BFG 8800GT OC 512MB or Visiontek Radeon HD 3870 512MB???

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reality99

Limp Gawd
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Jan 22, 2008
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I am building a new rig and need advice on a graphics card. I have now narrowed it down to this 8800GT, and this HD3870. I have done some searching and both seem about equal. I would get the 3870 somewhere else for $205, I just linked to Newegg to show the item. The 8800GT is about $10-15 more, but is it a lot better? Which card would perform best? I don't really play any graphically demanding games, I will be running at 1440x900 or 1680x1050. Any thoughts or opinions?
 
If you go for the GT make sure you get one with better cooling than the original, otherwise I 'd go for the ati

If you not play many games I'd get the 3850
 
matadorluis said:
If you go for the GT make sure you get one with better cooling than the original, otherwise I 'd go for the ati

If you not play many games I'd get the 3850
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BFG 8800GT does not have the new cooling - it has the older smaller fan.
 
you sound like a 3850 would do what you need and cheaper then your other 2 options.
 
The 8800GT will play your high end games better than the 3870. But as others stated, if you don't play games, then get a cheap card! An 8500GT or HD2400/2600 card can be had for cheap and will do all your 2D/video playback perfectly.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by matadorluis View Post
If you go for the GT make sure you get one with better cooling than the original, otherwise I 'd go for the ati

If you not play many games I'd get the 3850
BFG 8800GT does not have the new cooling - it has the older smaller fan.
__________________
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Whats wrong with the original cooling? I'm not going to OC it or anything, I plan to use it as it is. Also, like I said, I'm a casual gamer, but will also use this PC to watch TV on with a tuner card. Its not a HTPC, just simply something that will fit into a dorm.
 
I've got the OEM cooler on my 8800GT and it is MORE than adequate, and I even have mine OCed... That said, my XFX does have the revised cooler with the slightly larger fan. The main problem with some of the earlier 8800GT's wasn't necessarily the cooler, but there was a very wide spread BIOS bug that did not allow the fan speed to go above 29%
 
An HD3850 for under $200 would do perfect. If your a casual gamer and plays non graphic intensive games, even a HD2600XT or 8600GTS is also suitable. These should be more than enough for what you are asking.
 
I know that the 3850 would be suitable, but I can get a lot more card for about $35 more. I want something that I can keep for a while without having to worry about it becoming too outdated. I do not plan on updating for another few years, so in the long run, I think that it would be in my best interest to go ahead and get one of the slightly more expensive cards, right?
 
reality99 said:
I know that the 3850 would be suitable, but I can get a lot more card for about $35 more. I want something that I can keep for a while without having to worry about it becoming too outdated. I do not plan on updating for another few years, so in the long run, I think that it would be in my best interest to go ahead and get one of the slightly more expensive cards, right?
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Based on what you've said here I'd say an 8800GTS 512Mb from XFX or Evga. Both offer lifetime warranties. You would also be good for end user overclocking and heatsink replacement without voiding your warranty with XFX or Evga if you choose to do so.

If you resell your cards XFX is a great choice because you can transfer your lifetime warranty to your buyer. That helps build a lot of value to buyers.

The below XFX is 279usd with rebate and IMO worth it-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150261
 
If that is the case, 8800GT or even a 8800GTS 512. You may say you only play casual games but, when you do get a good card, it will motivate you to want to play more graphic intensive games. I have never played PC games until the beginning of this year. I jumped straight to an 8800GT card on my first pci-e video card. At under $300, the 8800GT card really delivers for the price.


reality99 said:
I know that the 3850 would be suitable, but I can get a lot more card for about $35 more. I want something that I can keep for a while without having to worry about it becoming too outdated. I do not plan on updating for another few years, so in the long run, I think that it would be in my best interest to go ahead and get one of the slightly more expensive cards, right?
Click to expand...
 
xp3nd4bl3 said:
The 8800GT will play your high end games better than the 3870. But as others stated, if you don't play games, then get a cheap card! An 8500GT or HD2400/2600 card can be had for cheap and will do all your 2D/video playback perfectly.
Click to expand...
Yup, a 256MB BFG 8500GT can be had at the 'egg now for $29.99 AR! :eek:
 
I got 2 hd 3850 512mb gigabyte cards with the zalman coolers factory installed for just under $400. scores over 17K on 3dmark06 ......they will play a game or 2..
 
Thanks for the advice so far, but I really can't go over $220AR. I have already upped my budget for this card like 3 times. With this in mind, any more opinions?

Edit: Here is a Leaktek 8800GT 512MB for $200 after rebates, this card got mixed reviews...any thoughts?
 
ok go for it has new cooler i think but there isn't that much difference between 3870 and 8800gt if one will be outdated other won't stand that much you will still need upgrade
 
From the pics, that does not look like the new cooler. The fan on my XFX is definitely larger.
 
RamonGTP said:
From the pics, that does not look like the new cooler. The fan on my XFX is definitely larger.
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That looks like an old picture, I believe Leadtek along with XFX and Evga are the ones that definetely have the new bigger fan.

And to the OP, the bigger fan on the new reference cooler means that your card is less noisy because the fan can spin slower and still push the same amount of air. If NCIXUS has sales like NCIX Canada, then you might be able to get a 3870 for like $150 when on sale.
 
8800gt isn't as perfect as most ppl think, besides the higher of possibility of getting a faulty card ( like my twintech ) especially if you buy a factory overclocked one (like XFX/EVGA ) the forceware drivers suck in terms of reliability, opengl perfomance has gone downhill with every release after 169.09 and later, other people have problems playing stalker with anything different than the 163.75 version and some unreal engine 2.x games have smoothness issues too http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t23904-150.html

I can't even play a single game of goddamn redfaction http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=21028&pid=138782&mode=threaded&show=&st=&
it's an old game i know but its multiplayer is still fun, btw i can't play cod4 either without the possibility of getting a hardlock in the next 10-90 minutes (even SP freezes after 1-2 hours of play ) , my gt has become very unstable past two weeks no matter the clocks and temperatures on ram/mofsets/core, btw here's a stress test that was far more reliable in my experience than running 3dmark2k6 and ati tool for hours http://freestone-group.com/video-card-stability-test.htm

Btw if you don't want to bottleneck your card's perfomance i believe you will need a 3ghz c2d or higher, no matter the resolution and eye candy ,on every game (colin mcrae dirt nfs pro street cod4 TF2 CSS DoD:S bf2142 ut3)that i played i got a MUCH higher and consistent framerate when i sold my 2.75ghz opteron ( practically a 2.2ghz c2d ) for an 6600 clocked up to 3.3ghz
 
SoFGR said:
8800gt isn't as perfect as most ppl think, besides the higher of possibility of getting a faulty card ( like my twintech ) especially if you buy a factory overclocked one (like XFX/EVGA ) the forceware drivers suck in terms of reliability, opengl perfomance has gone downhill with every release after 169.09 and later, other people have problems playing stalker with anything different than the 163.75 version and some unreal engine 2.x games have smoothness issues too http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t23904-150.html

I can't even play a single game of goddamn redfaction http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=21028&pid=138782&mode=threaded&show=&st=&
it's an old game i know but its multiplayer is still fun, btw i can't play cod4 either without the possibility of getting a hardlock in the next 10-90 minutes (even SP freezes after 1-2 hours of play ) , my gt has become very unstable past two weeks no matter the clocks and temperatures on ram/mofsets/core, btw here's a stress test that was far more reliable in my experience than running 3dmark2k6 and ati tool for hours http://freestone-group.com/video-card-stability-test.htm

Btw if you don't want to bottleneck your card's perfomance i believe you will need a 3ghz c2d or higher, no matter the resolution and eye candy ,on every game (colin mcrae dirt nfs pro street cod4 TF2 CSS DoD:S bf2142 ut3)that i played i got a MUCH higher and consistent framerate when i sold my 2.75ghz opteron ( practically a 2.2ghz c2d ) for an 6600 clocked up to 3.3ghz
Click to expand...

Can't say I agree with the first part of your post. My XFX is factory overclocked and then I added a few more clock cycles on top of that, still with the OEM cooler and have no problems playing any of my games, which include most of the games you mentioned.

I do agree with you that you've got to have a pretty beefy CPU to really see what the card can do. I noticed a slight improvement from my old x1900xtx, but only slight. I later used a 8800GT on a C2D and C2Q system and the difference was substantial.
 
Btw if you don't want to bottleneck your card's perfomance i believe you will need a 3ghz c2d or higher, no matter the resolution and eye candy ,on every game (colin mcrae dirt nfs pro street cod4 TF2 CSS DoD:S bf2142 ut3)that i played i got a MUCH higher and consistent framerate when i sold my 2.75ghz opteron ( practically a 2.2ghz c2d ) for an 6600 clocked up to 3.3ghz
Click to expand...

I do agree with you that you've got to have a pretty beefy CPU to really see what the card can do. I noticed a slight improvement from my old x1900xtx, but only slight. I later used a 8800GT on a C2D and C2Q system and the difference was substantial.
Click to expand...

I don't think that the processor is going to be an issue. I have one of the new E8400 C2D, that runs at 3Ghz without any OC. I think that I'm probably going to go with the BFG 8800GT OC 512MB at NCIXUS for ~$215AR, it seems like a pretty good deal, cheapest I can find elsewhere is about $250. Thanks for all the input.
 
That BFG card has now dropped to $206 after rebate, and NCIXUS is darn good from what I hear.

I presently own this card. I overclocked it to 750MHz with the fan at 40% (still barely audible) and my temps never went over 73c while running 3dmark06 multiple times. I run it 24/7 at 35% fan speed and 700MHz overclock and my temps still stay in the low 60's most of the time. I am amazed with what my card can do for what I paid for it. It is also nVidia's current best offering for hardware hi-def video decoding if you're going to edit or view high definition content in the future on your PC. I definitely recommend this card. It has been a champ for me, and I can't wait to get a 2nd to run in SLI...

Also, I'm running Vista Ultimate 64-bit. Even with the 64-bit drivers (which don't get quite as much TLC in my opinion because of the vastly larger 32-bit user base) my rig is still super stable. Lockups are few and far between in games, Adobe CS3 apps, etc. I monkey around and overclock things, too. I love my BFG card, and their warranty and support is really good. They make good cards with few DOA's. I would take one over the 3870 myself.
 
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