8800gts...

[MoonieGT]

I'm building a new system in two weeks or so and I can't decide whether or not to spring for the 8800GTS...

I'm concerned about it's longevity and it's high price. I'd hate to invest in the card only to have it be insufficient for DX10 games after they hit the market. Is there any indication that the 8800GTS will be unable to run DX10 games well in the next year or so?

If it matters, I'm fairly confident I will not need resolutions higher than 1280x720 as I game in my theater on the projector...

[NAVALHAWKEYE]

I doubt it will be out of date in a year (or at least I hope as I'm putting one in my new pc). But the reason is, is that right now I have a 6600gt and that card has been out for almost 2 years. I can still run games in DX9 with it on high-ish details. Plus I think it will take them a few years to really get all out of it that they can (DX0 games are still getting better).

[Roadhog]

The only input I can provide here is that all new ATI cards support DX10. I read this a few months back and have not seen any similar statement about nVidia, not stating one does not exist, just haven't seen it.

Hoggy

[Matty]

8800 gts are damm fast cards and you will have no problems with games for years to come, i could not put a year when this card would go out of date as games will run on it. The only problem you might have is the operating system you have running for the games, ie does the game require vista or another 64 bit OS.

the cards are SLi so if they were to struggle *in the future* chuck another one beside it and you will be fine again.

check out these other cards below.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-036-BG

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-017-EA

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-035-BG

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-018-EA

Forgot to add that these cards are all DX10 for the future of gaming.

I would go for a GTX but thats my personal opinion as they have been factory overclocked to give them that little extra Pow out the box.

BFG cards come with a lifetime warranty as well which is something that the EVGA cards dont seem to have.

another thing to note is the small print these cards carry, make sure you read it!!!

These cards are power hungry but the output is just fan-dobey-tastic.

happy shopping :)

[MoonieGT]

Do they really require a 64 bit OS?

[NAVALHAWKEYE]

I don't think so. I think in that sentence written above, he was talking about system requirements for a specific game, whether the game requires 64 bit or DX10, not the graphics card.

[MoonieGT]

I just checked BFGTech and it says Windows XP (32 bit)

[Matty]

you dont need a 64 bit OS for any of these cards. I was just saying that might be the next thing that games in the future need to run as you were asking about the life of the card for the price. as long as you have a x16 PCI e slot and a min of a 600W PSU then you can run these cards. what you need for the card will all be in the small print. overclockers are the cheapest around when it comes to PC mods i have used them many times and get all my stuff from them.

[Wardie73]

Hi all this is my first post here.Great site!

Just built a new PC

Zalman case
Zalman cpu fan
Asus deluxe MB
conroe 6700 running at 2.8/3.0 mhz (CPU temp 26 deg.)
8800GTX
4gig memory
1 x 150 gig Raptor HD



The 8800 GTS is just as good as the GTX. I nearly brought the GTS, but went for the GTX just because im a tart!:p Not much in it really??

Still struggle with FSX on Full graphics even with my new system, had to have a play with the settings.

The ATI dx 10 cards when they come out will have better features than the Nividia 8800 cards, but I have had problems with ATI cards in the past & for one will be staying with Nvidia for the time being.

[KarlosDaJackal]

Its probably the card to buy at the moment. Most first gen cards suck though, anybody remember the nvidia 5600 when DX9 came out!

Anyway ATI's first new gen card will be the R600, and I read the other day on the inquirer that it wont support DX10, it will support DX10.1 :eek:: So the 8800 will be behind in terms of features in a little over 3 months. Although it will probably be good enough for about a year.

I bought a 1950XTX about 2 months ago knowing that I will be buying a Gen2 DX10 card probably a year later. If I had to live with one card every 2 - 3 years I would have got the 8800.

[Matty]

Wardie73, what os you got running? also what psu have you got. seems a bit odd for you to be struggling with a new system.

"So the 8800 will be behind in terms of features in a little over 3 months. Although it will probably be good enough for about a year"

the 8800 will last longer than a year, they are SLi !!! the 7900 are still going strong. and they are more than a year old. ATI cards yeah there good but Nvidia as the moment are moving ahead just that little bit quicker, especially with the new EVGA company coming to the scene

[KarlosDaJackal]

Wardie73, what os you got running? also what psu have you got. seems a bit odd for you to be struggling with a new system.

"So the 8800 will be behind in terms of features in a little over 3 months. Although it will probably be good enough for about a year"

the 8800 will last longer than a year, they are SLi !!! the 7900 are still going strong. and they are more than a year old. ATI cards yeah there good but Nvidia as the moment are moving ahead just that little bit quicker, especially with the new EVGA company coming to the scene

Definatly behind in terms of "features" in 3 months,
Maybe behind in terms of "speed" in 3 months

Just like with DX9, an ATI9700 Pro was a great card, but it can't do HDR because thats a DX9b "feature"

[Matty]

thats absolute rubbish

i think the specs below will tell you that

- GeForce 8800 GTX core running at 575MHz
- Shader Clock Speed of 1350MHz
- 768MB GDDR3 Memory running at 1800MHz
- 384-Bit Memory Interface
- 128 Stream Processors
- Shader Model 4.0
- Texture Fill Rate: 36.8 billion/sec
- Memory Bandwidth: 86.4GB/s
- Designed For Extreme HD Gaming
- Nvidia Pure Video Technology
- Dedicated Video processors free the GPU Shaders to run 3D applications
- Dual dual-link DVI supports two 2560 x 1600 resolution displays
- HDCP Enabled!!
- SLI ready – Upto 2x the performance of a single GPU (Available on with future driver release)
- True High Dynamic Range Rendering Support – Based on Open EXR technology
- World's first unified architecture supporting Microsoft® DirectX® 10
- Built for Microsoft® Windows® Vista™

[KarlosDaJackal]

thats absolute rubbish

i think the specs below will tell you that


- 128 Stream Processors
- Shader Model 4.0
- HDCP Enabled!!
- SLI ready – Upto 2x the performance of a single GPU (Available on with future driver release)
- True High Dynamic Range Rendering Support – Based on Open EXR technology
- World's first unified architecture supporting Microsoft® DirectX® 10
- Built for Microsoft® Windows® Vista™


Of all those you mentioned, 128 Streams will probalby be the norm for a while.

Shader model 4 will almost definately become 4.1 or 5.0, and games that use shader model 4.1 or 5 will not work on your 8800.

SLI has no effect on GTR2 (so probalby same for GTL etc) according to other threads around here. Also its hardly a worthwhile feature if both cards can't do shader model 4.1, you don't gain any features with SLI, so you'll have an expensive paperwieght that adds nothing.

Nothing else on that list is new! (except HDR for nvidia, old nvidias could not handle AA and HDR at the same time, ATI DX9 cards always could)

Point is DX10.1 is what the ATI R600 and the next release of nVidia cards will be aimed at. This is also when DX10 + Vista will start to be more popular, so most games will be coded for a DX10.1 feature set and more DX10.1 cards will be sold by the major vendors like the Dell's and HP's of this world. So thats the model games will *most likely* be built to.

In summary if you are to buying a card for today and tommorows games, get a mid range nvidia or ati for now.

When vista and DX10 is the norm and GTR3 or whatever game comes out that needs DX10 or DX10.1 or DX10.2 etc, get the best mid range you can afford at that point. That way your guaranteed to get the best performance and features when you need them.

Buying a DX10 now is fine if you don't mind upgrading in a year, or living with what will end up being the slowest and least featured DX10 card when DX10 is the norm.

Thats your choice though, I bought a 9700Pro when if first came out and loved it, although after 6 months is was the slowest DX9 card most games where built for (e.g medium or low settings). After 12 months it was due for replacement.

[Matty]

GTL, GTR and GTR2 are not graphic card straining as there is really no difference in textures and shading etc that change around the track and from track to track so SLi would not make a difference as it does not need it. SLi brings the power of two GPU to one but only when it is needed.

Quad Sli is even being made possible now and that is leaps ahead of ATI. I am not slatting ATI but what they say and what they bring to the table comes to late and has already been done buy Nvida.

Vista is nothing really new, its a different GUI from xp pro 64 and the games are not going to move quickly on vista nor to dx10 as vista wont take root and be the standard OS for about 2 years time. at the moment is is still using constant HDD and it has only just come to VMWare pluss where is the support for it is still. its built on Longhorn and even that is not being implimented into the IT industry as yet, so i dont see vista getting in before that.

the drivers are what makes the card, that is the key in comunication between the hardware and the software OS. if you get a decent make of card you will have the driver support. and what has DX10 now will sure to have DX10 support up.

I would like to see the 3D Mark scores on the new ATI card compaird to the NVidia when they release it. would be an interesting comparision