Which 8800GTS?

Lateralus · Post by **Lateralus** » April 27th, 2007, 8:52

Well I think its about time for me to upgrade and get a 8800GTS. Hopefully it'll see me through a fair while before further upgrades, and I think I've convinced myself that its worth the small fortune. However, I'm wondering which to get since there seem to be so many.

I'm currently leaning towards the 320MB BFG Technology 8800GTS Overclocked, for no particular reason other than it is already mildly overclocked and has a nice 10 year warranty. Due to issues with delivery etc I'm also going to get it from a cheap local PC shop where it only costs a few quid more than online, but they will have to order it in since they don't hold 8800s in stock normally. This means they will order in whichever one I want so I thought I'd consult the omnipotent 5punk!

I'm not going to spend more than about £200, so that limits me to the 320 GTS models, and I'm not planning to upgrade further so I don't think that the EVGA step-up program is of any benefit to me either.

I'm aware that there isn't likely to be much to choose between them all, but dammit, I'm forking out a lot of cash so I want to make sure I'm not being foolish with it!

eion · Post by **eion** » April 27th, 2007, 9:06

Is there any reason not to get the BFG?

Lateralus · Post by **Lateralus** » April 27th, 2007, 9:23

Not that I'm aware of, but like I said I'm just apprehensive since its the most I've spent on a single item for my PC by a significant margin.

friznit · Post by **friznit** » April 27th, 2007, 9:28

Aks cupcake, I'm sure he'll have something useful to add. I went with the EVGA model, mainly because the BFG was pre-order only at the time, but it seems to work fine (I don't go for overclocking, it makes me nervous and I'm a sucker for stability, but that's just me). Looks like the one you've chosen is fine mate.

eion · Post by **eion** » April 27th, 2007, 9:33

Lateralus wrote:Not that I'm aware of, but like I said I'm just apprehensive since its the most I've spent on a single item for my PC by a significant margin.

Seems fair.

I've been very happy with my BFG factory-OCed 7800GS (I actually OC mine a fair bit on top of what the factory provides), and I'd recommend a BFG card without any hesitation if the price/features are right - if that reassures you at all.

mrbobbins · Post by **mrbobbins** » April 27th, 2007, 10:03

Have a look at the BFG OC2 versions, not sure how much difference or price there is but they are overclocked MOAR

Lateralus · Post by **Lateralus** » April 27th, 2007, 10:14

mrbobbins wrote:Have a look at the BFG OC2 versions, not sure how much difference or price there is but they are overclocked MOAR

They appear to be £20-25 more, with GPU and mem clocks of 580 and 1700 respectively, compared with 550 and 1600 for the the standard OC card, and 500 and 1600 for the base ones. Probably not worth the extra for me, especially as the rest of my PC will be holding it up anyway. Going to be a long time saving before cpu/mobo/ram get upgraded.

Post by **FatherJack** » April 27th, 2007, 10:58

The factory-overclocked EVGA cards can be slightly faster in benchmarks, even with lower numbers on the box, but I went for a BFG, largely to do with availability.

eion · Post by **eion** » April 27th, 2007, 11:03

Lateralus wrote:
They appear to be £20-25 more, with GPU and mem clocks of 580 and 1700 respectively, compared with 550 and 1600 for the the standard OC card, and 500 and 1600 for the base ones.

Not really worth it then, especially as you'll most likely be able to overclock the card you get to those levels for nowt anyway.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » April 27th, 2007, 11:24

Either BFG or EVGA be very good cards.

just buy whichever you can get for the money

Wiggy · Post by **Wiggy** » April 27th, 2007, 13:18

<strike>S</strike> X

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » April 27th, 2007, 13:21

Wiggy wrote:<strike>S</strike> X

<strike>GTS/X</strike> Ultra

edit: or not, apparently the ultras are fairly meh.

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39231

Killavodka · Post by **Killavodka** » April 27th, 2007, 19:25

get a top of the range ATi Radeon 1950xtx, they are dirt cheap!

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » April 27th, 2007, 19:39

Killavodka wrote:get a top of the range ATi Radeon 1950xtx, they are dirt cheap!

this is true, but they offer absolutely no DX10 support.

Oh and a not overclocked 8800GTS utterly trounces an x1950xtx

MrGreen · Post by **MrGreen** » April 27th, 2007, 19:41

The lower end 2900s will trounce the 8800GTS 640mb, the rest of the ATi range is equal to the NVidia equiv

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » April 27th, 2007, 19:43

MrGreen wrote:The lower end 2900s will trounce the 8800GTS 640mb, the rest of the ATi range is equal to the NVidia equiv

probably, maybe. all this is speculation.

As is anything related to DX10 currently, no-one really knows if ATI or Nvidia have released a DX10 lemon yet.

eion · Post by **eion** » April 27th, 2007, 19:48

Dr. kitteny berk wrote: probably, maybe. all this is speculation.

This. Maybe I've missed something, but it seems a little premature to speculate on a card's performance when it hasn't been released yet.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » April 27th, 2007, 19:52

eion wrote: This. Maybe I've missed something, but it seems a little premature to speculate on a card's performance when it hasn't been released yet.

That.

While benchmarks are often allegedly leaked in advance, I rarely trust them, as they're usually "leaked" by biased sources.

Post by **Dog Pants** » April 27th, 2007, 19:59

What are you two? A double act?

eion · Post by **eion** » April 27th, 2007, 20:00

Dog Pants wrote:What are you two? A double act?

Yes.

We're available for parties, too, but not childrens' ones for obvious reasons.