Video Card Decision

[mo52087]

Unfortunately, I won't be able to check the newegg links until I get home from work. We have content filtering that blocks shopping sites.

Cool, if you would check it out when you come back that would be great.

My cousin keeps suggesting getting 2 of these and going SLI

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130084

I mean for $120 that sounds like a good deal to me. I'm just looking to play World of Warcraft on Max settings 1600x1200 nothing really fancy like Crysis.

[Midknyte]

What are two of these? could you at least state the model?

if you mean 2 8600s versus a 9600 or 8800GT, then i'd have to disagree. I've provided links to show benchmarks otherwise. In several benchmarks, the 8800GT is more than double the power of a 8600GTS, let alone the 8600GT. There are 8800GTs close to your $120 mark.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3140&p=8

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...0-gt,1714.html

To reiterate, not all games support SLI. any of those games would only run on the power of a single card.

[mo52087]

What are two of these? could you at least state the model?

if you mean 2 8600s versus a 9600 or 8800GT, then i'd have to disagree. I've provided links to show benchmarks otherwise. In several benchmarks, the 8800GT is more than double the power of a 8600GTS, let alone the 8600GT. There are 8800GTs close to your $120 mark.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3140&p=8

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...0-gt,1714.html

To reiterate, not all games support SLI. any of those games would only run on the power of a single card.

Ok the choices are..

8800GT x1
9600GT x1
8600GTS x2

Now I did some research and read WoW doesn't really support SLI. They said it will basically run 2 cards at 50% each. So I'm not going SLI. It's really the 8800GT vs 9600GT (didn't see it on the benchmark you sent me a couple posts back). If you could help me out, there's so many different brands of each model. Thanks.

EDIT: Btw I don't want to use one of thoes 8800GT i linked a couple posts back (the overclocked one), it takes up 2 PCI-E slots and I'm worried if I get one of them it will interfere with the fan of the mobo im using that's right near the PCI-E slots.

[Midknyte]

Most 8800GTs have single slot coolers. I just did a sort by price, then you can look at each card's cooler.

[mo52087]

Most 8800GTs have single slot coolers. I just did a sort by price, then you can look at each card's cooler.

Yeah I noticed 8800gt's range from about $100-200+. Is there any brand you recommend?

[Midknyte]

I'll have to see what is out there later. They are mostly reference boards, so it doesn't make that much difference. EVGA, XFX, and BFG are decent. PNY is ok too. Gainward is overpriced.

[mo52087]

I'll have to see what is out there later. They are mostly reference boards, so it doesn't make that much difference. EVGA, XFX, and BFG are decent. PNY is ok too. Gainward is overpriced.

Thanks for all the help. If you could just direct me to a good video card later on when you get home, that would be great. I will spend up to $200 if its worth it but I prefer spending around $150 or less.

[Train]

According to what i read at http://www.digit-life.com/articles3/...g94-part1.html

the 9600 is quieter and maybe is a better card. But not by very much it seems.

[Midknyte]

The 8800GT still beats the 9600GT in gaming benchmarks on the link you provided. You'd have to overclock the 9600GT to get up to the 8800GT level.

The lowest price 8800GT at newegg is a Gigabyte at $99.99.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125089
It also has a third party cooler and is overclocked.
The next 8800GTs are at $119.99.

The lowest 9600GT is a Zotac at $94.99 after rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500019
(I didn't count the one with passive cooling)
Actually, there are quite a few in that price range. Lots have rebates, so you'll have to filter through them.

I think either a 9600 or 8800 would be fine in your situation.

[Rabbitrunner51]

Any card really of the 9600GT,8800GT, or that GTX would do nicely. All of those three are relatively close in performance. I believe the 8800GT and 9600Gt use the same GPU die chip, but the 9600 uses less power and is a real good card. The price has dropped dramatically, only because of the latest cards that keep coming out. Mine is OC to 680 and 1900 and plays any game on high settings real well, and some not so older at max settings with decent FPS. All are about the same length, long.. ( lol ) I would also check on XFX cards. They are awesome products, and support.

Consider getting a ATI 4850. It beat out the 8800GT's , and gets better FPS. It is going for less then $180.00 now. Great price per performance. They can run a bit warm if thats a worry, but nothing critical or bad. Pick up a good cheap GPU fan and off ya go.

The reason i have no worries on fit is i have a full tower case. most any mid tower case and those cards should work fine.

[Rabbitrunner51]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130347

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102747

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127359

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150306


Like your not getting confused enough already. If you have a SLI mobo then stick with Nvidia. Otherwise go for the 4850's.

[fizur2002]

Like your not getting confused enough already. If you have a SLI mobo then stick with Nvidia. Otherwise go for the 4850's.

Agreed

[fizur2002]

the 4850 will outperform the 9600gt and definatly the 8600GT/GTS and is on par with the 9800GTX+ and sometime the 260

[Midknyte]

The 4850 is a great card, but i thought it was a little over his budget.

Another thing to consider is the CPU it will be running on. Anything less than an Athlon 6000+ is going to bottleneck a 4850.

[Rabbitrunner51]

Its been my exp. you get what you pay for, in all honesty. if you get some cheaper form of whatever card, just because its a cheap price may not make it a good choice. Hit the happy medium somewhere. A 6000 + is a great CPU, but paired with the 4850 i hope he has enough power and a good power supply to back things up. The 4850 runs a whole lot hotter then my card, and i suppose uses more power overall. Not a bad thing, but something to consider.

Heck, i like my rig just fine, but already with all these new HW advances and upgrades, including video cards, i find myself looking at waht i am going to build next , maybe sooner then i would like.

Remember, if your like me, and most of us, each time we puchase something or upgrade a new system part or parts, less then a couple of months and its almost obsolete. Who can keep up? Crazy.

I would spend a little more and definitely think about the future,before settling for a bit less. Always a good decision. or just wait for the monies a bit more and do the same. LOL