Best Gaming GPU?

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Dawgdoc

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 16, 2007
Messages
209
What is everyones pick for the top GPU for gaming purposes given these criteria.

1. Currently to be used as single card, but might SLI in the future.

2. Currently on 22" 226BW at 1600X1050, but am likely going to upgrade at some point during the summer to a 28" 1900X1200.

3. Will be water cooled so there needs to be a compatable water block(s) out there.

Im trying hard to think of a reason why I shouldnt go with a GTS G92. Will work great on current monitor of 22" 1600X1050, and if upgraded to SLI will work equally great at 28" 1900X1200.

GX2 is nice, but its so new Im not sure about the water cooling end of it.....and I guess the jury is still out, but I think 2 separate GTS G92s in SLI will be a tight race. Im not interested in tri-SLI, and not interested in SLI for 2 X GX2s.

3870X2 is nice. Really nice, but Ive heard horror stories about catalyst drivers (8.4 is promising but still buggy Im told), and also read many things about how ATI products might bench well, but due to said weak drivers they dont game nearly as well as they bench.

8800 GTX or 8800 Ultra are nice choices for solo or SLI setups, but the price point on a brand new 8800 GTS G92 is tough to beat honestly.

9800GTX? Bah....slightly overclocked version of the GTS G92 with slightly faster memory and once again, think the GTS will outperform if done properly.

So....Im having a hard time justifying anything other than an 8800 GTS G92.......am I missing something?
 
2 x 8800 GTS is around $400. Even one is a great card for now @ 1680x1050. Yes I'm biased (sig). :D
 
Well since your question was asking what is the ultimate gpu setup, I'd go with 2x8800 Ultra in SLI mode. But if price is an issue I'd go with a 9200GTX it out performs it's big brother at the higher resolutions...which is odd considering it has half the memory!?
 
Outamyhead said:
Well since your question was asking what is the ultimate gpu setup, I'd go with 2x8800 Ultra in SLI mode. But if price is an issue I'd go with a 9200GTX it out performs it's big brother at the higher resolutions...which is odd considering it has half the memory!?
Click to expand...

9200 GTX?
 
The best is 2 x 9800GX2.

Other good options are 2 x 9600GT, 2 x 8800GT, 1 or 2x 8800GTS(G92). You could also get a 9800GTX or 8800GTX with the plan of adding a second one later.
 
The bang for buck now is a 9600GT SLI, but if you intend to keep a time with only one, I think it's a little hard for a 9600gt to hold up a 1680x1050 res, considering it, a 8800GTS 512 will be great for now and SLI for a future upgrade.
 
If you have an SLI motherboard, forget the GX2. Its also probably best to forget about SLI as an upgrade option as others have mentioned, because whenever youll need to upgrade to SLI, there will be a more powerful GPU out thats faster, and if you sell your current card, it will likely offset the cost of the new GPU more than it would to buy another card for SLI. ie, youd put up less money and get more performance if you sold your current GPU and bought the next gen. SLI now, or forget about it, and at your resolution, i would not go SLI. I would personally go for a 9800 GTX for the overclocking, but if you dont want to spend the extra money on the OC, the 8800 GTS would be a good second, which can overclock well also.

For an 8800 GTS to outperform a 9800 GTX...youd have to get one shitty 9800 GTX. Stock for stock, the 9800 GTX is faster, and GTX will usually OC alot more. The nice thing about the GTX is the faster memory to help overcome the 256 bit bus, should that ever become a bottleneck. This is compared to the GTS of course.
 
I am upgrading my 8800 GTS (G92) in SLI to one 9800 GTX ssc edition. The SLI doesnt really do anything for my system based on my motherboard. But the 9800 GTX ssc edition smokes one 8800 GTS card. The best system would be 9800 GTX in SLI for the price vs performance.
 
firebug88 said:
The best system would be 9800 GTX in SLI for the price vs performance.
Click to expand...

Not really though...SLIed G80 GTX would be at this point. They can be had new for the same price as the 9800 GTX. I say G80 because SLI is really only beneficial at higher resolutions, where the 256 bus starts to choke, and where the 512mb of physical memory becomes a bottleneck vs the 384bus/768 mem G80.

Unless someone has a link showing that 9800 GTX SLI beats 8800 GTX SLI? And i mean in actual gameplay, not canned crap.
 
8800 GTS G92 for your criteria is perfect. $200 for an 8800GTS card you can't go wrong with that performance for the price. 9800GTX for $300+, nah not much faster to pay an extra $100 for 5fps average increase. 9800GX2 still costs too much right now. For $600 on a 9800GX2 you might as well buy that 28" LCD. I believe you are referring to the Hanspree 28" lcd? I have the Hanns-G 28 with only 1 x 8800GT and I do fine. Yeah, I can't have every game playable at 1920 x 1200 but, I don't have to as games still look good at 1680 x 1050 res on a 1920 x 1200 resolution. Later on, when another card comes out I will upgrade again.
 
You answered your own question.. or stated outright that you had no interest in the other options. Pointless thread.
 
HardwareGuru said:
8800 GTS G92 for your criteria is perfect. $200 for an 8800GTS card you can't go wrong with that performance for the price. 9800GTX for $300+, nah not much faster to pay an extra $100 for 5fps average increase. 9800GX2 still costs too much right now. For $600 on a 9800GX2 you might as well buy that 28" LCD. I believe you are referring to the Hanspree 28" lcd? I have the Hanns-G 28 with only 1 x 8800GT and I do fine. Yeah, I can't have every game at 1920 x 1200. I don't have to as games still look good at 1680 x 1050 res on a 1920 x 1200 resolution. Later on, when another card comes out I will upgrade again.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
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