Help me decide on an overpriced 8800 type VGA card :)

Otto69 · Post by **Otto69** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:02 pm

I continue to try to find a justification to experiement with water cooling using my P180B case. Current wishes involve a dual or quad Intel 6850 chip, a modified Reserator XT, and an as yet unspecified mother board and video card. Given that I'm thinking of water cooling, naturally I'm thinking of one of several video cards that come with installed waterblocks. The question is, which one:

http://www.bfgtech.com/bfgr88640gtsocwce.aspx

http://www.bfgtech.com/bfgr88768gtxwce.aspx

http://www.bfgtech.com/bfgr88768gtxocwce.aspx

or

http://www.bfgtech.com/bfge88768uwce.aspx

The decision making point here is price vs performance. These cards are all pretty close to each other so I'm sort of baffled as to which differences actually make a useful difference. More memory is an obvious one, but what about the subtleties of the chips configuration, etc.?

My use would be as a game player, running Win Xp w/ 2 gig, and possibly doing some game development or maybe basic graphics toying about. I'm a programmer by profession and currently teaching game development so I hope to teach myself more stuff related to graphics as time goes on.

Do I need such a conspicuous consumer system? Clearly no. Currently I'm running my box I built a few years ago with XP, 1 gig, P4 2.4, and a BFG 7800 AGP 8. But I'm due for an upgrade, and I feel the need to build something that is absurdly powerful.

If you have a good, NOT uber/overpriced, suggestion for a new mobo I'd welcome that too. But Mobos are easier to pick a decent one of than the above video cards.

Thanks in advance!

seraphyn · Post by **seraphyn** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:21 pm

Well the 8800 Ultra is still the fastest card on the market right now so if you want speed, thats the one to go for. The GTS (no OC) is best in price / performance of those you listed.

Vahan · Post by **Vahan** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:15 am

if i was in your position and i was actually considering (!!) a 8800 ultra, the short answer is wait. the ultra is overpriced when you look at price/performance, but it is more powerful than the rest. however, its getting quite old now, and i expect nvidia to release the geforce 9 series early next year. next year is only like a week away!

personally i would buy a GT or GTS with the new G92 chip. you can recognise them by the amount of ram. if its a multiple of 256mb its a new G92, if its a multiple of 320mb its an old G80. the G92 is faster and cooler than a G80 and is a better overclocker. i see no reason for such extravagant cooling if youre not going to take advantage of it.
extra vga ram is for high resolution (and/or high antialiasing). 512 or 640mb is enough for most users, higher than that wont make any actual difference to your FPS unless you have a 1920x1200 (or more) screen with all the settings maxed out.

since a G92 without a waterblock is cheaper and faster than a G80 with a waterblock, buying a separate waterblock might be a little more expensive in total. after-market cooling solutions give me an excuse to buy a lapping kit and arctic siler 5 lol. search the web for GT 512mb or GTS 512mb and have a look at whats on offer at the e-tailers in your country. you might find some watercooled ones, but you could always buy a waterblock and install it yourself later. shop around. good luck

Otto69 · Post by **Otto69** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 10:42 am

Thanks very much to both of you so far for the advice. I'm definately absorbing it and thinking...

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 6:37 pm

the best card out in the 8800 series is the GTX found for the cheapest possible.

it is faster than a 8800GTS 512 new revision, yet isnt as insanely high wattage as an Ultra.

8800gtx is still supreme and can be found for a small amount of money difference compared to the new 8800gts

8800gts new is the worst choice for price consideration. 8800GT is the best spot for price and performance

i however bought the 3870 and like it the most