you can find reviews showing the 9800gt being better but video card reviews dont mean anything unless you have similar performing cpu.
 
so does everyone agree that he should just get a 9600gt and he will be able to enjoy cod4 with it?
 
Bman123 said:
so does everyone agree that he should just get a 9600gt and he will be able to enjoy cod4 with it?
Click to expand...
of coarse everyone is not going to agree. they look at benchmarks on the web and "think" their pc will do the same if they get that certain video card.

if he is going to stick with his current setup then there is no point in buying something faster than a 9600gt. he wont be able to take advantage of the extra power of a faster card because his cpu is too weak.
 
Lifetime warranties on video cards aren't so hot. After about 2 years (4-5 at most!) they are to slow to run most current games anyways. The ATI 9600 series had a LONG run (for a video card), but even then that was only ~4 years.
 
MrWizard6600 said:
turn down the texture detail and keep the resolution resonable and you'll see as much as 30%. Crank the texture detail and that small memory bus rears its ugly head.

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=575&card2=557

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gainward-bliss9600gt-512gs.html
(keeping in mind the 8800GT and 9800GT are one and the same).
Click to expand...
is that with a 4400 X2 cpu? see this is what I was talking about. people see video card reviews and think thats the performance they will get. in reality if you dont have a similar cpu than you will not get that performance.

when I had a 5000 X2 I tried an 9600gt and an 8800gt. the 8800gt got ONE more fps in the Crysis benchmark at 1024x768. in fact the 8800gt offered zero playabilty increase with my wimpy cpu.

when i bought the 4670 I thougt why is this card so slow. now that have a decent cpu I get those same scores that I saw in all those benchmarks. I get better performance with a 4670 and q9300 then I ever did with a 8800gt and 5000 X2.
 
I got around the same performance with my 8800gt as i do with the hd4850
My framerate max was higher with the hd4850 but my framerate min was also lower.
To me nvidia cards run smoother then the ati competition cards.

So you are basically saying that if I would of just got a 9600gt instead of the 8800gt then I would of seen the same framerate since we had the same cpu?
 
Do you think that overclocking the 9600gt will make any difference?
Should he get a single or dual slot card?

He can increase airflow like I did by just adding some case fans.I have some extras fans I can give him and help him mod the case for better airflow.

I just dont know if there is any difference inbetween the single slot or dual slot gpus
 
Bman123 said:
I got around the same performance with my 8800gt as i do with the hd4850
My framerate max was higher with the hd4850 but my framerate min was also lower.
To me nvidia cards run smoother then the ati competition cards.

So you are basically saying that if I would of just got a 9600gt instead of the 8800gt then I would of seen the same framerate since we had the same cpu?
Click to expand...
alot of that is your cpu. remember how I was blaming ATI for everything. now with a good cpu my framerates are great. I got the exact same performance from a 2600xt as I did from a 4670 with the 5000 X2 so that tells you how bad that cpu was holding me back. now with q9300 Far Cry2 is amazing.
 
Bman123 said:
Do you think that overclocking the 9600gt will make any difference?
Should he get a single or dual slot card?

He can increase airflow like I did by just adding some case fans.I have some extras fans I can give him and help him mod the case for better airflow.

I just dont know if there is any difference inbetween the single slot or dual slot gpus
Click to expand...
overclocking wont do anything if he is playing a game where his 4400 is the limiting factor. and in most games it will be the 4400 holding him back not the 9600gt. going to a 9800gt with that cpu will only bottleneck the crap out of it.
 
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