# Good Graphics Card that isn't a 8800GTS?



## Harsky (Nov 11, 2007)

After several hours of fairly jernky play on Team Fortress 2, I decided to get a new graphics card. Currently I have a Nvidia Geforce 7500 LE and I keep hearing that the 8800GTS is meant to be the best but at that price I see on some sites for it, I expect it to jump out of my PC and shit gold. So is there any other brand that are cheaper but still good?


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## xcalibur (Nov 11, 2007)

geforce 7600gt is quite good
radeon X1650XT is also very good
mind you they are midrange and 8800gts is a highrange card
these do quite good for me though(i have a 7600gt personally)


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## Jiggah (Nov 11, 2007)

8800 GT for about 200-300 that's pretty, it's about half of the price of the 8800GTS 640 and outperforms it.  Or you go for last gen cards like 7900 GS which should be pretty cheap now about 100-200 bucks.  If you wait a little longer the 8800 GT is suppose to drop about $50 bucks and be priced low 200s.

Exactly what are the prices you are seeing?  The 640 GTS goes around 350-400, the 320 model goes around 250-300.


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## Linkiboy (Nov 11, 2007)

8500GT, its better than a 7600GT, and I'm running TF2 at full at 1440x900 minus motion blur.

EDIT:: Oh and its 60 USD on newegg, dunno about british sites.


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## Harsky (Nov 11, 2007)

Which site should I get it from?

Also, I have a Pentium D so is it a case where even if the card works the processor will let me down?


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## Linkiboy (Nov 11, 2007)

A Pentium D will work with TF2 just fine.


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## Harsky (Nov 11, 2007)

QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 11 2007 said:


> A Pentium D will work with TF2 just fine.


Which is what I'm using to run but is getting a new video card enough to fix the slowdowns that happens in the game?


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## Jiggah (Nov 11, 2007)

RAM first then vid card after.  Could you post your computer specs? Processor, video card, memory, etc.


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## Sn4k3X (Nov 11, 2007)

i think the sapphire radeon 1950x pro 256 mb is very nice!
i have that card, and i can play all games on very high (except crysis) with anti aliasing


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## Harsky (Nov 11, 2007)

QUOTE(Jiggah @ Nov 11 2007 said:


> RAM first then vid card after.Â Could you post your computer specs? Processor, video card, memory, etc.


My graphics card is in the first post. Specs are

Pentium D 3.4GHz
2GB RAM
400gb HDD

Really, that's all I know


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## cubin' (Nov 11, 2007)

QUOTE(Harsky @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 11 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > A Pentium D will work with TF2 just fine.
> ...




How fast is the Pentium D? I've got a 3000+ Athlon and it runs at the same speed as a 3ghz Pentium. I've also got 7800GT and a gig of ram and it runs really smooth on almost highest settings. 

How much are you looking to spend on the graphics card?


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## 754boy (Nov 11, 2007)

The 7600GT was wonderful. Ran whatever I threw at it. Now I have an 8600GT and its basically the same, slightly faster with dx10 support. Just got it to hold me over until the new 8900 decides to appear


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## Harsky (Nov 11, 2007)

QUOTE(cubin' @ Nov 11 2007 said:


> QUOTE(Harsky @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 11 2007 said:
> ...









I suppose a £200 ($400) budget should do


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## coolbho3000 (Nov 11, 2007)

8800GT.


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## Harsky (Nov 12, 2007)

Think I'll go for a 8600GT

But what's the difference between GT/GS/GTS?

Is there any specific one I should go for? It's like googling for one means it throws up several 8600 from different makers


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## xcalibur (Nov 12, 2007)

8600gt is like a 7600gs
8600gts is like a 7600gt
8600gs is like a 7500gt?le?

they changed the numbering a bit of the graphics cards
seems a stupid thing to do since the last one worked fine...


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## kellyan95 (Nov 12, 2007)

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa

The 8600GTS is the minimum for a gaming card now. The X1950XT or Pro is the sweet spot for gaming, at $120-$170

Anything less than a 7900/X1900/8600GTS/2900 is not a good buy

You need this list:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_200...2=855&chart=318


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## Linkiboy (Nov 12, 2007)

QUOTE(xcalibur798 @ Nov 11 2007 said:


> 8600gt is like a 7600gs
> 8600gts is like a 7600gt
> 8600gs is like a 7500gt?le?
> 
> ...


Uhh, no.

GENERALLY:

GTX = most powerful
GTS = more powerful
GT = Powerful
GS = Weak
LE = Weakest

An 8600GT is like a 7700GT(if such a model existed)
an 8600GTS would be like a 7800GT
and a gs version doesn't exist.

A 8500GT would be the same as 7600GT, about.


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## jumpman17 (Nov 12, 2007)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814121068

That's what I'm running.


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## xcalibur (Nov 12, 2007)

QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> QUOTE(xcalibur798 @ Nov 11 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > 8600gt is like a 7600gs
> ...



from all the reviews that ive read (mainly comparisons between 7600gta and 8600 when i was deciding what card to get)ive been led to assume that the 8600gts is the middle card of the series
and the middle card used to be simply called X600gt
it might be because 8600gt isnt quite the same step up from last generation as 7600gt
itll probably change with DX10 though.


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## Linkiboy (Nov 12, 2007)

Oh, oops I misinterpreted your post. I thought that you were comparing the actual power of the two cards, and not like metaphorically.


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## BoneMonkey (Nov 12, 2007)

8600 gt :-)


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## Zarcon (Nov 12, 2007)

I'm running a Radeon HD 2600 XT. Some might say it wasn't a good buy, but I got it ridiculously cheap.

Quite often, it's not just your video card holding you back. You can get a massive performance boost if you get a good processor...well, assuming you had a bad processor at first.

And yes, a dual core will give a HUGE boost in general. Well worth it, even if you're not going to game. I have an Intel Core Duo E6320 which normally clocks at 1.86GHz. Yea, well, I overclocked that without a sweat to 3.01GHz and now everything runs silky smooth. Oblivion? Haha. Bioshock? Pfft. UT3 (Demo)? No problem.

Oh, right, TF2? Perfect.

What I'm basically saying is, try and keep everything to spec. It doesn't matter if you have a kickass video card if you have crappy/little RAM or a slow processor. Same goes the other way around...but normally it's not as bad overshooting the other parts since they're always in constant use as opposed to your video card. =P


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## Harsky (Nov 12, 2007)

After much deliberating, I thought about this

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126985

Truth be told, I'm not an avid PC Gamer in the first place so anything middling will do.


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## georaldc (Nov 12, 2007)

QUOTE(Zarcon @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> Oblivion? Haha. Bioshock? Pfft. UT3 (Demo)? No problem.


Crysis? lol, I think even quad cores are having a hard time with crysis.

Back on topic, imo the card that'll give you the best performance for what you'll pay is the 8800gt. Its much cheaper than the 8800gts, and runs almost as fast as the 8800gtx. But if you're looking for something else other than a 8800, I think the x1950 is a good card to get. Haven't used any ati cards yet, but that seems to be a pretty good one judging from some benchmarks I've seen


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## Elrinth (Nov 12, 2007)

get the 8800GT period...


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## laminaatplaat (Nov 12, 2007)

i think you should atleast consider the HD 2600 XT it's a lot chheaper than its nvidea counterpart the 8800GTS..

the HD2600XT does like to use alot of electricity and is a bit noisy 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 But the price/performance is awsome


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## kellyan95 (Nov 12, 2007)

8600GT=Suck
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_200...2=855&chart=318


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## Harsky (Nov 12, 2007)

Oh well, I think I'll just recommend the 8600GT to my cousin who was hounding me for a good and cheap card. 

Anyways, is the price drop for the 8800GT happening yet and what's the recommended site?


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 12, 2007)

QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 11 2007 said:


> 8500GT, its better than a 7600GT, and I'm running TF2 at full at 1440x900 minus motion blur.
> 
> EDIT:: Oh and its 60 USD on newegg, dunno about british sites.
> 
> ...




You had forgotten one.


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## cheapassdave (Nov 12, 2007)

I agree with some of the previous posters about getting the 8800GT. It's powerful, and it doesnt kill your wallet. I bought the 8800gts 640 a few months ago before they announced the GT, and doing some research, the GT is slightly faster and cheaper. also the gt only takes up one slot in the back...like how graphics cards should be.


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## lookout (Nov 12, 2007)

Harsky why don't you buy one like my: 

"Zotac GeForce 8800GT / 512MB GDDR3 / PCI-Express 2.0 / Graphics Card"







pre-order one ~ date release on 25/11/2007 reason the new GeForce 8800GT release a new chip G92	 
It comes in better then the 8800GTS cards (320MB & 640MB versions);

8800GT Review


and here the Zotac GeForce 8800GT Review



Discount: £5
Minimum Spend: £50.00
Promotional Code: *prima836u1*


£154.99 + delivered at www.play.com


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## Linkiboy (Nov 12, 2007)

QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 11 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > 8500GT, its better than a 7600GT, and I'm running TF2 at full at 1440x900 minus motion blur.
> ...


Yes, I am goddamn serious, and I'm fucking tired of you elitist pc-fags that keep telling everyone anything thats not an 8800 isn't good card when all they need to run is TF2 or Gears or something(and I'm running gears at 1440x900 at med setting w/ an 8500GT)

I've seen that chart, and its clearly bullshit, since an 7600GS is what was included with my system that I upgraded from, which sucked horse cock.



I needed to get that out of my system.


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## kellyan95 (Nov 12, 2007)

Who is saying that? Anything less than an 8*6*00GTS for the 8 series isn't worth it. My $170 X1950XT runs Gears on the highest settings 1280x1024 perfectly


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## Linkiboy (Nov 12, 2007)

QUOTE(kellyan95 @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> Who is saying that? Anything less than an 8*6*00GTS for the 8 series isn't worth it. My $170 X1950XT runs Gears on the highest settings 1280x1024 perfectly


ZeWarrior, apparently

"Worse than the 8600GT which is as bad as t he 7600GS in most games."


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## simoonsoon (Nov 12, 2007)

i bought a ati radeon x1550 for budget.. i think it ll run all basic games and most at med/semi-low settings. 38 bucks off of amazon =D


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## cubin' (Nov 12, 2007)

Yeah, lots of PC users seem to think everyone has to have the best card available. They must be rich! 

7800GT ftw


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 11 2007 said:
> ...



The 8600 Line is a poor attempt at a budget card, at least now that the 8800GT is out. Sure the 8600GTS 512MB is only 180$ vs the 250$ but the performance per price ration is MUCH better on the 8800GT, And the 8500GT is a good BUDGET card. se wat i ded thar?


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## Linkiboy (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> Yes, you can run Gears on that POS card, Doesn't mean it's good. Can you run Crysis on that card without getting poor results? Poor as in Low Settings with only about 30fps.


No, no I can't.

Did I say I could? All I remember saying its a good card for running TF2, and that you don't need a damn 8800.

Honestly, not all of us have 200/300$ to spend on graphic cards.

(Well... TBH I've never even tried running Crysis)


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## Harsky (Nov 13, 2007)

Guyz... I'm just trying to play a game. Not send my PC to the moon.


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > Yes, you can run Gears on that POS card, Doesn't mean it's good. Can you run Crysis on that card without getting poor results? Poor as in Low Settings with only about 30fps.
> ...



Even if you did you would get poor settings, Trust me on this. And really you should have an 8800GT at least and not an 8500GT. You have 4GB of RAM( which isn't necessary ) and yet you have an 8500GT which to just doesn't seem logical.


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## kellyan95 (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(Harsky @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> Guyz... I'm just trying to play a game. Not send my PC to the moon.



http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-064-OK


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(Harsky @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> Guyz... I'm just trying to play a game. Not send my PC to the moon.



In that case go for this card. Great card for the price.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814186013


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## Linkiboy (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> The 8600 Line is a poor attempt at a budget card, at least now that the 8800GT is out. Sure the 8600GTS 512MB is only 180$ vs the 250$ but the performance per price ration is MUCH better on the 8800GT, And the 8500GT is a good BUDGET card. se wat i ded thar?


The power supply in my family computer can't handle the 8800GT, and neither will most non-custom built PC be able to handle it, as manufacturers tend to use weak power supply units. A 60$ 8500GT makes much more sense for the average consumer.

I'm not labeling Harsky as the average consumer per se, but I mean, he is asking for advice on just a graphics card, so I'm assuming his PC is store bought, and giving him advice that is most beneficial to him, not the powerhouse gamer with fat wallets.


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## Linkiboy (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> ...


I have 3GB of RAM, first of all, because I do a lot of video editing. Also see previous post.


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > The 8600 Line is a poor attempt at a budget card, at least now that the 8800GT is out. Sure the 8600GTS 512MB is only 180$ vs the 250$ but the performance per price ration is MUCH better on the 8800GT, And the 8500GT is a good BUDGET card. se wat i ded thar?
> ...



Two can play at that game. Look at what I just put up there.


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## Linkiboy (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> If they can buy a 250$ Graphics Card they can buy 45$ 450Watt PSU. And if he bought a Dell PC EVEN A 305Watt PSU can handle an 8800GT.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


A 305W PSU can't handle an 8800GT.

And what am I looking at?


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> *
> 
> 
> QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> ...



A 305Watt PSU can handle it. But it won't run on full power but it will defitnely run


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## Jiggah (Nov 13, 2007)

Is that not what I said in my post like a page and half back.  Just take my word for it.  If you are on budget, get a last gen card.  If you want decent gaming and somewhat future proof get the 8800 GT.  If it's just for TF2 meaning you aren't thinking about crysis, gears, etc. then grab the 7900gs.

The 7900GS is DX9 only, but it's faster than the 8600GT.  The 8600GT only has DX10, even then it's absolutely unplayable.


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(Jiggah @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> Is that not what I said in my post like a page and half back.Â Just take my word for it.Â If you are on budget, get a last gen card.Â If you want decent gaming and somewhat future proof get the 8800 GT.Â If it's just for TF2 meaning you aren't thinking about crysis, gears, etc. then grab the 7900gs.
> 
> The 7900GS is DX9 only, but it's faster than the 8600GT.Â The 8600GT only has DX10, even then it's absolutely unplayable.



A 7900GS can get Medium on crysis with about 50fps


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## Jiggah (Nov 13, 2007)

I might add the X1900 series from ATI looks good, too.  It has the advantage of AA+HDR for games like Oblivion, I don't believe you need to worry about that for Source games though, but it's a thought.


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## Linkiboy (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > *
> ...


Unfortunately, thats not how graphic cards work. You'd get BSOD.

But whatever. I'm quitting this "debate", as its useless. If Harsky has 300$ to spend on graphics and take his PC on the next NASA space trip, let him.


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> ...



Bold.


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## Linkiboy (Nov 13, 2007)

Are you cereal? Maybe I'll try it out one day.


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## Jiggah (Nov 13, 2007)

On top of this, is your computer running AGP or PCI-e.  If it's like 3-4 years old, it might need an AGP card, which throw out the whole debate of 8 series altogether.


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(Linkiboy @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> Are you cereal? Maybe I'll try it out one day.



'kay then.


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## acrocosm (Nov 13, 2007)

if it's agp nothing beats an nv40 (geforceFX6800) plus you can flash or soft mod it to a perfect quadroFX4000 if you're into 3d modelling/rendering(gelato)/animation

nevertheless nomater what you choose i'd suggest to get a 2nd handed. 99% it will either work or won't work and will save you *a lot* of money


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## Renegade_R (Nov 13, 2007)

Harsky...I play Team Fortress 2 on a ATI Radeon 9250SE 128MB.  Besides the occational crash due to overheating, I've been still dishing out the pwnage...save your money


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(acrocosm @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> if it's agp nothing beats an nv40 (geforceFX6800) plus you can flash or soft mod it to quadroFX4000 if you're into 3d modelling/rendering(gelato)/animation
> 
> nevertheless nomater what you choose i'd suggest to get a 2nd hand. 99% it will either work or won't work and will save you *a lot* of money



Wtf? An X1950XT kills that card. And wtf you cant soft mod a card into another card.


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## shaffaaf27 (Nov 13, 2007)

or for an AGP slot, an x1950pro is probably the best. 

oh, and a c2d (e6600) and the 8800GT draw just over 200W from the mains, so a 305w card theoretically could run it, but the voltages on the 12V rail probably would be to little.


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(RAM @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> or for an AGP slot, an x1950pro is probably the best.
> 
> oh, and a c2d (e6600) and the 8800GT draw just over 200W from the mains, so a 305w card theoretically could run it, but the voltages on the 12V rail probably would be to little.



There's an x1950xt for AGP 8x. 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814241049

And Dell uses quality PSUs so I know that those PCs can run it at least, not sure about other companies.


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## shaffaaf27 (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 13 2007 said:


> QUOTE(acrocosm @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > if it's agp nothing beats an nv40 (geforceFX6800) plus you can flash or soft mod it to quadroFX4000 if you're into 3d modelling/rendering(gelato)/animation
> ...




yes you could. it just depends on the card. if you take a x2900 XT, and pro, if you flash the bios of a XT onto a pro, it becomes an XT.


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## Salamantis (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(Harsky @ Nov 11 2007 said:


> After several hours of fairly jernky play on Team Fortress 2, I decided to get a new graphics card. Currently I have a Nvidia Geforce 7500 LE and I keep hearing that the 8800GTS is meant to be the best but at that price I see on some sites for it, *I expect it to jump out of my PC and shit gold.* So is there any other brand that are cheaper but still good?



Oh my god that made me laugh my ASS OFF.


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## shaffaaf27 (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 13 2007 said:


> QUOTE(RAM @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > or for an AGP slot, an x1950pro is probably the best.
> ...




yes i know dell use pc power and cooling PSUs, but always check the V12 +- rails to see if they can handle the 8800GT, caus the 8800GT needs (along with other components) 26A.


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(RAM @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 13 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > QUOTE(acrocosm @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> ...




But it technically won't get the same results as an xt because of the XT having superior specs. If you can flash an X1950 Pro to an XT, according to you, you can flash an 8800GT into an GTX or Ultra which isn't possible.


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## acrocosm (Nov 13, 2007)

hmm? you think so? i asure you that you can i'm a happy owner of the stated quadro retailing soemthing like £1000 when it first came out. My card is actually an aopen a400 bought second hand half a year ago for £70. I had it soft moded but i want to be able to run maya on linux to so i flashed it.

comparison in performance in maya? it doesn't crash anymore, and i got something like 500% performance boost.

quadros are not so good for games as they are intended and optimised for proffesional use and so it actually drops the performance by a marginal degree but it still serves me fine for games

*edit:* oh you guys are fast! you beated me severily on that 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




not all mods are possible of course it depends on the gpu and wheather or not a hack exists


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(acrocosm @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> hmm? you think so? i asure you that you can i'm a happy owner of the stated quadro retailing soemthing like £1000 when it first came out. My card is actually an aopen a400 bought second hand half a year ago for £70. I had it soft moded but i want to be able to run maya on linux to so i flashed it.
> 
> comparison in performance in maya? it doesn't crash anymore, and i got something like 500% performance boost.
> 
> quadros are not so good for games as they are intended and optimised for proffesional use and so it actually drops the performance by a marginal degree but it still serves me fine for games



Lol so can I soft mod a 7600GS into a 7900GS?


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## Awdofgum (Nov 13, 2007)

8800 GTX! That is what i got, it is awesome im not going to need a new one for 5-7 years.


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## acrocosm (Nov 13, 2007)

check the guru3d forums i don't know if that's possible

rivatuner is your tool


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(acrocosm @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> check the guru3d forums i don't know if that's possible
> 
> rivatuner is your tool



Rivatuner? okay..


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## shaffaaf27 (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 13 2007 said:


> QUOTE(RAM @ Nov 12 2007 said:
> 
> 
> > QUOTE(ZeWarriorReturns @ Nov 13 2007 said:
> ...



NOT AT ALL...

the specs for an x2900pro are under clocked versions of the XT, therefore, giving it a bios mod, would automatically clock it to XT speeds. everything else about the cards are the same.

a few years ago same situation had risen with the 6800 series. one of them was an under clocked, less pipelined version of one of the other 6800 series cards (methinks the 6800GT), and cost a lot cheaper, so a bios flash worked on that as well. 

google VGA bios flashing, and you might come up with something and learn something new


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## Jiggah (Nov 13, 2007)

Yes, you can softmod some cards to better versions.  The 8 series cannot do that because of the pipeline limitations and reference boards are way too drastically different.  The last card from Nvidia I heard of that could be softmodded was the 6800LE, the cheap end model, could be modded to the then high-end 6800GT by unlocking additional pipelines through a utility called Rivatuner (it's a staple program for the overclocker community ala CPU-Z).

And yes there are mods out there to turn some cards into the quadro.  I think Ze is assuming that somehow this applies to every card, only certain cards, even then certain cards that were probably manufactured at a certain time because there could be small yet fundamental changes to the board design.


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## ZeWarrior (Nov 13, 2007)

QUOTE(Jiggah @ Nov 12 2007 said:


> Yes, you can softmod some cards to better versions.Â The 8 series cannot do that because of the pipeline limitations and reference boards are way too drastically different.Â The last card from Nvidia I heard of that could be softmodded was the 6800LE, the cheap end model, could be modded to the then high-end 6800GT by unlocking additional pipelines through a utility called Rivatuner (it's a staple program for the overclocker community ala CPU-Z).
> 
> And yes there are mods out there to turn some cards into the quadro. * I think Ze is assuming that somehow this applies to every card, only certain cards, even then certain cards that were probably manufactured at a certain time because there could be small yet fundamental changes to the board design.*



That's exactly what I assumed.


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## superkrm (Nov 15, 2007)

benchies for AMD's new midrange cards are out now

www.techreport.com


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## slayerspud (Nov 15, 2007)

8800gt is the best midrange to high card out atm. Destroys anything apart from the 8800 ultra in benchmarks, and real world testing.


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## Dylaan (Nov 15, 2007)

I'm looking to go for a cheap graphics card... Am I correct in thinking that the 7900 is better than say the 8600?


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## Harsky (Nov 15, 2007)

In a really horrible but scientific measure, my cousin asked me to get him a graphics card so what did I do? I ordered an 8600GT and I noticed that it was freaking huge. So I'm using his PC as a benchmark to see if anything after 8600GT is really value for money. And no. He didn't have the budget for 8800GT


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## wohoo (Nov 15, 2007)

Duude! ATI just launched their HD 3000 series! get one of those, they are alot cheaper than the 8800 series. OR the new XFX 8800GT with 256MB memory, wich is as cheap as the AMD/ATI cards


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## MrKuenning (Nov 15, 2007)

The 7900GTX might be faster than say an 8600 but I would get an 8 series...

Go to this page..
Ignore everything except for the Texture MT/s.  That tells you how many million textiles per second the card can push through.  Knotice the 7900GTX can process 15,600, while all the lower 8XXX series including the 8600 is less than 10,000

However as soon as you enter the 8800 range you get 24k -39k

Thats a huge jump.  Plus its Direct X 10


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of...rocessing_Units


The only plus with the ATI HD 3XXX range is it supports Direct X 10.1
The Radeon HD 3870 which comes out on the 19th does only 12K textiles.

Granted there are other variables (Memory Bandwidth being a big one to look at)  but I use raw textile power as a gague for me to compare them.

I am not an ATI fan, I never have been, the only thing ATI i own is a Wii  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 .    But I have to admit they did beat nVidia to the DX10.1

Personaly I am waiting for GeForce 9 series.  Shouldent bee too much longer.  And should blow everything away, and support DX10.1

One thing to note is DX10 doesnt mean crap if you arnt running vista.

So if you are an XP guy I would but the 8800GT its cheaper and more power ful than the 8800GTS.

XFX GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - 269 at newegg.com


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## Jiggah (Nov 16, 2007)

QUOTE(gth44331 @ Nov 15 2007 said:


> I'm looking to go for a cheap graphics card... Am I correct in thinking that the 7900 is better than say the 8600?



The 7900GS is faster than the 8600.  The recommendation for the 8600 simply because it's DX10 is not a good one.  I'd still get the 7900GS.  The reason is simple, the 8600 will be a slideshow for DX10, there is literally no point in using 8600 as a DX10 card, you'll essentially have to play the DX10 games with all the DX10 stuff turned off, so you'll be playing in DX9 mode anyway.

The new ATI series is not as good as Nvidia and literally priced the same or maybe a little bit lower.  ATI did a last minute price drop because of the 8800GT release.


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## Osaka (Nov 16, 2007)

I have a GeForce 8600 GTS OC and I have never had a problem with any game (including team fortress 2). I got it for about $100 (not sure if thats a good price or not)


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