New Build Performance questions

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Cuse313

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Feb 9, 2008
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I plan on making a new build with c2d 4 gb ram and 500gb hdd. I had planned on getting an 8800gt 512. But thinking about it more thats a lot of money when the only game I plan on getting is ut3. Considering their system requirements are far less than 8800gt I started looking at 8600 gts.

Do you guys think that i could run ut3 on 8600 gts smoothly? Also what are the trade offs of core clock speed vs amount of memory on the graphics card, and which is more important for playing ut3 without hiccups? i.e gt 512 vs gts 256.

Thanks for helping a newb.
 
$100 - x1950pro
$150 - hd3850

I had a x1950pro with specs in sig, 1680x1050 @ 40+ fps, every maxed 0xaa/16xaf.
 
I haven't played UT3, but I have gone from an 8600GT to an 8800GT and I can tell you the difference is mind-boggling. I am SO happy I upgraded and I will never buy a mid-range card again.

If you have a big monitor, I would highly recommend going with an 8800 if you can spare the cash. The 8600 really isn't that great. You'll get pretty good performance, but you won't be able to turn up all the details. Plus, you'll barely be able to play any game that comes out even a year from now.
 
I play UT3 on an 8800GT in Vista, it does a real good job. I have the Res at 1920 x 1200. I also played UT3 in XP with an X1650Pro AGP. It runs fine also. The image quality though is alot better on the 8800GT in Vista though. However, the 8600GTS should run UT3 fine in XP. If I can run UT3 good in XP at 1280 x 800 res, then the 8600GTS should do better. But, the HD 3850 will do alot better than that 8600GTS card. In any case, 8600GTS or HD 3850, you will be able to run UT3 smoothly.
 
You say in any case i can run ut3. But before that you said I would be able to run ut3 on 8600 gts in xp. Is there some reason i wouldn't be able to run it in vista with 8600 gts 512?
Thanks for all the responses.
 
I could never recommend an 8600 series card to anyone intending to game with a clear conscience.
 
You should be able to run UT3 in Vista also. I tried to run UT3 with an entry level HD2400 pro in Vista and it ran slow. It wasn't really slow where it was real jerky. However, the image quality looks good though at 1280 x 800. The 8600GTS is alot faster than an HD2400 pro video card and it should play UT3 in Vista smoothly. What resolution do you plan on playing UT3? What size lcd do you have? If you are willing to spend $150-$180 then, an HD 3850 should be good since it is alot faster than an 8600GTS. The HD 3850 256MB averages around $170 at most places. An 8600GTS 256MB would be cheaper at $150 or less.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/11/15/amd_radeon_hd_3800/page15.html

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/asus-eax38x0-top_11.html#sect1

The HD3850 performs very well.

Cuse313 said:
You say in any case i can run ut3. But before that you said I would be able to run ut3 on 8600 gts in xp. Is there some reason i wouldn't be able to run it in vista with 8600 gts 512?
Thanks for all the responses.
Click to expand...
 
Just an 18 inch lcd. Dunno what res I would be playing at. Mostly depends on the video card I pick. Would you recommend 256 over 512 for ut3? I have never really understood the trade off between memory and speed.

Oh, and I'm not really worried about playing a game that comes out a year from now, because by then I should be able to replace the card if I need to.
 
On an 18" (max resolution is likely going to be 1280x1024) the 512MB card will have no advantage whatsoever over the 256MB card, so get whichever is cheaper, but again, buy the 3850 instead if you can afford it.
 
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