Graphics help pls.

Joined: Oct 11, 2006 Posts: 768

Looking to sneak a little upgrade without the wife castrating me so for now I want a new card to replace my X1950pro. It will run next to a single core amd 4000 and 2gig of ye olde standard ddr ram, at least for now. Idea is to get a card that while maybe bottlenecked by ram/cpu for now can slot into a new mobo/cpu/ram upgrade in a few months time.

Dont want to spend a fortune so I am looking at the 8800GT, 9600GT and 3870 cards that fall into my budget. From what I can gather the 8800GT beats the 9 series by a little and may be a little more future proof despite being cheaper? I have very little idea on the ATi offering.

Here are the cards I am looking at; some advice would be appreciated. Smile

[url]http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-079-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=416&name=PowerColor%20ATI%20Radeon%20HD%203870%20XT%20Extreme%20512MB%20GDDR4%20TV-Out/Dual%20DVI/HDMI%20[/url]
[url]http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-129-LT&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1008&name=Leadtek%20GeForce%208800%20GT%20ZL%20OC%20512MB%20GDDR3%20HDTV/Dual%20DVI%20(PCI-Express)%20-%20Retail[/url]
[url]http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-140-LT&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=356&name=Leadtek%20GeForce%209600%20GT%20Extreme%20512MB%20GDDR3%20TV-Out/Dual%20DVI/HDMI%20(PCI-Express)%20-%20Retail[/url]

Joined: Oct 11, 2006 Posts: 768

Hmm can't see what I have done wrong with the url tags. Sad

Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:20 pm

i have an inno3d 8800gt oc. paid 165 in december. good card. play everything max. plays crysis in extra high in dx9. (i know extra high not available in dx9 normally, did a few tweaks from tweak guide which lets you get extra high). from what i've seen it is slightly higher than the 9000 series cards. would recommend it. dont know anything about the ati cards.

Joined: Jul 01, 2005 Posts: 518 Location: Watching You

I got the bfg 8800 gt 512 mb from overclockers earlyer this year for 110 quid plays everything on max with not the slightest hickup in fps best power for the money in my opinion as the 9800 are not a huge upgrade but do cost more.

I do however have a q6600 quad core and 4 gig of realy nice ram to back it up, so im not sure exactly what kind of graphics settings you will reach with those older parts however it is the graphics card that makes the biggest diffrence imo.
I bought the g card about a month after i got my other new components and getting the better ram and processer made next to no diffrence in games particualy cod whatsoever it was only when i got the card did everything change although it might be the combo and having no bottlenecks.

Joined: Oct 11, 2006 Posts: 768

Yeah I definately need to upgrade the board etc but as that is £250+ for a decent package the card is going in first even if the new one is under used till the rest of the system catches up. At the moment my sound card is my systems only decent part lol. Rolling Eyes

Joined: Jul 01, 2005 Posts: 518 Location: Watching You

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-052-BG&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1008&name=BFG%20GeForce%208800%20GT%20OC%20512MB%20GDDR3%20HDTV/Dual%20DVI%20(PCI-Express)%20-%20Retail

Thats the one i got £111 quid with vat

Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:45 pm

First off buy a GFX that uses PCI Express 2. Those cards you've mentioned fall into that category.

Nvidia's ussually offers better performance- more so in Nvidia "The Way Its Meant To Be Played" games- but it does come at a price.

The ATI 3870 has been over shadowed by the newer 4870, which now does beat Nvidias mid-range and some high-end cards too. Thought the 3870 being the cheaper option and compatible with Intel dual PCI Express chipsets- P35/P45/X38/X48

Keep in mind the power requirements and power connection of these cards- Nvidas generally use more power than ATI's so make sure you've got a PSU that can tame the little monsters, aswell as the PSU having the correct amount of 6-pin/8-pin connectors.

If your buying an Nvidia chipset motherboard in the future- buy an Nvidia GFX. If your buying an ATI/AMD or Intel chipset in the future- buy an ATI GFX. That's pretty much a major factor that decides it too Smile

Need any more advice, let me know: i'd be happy to give you a crash course Wink

Joined: Oct 11, 2006 Posts: 768

I am pretty much looking at the 8800GT I think, done some more reading and the only reviews going for the 3870 over the 8800 are due to them being close but the 8800 slightly faster but the Ati card being cheaper.

I'll worry about board chipsets when getting the rest of the build, chipsets will likely have evolved by then anyway. Cheers. Smile

Community Founder Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 2627

If your looking at a dx10 card 8800GT you should be thinking about running Vista to make the most of it... which means you really should be thinking of 4gb ram which Vista needs really Wink

cheers
|2es-mrix

Joined: Oct 11, 2006 Posts: 768

Whoa easy tiger.. Wink

Getting the 8800GT. As I say its going in the crappy system for now till I can afford the rest. Cheers for the help guys.

Joined: Oct 04, 2005 Posts: 356 Location: Kent

this seemes a pretty good deal...

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-88GT5

ElGordo

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:15 pm

Overclocked one here (this week only) - Leadtek GeForce 8800 GT ZL OC 512MB GDDR3 also £93.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-129-LT&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1008&

Joined: Oct 11, 2006 Posts: 768

Yup that is the one now sitting in my system. Smile

Off to work before I can play with it though. Sad

Joined: Oct 11, 2006 Posts: 768

Well, I am pretty impressed. Got the Leadtek ZL, played Cod4 and AoC last night, didnt notice much difference in graphics quality with the new card on CoD4 but it was smoother and seemed easier to get people jumping around corners than before, maybe was having a bit of graphics lag before? Maybe just my imagination lol.

AoC was a different story though, even with the cpu/ram etc holding things back was hitting 60fps on the same settings compared to 10-40 before, even won a 1 on 1 fight when some guy jumped me which was almost impossible before as the view was so sluggish. Turned the graphics up a bit and still got mostly over 40fps and it looks like a different game altoghter!

Still get some textures load up slowly but I think thats more down to the RAM struggleing to keep up than any issue with the card.

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:17 pm

Good stuff m8! Very Happy