Go for an 8800 GTX with current setup?

S

solideliquid

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 27, 2005
Messages
449
Check out my sig for the specs.

I am contemplating the purchase of an Nvidia 8800 GTX to replace my ATi 1800 XT 512.

I was wondering if my current processor is going to basically bottleneck the video card so much that it wouldn't be worth the current price?

Should I prolong my purchase until I get around to upgrading/getting a new MOBO and processor (probably the new Intel Duo 2) or go ahead now?


Thanks in advance!
 
solideliquid said:
I was wondering if my current processor is going to basically bottleneck the video card so much that it wouldn't be worth the current price?



Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...


You would be bottlenecked badly at LOW resolutions, but crank up the resolution and turn on ALL the eye candy and you will mostly alleviate that....that card will still scream in your rig.
 
it depends on when you're looking to go C2D. What you have now is pretty good unless you really want the 8800GTX. Personally, I'd just keep that until you want to upgrade the whole system.
 
Right now my monitor can only go up to 1280x1024 as its a flat panel 19".

Seems like the best thing to do is wait until after Vista comes out, and maybe even until the first few DX10 games are released. I have a feeling these first DX10 cards will not do too well with all the DX10 candy turned on.
 
1280x1024? I always recommend people take the 8800 GTX route, but for your screen size and considering you have a powerful card at the moment, I wouldn't recommend either GTS or GTX.
 
Unless you are currently playing a game that your 1800 can't handle (which seems unlikely), I would wait. First Gen cards are usually weak, and better models will arrive before or just after huge game titles get launched.

It's such a miserable decision purchasing video cards. Too much to consider.
 
I'm just saying that by the time Crysis comes out, the 8800 will be out of breath at 1600x1200 with everything maxed out.
 
solideliquid said:
I'm just saying that by the time Crysis comes out, the 8800 will be out of breath at 1600x1200 with everything maxed out.
Click to expand...

But thats just one 8800. What about SLi or Quad!! Ooo one can dream! :p
 
solideliquid said:
I'm just saying that by the time Crysis comes out, the 8800 will be out of breath at 1600x1200 with everything maxed out.
Click to expand...
Wrong!
 
solideliquid said:
Right now my monitor can only go up to 1280x1024 as its a flat panel 19".

Seems like the best thing to do is wait until after Vista comes out, and maybe even until the first few DX10 games are released. I have a feeling these first DX10 cards will not do too well with all the DX10 candy turned on.
Click to expand...

Well, what was the first DX9 card? IIRC, it was the 9700Pro which was pretty good for a long time.
 
Well that's the crux of the argument. Who wants to pay top dollar now for decent performance later. You could just wait and find out which cards performs the best for which games.
 
Proxy said:
But thats just one 8800. What about SLi or Quad!! Ooo one can dream! :p
Click to expand...

I dont see people dreaming about Quad 7 series now when the 8 series is out. The same goes when Crysis is eventually out. There is probably better card than the 8800GTX then, so i dont see why people are buying card for games that arent out yet.
 
rahavsmt said:
There is probably better card than the 8800GTX then, so i dont see why people are buying card for games that arent out yet.
Click to expand...


I bought my GTS for NOW games, like Flight Simulator X, Far Cry (still a goody), Quake4, Doom3 (still very pretty), and Call of Duty 2. With the res at 1680x1050 and lots of eye candy on these cards smoke through them faster than the 7900 series could ever dream about. and with better drivers we are going to see some nice speed gains as well. These cards are so new that the driver teams are still learning to code for the architecture, and besides, since we are not running an DX10 titles yet, nobody really knows how much better they are going to perform in the native realm, and I bet it is going to be pretty sweet.
 
rahavsmt said:
I dont see people dreaming about Quad 7 series now when the 8 series is out. The same goes when Crysis is eventually out. There is probably better card than the 8800GTX then, so i dont see why people are buying card for games that arent out yet.
Click to expand...


Could be several reasons. 8800's are DX10 which is a nice selling point... I'd wager that an 8800GTX will have no issues running Crysis pretty well.
 
Kreator said:
Could be several reasons. 8800's are DX10 which is a nice selling point... I'd wager that an 8800GTX will have no issues running Crysis pretty well.
Click to expand...
I'd wager that as well. If the 8800 GTX won't be able to run Crysis well, then you know the engine is in trouble. After all, it should be somewhat scalable. I bought the 8800 GTX without much consideration for DX10. I want to play my DX9 games that I can't play well on my old card...well.
 
solideliquid said:
Check out my sig for the specs.

I am contemplating the purchase of an Nvidia 8800 GTX to replace my ATi 1800 XT 512.

I was wondering if my current processor is going to basically bottleneck the video card so much that it wouldn't be worth the current price?

Should I prolong my purchase until I get around to upgrading/getting a new MOBO and processor (probably the new Intel Duo 2) or go ahead now?


Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Given that we have almost identical systems, I'd have to say that you should save your money.

I used an 8800gts for a month and then returned it b/c I didn't get significant increases in any game. Now, I didn't try it in Oblivion, but in FEAR and HL2 I was underwhelmed with its performance (FEAR = 40fps @ 1680x1050 with 4xAA, 16xAF, max settings & shadows; Half-Life 2 = 53-58fps at 1680x1050 with 4xAA, 16xAF, max settings & shadows).

It could just be a fluke, and be my specific system, but I think the x1800xt still holds it own, even at 16x12 resolution.

The 8800's seriously benefit from the C2D platform, not to mention we haven't seen them perform in DX10 yet.
 
The new drivers seem to be blistering fast...

Btw did everyone remember ATI:s 9700 PRO? Everyone thought it would suck in dx 9 and the FX would pawn it being late to the market but it absolutely trounched the FX especially in dx 9 titles. And the follow up 9800 PRO wasn´t really that much faster.

So getting an 8800 can be a good move actually. Not always it get better with the second generation.

Still if you sit on X1800 or faster there is other calculations going on. It´s a lot of money to get a bit of better anisotrophic filtering and play slightly higher settings.

I am sitting on 2x7800 GT:s which does perform well even to this day but I would like to crank the aa and aniso settings a bit more. And have HDR+aa at the same time.

I am sitting on a 32" lcd tv at 1366x768 so I am leaning a bit on the 8800 GT but the GTX is definiatly more future proof. The question is when the games gets so demaning that you with such a low resolution start to see the benefit of the considerably faster GTX. But by that time I will probably be getting a Core Duo system if not AMD come out with something new and then I would be happy sitting on the GTX.
 
rahavsmt said:
I dont see people dreaming about Quad 7 series now when the 8 series is out. The same goes when Crysis is eventually out. There is probably better card than the 8800GTX then, so i dont see why people are buying card for games that arent out yet.
Click to expand...

I ment Quad 8800's not 7's. But whatever.
 
rahavsmt said:
<snip>
i dont see why people are buying card for games that arent out yet.
Click to expand...
Like most G80 owners, I bought my 8800GTX for playing games NOW, and not for future DX10 games.

I won't be getting Vista until Crysis is released, and I might have a newer card by then so I may never even get to use my 8800 in DX10 mode.
 
Unless you are going to upgrade on a 24" LCD right now for your 8800GTX, I recommend that you go on keeping your current setup at least until Vista is out. x1800xt is superb already for your native res of 1280x1024.
 
Proxy said:
I ment Quad 8800's not 7's. But whatever.
Click to expand...

I meant Quad 8800 too. I understand if someone's buying 8800 for now games but if the intention is too play games that have no certain release date down the road, that's not really smart IMHO.

If Crysis is not delayed further and out by Q3, I would it's a safe bet that a better card would be out by then from both ATI or NVidia. So why would you be dreaming of a Quad 8800 series then when chances are better cards out then. Than was my point when I said nobody is dreaming about Quad 7 series when the 8 series is out.

So I think it's ridiculous to buy a card for a game that at the earliest will be out 6 months from now. But it's worthwhile if you are buying it to improve your current gaming.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top